Bloggers
Written by Margaret Rutherford

I had never read a blog before I began writing mine last August. Even then, I just took a peek at one or two famous ones to make sure I was on track. A couple of my patients talked about them, but I had never met a blogger that I knew of, that’s for sure.

So I didn’t know what to expect when I went to BlogHer13 this summer in Chicago and was surrounded by 5000 bloggers at once! Would they be snooty? Welcoming? Generous? Cold? My major conference experiences had been going to therapist conventions where everyone sits around and talks about the best ways to help other people change and get better. Actually those conventions can be way too warm and touchy-feely for me most of the time. People ask you how you are “feeling” all the time. Yikes. This one in Chicago was going to be about ME and MY BLOG. That would be different.

Before I left, I knew I would be attending different seminars to learn about specific topics. But then I was told by my marketing guru that I was supposed to network. Meet and greet. Get known and get to know. Hand out my business cards and go for it! I hadn’t done this kind of thing since I was a nightclub singer in my twenties and was trying to convince every hotel manager in Dallas that I was the hottest thing since Chaka Khan. I was not by the way. That’s why I am a clinical psychologist and not a nightclub singer.

The convention was fantastic! The bloggers were some of the nicest people you could ever meet. Interested in each other, helpful with information no matter how much more experienced they were than you, and generally inclusive as a group. I had a somewhat more intimate conversation with one young woman, Lori Duron, about some family issues, her blog and mine. I knew she had a book coming out. but suddenly she looked at her watch, and said, “So sorry, I have an interview I have to get to with CNN”. Now she didn’t have to take the time to talk to me! (Her new book is “Raising My Rainbow”, a book about rearing her gender creative child).

The BlogHer folks themselves promote this attitude as did many of the speakers they selected. I noticed that the three co-founders of the organization were all over the place, very accessible to anyone who wanted to speak with them for a few minutes, not holed up somewhere to get away from the crowd.

I’ve talked to some of my great Arkansas Women Blogger friends since I got back about my experience. The main complaint? It’s a bit expensive to go, but I think it’s well worth it. Maybe next time it will be closer to the Razorback Nation. Can anyone say BlogHogHer?