Behind the Screen

Why I probably won’t see you at BlogHer

Aug 1, 2010 Blogging

I’ve gotten a bunch of emails and tweets in the past couple of weeks that make me feel really good and really bad at the same time.  They’re along the lines of “Can’t wait to see you at Blogher, want to meet up?” “Getting together w/a few ppl 4 lunch, want to join us?” “Where will you be at noon on Friday, I’d love to finally meet you.”  Whenever one of those comes in, my head and ego both inflate a little bit, and I’m sincerely flattered.  And honestly they’re all from people that I’d really like to see.

But here’s the thing: BlogHer is a crappy place to meet up with people, at least for me.  I’ve spent the past month working out my schedule, trying to figure out which meetings and parties and panels and sessions I can reasonably get to, and at this point the only truly free time I have left in my schedule I want to spend in my room alone, recharging myself so that I can go out and be among people again for a couple more hours.  I don’t like crowds, so I find conferences absolutely draining, physically, emotionally, and mentally.  Add my well-known inability to remember names and faces, and by Sunday I may need to check into a hospital with “exhaustion” like a batshit crazy starlet.

I think there were something like 3,000 attendees at last year’s BlogHer in Chicago.  There were times when I was in the same ballroom with good friends and it took a dozen tweets to locate each other.  I found out afterwards that there were people there I had really wanted to run in to, and in four days hadn’t spotted them once.  The fact is, it’s just too big an event to run into anybody, and too busy to plan meetings with friends.  Sure, I could cram in 15 minutes here and a quick meal there, but would it really be worth it?  I know myself pretty well, and I’m fairly sure that I would just resent giving up some hotel-room-alone-time.

I think part of the problem is that everyone goes to conferences for different reasons.  For some, it’s almost purely social, for others, it’s business.  I fall into the business category, so learning and meeting with brands comes first for me.  If I can find a corner table at a quiet party I’d love to talk, but that rarely happens, and by the evening I’m pretty spent anyway.

I think what we need is an un-conference.  No panels, no brands, no parties, no schedules.  Just a bunch of bloggers meeting in the same city to socialize, sit around and talk with no plan and no agenda.  I know that won’t happen, but I can dream, can’t I?

I hope to meet up with a lot of friends this week.  I’m going to be doing a lot of DMing to see where people are so that hopefully we can catch up between sessions or share a car to an off-site event.  But please don’t hate me for not making solid plans.  It’s not you, it’s me.

Originally posted on Behind the Screen, a part of SelfishMom.com. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn and the NYC Moms Blog.

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Tags: BlogHer