After Hours Fun at BlogHer’12

Wow, I’ve been to many trade shows and conferences in my life, but there is nothing quite like BlogHer.  BlogHer is the ultimate bloggers conference for women, though a number of men bloggers also attend.  Childcare is available on the premises and those moms with nursing babies can bring their babies and fit right in.  It is so refreshing and so unlike the other conferences I’ve been to that can be at times, pretentious.  There were over 100 sponsors at the event as companies have recognized the importance women bloggers have in the purchase and life-cycle of their products.  There are nearly 4 million women bloggers in the United States, which means 14% of all US moms are bloggers(1)!
And bloggers obviously have the ear of the president, as President Barack Obamapersonally addressed BlogHer attendees via live feed during the conference’s opening.  How cool is that?  Whether a republican or democrat, everyone appreciated hearing from the President.Most mom bloggers blog about their families but there are many who blog about their passions, interests, and causes.  I started WellConnectedMom.com because of my passion for technology and desire to make it easier for moms to understand what technology is relevant to them and their families.I have a lot of pictures to share of different “after hours” events I attended.  Companies will throw fun parties to meet bloggers and engage them with their brands.  Many of them are exclusive, so there’s always a frenzy surrounding getting in to these events.  To make it easier to view the pictures from some of my favorite top events, I am using “flip books,” a new company’s platform called Britely.com.  It’s a great way to show pictures in a fun organized way that doesn’t use a lot of bandwidth.  I love this concept and plan on incorporating flip books more often at WellConnectedMom.com.  Take a look at the flip books below and visit Britely.comto create your own!  You can create public flip books or private ones.  Creating a flip book is very easy to do and takes no time at all.

Children’s Place Event

Children’s Place is my number one favorite store for kids clothing.  It was great fun to get a sneak peak on their Holiday fashions being released in the Fall.

Sweet Suite

This event is not to be missed. It features about 20-30 toy companies showing off their latest toys.  Anything from charm bracelets to Sesame Street  2-way TV using the XBOX 360 Kinect! They also “sweeten” the pot with extra yummies like frozen Pinkberry yogurt and baked goods.

 

CAbi Style Suite

This was the most elegant event I attended. It was held in a beautiful 2 story penthouse on the top of the London Hotel. CAbi Clothing is a line designed by Carol Anderson only available through private consultants who come to your home. The clothes were beautiful and we were treated to two beautiful pieces of clothing to take home that evening.

 

National Geographic Kids

Who doesn’t like National Geographic Kids? It was a pleasure to spend an afternoon with National Geographic Kids to meet the people responsible for the magazines, books, and apps. They are in the process of coming out with some exciting things which I hope to share with you in the coming months.

Land’s End Night School

This MomTrends event was great fun where we learned about Lands’ End committment to durability in their backpacks and kids jeans as well as had the opportunity to use their clothing to create our ideal Back To School outfit for one of our kids.  MomTrends hit a home run with this fun event!

Ladies Who Tech Brunch

Clever Girls Collective offers bloggers a great network and they are truly committed to bloggers in offering them opportunities and compensation. They throw a great tech brunch every year at BlogHer which is always one of my highlights. It’s a great time to connect with my other tech friends while meeting new ones. There are also a number of sponsors present educating us about their latest technologies. This year’s brunch was held at the fabulous Mondrian SOHO hotel, a hip boutique hotel with a neo-classical vibe and penthouse views to die for.

 

As you can see, there was a lot of fun to be had at BlogHer, and this doesn’t even show the great learning sessions, parties, and exhibit hall at BlogHer itself.  In an upcoming article, I’ll highlight some of the great tech products I found during the show.  There were so many of them, I can’t wait to tell you about them.

 

 

(1) http://mashable.com/2012/05/08/mommy-blogger-infographic/