Networking

Preparing for, speaking at, and attending conferences are just a few of the things Hubby does as part of his job. The side benefit of these “business” trips is that I often get to tag along and visit new cities and countries while he “works.” I always attend the part of the meeting where he speaks, and then spend the rest of my time exploring.

As a former Customer Service Guru I have never had cause to attend a conference for my own purposes. I have never been the one to stand at the front of the room and be heard. And I’ve never been the one wearing the good badge. As a wife my conference passes were either blank (there’s an ego boost for you) or simply stated “spouse.”

I recently came across an opportunity to turn the tables and attend a conference where I would be the attendee and Hubby would be the “spouse.” The annual BlogHer Conference will be taking place in Chicago next July around the time I was thinking of heading to the States for home leave.

Rightly or wrongly, blogging has become a big part of my life over the past three years. I appreciate having this wonderful, electronic outlet for my creativity. My random thoughts may end up in the Internet ether but at least they’re out there for people to read and comment upon. The fact that there is a conference out there for people like me was intriguing from almost the first moment I heard about it. Sure many of the participants and attendees are “professional bloggers” rather than “personal bloggers” like me, but my heart still races at the thought that I might meet people – in person - who feel the same way about blogging as I do.

This is the fifth year this conference has been held and the second time it has called Chicago its home. I have to admit that location plays a big part in my contemplation of this conference: Chicago is only one flight away from Toronto and we have friends who live there whom I can visit at the same time.. The cost is a little steep but Hubby has been incredibly supportive and said that if this is something I’m interested in we can make it work.

Last year’s conference in San Francisco included talks about such things as “Blogging with a Global Perspective,” “Women Without Children and the Blogosphere,” “Pursing your Passion Never Gets Old,” and “Book to Blog Redux.” It also had great breakout groups for writing workshops and women who blog about similar things (travel bloggers, mommy bloggers, etc).

I love the idea of this conference but am not sure if I’ll know anyone there, if people there will want to know me, if I’ll get anything out of it, and most importantly, if it will be worth the money I’ll have to pay to attend. Have any of you ever attended? What did you think of it? Do you plan to this year? Should I? Help!!