Weblogsky: Staci Kramer on BlogHer

« Ooky Corpses | Main | Murdoch and Skype »

Staci Kramer on BlogHer

BlogHer was, I gather from the reports I've read, a unique conference, possibly because it wasn't just the usual suspects having the usual conversations. I wasn't there, so I've been looking for a good overview; today I ran across a rich account of the conference at the Annenberg Online Journalism Review, written by Staci Kramer. Staci has some thoughts about why this conference was different:

It would be easy to ascribe the difference to the overwhelmingly female majority, but it goes deeper than that.

Part of it came from the cross-section of bloggers self-selected as participants or attending as invited panelists. We could -- and did -- break into smaller groups (one time slot was set aside for "birds of a feather" groups) but we were there for reasons that pulled us together more than they pulled us apart. Plus, we were determined to make it work.

There were intense feelings, and "...it wasn't all sweetness and light. Anger, frustration, disagreement, disappointment – all made frequent appearances during the weekend and after." From Staci's report, I get the sense that BlogHer was great because it was a truly authentic experience for most of the participants, and authentic experiences are rare anywhere these days, especially at the myriad conferences focusing on talking-head panels pontificating for 45 minutes followed by ten minutes of questions. Sounds like everybody was talking – and listening – at this one.

jon posted this at 11:18 PM
Share on Facebook| email to a friend