CVK
I just got back late last night from the BlogHer Conference in San Jose, CA. This is the first tech-related conference I’ve ever been to, and to my surprise, I had SUCH a great time! It was really inspiring to meet so many cool women who write passionately on such a wide variety of topics. I think I’m going to try and attend more blogging and/or podcasting conferences in the future, because being able to connect with other people in this space in person is such a unique experience.

Jen and I are actually gearing up to launch a bunch of new blogs this fall, and after attending this conference, I’m even more excited about the possibilities!

I have to admit though, that it was a little embarrassing to apparently be the only blogger without a laptop. As you can see in this picture, most attendees had their laptops out at every session. But I am saving up for a MacBook Pro. If or when I get one, it’ll be my first foray into the world of Macs. I figure that with all the audio/video stuff I’m doing nowadays, it makes sense.

So I was invited to be a panelist for a session on “Identity and Obligation.” It ended up being an awesome conversation that wasn’t just the usual top-down Panelists talking down to Audience, but a genuine discussion amongst all the women (and some men) in the room. We discussed what aspects of our identity we reveal in our blogs, whether we actually have multiple identities, whether we feel obligated to represent for our race/gender/sexuality/religion, etc., what assumptions our readers make about us, what assumptions we make about our readers, and so on.

More after the jump…

The other women on the panel were Karen Walrond from Chookooloonks, Maria Niles from Fizz, Dawn Rouse from I Am Doing the Best I Can, and Marisa Trevino from Latina Lista.

The whole conference was recorded, and when the podcast comes out I’ll definitely post a link here. In the meantime, I found a few bloggers who have already posted about the session, if you want to read more details. Some of the posts slightly misinterpret my remarks, but I guess that comes with the territory. Here are some links:

Being a BlogHim at BlogHer Conference by Mark Glaser for PBS’s MediaShift blog

Facing Challenges of Multiple Identity by Christine Herron for Christine.net

BlogHer 06 - Identity & Obligation by Karl Erikson at Secondhand Tryptophan

Live Blogging: Identity and Obligations by Lynne d. Johnson

a quick post on blogher before mercifully moving on by Karen Walrond at Chookooloonks

There was time for fun, of course. Each evening there were cocktails and dinner by the pool, so I got to enjoy some of the lovely Bay Area weather. And I had so much fun hanging out with the fabulous ladies from MSN Spaces (hello Analisa, Kristin, Lindsay and Nicole!); having lunch with Melissa Gira from SacredWhore and Danah Boyd from apophenia; talking race, immigration and feminism with Shuna Fish Lydon from Eggbeater and Brittany Shoot from Modern Feminist and Shooting Full Force.

All in all, it was an awesome weekend, and I hope to attend next year’s BlogHer too!