Have you heard of the annual BlogHer conference? This year, it’s going to be in Chicago July 23-25. I’ve never been, and this year I’m really going to try to make it. It’s a great opportunity to meet with other female (including many mom) bloggers, share ideas, learn from the best, and take some time out to focus on your blog. However, to be able to go, I’ll most likely need to be at least partially sponsored.
Mabel’s Labels, a company I’ve worked with in the past and really respect, has introduced a contest to sponsor one mom to attend BlogHer as a correspondent. To enter, I have to answer the question, “What Have Been the Rewards and Benefits to Participating in the Blogging Community?”.
Being a mom can be isolating, especially if you are a work at home or stay at home mom. Even moms who work outside of the home can struggle with finding people to identify with (I know that I did). As a part-time stay at home/part-time work outside the home mom, I walk a very delicate fine line, and for me, blogging has become an outlet that I desperately need. With Twitter and Facebook, I have a network of mom bloggers that I trust and admire.
Blogging also allows me to think through things that may bother, worry, or frustrate me. As I analyze the situation, and break things down to start to write, sometimes I realize that things aren’t as bad as they seem. In fact, many times, I decide against writing the post because it no longer seems to be a big deal. But, when I do post something personal, the comments I get from other bloggers I know and trust make me feel better. It’s just a great way to get things off my chest, or get information and opinions from other moms.
Participating the blogging community doesn’t just mean writing on your own blog. For me, a huge part of my participation is reading other blogs, commenting, and following their statuses on Twitter. I’ve learned so much from these other bloggers — from recipes and money saving tips to technical and parenting advice.
Being respected and valued by companies marketing to moms is another huge benefit. Participating in Camp Baby last year was an amazing opportunity to meet with other bloggers and talk directly to the company about our needs and wants as parents. Reviewing and recommending products that can help other parents is extremely rewarding.
For me, the BlogHer conference will be a way to tangibly realize all of these benefits — to meet with company representatives, see the bloggers I already know, meet the ones I don’t (but feel that I know already), and to take time to focus on bringing my blogs to the next level.
To learn more about the Mabel’s Labels contest, visit www.blogcontest.mabel.ca
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Jodi – I love this post and completely agree. GL!!
Jodi, your post is so true. Working 9 – 5 then commuting home does not leave me much time to hang out and meet other moms at play groups, kiddie kastle, etc. to talk, connect and share ideas so, I feel lucky that I am able to connect with so many bloggers on a daily basis through e-mail, reading blogs and twitter. I cannot wait to finally meet everyone in person this summer at BlogHer ’09!