The first stop after arriving at my hotel in Chicago, IL, was to pick up my BlogHer 2007 name tag.
Here are the friendly faces that I met at the speaker meeting on Thursday evening. (left to right: Diane Rosenberg, Maria DiVito, Kristy Sammis, Kristin Darguzas)
The meeting on Thursday evening gave the BlogHer speakers an opportunity to meet one another and talk about some goals and guidelines of the conference.
Here’s where I picked up my BlogHer 2007 swag bag. Check out the photo gallery that reveals what’s on the inside of the BlogHer 2007 goodie bag.
The BlogHer 2007 program lists the conference two-day schedule and highlights the speakers.
With 800 registered attendees, that’s a lot of name tags….
Here’s a look at the BlogHer big screen in the Grand Ballroom at the Navy Pier in Chicago.
Are only women allowed at the BlogHer conference? This picture should answer that question. In fact, I believe these fellas had a lot of photo ops over the course of the BlogHer 2007 conference.
BlogHer co-founders Jory Des Jardins, Elisa Camahort, and Lisa Stone (left to right) kick off BlogHer 2007.
Want to learn a quick and dirty way for large audiences to get to know one another? Have them form two circles, one inside the other, and have the outside circle shift one person every minute. The BlogHer attendees were able to shake hands, exchange business cards, and give a 30-second snippet of who they were and why they were there.
The session, Life Stages of Online Communities, was offered on Day One of BlogHer 2007. During this session, speakers Jane Goldman, Betsy Aoki, Eliza Sherman, and Carol Lin discussed the life and death of online commmunities, including best practices, pitfalls, and warning signs along the way.
Speakers of the session Life Stages of Online Communities: Jane Goldman, EIC for several CNET Networks’ communities; Betsy Aoki, Microsoft community manager for multiple developer and end-user communities; Eliza Sherman, the original Cybergrrl and founder of Webgrrls International; and Carol Lin, former CNN anchor.
There were plenty of vendor and sponsor booths set up at BlogHer 2007. This was a great place to drop your business card for raffles and find other free stuff.
There were two AOL Body video kiosks set up at the BlogHer 2007 conference.
Here’s an inside peek at someone using the AOL Body video kiosk.
The touch-screen technology behind the AOL Body video kiosk was extremely easy to use.
Are you curious about the AOL Body video kiosk? So was I…. Check out my video experience.
In the session Find Out Why Bloggers Care About Web Standards, speakers Skye Kilaen (left) and Virginia DeBolt (right) talk about how to use Web standards and other tools to optimize blogs.
The session Technical Tools to Build Traffic was offered on Day One of BlogHer 2007. During this session, speakers Elise Bauer and Vanessa Fox talk about how to grab and keep an audience engaged, including syndication and SEO tips.
All of the speakers had microphones so that their words of wisdom were audible to the entire audience.
A rather large audience attended the session Technical Tools to Build Traffic on Day One at BlogHer 2007.
The session Blogging Workflow Tools and Tricks was the final session I attended on Day One at BlogHer 2007. Speakers Gina Trapani (left) and Barb Dybwad (right) provided great information about tools that help improve blogging efficiency and productivity.
Gina Trapani (left) and Barb Dybwad (right) were the speakers of the BlogHer 2007 session Blogging Workflow Tools and Tricks.
GM sponsored the cocktail party at the Navy Pier Rooftop Terrace on Day One of BlogHer 2007.
Bloggers mingle at the cocktail party on Day One of BlogHer 2007.
BlogHer is one of the few conferences that I’ve heard about that offer child care, which encourages mommy bloggers to attend.
Liz Henry, one of the speakers at BlogHer 2007, enjoys the cocktail party on the Rooftop Terrace at the Navy Pier. Also in the left top corner of this picture is Wired contributing writer Annalee Newitz.
Nelly Yusupova, CTO of Webgrrls International, Chapter Leader of NYC Webgrrls, and Founder of DigitalWoman.com, mingles at the BlogHer 2007 cocktail party on Day One.
BlogHer co-founder Elisa Camahort (left) introduces the keynote speakers on Day Two of BlogHer 2007 (left to right): Esther Dyson, Annalee Newitz, and Rashmi Sinha.
During the opening keynote on Day Two of BlogHer 2007, speakers (left to right) Elisa Camahort, Esther Dyson, Annalee Newitz, and Rashmi Sinha discuss the blurring of boundaries between (wo)man and machine. Since technology amplifies the best and worst of our nature, the panel talks about what women bloggers can do to drive technology development.
Speakers (left to right) of the morning keynote on Day Two of BlogHer 2007: Elisa Camahort, Esther Dyson, Annalee Newitz, and Rashmi Sinha
Marilyn Porter facilitated the Taking Your Blog To The Next Level session on Day Two of BlogHer 2007, where she provided information about how to customize WordPress blogging templates.
During the Multimedia Labs: Video session on Day Two at BlogHer 2007, speaker Gena Hasket discusses storyboarding.
Here are some inexpensive lighting possibilities when considering video blogging.
During the Multimedia Labs: Video session on Day Two at BlogHer 2007, speaker Cheryl Colan gave a hands-on demonstration of how to handle lighting.
Speakers (left to right) Kelly Erb, Denise Howell, Liz Gumbinner, and Nina Smith discuss copyright issues, tax implications, blogging policies, ethical concerns, and other business ramifications when making money with your blogging.
Speakers (left to right): Kelly Erb, Denise Howell, Liz Gumbinner, and Nina Smith.
At the Yahoo! Internet cafe, BlogHer attendees were able to relax, have a cup of expresso, and buy some books at the Barnes & Nobles booth.
This gentleman who served expressos, lattes, and cappuccinos at the Yahoo! Internet cafe was the friend of many, many people at BlogHer 2007.
Before the closing keynote, they provided a break… with snacks!
BlogHer co-founder Lisa Stone talks with Elizabeth Edwards at the closing keynote. BlogHer 2007 attendees welcomed Elizabeth with a standing ovation.
BlogHer co-founder Lisa Stone and Elizabeth Edwards discuss several different political topics and how her active writing is accepted by her husband John Edwards’ political campaign.
BlogHer co-founders wrap up BlogHer 2007 and invite attendees to join them at the Thank-You Cocktail Party.
Dove is the proud sponsor of the BlogHer 2007 Thank-You Cocktail Party at the Chicago Children’s Museum on the Navy Pier.
BlogHer attendees were encouraged to make their own fashion creations with the help of “Project Runway’s” Chloe Dao.
I didn’t make a fashion statement at BlogHer 2007, but I did get to meet Chloe Dao from “Project Runway.” Does that count?
The BlogHer experience wouldn’t have been complete without a picture with Elisa Camahort. Check out my pre-BlogHer 2007 interview with Elisa.
Elizabeth Edwards hung out for a bit at the Thank-You Cocktail Party at BlogHer 2007. I didn’t personally get a chance to talk to Elizabeth, but I was in reaching distance to snap this photo.
I was so happy to get a photo with Jane Goldman, the EIC of CNET Networks Lifestyle. Since Jane and I both work for CNET, it was kind of like running into a friend from your home town, even though we had never met before the BlogHer 2007 conference.
Kaliya Hamlin facilitated the BlogHer 2007 “Unconference,” where attendees were encouraged to talk about any topic they wanted to discuss. Attendees determined which topics they participated in.
Here’s a look at the discussion board, which was all attendee-generated. The two topics that I suggested and participated in were Blogging Technology and Women In IT.
My name is Sonja Thompson. I've worked for TechRepublic since October of 1999, starting with the enewsletter team, then with the Premium Products group (creating books and CDs), as well as programming some of the elements on the site. After leading the Tech News team on TR, I jumped at the opportunity to switch gears and try my hand at video editing, podcasts, and other forms of multimedia on the site. I'm currently the host of the Smartphones blog, plus I edit the TR Dojo video series. \ \ I graduated from the University of Louisville. Since then, I've also completed several technology related courses from SmartPlanet. My goal is to learn about the TR community, interact with members on the site, and hopefully encourage more people to participate - and more often.
