Friday: morning arrived a little too quickly, and I had a terrible headache (bloggers do not get hangovers), but it didn’t matter—I had too much to do and no time to worry about headaches. After a quick breakfast, I darted off to registration and the first panel of the day. Then a short break and onto the breakout sessions, with panels hosted by established bloggers like Miss Britt, Mommy is Moody, Attack of the Red Neck Mommy, and Anissa Mayhew. All of them provided insight into blogging effectively—how much was too much to share, and knowing what really matters. After I attended a few more panels I stepped out for lunch with some of the funniest people I met that weekend. Avitable, Father Muskrat, and Secondhand Karl all shared some real Chicago Deep Dish with me and The Secret Agent Mama. We discussed everything from blog origins, upcoming projects, and even what it was like to be a newbie to the BlogHer experience.

Then before I realized it the day was over and it was time for the Keynote speeches, where twenty-one bloggers read essential passages from their blogs. It was a moving evening full of smiles, laughs and tears, but there was an amazingly palpable energy in the room—which of course got us all primed for the cocktail party to follow. With a few drinks in them, people began to unwind and belt out what could only be described as one-of-a-kind karaoke. I crossed paths with more fine folks and ended up with Deb On The Rocks at the Queerosphere party, where we talked for hours with the Cunning Minx and Melissa Lion about everything from politics to our experiences growing up.. It was a great night and helped me forget about everything and focus on what was important—the people.

Saturday:  Flew by like Friday with more great panles, handshakes, cocktails and hugs.  It was near the end of the day I suddenly realized that the reason I connected so well with so many of these bloggers. It was because they are great people, not just online characters. They have great stories, good and bad, to share with us and we can learn from that experience. I was now able to see them face-to-face and it  reinforced how much I admired them for being willing to be out there and exposed on the net.  I felt  honored to be accepted and welcomed by them and was sad when it came time to leave. There were many people I did not get to see in the mad rush of panels, parties, and airplanes, which was too bad. There was drama, of course, but nothing that really mattered, and in the end, everyone left inspired—and probably a little exhausted.

The flight back was a piece of cake and landed early; maybe a little Karma helped there, and I even got to sleep with an empty seat next to me. I spent that afternoon catching up on emails, washed the laundry, and made sure I would be ready for Monday. I was dead tired but I would not have changed it for the world.  It was a bit like The Wizard of Oz, to see the man (or bloggers) behind the green curtain, but in the end it made me see that we were all just part of a bigger picture, working towards helping each other express and understand this experience called life.  At the conference I overheard a woman say to a panelist, “Your blog saved my life. Just knowing someone else out there was going through what I was. That was enough to keep me going. Thank you. My daughter thanks you.”

It’s stories like that—a quiet moment, a comment, a nod, a thank-you—that made me fully realize the power of the shared experience, the written word, no mater what the medium. And now I can say with all surety that I really do understand what makes this community so strong.