BlogHer: Day 1

The grand ballroom at Navy Pier is a looooong walk from the entrance. I think I walked farther inside Navy Pier than I did getting to it in the first place. Initial impression: Navy Pier as a conference location is awesome. And the internet access is marvelous.

I hate icebreakers. We did that speed-dating icebreaker thing. Good idea, went on too long. Hard for introverts like me. On the plus side, I said the same thing over and over again.

Met Stephanie Roberts when she randomly sat down at my table this morning. We bonded over being INTJs after being stressed by the icebreaker. Super cool.

Met Nataly Hogan during the icebreaker. I saw Work It, Mom! on her name tag and "Oh my god, you know KathyHowe!" came tumbling out of my mouth. Nice lady.

Self-branding and Self-promotion

• This panel was packed. Folks sitting on the floor up front and standing in the back. I wasn't sure if I wanted to attend, because I'm not looking to market myself as a professional writer. But I do want to manage what shows up when you Google my name. And I really just wanted to see Penelope Trunk.
• PT asserted that you're more likely to be harrassed at work than online. Thinking... she might be right.
• She pointed out that we compartmentalize our lives and where we talk about what anyway, so we should recognize that even as you filter, you're still being yourself.
• Focus, focus, focus. Basic marketing principle.
• If you're blogging on a topic that's related to your day job and you want to leverage that, test it on your friends first. If you really want to use it for career advancement, you have to put it out there, or don't bother.
• If you can't find a niche, you need to have a huge personality (e.g., Anil Dash, Jason Kottke).
• If you're blogging, you're asking people to connect with you. So you should be happy to get all that email.
• Liveblog

Met Nina Smith at lunch. That is a really cool lady. Had an interesting conversation with her about the time and effort she puts into managing Queercents and about wrangling a volunteer corps of authors. I already loved me some Queercents. Now I love it some more.

So far, so good.

Tag: BlogHer07