Back from BlogHer '09 (Part 2)

Finally downloaded my photos (I need an Eye-Fi card something fierce!) and put together my first Whrrl story. What do you think?

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There are lots of great link roundups of post-conference posts, but there were a few posts and links I wanted to highlight:

• BlogHer 2009: A recap in Whrrl stories
• BlogHer '09 Live-Blogging (also has links to collections of event photos and videos)
• Good-bye BlogHer 09 (with a Mr. Linky with nearly 100 more posts)

With so much being said about the role of marketing via bloggers, especially "mommy bloggers", I also wanted to share these two clips to help frame some of the points that are commonly mentioned:

• Mom Bloggers Debate Ethics of "Blog-Ola" on NPR
• Mommy Mandy's post about being on a ABC News piece about the KMart/Sears Home Design Summit in July

I know that there are many more points being made in this debate, and as a blogger who has really not spent more than a few moments thinking about the business of blogging I am still figuring out where I stand on things. In general, I agree with the idea that being genuine, authentic and honest is the gold standard. If a company has offered free product for review or giveaways, that's OK with me. Adding a disclosure statement or taking the "blog with integrity" pledge are options for bloggers to consider. The continuum of advertising > advertorial > editorial is blurry at best. As bloggers, we hope to gain the respect of and connect with our readers. Some circles think that this automatically transfers into "influence". I disagree. I think that influence and respect are things that need to be earned and maintained...not something that can be created with a few giveaways. Now if I was a top blogger and asked to attend invite only events; or actually made more than $3.25 on advertising in, oh, a year...then maybe my thoughts would be more nuanced. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please leave a comment, and include a link to any posts you have made about this topic.


I enjoyed the two sessions with Katie Orenstein that I attended, exploring how we have the credibility to be considered experts and that we should write our Op-Eds. I thought the keynote on the media (traditional vs. new) was interesting, and the community keynote was moving. Talk about authentic voice! I laughed, I cried, I was truly moved when hearing the authors read posts that I remember viewing when originally written. To actually hear the emotions around these topics that folks had was touching.

Most importantly, I will remember the friends that I discovered and met in real life at BlogHer '09. Thanks for the opportunity to connect and I look forward to staying in touch!