Public Speaking Training

I love public speaking. I began doing it during my 20 years as an executive in Japan. Early on, I took advantage of participating in Toast Masters at the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ). That was for public speaking in English. I threw myself into an intensive series called Hanishikata Kyoshitsu (Way of Speaking Classroom) where 500 Japanese and one blond woman practiced making speeches in front of each other in Japanese. The leader did a great job of pounding into us to be specific rather than the using the vague references that come so naturally with the deferential Japanese language. I also want to acknowledge an amazing course with Werner Erhard that I took in the late 80’s called Presentation, Negotiation and Enrollment. My key take-away from Werner was to “be with the people.” My Courage Group partner Ray Gordon was a presentation skills trainer for the American Management Association and received certification to train GE personnel, so I was able to learn a lot from him as well.

I enjoy attending conferences and absorbing knowledge from experts in their fields. I also learn about how to moderate and present by watching what makes other presentations effective. Through my company, The Courage Group, I teach a course on presentation skills that utilizes video feedback in both English and Japanese.

Top Ten Public Speaking Tips

1. Never moderate a panel or speak in public without preparing
2. Create a map of important points you want to cover
3. Never read a speech nor an introduction
4. Use a computer screen to glance at your slides so that you are looking towards your audience
5. Tell stories that allow the audience to visualize what you are talking about
6. Use slides that appeal to the “right brain” of your audience
7. Be with your audience, check their faces – are they getting it?
8. Breathe
9.Time your presentation. Allow no less than 15 minutes for questions
10.Take advantage of attending the conference you are speaking at

How to Moderate a Dynamic Panel

1. To gauge who is in the audience, allow the panel to participate in deciding what questions to ask
2. Interview each panelist separately, to understand their strengths so that you can make each shine
3. During interviews, create maps of important points and questions to cover and share with the panel
4. Make sure each panelist commits to meeting as a group before the panel, preferably in person
5. Listen. Be ready to lead where the discussion is going
6. Ensure that the panel is delivering concrete, actionable information

Linda Sherman Speaking Engagements

This has been an enjoyable month for being on stage. I started off May 5th moderating a panel called the Facebook Factor for Digital Hollywood at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Los Angeles.

May 21st I spoke twice at SheCon, a new conference hosted by Julie Wohlberg in Miami. I spoke by myself for a session called Interactive Social Media Audit, and I participated in a panel on PR.

May 24th I spoke at BlogWorld Expo in New York City on How to Write for and Engage the 50+ Online Marketplace.

Women In Business Radio Interview with Michele Price

Michele Price will interview me on her radio show Women In Business Radio on Monday June 6th at 2PM ET. There will be an archive of the show but you can participate live by sending your questions on Twitter. The hash tag for the show is #WIBRadio. Michele Price’s Twitter handle is @ProsperityGal. Mine is @LindaSherman. You can listen on your computer or on your mobile phone at 347-857-4551.

Women in Business Radio spotlights women in business each week, discussing what has brought them to where they are today for their business VS just what they do IN their business.

Public speaking is likely to come up in our discussion.

Speak Chat on Twitter Mondays 9PM ET

Michele hosts a Twitter chat called Speak Chat on Mondays at 9PM EST.
Michele’s vision for Speak Chat is to create a community of individuals and companies who revolve around the professional speaking industry including speakers, authors, event planners, PR professionals, speaker bureaus, publishers, conferences,  vendors of the industry i.e. video, sound, product productions.

Michele and I met on Twitter and have most recently been interacting on a small private Facebook group for women who are recognized as public speakers.

Do you have any additional speaking tips to share?

Basic Twitter Tips from Leading Twitterati Women. Interview by Linda Sherman, Video by Ray Gordon Filmed at 140 The Twitter Conference Los Angeles, 140tc, Sept 22 at Skirball Cultural Center.

Basic Twitter Tips from Leading Twitterati Men.

The illustrious group of 11, in order of appearance on the two videos:

@Pistachio Laura Fitton co-authored “Twitter for Dummies” and recently founded OneForty.com.
Be useful to others, serve. Be natural. Don’t make it all about you. Share, be entertaining or kind.

@MariSmith Mari is described by Fast Company as the “Pied Piper of Facebook”.
Pick a memorable user name, customize your Twitter page. Especially if you are a business: know your audience, listen first.

@AlexiaTsotsis Alexia is Web/Tech Editor for SFWeekly and contributor to the Huffington Post (Alexia was tech/lifestyle reporter with LAWeekly when this was filmed)
What matters is that you are talking to others, don’t worry about how many people are following you.

@DoctorParadox Barb Dybwad, Senior Editor at Mashable.com, also blogs at Geeked.org
One of the most powerful things about Twitter is connecting with people. If you can share it with people you already know, you’re closer to the “aha moment” when you get what Twitter is about.

@AVFlox Popular relationships columnist AV’s personal blog
Ignore the question “what are you doing.” Tell us what you think is going to be valuable to us. Don’t have conversations on Twitter unless it is relevant to a topic you were discussing that you think is relevant to a majority of your audience. It’s not a chat room. Don’t tweet back and forth “LOL, hahaha, what did you do today?” There is the DM (private message) system for that, use it.

@HeatherMeeker Director of Marketing at Pelago
Send an email to all your friends, give them your Twitter handle and find out if they are on Twitter and add them. Go to WeFollow and add yourself to five categories you’d like to be found on. Find your voice on Twitter, know your focus and goal.

@JulieSpira cyber dating expert, radio show host and author, The Perils of Cyber Dating
Be consistent, know what your brand and message is, support other people in the same line of business you are in, spread the Twitter love.

@Percival Founder of LalaWag, Sean helps companies build compelling online and mobile experiences.
Twitter is story telling. If you are a person or a brand, the story will be different. But you want to move emotions. Paint a whole picture for them whether it is your product or yourself. Don’t just be a marketing vehicle or a “what am I doing” vehicle. Don’t look at the follower number as a metric for success. Quality not quantity. Focus on people that are targetted to you. If you are into surfing, you should have a following of people who are into surfing. A highly targetted following is the key to success.

@Chamillionaire Grammy Award winning successful entrepreneur
Know the reason you want to be on Twitter. Talk to your audience on a daily basis. Be authentic. Treat twitter like those are real people out there. Have fun. People like interesting people. You can influence someone’s day in 140 characters. Understand the power you have.

@adnys Currently Digital Marketing Manager for Red Bull. At the time of the interview, Andrew was Senior Producer Social and Emerging Media at the LA Times where they sustain this array of Twitter accounts.
Jump in slowly. Don’t worry about following too many people. Follow people that you really want to hear from. Experiment. Ask your friends if you don’t understand something.

@KevinWinston founder of DigitalLA
Don’t blast one way. Engage people, get the dialogue going. Retweet. Talk about good things that happen. It’s one thing to express yourself but don’t be a chronic complainer. Tweet the good things. Be well-rounded in your tweets.

You can find full interviews with each of these pros at the Courage Group Courage Group YouTube Channel or Blip.tv channel.

Linda Sherman’s Tips For Getting Started on Twitter – Part One

1. Choose a Twitter Handle:
Make it as short as possible and easy to remember.
Write a bio in 160 characters or less
Include a website link and an image, preferably of your face, so that we know who you are.
If you are a business, you can use your business image, it is nice to include the name of the person tweeting.

2. Conversation on Twitter
You interact with others on Twitter with:
@name This is called “reply” or “mention”
You can send @name messages even if someone is not following you yet.
D name This is a direct tweet or DM. You can only send DM’s to people who follow you

3. RT Retweet. The pattern for this is RT @name: their tweet. You can put a comment before or after their tweet. If it is after, be sure to show where your comment begins.
If the person you want to RT has not left enough space for an RT, you will need to take time to abbreviate or delete some words.
Lesson Learned: Keep your tweets short enough to easily RT.
Your @username is part of the tweet if someone RT’s you, that’s why shorter user names are better.
Via @name With via, you are paraphrasing their tweet. Put the via at the end of the tweet.
An RT is a gift. It enhances the twitter reputation of the person you RT. It also carries their message to your followers.

4. Following Back
Your are not obligated to follow back everyone who follows you. You can select.
Here are some typical criteria I use:
Unless you are a newspaper or important information source, I don’t follow one way blasting twitter streams. I look for:
- @’s in your stream to show you are in conversation.
- If you have put up an avatar and profile
- I like to see the name of an individual. I will forgive this if you are a particular customer service source that I need.
- That you are not obviously just about massing followers
If you are following for a reason, send a message @username. Apologies that it is public unlike the personal message available with the Facebook Friend request – but it definitely works. Or comment on the person’s blog.

4. Who to Follow
There are various Twitter directories, as well as Twitter search, that let you find others who tweet about categories of interest to you. You may also find people of interest in conversation with twitterers you already follow.

5. What Not to Tweet
Keep in mind that everything you tweet may get indexed by Google and is never erased from the internet. Personally, I generally avoid tweeting about politics and religion (although many people like to do this and I am not telling you not to). I am not snarky nor mean. I don’t find it necessary to make negative comments about individuals although I will complain if a service provider is messing up.

6. What to Tweet
Be authentic and conversational. At the same time, some of your tweets can include keywords that you want associated with your username. Every tweet should not be a link to your website but some can be. Include a phrase that will make us want to look at your website to learn more. Don’t just say, “I just posted link”

7. Twitter Behavior
Your tweet is a micro blog in 140 characters.
Very well covered in the videos here included with this post. Contribute value. Interact.

8. #FollowFriday #FF
This custom was started by @Micah. Each Friday you will see people you follow listing others they recommend that you follow. It is difficult but be selective. You can catch someone different next week. Some people have taken to saying something about each person they recommend. Most say something about the group. If I see someone doing pages of #FollowFriday, I discount the value and assume it is just bait to follow or #FF them.

9. #Hash
Putting a hash, and having an agreed phrase with the hash, allows Twitter users to find certain topics, conference names and other shared topics on Twitter. You can search on words without a # but the # convention encourages us to use the same shared word making it easier to find.

10. Twitter as News
Twitter is a great news source. Use twitter search or note “trending topics”.

Alexia Tsotsis with Jeffrey Henderson

Micki Krimmel with Sarah Szalavitz

Tameka Kee with Kurt Heim

Held both Spring and Fall (coming Oct 19 – 22) each year in Los Angeles, Digital Hollywood provides a forum to discuss what’s happening in the digital/new media space with industry colleagues. As Jeff Nolan from Silicon Valley noted, and I have previously written, Los Angeles is becoming more and more of nexus for the intersection of entertainment and tech, and we are well represented in this international gathering.

Some of the most interesting convention discussions happen in the “hallways,” and at the Loew’s there are many pretty spots for encounters. It was in one of those corners that I had the opportunity to meet the dynamic Hillery Nye in from Seattle for DH.

Hillery Nye with Marjorie Daleo

Joyce Schwarz, Panel Moderator, with Tom Bunzel

Hulu Buzz
Recent news of Disney bringing their content to LA based Hulu created some DH buzz. Joel Ordesky and Tameka Kee reported.

What Struck You in the Conversation?
I had a chance to follow up with Joel Ordesky at his June 16 Exectec meeting about Digital Hollywood. He brought up the excellent point that companies that create digital content for the web were going to great lengths to distinguish themselves from “user generated content” when in reality the line between the two is quite gray.

Music and On-Line Video Rights
Alexia Tsotsis, David Miller and Tameka Kee contributed to the discussion surrounding this continuing area of concern for DH attendees. Marty Lafferty included a panel video with his article on P2P.

Film Making and the Art of the Cause
Micki Krimmel was featured in this video panel moderated by Brian Sirgutz, with Marc Morgenstern, Melissa Fitzgerald, Juan Devis, and Charles Annenberg Weingarten. Video thanks to Thomas Rigler

HBOLab and other Cross Platform Stories
Tameka Kee talks with HBOLab Danila Koverman who is featured along with David Gale, Alexis Rapo and John Gilles in the following panel moderated by Suzanne Stefanac.

Marketing and Distribution
“How to Grow your own Audience: Alternative Methods of Distribution and Marketing for Documentary Films” featured panelists Scott Hamilton Kennedy, Rick Allen, Peter Yared, Slava Rubin discuss “How to Grow your own Audience: Alternative Methods of Distribution and Marketing for Documentary Films” with moderator, Adam Chapnick

Jennifer Netherby wrote about marketing on-line video.

Celebrity and Mobile
Reported on by Debra Kaufman.

My only complaint about this conference is that Loews doesn’t provide free wifi and one of the speakers told me the paid wifi didn’t work for her. I think at least reliable access to paid wifi in common areas and consciousness for providing outlets to recharge have become standard necessities for conferences. I’d hate to trade out the beauty of the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel so I hope that the venue can make this adjustment.

What struck You in the conversation at Digital Hollywood?

If you work for a corporation (and today with many of us gratefully clinging to any job, who is to complain) you likely have no choice on where you sit during the day. If you are lucky, you can see out a window or they let you work remotely.

Even if you work in an office, you still do some (a lot?) of work from home. When you are not working for pay, you are likely still spending time on your computer at home.

So what is the view beyond your computer?

I decided to post this “Hard at Work” on my Posterous blog to reply to frequent “have a great time” “enjoy your vacation” comments when I mention I am currently at my house in Kauai. It really is possible to work in a beautiful place.

My theory is that you will certainly feel better if you are working in a beautiful place. A view is a gift to yourself. A message that “I’m worth it”.

I am collecting photos and blurbs about your working view. Can you please send me a photo of your view at work by e-mail or with it’s URL on Flickr. Please include a web URL you would like me to link your name to. A bit of explanation would be most appreciated. I will pull them all together for an article on this topic. Please use #ViewAtWork for Twitter, Flickr etc. My e-mail: Linda.Sherman at CourageGroup.com Photos are posted in this ViewAtWork Flickr set until I publish the compilation article.

In the photos I posted from my lanai, I first attempted to take a photo of my computer screen with the view beyond. My MacBook screen is bright and beautiful but it is really hard to take an effective photo like that. So let’s just say we believe your computer screen is somewhere below your camera lens. If your work has nothing to do with a computer screen, please note. Scenes from restaurant kitchens and construction sites are welcome!

If you like, please come discuss at Liz Strauss’s fabulous Tuesday Open Comments Night. There is a Facebook event sign-up I put up (this does not yet include Liz’s traditional network who will also show up).

Here is an example of what I am talking about, graciously provided by Marsha Collier:

I started working at home in the mid – 80s, when no one took you seriously if you worked at home. I wanted to be near my daughter, and I had contracts from retail marketing clients, there was no way I couldn’t do this at home. I had a 2 car garage and moved the car out. I had a big window put in, the garage rewired for phones and extra electricity, put in a drop ceiling with fluorescent lights, put in an air conditioner and had carpeting put down. I went to a used furniture store and got desks. When you were inside, it was a real office.

Ten or so years later I moved to a new house. I knew the value of being able to walk away from my work, and didn’t want papers or computers anywhere where I could relax. Nothing in my living space. So I had a room built off the garage and kitchen for my office. I love it (although it’s dreadfully messy). When the stress gets too much, I look out through the French doors (always keep the side vents open so I can hear the birds chirping at the birdfeeder)..

The attached pictures are from my desk and the second while standing at the French doors. I get a peaceful feeling whenever I look out. I love my home office.

Marsha’s view from her desk

Marsha’s view standing at her french doors

Esther Dyson with Original Macintosh 1984 Digital Deli

Esther has never stood still. She is an observer, analyst, connector, investor, philanthropist and advocate who never tires of learning something new.

Early in her career following graduation from Harvard, Esther worked for Forbes. In 1974, she traveled to Japan, on her own vacation time to write an article that Wired Magazine referred to as “seminal” about the competition Japan would bring to computer hardware. I can attest that Japanese industry was largely ignored by the press in the 70′s and this was certainly an early sign of Esther’s ability to detect important trends.

She has used her multiple talents to foster start-ups over the years. Companies she has invested in include Del.icio.us and Flickr (both sold to Yahoo), Medstory and Powerset (sold to Microsoft), Brightmail (sold to Symantec), as well as ChallengePost, Doppler, Icon Aircraft, Patients Like Me, Relief in Site and Xcor Aerospace.

Her current board seats include 23andMe (personal genomics), Airship Ventures, CVO Group, Eventful.com, Evernote, MeetUp, WPP Group and Ameritocracy, AnchorFree, Choicestream, IBS Group, Keas, Live Journal, PGP Corp., ReframeIt and Viewpoint.

She is also a trustee of the Eurasia Foundation, the Long Now Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy, Personal Genomes.org (for which she has posted her genome and soon all her medical records online), the Santa Fe Institute, Stop Badware and the Sunlight Foundation.

Esther is wrapping up a five month stint training as a back-up cosmonaut in Star City, Russia. Her father Freeman Dyson, and brother George Dyson will fly in to watch the launch with her on March 26th and then she will return to her home base in New York City. Esther looks forward to coming back to her whirlwind lifestyle – along with the opportunity to resume her daily swim again.

Esther with Spacesuit and Seat Mold Fitting Specialists in Russia

I asked Esther what she took from her experiences in the Russian space travel training program. She is invested in – and passionate about – private space travel, so she took joy in learning to be a space traveler, her enhanced understanding about the business and technical challenges, and her ability to be an advocate for NASA.

She also shared something about her cosmonaut training that resonated with me and – I expect – with the powerful women I surround myself with. She said, “I am not used to not controlling my life. [This experience] allowed me to learn to cede control with dignity.”

Where will her next investments be? “People talk about investing the way they talk about having sex , but in both cases you need to consider the consequences – the time it takes to raise the children or guide the companies to success.”

You can expect that Esther will continue to be a visionary, identifying new areas worth further investigation. Here she will follow one of her favorite mathematician quotes: “The remainder of the proof is an exercise left to the reader.”

Mathematician quotes come easily to Esther, since her mother is the accomplished mathematician Verena Huber-Dyson.

Esther Dysons Mother, accomplished mathematician Verena Huber-Dyson

Esther Dyson Demonstrating Her Tenacity in 1958

A relaxed moment in St.Barts photo thanks to Peter Corsell

Balancing Act Esther Dyson on a Boat in Barcelona

Photos above courtesy of Esther Dyson’s extensive Flickr photostream.

Esther receiving the Aenne Burda at DLD (Digital Life Design) Jan 25, 2009 from Hubert Burta, photo thanks to Eirik Solheim

Esther Dyson with Joi Ito, Barak Berkowitz and Jean Louis Gassee D Conference 2006, photo thanks to Dan Farber

John Doerr, Esther Dyson, Charlie Rose pre-taping a Charlie Rose Show at Technet 2005 photo thanks to CNET editor in chief Dan Farber

I thrived in the international community in Tokyo. Coming back to America, at first I missed being a leader of this and that, and being a regular at networking hives like the Economist group.

Today I happily participate in the Los Angeles scene instead.

So much has happened in the networking scene in one year.

On-line, I got a head-start on Twitter and watched it go mainstream. Facebook now hums with adults. Spurred by the gradually deteriorating economy, LinkedIn has more, well, links.

IRL (in real life) meet-ups and on-line relationships intertwine. One of the fascinating pieces of glue pulling them together is photography. Flickr’s storage platform and FacebooK’s photo tagging system makes timely sharing easy.

Over this year Wm. Marc Salsberry has emerged as The Man taking tech glitterati photos in Los Angeles. There are other shooters of course, including my fabulous husband Ray, who took this popular photo of Marc January 11th as we exited PhotoLA.

Wm. Marc Salsberry by Ray Gordon

A year ago, Kevin Winston, My Space movie marketer, was just starting up Digital LA. Now attendees from Sony Pictures, Yahoo!, FOX Interactive Media, Google, Disney, WB, NBC, Vivendi Games, and other entertainment, studios, ad agencies, startups, and tech companies mingle at sold-out monthly gatherings. The January 28th happening at Coco DeVille was electric.

Kevin Winston and I at WebTV Jan 15

Feb 5th, I got a Social Networking Insider newsletter from Marc Lesnick and Mark Brooks that read:

SNC2009 West will be in Los Angeles and is scheduled for (June 25-26). We’ve moved it from SF to LA because … LA is becoming the new ‘hot area’ for tech.

Hollywood Web TV Meet-Ups bring together the Digital Film set. Tubefilter’s Marc Russell Hustvedt hosts these events and recently created an award, the Streamys. I nominated The Last Single Girls webisodes series that The Courage Group produced with Jerusha Stewart. The February 4th meet-up at maniaTV Studios was immense. My marketing savvy NYC pal, Tim McHale recently concurred with me that LA is where digital film is happening.

Sean Michael Beyer and I taken by Kent Schmidt at WebTV Feb 4

Efren Toscano and his handsome TechZulu crew are out and about live streaming the key LA tech meetups, including BarCampLA Oct 26 at Mahalo headquarters where I spoke on “Single Life: On-Line/Off-Line Integration”. TechZulu celebrates their one year anniversary February 11th at the Beverly Wilshire Sidebar.

We’ll be at TwistUP 5 February 12th at Santa Monica airport. SingularCity is a media sponsor.

The women in tech and film in LA are not being left behind.

LaLaWag got me on video at Girls in Tech, answering a question no one else had a real answer to, “Who are the female heroes of tech?” My answer: Esther Dyson!

Robyn Nicole Cohen), Girls in Tech LA host, here with Jackie Peters and Laurie Percival @V Lounge Jan 27. Photo by Wm. Marc Salsberry

Jackie Peters, founding partner of Heavy Bag Media, hosts SMCLA events. January 11th, we enjoyed her Sunday brunch. Here’s Anita Ondine who was on her “Social Media Club LA – Focus on Film” panel (photo by Ray Gordon).

You never know when everyone’s favorite recruiter, Melissa Hooven, may show up so make sure to have enough business cards on hand.

Melissa Hooven, Marsha Collier and I on New Years Day at the Belvedere (photo by Ray Gordon)

Famous author of the eBay for Dummies series, Marsha Collier, and I will be at Lotay Yang‘s Black Card Circle Foundation Black Tie at the Ritz Carlton Feb 7.

Stephanie Quilao who spoke on the “Coming Out” panel had this to say:

The big theme that came out of the session was that having the bravery to come out on your blog helps others feel less alone, and again, that is why I love blogging, the power to comfort and help others on this journey we call life.

I met Crystal McKee my first night at BlogHer (July 17). Her kindness is an inspiration.

Crystal and Amanda

I had the opportunity to mention the important Ask and Share health site EmpowerHer.com to Crystal and other generous women I met at BlogHer who are willing to share information about health conditions in order to help all women. These women included Shannon Lowe Rocks in My Dryer, @slackermama Marilyn, and Erica Barrie.

@whymommy Susan Niebur has gathered twenty brave mothers to share stories. Susan was on a great panel “Blogging Community as Healing Force” where I was also able to meet Laurie Kingston and LoveBabz.

Susan Niebur

Women helping other women get in shape were a pleasure, including @DebRoby Debra, and Sahar Aker Fat Fighter TV.

Stephanie Quilao brought up one of my favorite themes in her Back in Skinny Jeans blog: “I would have enjoyed at least one session that was dedicated to the ‘fabulous and single.’” I too would really like to see a panel on “Single Life” at BlogHer09. It could include the popular blogger and fabulous single mom, Rachel Sarah (caught here on a BlogHer break).

Rachel Sarah Single Mom Seeking

I am happy to say that I was able to meet and begin relationships with a broad spectrum of women.

Non-Mommy Bloggers were well represented. I enjoyed meeting these women: @everydaywonders Vanessa Longman, @lizrizzo Life and Love in the La La, @glossedover Wendy Fenton, @moddivorce Helene Taylor , Stephanie Shkolnik Fabulously 40, @hermedia Kay McFarlane @lapetitchic Katie Sloan Dornblaser, @Bayjb Jessica, @katelin Pretty Sandy Feet, @jamielovely , @freeandflawed Jenn, Melissa Silverstein Women & Hollywood, Jamie Risdon Lentzner Jamie’s Painting & Design, @elkit Elke Sisco, Amanda Wolfe, @Kanter Beth Kanter, @ShannonRenee, @megansmith Megans Minute and @kimberle Petroville. Mary Ostyn is in a category of her own.

There were women helping women in many ways, Elise Bauer provided blog traffic building tips.

Staying through the Unconference on Sunday was a good decision.
There I got to enjoy nuts and bolts discussions with @amnichols The Write Spot, @mamacita Jane Goodwin and others.
I had fun with a mother and daughter team, Catherine Morgan who led a health & wellness session, and her mother, Frances Ellen.

The Unconference provided the smaller group really nice access to the BlogHer Folks, like @dtanton Denise Tanton and Liz Henry. And of course the BlogHer founders, Elisa Camahort, Jory des Jardins and Lisa Stone.

Saturday morning’s keynote provided ample opportunity to meet the speakers. Stacy Morrison, editor-in-chief of Redbook, graciously stayed for about an hour to accommodate the long line of bloggers wanting to meet her. All three women did a great job sharing with us about Hybrid Media. Stacy was particularly captivating.

Stacy Morrison

Shireen Mitchell captured an audio interview for her blog with Essence Director, Digital Development, Lesley Pinckney following Lesley’s participation in the Hybrid Media keynote.

Shireen Mitchell and Lesley Pinckney

What session would you like to see added to BlogHer09?

When I first noticed the July 27th New York Times article about BlogHer, I was happy for two reasons. First, Vanessa Longman had been included. Second, the article was another of many recent acknowledgments of the importance of women as a group. Since I read the article on-line, I did not at first notice what section it was in.

Then I saw the complaints about the New York Times choosing to run the article in the Style section. I looked up the writer, Kara Jessella in My Cision (formerly known as Bacon’s) journalist database which describes her as “a Contributing Beauty and Fashion Writer. She is also the beauty editor and style contributing editor for The New York Times Magazine.” I also found she was co-author of “How Sassy Changed My Life.” Coming from that perspective, she made an effort to talk to a variety of bloggers, including health and political bloggers, who credited her with listening well and being nice, and she wrote in her voice.

Fortunately, before I published my conjecture of why the NY Times story appeared in the Fashion & Style section, Tricia Romano of Pop and Politics actually got the NYT Style Section Editor, Trip Gabriel, to describe how the article landed in the Style section. Tricia also got a quote from Kara who explained that she pitched the story to Trip Gabriel for the obvious reason that he is her go-to guy at the NY Times. Tricia quotes Mr. Gabriel as writing:

“Kara Jesella’s article is smack-dab in the bull’s eye of stories Sunday Styles has run for years. When people ask if a ‘serious’ piece about glass ceilings is undermined by appearing in a section that covers fashion, beauty and other ‘superficial’ topics, I’m pretty sure they haven’t been reading The Times’s style sections deeply or for long. We do cover these topics, of course, along with all kinds of social trends and attempts to decode the zeitgeist, but we try very hard not to write about beauty or fashion in a promotional or superficial way.”

As someone who pitches stories about “single lifestyle,” I’m well aware of the murky editorial landscape for finding a home for social trend and lifestyle articles.

Megan Carpentier of Jezebel made the good point that the New York Times has written about male bloggers in the same section.

In my opinion, the New York Times BlogHer article and the discussion around it are part of a transition in the right direction. The article has since been cross-posted in the technology section of NYTimes.com.

The best part of BlogHer for me was the women I met. I had warned many in comments on their blogs that I was going to hug them when I saw them. Fortunately, no one was turning me down. First allow me to share the few photos I was able to capture of women I finally met in person that I already loved on-line: Vanessa, Leah and Laura.

@vvanpetten Vanessa Van Petten Teens Today

A full description of Leah Jones’s contribution to my life requires a post of its own. Suffice it to say here that Leah inspired me to get on Twitter and start my blog for which I am grateful.

@LeahJones Digital-Culture Evangelist, Edelman Digital; Leah in Chicago

@pistachio Laura Fitton

I didn’t get photos but I was so pleased to finally meet on-line pals @GeekMommy Lucretia Pruitt, Stephanie Quilao Back in Skinny Jeans @AlizaSherman, @stephagresta, @QueenofSpain Erin Kotecki Vest, @rslux Rachel Luxemburg, @akamonty Shannon, @emom marianiles.

BlogHer was great for being introduced to women I didn’t know at all before, discovering them as people and reading their blogs for the first time. I asked for their Twitter addresses. There was so much talk of Twitter at BlogHer that I am sure quite a few women who had managed to ignore it up to now were compelled to finally get a Twitter handle.

I have so much more I want to share about being at BlogHer, but I really need to stop now and continue in my next post.

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?

The women starring in The Last Single Girls webisodes are all currently single. Most of them are noteworthy authors writing about single lifestyle in one way or another. Their books are filled with tears, laughter, humanity and wisdom.

Jerusha Stewart, a single life expert, who has appeared on panels with other single women in a variety of settings, including a recent appearance on View From the Bay, was inspired to develop a series created especially for the web called The Last Single Girls webisodes. The title is taken from her website and her company LSG Network. She describes her project as:

Picking up the conversation where Sex And The City left off.

In the short-form webisodes, Jerusha Stewart and her two co-hosts, engage in free-flowing debates devoted to love, sex, and single life. The impromptu roundtables happen everywhere. Jerusha and her co-hosts are seen dishing on the phone, at the office, on the way to lunch, out shopping, having their nails done, at a night club, getting massages, at the movies, over dinner, and in their studio lounge. The improvisational timing keeps the conversation moving with never a dull moment as the three debate current issues facing today’s singles.

Jerusha Stewart is author of “Single Girl’s Manifesta.” She is joined by authors Wendy Merrill – “Falling into Manholes: The Memoir of a Bad/Good Girl,” Rachel Sarah – “Single Mom Seeking: Playdates, Blind Dates, and Other Dispatches from the Dating World,” Maria Murnane – “Perfect on Paper” and Tracy Watson – Be seduced! (the cheeky guide to being happily single). Akiba Smith-Francis, who has a book soon to be published called “Stepping Off the Path,” and Jackie Jones, who creates and sells a successful jewelry line, are also featured.

Ray and I spent 4 days in the Bay area, where he did the filming. I took “making of” photos. Ray is currently editing the immense collection of footage we came back with. Jerusha will be coming to LA to contribute to the editing process July 10th. Jerusha’s amazing sister, Deni Tyler, contributed voice over and styling.

How did I get involved? Well, you’ve seen most of these women before in the Singelringen Favorite Authors Network that I built. The philosophy of wearing the ring, the philosophy these women live by and the series itself all mesh perfectly. Even Singular Magazine shows up in the nail salon scenes.

Here’s some “making of” pics.

Rachel, Wendy and Jerusha in the living room scene

Ray wiring Jerusha’s lav mike

Jerusha, Akiba and Wendy shopping at Iniam

Ray shooting the shopping scene

Wendy getting in character for the shopping scene

Ray shooting the girls walking into Iniam with Deni’s assistance

Tracy, Wendy and Jerusha at winery tasting room

Maria, Jerusha and Rachel at nail salon

Jackie checking out the pre-production launch issue of Singular Magazine.