Special Announcement: BlogHer '13

Yesterday morning I was cruising through my Bloglovin' feed around 5am while nursing Billy and stumbled upon some information about BlogHer '13.

I've heard about BlogHer through..well, being alive and blogging as long as I have and have always dreamed of going. I remember seeing something earlier this year about it being in Chicago this summer but knowing I would have a tiny infant who is EBF, I never made plans to attend or did any research whatsoever.

Well, yesterday morning at 6:43am @BlogHerEvents notified me that they welcome moms with babes and provide lactation lounges for nursing.

Like I said in my tweet, this changes everything.

I started to research cost and brought it up to Hubs...weighed my options...and finally asked @BlogHerEvents to reach out to their followers and they ever-so-kindly obliged.

I received tremendous feedback from this tweet and so much encouragement! Thanks to @BlogHerEvents and all of the amazing moms who responded to my question... I am proudly announcing that Billy and I will be attending BlogHer '13 – CHICAGO!!!!

Being one of the biggest P-Dub fans around, I might leave my house at 5am on Friday to get there in plenty of time to see her Keynote. NOTHING I TYPE CAN EXPRESS THE EXCITEMENT I FEEL RIGHT NOW!!!

I've decided to just attend Friday, see how it goes, and come back Saturday if Billy and I feel up for it. I will be wearing him in an Ergo carrier and nursing all along the way as he needs it... but my latest concern is diaper storage.

As many of you know, he's cloth diapered and he always has a pretty nasty reaction if I put him in disposables when I'm in a pinch. How can I carry my babe, his clean AND dirty dipes for a day around a conference? Hmmm.

THANK YOU to @BlogHerEvents for taking the time to help me answer my nursing questions and for all the moms who have encouraged me on Twitter to take the plunge!! I can't wait to see all of you there and meet you in person!

If any cloth diapering mamas have tips and tricks for using cloth while on-the-go I would GREATLY appreciate it!! I may just give our gPants a wing again and see how he handles them. Hybrids to the rescue?? I hope his bum agrees :)

Comment if you'll be at BlogHer '13! I would love to meet you! I can't wait to put my business card stamp to awesome use.


My tentative schedule plan for BlogHer '13: 
BlogHer Newbie Breakfast

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BlogHer welcomes our new attendees to a breakfast dedicated just to you! Meet at McCormick Place to spend some time with other attendees just as nervous and excited as you are. Grab a plate, make a buddy, and kick your conference off on the right foot.

We'll offer you some helpful tips to get the most out of your conference experience, walk you through the program, the sponsors, and the social ecosystem of BlogHer '13.

Welcome, Kick-off Keynote with Ree Drummond, and Speed Dating, BlogHer Style

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BlogHer '13 opens at McCormick Place with a welcome from BlogHer's Co-founders, and then we turn the mic over to Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman, who will deliver an instructive visual retrospective of her blog's evolution and take questions in an informal Q&A, including community questions. After her keynote, Ree will jump-starting a BlogHer conference tradition: Speed Dating, BlogHer-Style.

Interest & Identity | Presentation: What Type of Social Media Leader Are You? / Roundtable: Beyond the Vertical, Into the Niche Hide 10:30-11:00 | What Type of Social Media Leader Are You?   Regardless of your blogging topic, there are numerous ways to define your style of blogging and the kind of leadership you want to bring to your readers. Define your purpose to smooth your path. Instructor: Ananda Leeke 11:15-12:00 | Beyond the Vertical, Into the Niche With armies of new parent bloggers, food bloggers, and every other kind of blogger coming into the blogosphere every year, how narrow do you go? And in that sea of bloggers, how do you continue to find your own community?  Panelists: Anjum Nayyar, Carleen Coulter,Feminista Jones, and Tracy Sestili Moderator: Christina Brown Birds of a Feather Lunch, and Keynote Conversation with Guy Kawasaki Hide After the Birds of a Feather Lunch at McCormick Place, technology evangelist, entrepreneur, and author Guy Kawasaki will sit down for an interactive conversation about his vision of "artisanal publishing", his perspective as both investor and entrepreneur, and how, as the man who created the role of technology evangelist, he has evolved from Apple evangelist to Android evangelist. Room of Your Own | Presentation: Using Social Media Tools Without Being a Tool: Marketing and Promotion That Lifts the Community as a Whole / Roundtable: Blogging and Anonymity Hide 2:30-3:15 | Using Social Media Tools Without Being a Tool: Marketing and Promotion That Lifts the Community as a Whole You love your blog. You want everyone else to love it, too. You want people to listen to you, because you're right about everything, of course. The problem is getting people's attention when everyone else is vying for it.  This session tackles the questions: What's the best way to promote our initiatives, activities, and writing without turning people off? How do you grow a loyal readership that will not only read your blog, but help you promote, too? How do you do all this without having to take a bleach bath each night to scrub your soul clean?  Learn from real-world examples of how to use the tools at your disposal, without being one. Instructors: Lauren Marie Fleming and Shalini Miskelly 3:20-4:00 – The List (and how to get on it): If there is one question we hear from bloggers covering this image- and access-conscious industry, it's "How do I get on *the* list?". We're bringing publishing, PR and brand perspectives to the table to give you an inside look at how it works. BlogHer editor-in-chief (and longtime women's magazine leader) Stacy Morrison moderates the insightful advice from Adrianna Giuliani from Devries Public Relations, Cristy Turner fromDigital Brand Architects, and Genevieve Ascencio from Factory PR. Voices of the Year Community Keynote Hide Join us at the Sheraton Chicago for the Voices of the Year keynote - our 5th annual celebration of the work that touched us most deeply over the past year across the blogosphere. 100 extraordinary posts will be honored, and 12 bloggers will be invited to share their posts aloud on the keynote stage.