Why I'm going to BlogHer

I've been reading a lot lately about going to BlogHer, or not going to BlogHer. That is the question.

Ha! My degree at work, y'all!

Anyway, I thought that I would weigh in on the issue at hand. There is a bunch of articles/posts that I could link to, and all would be worthwhile reads, but I've had a couple glasses of wine and that would be too much work.

*Ahem*

About a year ago I was a newbie to reading blogs and all of a sudden they started talking about this THING in Chicago, a bunch of women bloggers getting together to talk about all things BLOG. I wasn't even a blogger yet and I envied the fact that they could go to a really cool city, hang out with other moms, have a drink or two, and maybe learn a few things in the process. I truly envied these women getting to get out of the house for a few days, (those that took their kids I was worried about. JK!)

When I started blogging and getting comments I was really jealous (in a good way), because I see this conference as a way to build the community. We all blog with our own voice and with our own experience, but as women the building of community is what we're good at. We were made by God to be communicators, nurturers. (I won't get into the biblical aspect here or now, this one is about BlogHer, not my religious beliefs.)

Whether you're a political-mommy blogger, artsy-mommy blogger, childless-mommy blogger, or any of the other thousands of titles that someone has given us, isn't it about community? We all seem to love to write, love to have our voices heard. All of us love comments-it validates what we have written, it proves that someone is listening. 

I'm going to BlogHer to widen my community.

I don't presume to have all the answers. Lord knows I don't have the traffic. But I have found a community that I wish to belong to. I contribute to that community, and I'm going to San Fransisco to learn more about that community. I want to learn how to be a better writer, better blogger, better community member.

Some have started the talk of the 'cool kids' and thinking that they will feel left out, or not even going because they don't want to have that feeling. Ya know what? I'm so far from caring. 

Well, let me clarify. 

Sure, it would be nice to know that some of the bigger bloggers know who I am. Sure, I would love to hear, "Headless Mom? I love your blog!" But really? I've only been at this about 8 months and unless they've noticed my name (it is kinda 'noticable', don't you think?) they probably haven't read my blog. I get that. I don't care that 'they' haven't read my blog. I care that YOU read my blog. I care that YOU like what I write. I care that YOU comment. I love getting new readers, I won't lie. I look at my stats. But I'm fooling myself if I think that Guy Kawasaki is going to come calling. I write one of the eleventy-billion blogs written by women, and I just want to be better at what I do.

Plain and simple.

I'm not knocking the big bloggers, don't get me wrong. When people have been a part of a community for a long time they have established friendships. That's how it should be and I don't expect to be a part of that immediately, or at all, and not in the 'if they don't want to be friends with me then screw them" kind of way. I can't wait to meet my friends-a couple of them are 'big', a couple of them are AllMediocre, and others are just like me. Women (and a dad or two), just trying to make connections in this big world of ours.