Blogher 2006 dates announced!
The dates - yes, dates - for Blogher 2006 have been announced: July 28 and July 29, 2006. This time Blogher will be held in San Francisco.
Thankfully, Friday and Saturday were selected, leaving Sunday as the come-down day. It took me much longer than one day to recover last time!
It's a fun event, even for introverts such as myself. It definitely impacted my blogging and propelled me to write pieces I wouldn't have dreamed of publishing prior to Blogher. The price last year was budget-friendly (about $100), although, at the time, I had to work hard to convince myself to part with the funds. In hindsight, my reluctance to part with the money seems comical: it turned out to be the best money I'd spent in a long time. (Although I assume that the rate will be hiked this year due to its popularity and increased length.)
My budget has improved a bit since then, but I wonder how/if Blogher will ensure women who are poor, but blog and are interested, are able to attend?*
If you're at all interested or curious, save these dates in your calendar. For those who live far away, there's much to see and do in the Bay Area, so a combined vacation/Blogher trip would be highly recommended.
A two-day event promises much - can they deliver again?
It seems too much to ask. Fingers crossed.
Links:
Save These Dates: BlogHer Conference ’06
Blogher Vision, Mission and Position Statement
Blogher Survey Results
* Sorry, Lisa, Jory and Elisa - I just had to put a thorn among the roses - otherwise, it's a nice love letter, don't you think?
Categories: Blogher 2005, Blogher 2006
3 comments:
Thanks for the love letter :)
We expect to take the same steps to ensure a crowd that is diverse in every way...including economic condition.
A thorn among the roses? Amen. I want the real opinions, or none at all. I'm glad to hear you'll be there again!
To your thorny question: You wrote: "I wonder how/if Blogher will ensure women who are poor, but blog and are interested, are able to attend?"
Short answer: Elisa's nailed it in her comment above.
Long answer: I'll elaborate on what Elisa means by "the same steps". This long answer boils down to donations and do-ocracy. Here's how:
(1) Last year, a number of women donated everything from paid registrations to airplane miles, hotel rooms, meals and their guest bedrooms to women who could not afford to pay themselves.
(2) A number of other women--and men--volunteered their own nimble fingers and elbow grease in exchange for free passes to the event (and I've never seen nor heard such fantastic live-blogging or audiocasting in my life). These files made it possible for us to share these discussions with the many people worldwide who could not afford to be in the room.
(3) Still others (the advisory board, the team, the chat hosts, photographers, discussion organizers and key participants) donated hundreds of hours of volunteer time to help program and deliver the conference discussions preserved in (2) above.
(4) Many of these hours resulted in agreements with generous, committed sponsors who believed enough in an inaugural conference for women bloggers to write checks to the event. These checks allowed us to hold the event, period, as well as to falsely depress the conference cost to $99 for BlogHers and $20 for students -- the actual bills were certainly higher than that amount.
(5) Every attendee who showed up can take credit for creating the kind of event that is paving the way--with women online who want to attend, with sponsors who want to reach women online--for a second one.
Since these ideas worked, that's where we'll plan to start for BlogHer 2006.
That said, I'll take issue with only one thorn-y word in your question, Sour Duck: "ensure." I know only one thing for certain: BlogHer will never be able to "ensure" that all or even most "women who are poor, but blog and are interested, are able to attend."
What we can do, with your able help and that of other committed BlogHers, is to create multiple opportunities for women attendees to help other women access this opportunity. I'd love to hear any additional brainstorms you have on this topic. Thanks mucho. And my apologies, again, for how long it took me to respond to this post.
I don't think you need to mention "poor" (or any euphemism) at all. In many other events, I've seen things like a "Financial assistance" hyperlink w/ info on applying for scholarships, etc. Or indications such as "No one will be turned away due to lack of funds." We all can read between the lines. And unemployed people don't consider themselves poor, but temporarily broke. And even self-employed often go in feast-or-famine cycles. I think "Financial Assistance" link would cover all bases.
I think Lisa outlined some great suggestions.
One of the major costs for those coming from out-of-town isn't the BlogHer rego itself but the airline & hotel costs. A wiki (or other space) to list folks willing to put up visitors, find a way to contribute frequent flyer miles into a pool, etc. would be mighty helpful too.
My 2 cents off top of head.
BTW, it'll be nice to see you again at SXSW.
Evelyn
http://evelynrodriguez.typepad.com
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