BlogHer from Afar: BlogHers for Congress?

August 16th, 2011

For the past two years, I’ve attended the annual BlogHer blogging convention, but this August I was across the country in Manhattan, the site of last year’s BlogHer.

While I was too busy enjoying NYC to follow either #HomeHer or #BlogHer11, BlogHer was on my mind. At the Museum of Natural History, I sent twitpix of female science students to @WhyMommy, the woman who inspired this blog, and whom I finally met last summer at #blogher10.

I snuck a few minutes to google  “blogher + blogs,” and to email my green blogger friends, just back from BlogHer 11, to get the scoop.

As always at BlogHer, it appears there were some controversies. The “Anti-Green Movement of Bill My Parents?” – bad joke, overzealous marketing, or actually quite funny? Those Styrofoam plates – ditch them, Blogher! And the HuffPost women session? Whiners or honest sharings?

The fact is, BlogHer is as close as some of us will get to a slice of truly all American apple pie. No, BlogHer in some ways is not as diverse as America – it’s more affluent, more white, and better educated. But the fact is, it’s a place where for several days, in packed conference halls and on dance floors, women interact. The “Queerosphere” group of LGBT women is there, with their rocking party, open to all. So too are the  “Modern Marthas,” women who blog about  hearth and home. There are the Change Agents, radical Moms, activists who want to change the world. Then there are those who pack extra suitcases just for the swag, or come solely to  connect with brands. There are those who refuse to set foot in the exhibit hall because of the rampant  commercialism.  And there’s an entirely different world of private parties for those who serve as brand ambassadors.

But you know what? They all get along.

It’s a civilized gathering.

A joyful society. A respectful confab.

And as my train pulled into Washington, and I glanced at that beautiful Capitol dome, now a symbol of so much dysfunction, it occurred to me…Wouldn’t Congress be a better place if we got more of our BlogHers there?

— Lynn


5 Responses to “BlogHer from Afar: BlogHers for Congress?”

  1. LA Juice on August 17, 2011 9:55 am

    I noticed you linked this post to my blogher 11 blog post, but I am confused and curious as to whether your link to my blog insinuates that I am a whiner or that the panelists of the Huffpost session were whiners. I would love clarification because unfortunately it really looks like you are calling me a whiner, which would be very classless for someone who wasn’t there and doesn’t know me. That is why I am commenting -so that you can correct me if I am wrong in my interpretation. If my interpretation is right, it definitely appears you are kind of a bully and just the kind of person that made this conference so cliquish and exclusionary to those of us without a “husband stitch”. I stand by my critique of Blogher 11 and find it disingenuous and myopic of anyone who would take such potshot.

  2. Lynn on August 17, 2011 10:34 am

    Absolutely not calling you a whiner! I enjoyed your post and read it several times, wish I had left a comment. But I did interpret your post as saying that the panelists and attendees at the Huff Post session were whiners. I have a strong recollection of reading your writing about how them whining re how their husbands did not buy the right type of ketchup. I included your post because I wanted to show the diversity of opinion at BlogHer, and about BlogHer.

    OK, just went back and read my link and your post, and I stand by what I wrote. I think you do too…you described it as a “whiny bitch fest.” I hate them too…and had I been there, I might have walked out also. I’ve sat through these before, and generally the whiners have no idea how priviileged their lives actually are…. And how much MEN make that possible.

    Are we square now?

  3. LA Juice on August 17, 2011 11:52 am

    Thank you for clarifying! You are right I did call the panelists whiners- well played, and thank you for being a mommy who knows my post was not about mommies!

  4. LA Juice on August 17, 2011 11:53 am

    and sorry!

  5. Lynn on August 17, 2011 12:00 pm

    No prob! My system didn’t bring up your comment, so I just left a comment at your blog about this…not to make it more confusing…!!!

    We’re cool.

    Oh, and I’m not someone who calls herself a “mommy” — ever. Mother, yes. Mom, sometimes. Green Mom blogger – ok.
    (I’m teasing you here a bit online!) Stay in touch – are you on Twitter? I’m at @organicmania – reach out if you are, please!

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