BlogHer Comes to Boston! FTW

Posted by Maria on October 6th, 2008

I was really bummed this summer when I couldn’t make it out to San Francisco for the annual BlogHer Conference. Lucky for me (and you!), the Outreach Tour is coming to Boston this weekend - Saturday 10/11! As I’ve been sharing my glee with everyone who will listen, I’ve been getting a mixed bag of reactions (I find that I often get mixed reactions from people whenever I talk about an event/conference/anything that has “women” “her” “female” etc in the title. These “mixed” (read: usually negative) reactions are often, if not always, from men).

I was talking to one of my guy friends about BlogHer a few days after getting back from BlogWorld Expo in Vegas, and he said he didn’t get it — why, if I had just gone to a major conference about blogging, was a conference for women bloggers necessary? I sputtered for a moment, I mean, DUH. But then I stopped to really think about it. Why is it important?

My guy friend said he understands that women have not reached equal standing in many aspects, but that new media seems to be a field where the playing has been leveled. This made me pause again. It’s true, there are a lot of prominent women in the field. So, if the field is leveled, why does the idea of a community for women seem so darn important?!

I have been extremely fortunate in that my life has rarely been limited by my gender (I’m a girl…in case you were wondering *wink*). But, I know this isn’t true for all women. So, is this why it is important? So that women have a place to feel equal? Is it because tech is usually a sphere reserved for guys and diving in can be daunting? It is for the camaraderie?

Since I obviously don’t have the answer (I think it is a combo of a lot of things), I went a-hunting. One of the first thing I noticed while scouring the BlogHer website is that the answer wasn’t there. Their mission statement gave me a starting point

BlogHer’s mission is to create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community and economic empowerment

but somehow that isn’t enough (no offense!). I read that and think “yea! right on!” but there is something more than that that is triggering a reaction in me (and others - for good or bad).

I’m still trying to figure it out. So, in the mean time… What is your reaction (positive or negative) to BlogHer? Why do YOU think BlogHer Conferences are or aren’t important?

Regardless, I’m SUPER psyched for BlogHer Boston this Saturday. If you are there, please say hi!!

ScaryMom said,

October 6, 2008 @ 7:32 pm

I’m trying to find out myself! I’ve never been to BlogHer and am considering the DC event next week. The one thing that interests me is the fact that women are such a buying and decision-making force, and that is now recognized.

I’m curious to see what others say.

Dave said,

October 6, 2008 @ 7:45 pm

Let’s be honest: the tech world has been historically been dominated by a bunch of geeky dudes…for whatever reason. It is *awesome* to see these walls breaking down and even more awesome to see a group of individuals - even if it is an exclusive group - rallying together to keep encouraging those changes. Keep it up!

Melissa Silverstein said,

October 6, 2008 @ 8:37 pm

Having been to both Blogher and Blog World Expo this year and being a female blogger who writes about stuff relating to women, the big difference is the sense of community I felt at Blogher. People who were all so different seemed to be IN THIS TOGETHER, trying to make sense of the world and this new technology. Blog world Expo seemed a showcase for the cool geek kids and if you don’t speak the language you are just left behind.

melissa said,

October 7, 2008 @ 7:51 pm

I will be going too! yay!

My thoughts: the blogher network is part of what has allowed women to come together in the traditionally male dominated world of tech to publish their writing. Women-centric topics have been legitimized by everyday people making money on those topics. Look at the rise of the “mommy blog”, the craft-related blog, the food blogs…there are people making a living in those realms. Additionally, this media has allowed women to shine in other areas of business as well- law blogs and career related blogs come to mind- where there would be less exposure otherwise.

A female centric network reinforces this legitimacy from within the community and appears to create atmosphere that also teaches other women how to potentially make an income from their writing.

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