In the world of blogging, comments and links are virtual hugs. When bloggers meet socially, it’s a chance for real hugs. I’d like to thank the attendees of Blogger Social who welcomed me so graciously into their midst. We had two great days together of first meetings, conversation and hugs.
CK and Arun Friday night kick-off Marathon Mixer, Blogger Social ’08 April NYC
The mission of Blogger Social is to bring together a specific niche of bloggers who write about marketing/PR. Many of the 80+ bloggers who gathered from around the USA and the world were well-known forces in the field. I wasn’t yet a marketing blogger, but I was a marketing expert and managed to convince Christina Kerley “CK”, the organizer, that I would fit in.
I first heard of it on Twitter when Connie Reece tweeted that she was speaking at BlogHer Business and attending Blogger Social in NYC, which were conveniently back-to-back in April. I wanted to attend BlogHer Biz till I realized it was priced toward corporate attendance. I decided to wait until BlogHer SF in July.
Blogger Social began for me mid-day Friday. I finally met the delightful Shashi Bellamkonda, who was one of my first friends on Twitter.
Friday night, at the first and therefore highest energy Blogger Social official gathering, I enjoyed conversations and hugs with fascinating women including: Ann Handley, Valeria Maltoni, CK, Lori Magno, Toby Bloomberg, Virginia Miracle, Connie Reece, Jennifer Berk, Kristin Gorski, Tara Anderson, Jennifer Laycock, and Tamar Weinberg.
I tend to prioritize meeting women (sorry guys) but the men I met at Blogger Social were also amazing. Since the party didn’t even begin to slow down until 2AM, I had a chance soak in some wisdom from social media stars Tim McHale, Arun Rajagopal, Todd Andrlik, Darryl Ohrt, and Thomas Clifford. I was happy to grab first face-to-faces with Ryan Karpeles, Steve Woodruff, Nathan Snell, Lewis Green, David Reich, David Berkowitz, Mark Goren, John Wall and Doug Meacham.
Saturday morning, I somehow managed to get out of bed to an early morning brainstorming for Rohit Bhargava‘s book “Personality Not Included”, where I got to meet Anna Farmery, Heather Gorringe, Saul Colt, and Matt Dickman. This event was also open for us to invite friends, so I was able to bring Kathryn Jones, who contributed some great ideas to the brain fest.
Aside from an exciting look at the Statue of Liberty, Saturday’s boat ride let me get close to Mack Collier and Terry Starbucker. Chris Kieff “cookied” me.
At the Saturday night dinner, I got to sit between Geoff Livingston and CeCe Salomon-Lee. Seni Thomas and I had a chat in Japanese. I met and succeeded in hugging Amanda Gravel, Jane Quigley, Katie Chatfield,Scott Monty, Mario Vellandi, Greg Verdino, C.B. Whittemore, Kaitlyn Wilkins, Susie and Drew McLellan, David Polinchock and Jason Falls.
Sunday morning, I was grateful that Ryan Barrett put together a brunch, an event that I could bring Ray to. Luc Debaisieux, Gavin Heaton and Jennifer Berk joined us for a lively exchange.
Joseph Jaffe was exchanging supportive tweets with me up to the event. Thank you to Arun and Kristin for tagging me on Media Diet meme. It’s half written, I promise you.
Will I have a chance to hug you at BlogHer?
Rereading this brought back so many memories. Thank you for capturing them! Glad to hear you had a chance to go to BlogHer (your posts about it are great), and I hope to see you at one in the future....
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