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NOTE: I want need to add a disclaimer to this post. I did not get a full BlogHer ticket before they sold out. I was not chosen from the BlogHer waitlist. I chose to buy a LobbyCon ticket so I could attend the conference with everyone. I knew what was included and what was not in the LobbyCon ticket. I know that LobbyCon was added very last minute with almost no time to plan it. I did all of those things on my own. This post is not meant to be a beat down or bitch session putting down the BlogHer coordinators. This is to add CONSTRUCTIVE criticism for next year if they decide to have another LobbyCon.
Here are my thoughts on how to make LobbyCon better next year (though I will be getting a FULL conference ticket early, thank you)-
- Have full badges for LobbyCon (LC) attendees. I was asked repeatedly if I was supposed to be in the Expo Hall, though I had the right to be there with my LC ticket. Have the badge printed on bright pink paper or something to differentiate, but have one for ALL attendees.
- Better instructions emailed out before the conference begins on registration and other details. The email that was sent out was good, but could have mentioned that registration was in a different area for LC attendees. Even if the location was not set, just saying something like “meet in lobby of hotel and look for someone with a Staff badge to direct you” would have helped.
- Allow access to left over official swagbags that were not claimed. I am actually EXTREMELY disappointed with this point. On Saturday night, I saw a tweet regarding official swagbags that had not been claimed. I innocently asked if some were not claimed, as a PAID LobbyCon attendee, could I have one? I was told flat out by a BlogHer staff person ABSOLUTELY NOT. I was then tweeted privately by someone in the room with the leftover swagbags that people not associated with BlogHer (ie hotel staff, random people from the street, etc) were grabbing 2 and 3 bags and walking out of the room with them. How is it fair that random people who did not pay anything to come to LC/Blogher have access to leftover swagbags, but someone who paid to come to the partial conference was told absolutely not? This was very disheartening to me. The contributors to the swagbags did not just contribute for fun; I know they hoped the attendees would blog about the products. Will hotel staff and random tourists do this? Probably not. This is not to be petty – do I REALLY need more swag?? (no) – but just the principle of the point*. And before someone asks, yes, I believe the hotel staff were AWESOME and think they should have had 3rd dibs on the swagbags.
- Consider allowing LC attendees access to breakout sessions, but no access to food and swagbags (official and in the breakout rooms). I would have been HAPPY to not take the swag at the breakout sessions, would not have eaten the food, just to be able to hear some of the speakers. I know this could be a logistic nightmare, but it could be done.
- If there is no access to the breakout sessions, coordinate a short sightseeing tour or group event (not pay for it, just coordinate it) to give LC attendees something to do other than hang out in the expo room or LC designated area. It was nice to roam the lobby and see other BlogherCon attendees, but most of the time it was the same 30 people I saw over and over again. I would have liked a way to get away with the other LC members and bond. Not everyone needs to go, but having an option would be good.
If you attended LobbyCon, I would love to know your thoughts in the comments below.
*This will prolly get some people’s panties in a bunch because I am talking about SWAG and SWAG became a hot-button topic. I did not punch kick or stab anyone for any of the swag. I was polite, asked questions about the items/company and am appreciative of the items I did get. Since I had ALL DAY LONG at LC to do NOTHING, I walked around and got SWAG. So sue me. I like the stuff I got and I like that it was available. I only took one of the items that were offered to me. I am not a heathen that knocks over little old ladies to get a free pen. I won’t ever be that person. I saw the carnage at the 704 party. I was not part of the swag stealers. If you don’t like swag, then please don’t take any. But please don’t ruin it for the rest of us that like swag, like to give away swag on our sites (coming soon) and like hearing from companies why their products are the best.
BlogHer was an awakening for me.
The past few months, I have been struggling to decide what I want my blog to be.
A fitness blog?
A food blog?
A bitching blog?
A weight loss blog?
While I was at BlogHer, I had the immense pleasure of hanging out and talking with MizFit. I told her about my struggles and she reminded me of the name of my blog and as we were talking it hit me– talk about why or what I lose.
Like : Lose my big ol’ belly.
Lose my ‘tude.
Lose my prejudices.
Lose the clutter in my house.
Lose my inhibitions.
Lose my mind.
(well, hopefully not that last one, but you catch my drift.)
I want this blog to be about fitness, weight loss, dating, food choices, bitching, and many other things– I want it to be about my life and how I gain life experiences and lose the crap I have been struggling to get rid of my whole adult life.
I hope you will join me as I embark on this “new” endeavor. Tomorrow starts the new chapter in my blogging life, and I am very excited! See you on the other side!
This post is both a reminder for me for next year’s BlogHer ’10 in NYC (BABY!), but also to help those that may be going for their first time next year. Here are the Top 10 things I need to remember:
- Buy a full BlogHer pass, and buy it early. I was not happy with LobbyCon (more on that later, and I will link to it) and am disappointed that I was not able to go to the WHOLE event. Live and learn.
- Buy a mini computer, or don’t bring one at all. While I LOVED using TweetDeck on my laptop, I was staying (for free) at a friend’s house about a mile from the conference. I had to lug my computer and cord around for 12 hours on Friday and 12 hours on Saturday. It was heavy and I only used it a few times. My cell phone did OK, though TinyTwitter locked up a few times and I lost cell signal alot. WiFi was spotty at best in the hotel, but where I spent most of my time (the hotel lobby) I had a great wifi connection.
- Stay at the hotel- screw saving $$. I had a blast at my friend’s house and enjoyed her kitties and having some extra cash because of it, but damn, I had to carry everything around with me all. day. long. And had cab rides which got pricey. Swag gets heavy after a few hours, no matter what you have.
- Bring a rolling backpack. My shoulders do not need to carry anything for a whole day. Roll, baby roll!
- Bring and drink TONS of water. I was dehydrated most of the weekend, and did not realize it.
- Have a working camera (be it an iPhone or a point and shoot, and now a Vado something I WON at BlogHer’09) and USE IT! I wanted to take photos, but my phone is crap and my regular camera was ruined in PurseWaterBottleGate ’09.
- RSVP FOR EVERY PARTY, no matter if you think you will go or not. Some of the best partied were the ones I thought I would not want to go to. On the same note- make sure to sign up for the Lux party next year. It is a must do with GREAT swag!
- Try to get a sponsor to help off-set costs. Travel and hotel are expensive, anything from a sponsor will help offset those costs. It would also be fun to hand out cool stuff to cool people.
- Follow Twitter THE WHOLE TIME. I won 4 AWESOME prizes (photos and reviews soon) via Twitter alone. It is a great way to keep in touch with other attendees and it really helped with sharing information (ie: @cheeseburgHER party at 9pm in room XXXX – be there!). Only a few fail whales were seen.
- Bring LOTS of business cards to exchange. One of my most favorite parts of BlogHer was that I met so many cool people and am going to be able to follow so many awesome blogs now.
and having a fabu time. Hate LobbyCon but love seeing everyone IRL. More updates later, and follow me @ajlovestolose on twitter if you want up to the minute info!
This is my first BlogHer, and I am really trying to do everything right. So far, I am batting 100. Here are the highlights:
The good: Ronisweigh, MizFitOnline FatBridesmaid WorkoutMommy FatFighterTV: Amazing ladies that made my first few minutes at BlogHer awesome -thanks ladies! If you aren’t reading their blogs, you should be!
The bad: I looked like crap- no makeup, sweaty (why, keep reading)
The ugly: um, me– a little. See above.
The good: A very good friend let me borrow her place, car and cats for the weekend to save $$
The bad: Her car broke down in the middle of Ashland Ave at rush hour with me driving it.
The ugly: As the car died, my cell phone died. (really.) Two very nice men from a tacoria helped me push her car to a side street – open parking spot was a bonus– until I noticed that it was open because of a fire hydrant.I had to walk a few blocks to a KMart where a very nice security guard let me use his cell phone to call my friend — thankfully she had written down her BF’s cell number – no working cell means no numbers!- hen I went on the hunt for a disposable cell charger. 4 stores later, I found one, and was back on the road to BlogHer, sweaty and stressed out. As I was walking back tot he car, I saw it being towed away. Yeah, fantastic.
The good: Finally found the People’s Party.
The bad: Swag Bags, gone. 
The ugly: Arrived at the Room 704 Party 1 minute after they opened, and ALL the swag was GONE! It was a feeding frenzy!
The good:I finally got a ticket to BlogHer (though it is “only” LobbyCon
The bad:I have no idea how the hell LobbyCon works
The ugly: I have NO FREAKING IDEA HOW LOBBYCON WORKS.
More from the BlogHer/LobbyCon open tomorrow. I have a powerstrip and am willing to share!
(writing this from my phone as internet is dow at home -sorry for typos and lack of capitalization)
first, sorry i have been absent. i have been working on a big project for wrok and it had me fried. Twitter was all i could handle this week. also, i have been dogsitting and while i love the cutie, she is alot of work and i am tired!  she goes home tonight, thank goodness!
i am headed back HOME this week to both see friends and hit BlogHerCon! i am very excited and scared and psyched to meet all the cool ladies (and men) that i read about each day on their blogs.
while i reeeeeeeeeally wanted to go to the full bloghercon, i was a bit broke early on, and it sold out before i could get tickets. i heard about lobbycon, and am so glad i can atleast be part of some of it.
the part i am kinda bummed about is the fact that i am not one of the super cool “mommyblogmafia” and am certianly not cool enough to get a sponsor. i see calls for sponsorship from companies all the time, but they are always asking for mommybloggers. i am not a mommy, but i love new products, i am the “market maven” of my friends and and highly influential to the 50 odd close personal friends i have (and countless others if i twitter/blog about it). if i love it, my friends love it and buy it. really.
i dont mean this to be a “pity me” post, cuz that is not what it is meant to be at all. i just hope that companies realize the reach of 30-something non-moms that love kids but just dont have them (yet). and i dont mean this to be a hit on mommybloggers- i love mommybloggers and think they deserve the recognition they are getting.
i am getting over a migraine so maybe that is why i am feeling this way. no matter what, i am going to have a blast at lobbycon. if you are gonna be there, let me know cuz i wanna catch up to you and say hi! k, hands are cramping so gotta go get the dogs stuff together!
I am super thankful to the BlogHer woman who told me about LobbyCon.
I am thankful for good friends who I can call and bitch too, knowing they know I just need to let off some steam.
I am thankful for Starbucks hot chocolate.
I am thankful for my mom who will help me no matter what her situation is. ALWAYS.
I am thankful for bad daytime TV who helped me over my horrible writer’s block today.
I am thankful for rain showers that watered my plants for me today.
testing the mobile version of editingmy site…lets see if this works!
www.yogadownload.com.
Have you ever found yourself traveling, and realize you forgot your workout gear/bra/shoes?
Do you travel everywhere with your mp3 player?
Do you want a soothing workout in 30/45 minutes?
Then yogadownload.com is perfect for you. It has great yoga workouts that download easily to your Mp3 player so you can listen to the directions and have a great workout anywhere – actually, there tagline is Take Yoga Anywhere.
And you really can.
I read about the site on KathEats, and tried out a few of the Hatha Yoga workouts a few months ago.
Now I must say, before I did the yogadownload routines, I had NEVER done yoga before. I was a bit freaked out that I would have NO IDEA what the hell I was doing—especially because it was all via voice- no visual cues.
Or atleast I thought that was how it was.
I have watched yoga done on TV before, and I always thought it would be hard to follow someone on TV while in the pretzel/downward facing dog/random backwards pose. Yogadownload.com fixes this. Almost all downloads come with a downloadable PDF visual guide you can place within your sight line (where ever that might be at any given time) so you know what the pose should look like.
The first time I played the first Hatha routine I downloaded, I was surprised at how soothing the instructional music was, and the voice that was instructing me was very pleasant. I found the routine VERY easy to follow (I did pick a “beginner” routine, so it should have been easy )and I felt totally relaxed and calm and happy after the recording finished.
They have beginner-advanced, advanced routines available along with the beginner classes for newbies like me, and they also have no music versions of some of the routines. They have many different versions of yoga for every yoga lover, along with meditation classes.
I really like it and you should really try it. The classes are usually no more than 4 bucks a class, but sometimes you can snag 50 even 60 percent off codes for the site.
Happy yoga-ing!
Yeah, I didn’t move it.
I came home, ate, fell asleep on the couch and woke up at like 9.
Blah.
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