For the past two days I’ve been attending BlogHer, the big conference that “brings together thousands of women [who blog] from around the world to discuss, inspire and connect with each other.” And…I feel like an impostor.
Each interaction during the past two days went something like this:
“Hi, I’m Betsy Blogger from such and such blog. Do you blog?”
“Well, kinda. I’m really here with XYZ, learning what bloggers are talking about now.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to blog more in my personal life…you know, PR girl living in New York City, life, love, adventures…”
“Well, since you’re here, can you give me advice on how to get sponsored by XYZ?”
“Uh…but I don’t even know you.”….and so on.
Ok, that’s not how it went down word for word…but that’s how it played out in my head. Don’t get me wrong, I met some lovely people during my time at the conference, some of whom I think will be great people to work with in the coming months and years. I really can’t wait to get to know them better. But my lack of blogging was a bit of a conversation staller as people attending the conference weren’t prepared to meet a non-blogger in this space.
On the Expo floor it was worse….where after some initial chit chat and a polite chuckle at my lame joke, they would realize that I don’t have a blog that would review their product and I would see in their eyes they realized they just wasted 5 precious seconds with me and I would see their eyes wander to someone else.
And so I started throwing around this blog url as if I maintained my blog on a daily basis. And you, dear reader, know…I do not update regularly. I do not have readers or a community to influence nor astronomical scores on Klout or Compete. And so, I expect that I will not be receiving the orthotic inserts that I was promised would come in the mail. Nor will I win a great prize from the best ice cream bar on the planet. And, I’m still kind of sad that I didn’t get the fabulous travel pillow that most of the others visiting the conference received. And yet, I paid the same price for admission to the conference. I am still a valuable consumer even if I don’t blog about it.
Somehow as a brand representative/PR type participating in the sessions rather than standing behind a counter on the Expo floor made everyone question me…and then ask how they can get paid by my client for what they write. We don’t do that. We can’t pay you for your opinions…that would them make them our opinions. And what we value most from our relationships with you, as a blogger, is your honest evaluation and opinion of our products. And that requires that it is an unpaid post. If it’s paid, it has to go through the legal review process…and…I’ll just let you finish that sentence.
Overall, attending BlogHer was a great experience and maybe I’ll share more later. But, I’ll admit that I now feel a bit guilty for neglecting this creative outlet. Once upon a time I set up this blog as a replacement blog for the one that had to be deleted for reasons I’d care to not mention today. And the whole reason to set it up was to have a place to share things that I’m thinking and writing that have little to do with my professional life.
In the best and worst of times, my work requires 120 percent of my creativity…which means that I’m tapped out when it came to writing a blog post. Or so I’ve claimed. In reality, I think a little bit of creativity leads to even more creativity. Or, at least it should. So maybe I was really just being lazy. Or had other priorities. Or didn’t want to share what was going through my head at the time. Or…forgot? And all of these just leads to more guilty feelings about my lack of blogging for the past year or so. (And I shouldn’t feel guilty! No where in life’s manual does it say — you must be a blogger!)
In any case…whether I become a regular blogger or not..I have been changed by this conference, met wonderful people, and learned how I can do my job better. Plus, it’s given me much to consider as I post once again to this blog. (I’d still really like that pillow though.)
Donetta's Delights 
