A Day at the BlogHer Conference, Part I

Come along! Join me at my first day at BlogHer 2010 in lovely New York City...

7:00 am Wake up slightly hung over from last night's dinner and wine at Jean-Georges' Nougatine, with college roommate, her husband and Sean of Spectacularly Delicious.

7:45 am Make my way down to the Newbie Breakfast, where presumably, everyone there knows no one there. Like me. A charming and friendly Texan named Diane (Lipstick Digest) invites me to sit with her. Others join us and we learn the ins and outs of succeeding at a BlogHer conference.  The breakfast is sponsored by Tropicana. Lots of oj and bagels.

9:00 am 2500 mostly female bloggers enter the New York Hilton ginormous ballroom for an official welcome and State of the Blogosphere address by the founders of BlogHer.  Imagine the noise in a room, the size of an airplane hangar, filled with all those women who like to talk about themselves. Then double it.

9:45 am Check out the BlogHer bookstore. Peruse volumes from bloggers who have gotten book deals. Titles include "Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank", "I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper" and "Bright Lights, Big Ass". Wonder if my blog needs to be edgier to get a book deal. I bought one book called "No One Cares What You Had for Lunch". In retrospect, it may not be the best choice for a food blogger.

10:30 am  Attend session called Writing Inspiration: Stoke Your Creativity. There is a somewhat heated debate over whether a writer should practice writing every day or not. Best quote of the session: "Lots of people sacrifice what they want for what they want right now." So while I would really like to be watching Mad Men right now, getting out this blog post is a more important step in the grand scheme of things.

11:45 am Leaving the session room, I spy a nice spread of cookies and other sweets. I'm psyched because I think it must be coffee break time - yay! But no, it's actually lunch. To my left I see sandwiches and salads. Why ruin a perfectly nice coffee break with real food?

11:50 am I hear someone call my name. How can that be? No one knows me here. But wait, there is just one person - Marcia, the woman I met briefly last night before going out to dinner. I'm not alone! Marcia writes a great blog about children's lit (The Diamond in the Window). She suggests we go upstairs and check out some of the sponsor suites.

11:55 am I find myself in the Align Probiotics suite, conveniently situated next to the Metamucil suite. They want to discuss my digestive system, but they are also offering free reflexology massages. Fine, we can talk about my small intestine. Just let me sit down and get my feet rubbed. Thank you for the most blissful and relaxing 15 minutes of the entire day.

12:20 pm Marcia and I have a quick lunch then head over to the Exhibition Hall, where sponsors are standing by to give us lots of free stuff they want us to blog about. Or buy when the samples run out.
A full size bottle of Eucerin is a nice offer, but I don't think it'll make it past airport security going home, so I take a pass. The Nickelodeon booth has a special celebrity guest:

So does Pillsbury,

Terra Chips introduces me to a new Spicy Asian flavor, that I have to admit is pretty tasty.

1:45 pm I am offered a taste of Butterfingers new Snackerz. When I tell the Butterfingers ladies that this is the one candy I demand my children give me from their Halloween bags, they are so excited they give me a huge bag of candy. Score!

2:00 pm I hear Padma Lakshmi of Top Chef fame (and previously married to Salman Rushdie) is over at the Hillshire Farm booth. Really? Not how I imagine her spending her free time, but ok. I wait to meet her because I am a big fan of Top Chef and I'm sure she'll give me all the juicy inside scoop. Maybe we'll bond over a Butterfinger.

2:10 pm I am offered some Hillshire Farm Pre-Packaged Luncheon Meat. No thanks...I'm just waiting for Padma. Corn dog? No really, I just had lunch and a whole bunch of Butterfingers.

2:15 pm Padma emerges to sign autographs and have her photo taken. I introduce myself and ask a bystander to snap a picture.

Padma is not amused. Really Padma - Hillshire Farm? Maybe that Top Chef gig isn't working out as well as I thought.

2:17 pm Walk by the Assets by Sara Blakely booth, the same company that brought us Spanx (lifesaver!).  I'm offered a Tummy Control Undergarment. Was it the Butterfingers? I'm not too proud to take it.

2:30 pm  Head back to my room to drop off all the swag. Who do I meet in the elevator?

2:45 pm A couple of the scheduled sessions appeal to me. I'm forced to choose between Bringing Sex Out of the Closet, Good Blog Design or How to Take Great Pictures. Hmmm...I sacrifice what I want right now (guess which one) for what I want (mad photography skills).

Are you exhausted yet?
Take a break and come back for Part II of my BlogHer adventure tomorrow.
Just wait 'til you hear about The Bloggess and a Japanese dinner.