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Several things went on through the day at the BlogHer conference 09.
For me, the single most important event was that my laptop wouldn't connect to the internet. No idea why. But that did allow me to sit back and really look at things, instead of looking at the computer screen and only half-absorbing what was going on. I sat through four different sessions and actually listened to every single word spoken by panelists, avid bloggers, very, very popular bloggers, bloggers who would like to become very popular bloggers, bloggers who had a book in them, bloggers who had books out and multiple book deals lined up, bloggers who photographed incessantly, bloggers who got paid, bloggers who got free stuff in return for reviews, bloggers who wanted free stuff and would be willing to go out and ask whoever was handing them out, lots of mommy-bloggers, lots of mommies, and small babies, one quartet of babies, fourteen hundred women (almost fourteen hundred women and a very few men) in the same room...
It made me think of several things - blogging itself, its larger purpose, personal purpose, its limits, its constituents etcetera. It put me in a quiet mood. It also made me very nervous. I felt compelled to at least open up my laptop and put down a few sentences about what I was feeling.
For now, I just want to say that the communite 'keynote' had me in tears. Much laughter, but much emotion too. Fantastic stories and some very compelling story-telling here. The best part was that there was not just one person saying a whole lot of things about blogging, as might be expected at the keynote session at a blogging conference. These were some of the best of what the blog world has to offer. It is all heart, sprinkled with poetry. And it made me want to keep on blogging.
I will say more about the conference and what it felt like once it is done. For now, go and read updates on the Blogher site.