BlogHer Business 07 — I was there

The boats carry war-, world-, and sea-weary, freedom-craving, hope-filled immigrants. Among the millions that poet Emma Lazarus tagged “tired, poor and yearning to breathe free,” I picture my maternal grandparents and their two daughters — the sweet sixteen elder, my mother, arriving in New York City. To greet them, Lady Liberty, the "mighty woman with a torch... mother of exiles," was standing in the port harbor. Here, on Ellis Island, the great registry hall opened as an immigration station in 1892, and in the next 68 years it was in operation, agents processed 12 million immigrants.

Even today, arriving in the Big Apple by airplane, I think about my mother’s maiden journey here — what it might have been like; and then, her arrival and early years on its strange shores.

I got the word in Tel Aviv
So when I opened Elisa Camahort’s email invitation to volunteer at the BlogHer Business 07 conference March 22-23 in New York City, I pounded my fists into the Tel Aviv air, shouting “yes!” (I had been wrapping up my part-time life there — the balance I live in Atlanta; it’s a bihemispheral thing...) I thought, soon I will be returning to the city where I grew up… to participate in a conference that focuses on a medium… that helps me integrate my life in two hemispheres! And (surprise!) I blogged about the conference where more than 200 women (and about a dozen guys) would explore "How to Succeed in a Social Media World."

Brain overload: a good thing
Bright, savvy, engaging, sympathetic, experienced, and resourceful peers, mentors, and talented presenters addressed the evolving communications paradigms and technologies. From the opening keynote session on the State of the Social Media World, and throughout the case studies and breakout tracks on topics such as Should You Blog? the players identified and grappled with the key issues, questions, and solutions.

Petite Atlantans (l. to r.) Toby Bloomberg, me, and
Stephanie Roberts frame BlogHer panelist
and fellow blogger Penelope Trunk

Close ups
Among social media veterans and newbies, media and tech giants, mommy bloggers, professors, and students —

The traveling team: unflappable Kristin and Nathan, age 6 weeks, cuddled in mommy’s sling.

Ewan Spence, attired in a kilt, represented Scotland and The Podcast Network.

Vlogger Bill Cammack, whose BlogHerBiz conference views are among his site Categories.

Fellow volunteer — gentle, funny, soulful artist, and inspiration Jen Lemen.

Angela LoSasso, Home and Home Office Web Content Manager, Hewlett-Packard Company, who financed her college education by playing professional women's softball in Italy! [NOTE: For Angela's reply to my request for her review of this description of her athletic accomplishments, please see my comment at the end of this post.]

Roxanne Darling (coach, communicator, and systems analyst specializing in health and technology), who listed on one side of a business card, the essential tools for podcasting and sharing files on my blog.

Diversity
The mix of race and age (and species!) of participants — moderators, panelists, and discussion leaders was incredible, and I noted and thoroughly appreciated that many women (and men) were of color. Absolutely magnificent.

Yahoo! Corporate blog editor, Nicki Dugan; FastCompany.com senior editor, Lynne D. Johnson; and Weblogs, Inc. editor, Karen Walrond (all shown above) discussed How to Embrace the Social Media Culture.

Carmen VanKerckhove of New/Demographic and co-host of "Addicted to Race," a podcast series, shared how she is tackling "America's obsession with race."

Ja-Tun — singer, performer, and hip-hop artist took notes the first day until her multi-tasking mother, Professor Kim Pearson, arrived. This witty, fun, and hip writer and educator is "... interested in the use of interactive storytelling as a means of encouraging more informed and engaged civic participation."

To visit or revisit conference proceedings, click these transcriptions (blogged "live") and audio podcasts.

• State of the Social Media World

• Case Studies Lab: Four Successful Business Blog Case Studies — Why They Win and What You Can Take Away

• Track: How Do I Measure? How To Build Your Audience, How To Measure Social Media ROI, and An RFP for the Measurement Industry

• Track: How Do I Get It Right the First Time? Should You Blog? How to Embrace the Social Media Culture, and How to Keep Out of Real Trouble

• Track: How Do I Reach Out? The Press Release Must Die, Forget the A-List — Find Your Blogging A-List: Effective Blogger Relations, and I Have Enough Trouble With My First Life!
  

• Audio Podcasts for 4 General Sessions State of the Social Media World, Case Study Interviews, Making the Case to Engage, and Is the Ethos of the Social Media World Changing How We Conduct Business Online and Offline?
  

Kudos to co-founders and uber organizers Lisa Stone, Elisa Camahort, and Jory Des Jardins. Bouquets to event planning goddess Kristy Sammis. Bows to programming advisory committee members Maria Niles, Toby Bloomberg, Elana Centor, Susan Getgood, Marianne Richmond and Lena West.

Maria Niles reports that animal companion, Zoe,
much preferred the conference to a kennel.