Yes you red that correctly!
Now before I become the scarlet letter wearing girl who is the permanent outcast from BlogHer for now and evermore let me clarify. Â I WILL MISS getting to hang with wonderful people I talk to online everyday and meeting those I talk to but have yet to meet. Â Last year I got to finally meet and get to know so many wonderful people I had talked to online and loved that part of it.
*I can’t name them all because this post probably would go on forever*
I FINALLY got to hang with Jen, Sara and Miranda who to this day are still 3 of my closest friends I met through the web. Â That was priceless in and of itself. Â I made great connections with companies that the relationships made still flourish today.
BUT…..
Honestly last year’s BlogHer had too much drama for me. Â I kept to myself but still some Queen Bee felt the need to go and cause trouble for reasons unknown. Maybe it was just to feel powerful. Â Who knows? Â I mean seriously, that’s called being mental. Â I feel a little more sane after last year, I realized I wasn’t that crazy LOL. That along with the sheer craziness of it all well left a bad taste in my mouth.
However I have attended smaller scale conferences and meet ups since then and I must say that those are wonderful.  There wasn’t a lot of swag hungry crazies willing to squish someone with their stiletto to get that flash drive.  The sessions were a lot more involved and there was NO DRAMA at the smaller conferences and meetings I went to.
Moving on…another reason why I am not sad about missing BlogHer is it really would have been a waste of money. Â Why buy a ticket to the conference if you will not spend any of it in sessions? Â Seems like a waste of money (or sponsorship if you went that route). Â Listen people if I went to BlogHer I would connect yes…but I would be in NYC so would I be sitting in sessions? Â UM NO!
I love NYC so I would be out on the town sight seeing, eating, shopping (forget swag I would spend my own money here in this city).  Essentially it would be a vacation for me and I can’t for see a company wanting to send me on vacation. I just didn’t get a whole lot out of the sessions last year that I didn’t already know.  I can’t with good faith take a sponsorship to something I wouldn’t be attending at least 80 % of the sessions that seems wrong to me. And really the only way for me to go to these things is to be sponsored.
So due to drama, crazies (who thankfully I have weeded out of my life) and  wanting to go to NYC for a vacation not a conference I just don’t think this year was the year for me to go to BlogHer.  Maybe next year I will feel differently but frankly aside from not getting to go to NYC, not getting to see the people I love online, and not getting to hang with the brands I work with, this year I an not sad to be missing BLOGHER.
To all those going this year who are friends of mine online and IRL have some fun for me and if you see Bon Jovi (since he lives in New Jersey maybe he will be there) tackle him and give him my number. Â Give each other hugs for me and give NYC a big wave hello! Â And remember Swag isn’t that important, it’s not worth risking your life over *tee hee*
I should go ahead and get my scarlet letter ready in case I decide I want to go next year so people will know who to make the outcast after this post LOL.
Toni Patton
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Perhaps next year then 🙂
Totally understand where you are coming from with the drama queens. I hope to avoid them this year.
Hope you have a blast and it’s a drama free zone 🙂
LOL @ tackling Bon Jovi. Funny visual.
It seems you’ve thought this out intelligly and I don’t think you should go either.
Yes Bon Jovi getting my number would be ideal 🙂
Glad to know I am not the only one who avoids drama whenever possible! I would still like to attend BlogHer next year to put real-live faces with names. No idea what to expect at a conference like that though… I’m a total newbie! 🙂
Getting to meet people IRL is definitely awesome. I am glad I went last year for that reason. I’ll just have to find a different way to do it this year LOL
Honey. I’m there with ya.
Last year BlogHer was WAY too intense for me. If it weren’t for You, Jen (even though her and I got off on the wrong foot at first, now I love her to pieces), Miranda, and Melissa… I probably would have had a major meltdown. I mean, you saw me on that last night during BowlHer. I was so broken down I couldn’t leave the room.
Who wants to feel that way at a place where, I thought, I’d feel encouraged and uplifted with other like minded women. Like you, I’ve been to the smaller conferences and they are amazing. I’m interested to hear/see what goes on in NYC this year and am thankful I’m not there in the middle of it.
Oh I remember last year all too well! But I am so so glad I got to finally meet my BFF irl 🙂
Bon Jovi has always had, and will always have, the best hair. I do love that man.
I’m not interested in drama, either, so your post made me feel a bit better about missing the conference.
What a great post. I found you through the Blog Hop. 🙂
Oh girl I hear ya, he does have great hair. LOL. Thanks for stopping by.
Never been to Blogher, although I’ve been to the predecessor, JournalCon. It was a ton of fun and completely exhausting, but worth the money and time away this year? Not really. Maybe someday, if it comes closer to my neck of the woods.
I am glad I am not going too. I wouldn’t want to be in NYC and sitting in conference sessions! I am happy to be at home meeting bloggers that way.
I’m so super happy to not be going. I feel really good about my decision not to go. I loved Blissdom so much this year I may just stick to those smaller conferences in the future. I’m also just so tired of traveling for now LOL
That was really funny. I have only been blogging for a year, but I am not a drama person especially for “swag”…that sounds so stupid!
Thanks for comin’ by my blog today! I feel so much better about missing BlogHer after reading this post. shoving stilettos into someone for a flash drive? why does this not surprise me? 🙂
I was planning on going — had purchased my ticket, RSVP’d to all the right parites and everything, but decided to back out at the last minute. It just didn’t seem right to spend all that money with everything we have going on right now, plus it’s my middle son’s birthday. And, the mummy guilt would have been way too much for me! Great post!