The photos taken in the photo booth set up during the 2010 CheesburgHer Party were posted this afternoon. As I looked at my pics, I saw how they correspond to how I perceive myself.
Photo #1: “Hello? Is this thing on? Okay, so I need to do what now?”
When I arrived home from BlogHer, I was still enjoying that fresh-from-a-conference high. Moving through throngs of people in New York, sweating on the subway, eating great food, and so on can be good for you every now and then.
Fast forward to Monday morning when I received a call that I was no longer in consideration for a position to which I applied. And then scootch forward a few more hours when I received an e-mail from a recruiter saying the hiring manager for a job I was really interested in had decided to move forward with other candidates that weren’t yours truly.
That, dear reader, is the definition of a buzz kill.
While I wasn’t running away to NYC for a couple of days to escape my reality of being jobless, it was nice to be busy with networking and attending sessions rather than staring at my Excel spreadsheet of jobs to which I’ve applied and seeing the growing trend of red as I mark off positions that I wasn’t offered or never received a response.
(Side note: I sincerely hope the hiring managers who can’t bother to put together a simply auto-reply letting people know where they stand never have to go through what I have had to endure. I’m not a stalker, so stop making me feel like one just to learn whether or not I need to continue on in my job hunt.)
To date, I’ve applied to over 100 positions in Portland and beyond — hence the need for an Excel spreadsheet to keep the process organized. Being able to take a brief respite from that process, if only for a short period of time, was so great. Being able to say, “I’m certainly going to have a great time!” is a lot better than constantly thinking or saying, “I’m really not certain what will happen to me.”
Besides the swag that amazingly made it back to Portland with no major breakage — one broken lollipop, alas — I return home with a stack of business cards collected. As I’ve done in previous years, here’s a list of sites. As always, take caution as some may include not safe for work (NSFW) content.
Mignardise
Rage Against the Minivan
Bern This
Money Talks News
KDiddy
Megan’s Minute
Weebles Wobblog
Everyday Goddess
Cohn & Wolfe
Rockin Mama
Altec Lansing
Living on Purpose
Sisters Shopping on a Shoestring
Jenn Foreacre
So You Think You’re Crafty
The Worst Mother in the World
Artiatesia Deal
Starfish Global
Accidental Musings
According to Sandy
The Green Samaritan
The Hotness
Liberated Muse
Ms Mary Mack
Gettington
Forbes Woman
Essence
Bodacious Boomer
Small Town Mommy
Story Bleed
(Current time: 1:15 PM Eastern)
Before I got to do this:
There was a lot of learning, sharing, and fun that occurred during my visit to New York City.
(Current time: 3:53 PM Eastern)
Today was the first official day of the BlogHer Conference. All the pre-party festivities last night left me in great spirits, especially when I started to run into bloggers I’ve met previously. With 2,400 bloggers in attendance, it’s great to see familiar faces as often as possible.
During the opening ceremony/breakfast, it was announced that BlogHer ’11 will be held in San Diego. I’m very excited because a) I’ve never been to San Diego and b) I’m looking forward to a shorter flight and not having to worry about time zone changes. Yes, I’m selfish.
I’ve attended two sessions so far — one on self-marketing via social media and another on how to protect yourself and your blog from security threats. Both were really great and I came away with a ton of great ideas, links, and information from the speakers.
It bears repeating: As much as I love the parties associated with coming to BlogHer Con, the sessions and the information therein are one of the main reasons I keep returning. Sure, it’s great to have a photo taken with Dora the Explorer or the Jimmy Dean Sun and acquire lots of fun swag. However, knowing how to keep my blog going and getting to meet incredible writers has me already looking forward to San Diego.
