BlogHer09 round up

I have just about settled back in at home. The last couple of days have been a bit of a whirl as I arrived back in the UK and had to go pretty much back to work.

I have taken a couple of days to digest everything that I saw and heard whilst over in Chicago and I must say that the whole event was one big roller coaster ride.

I was so excited about going to the conference and I had no idea what to expect when I got there. I did the full three days including the Business BlogHer session on the Thursday. I found this really interesting but the case studies that were highlighted as successful campaigns were so individual that it's difficult to take any ideas that you could incorporate into your own projects. But I met some really great people including Bridget Brennan author of Why She Buys who was great company throughout the conference (even if she did make me eat re fried bean stodge for lunch).

So what did I come away from BlogHer with (apart from a hangover and the lingering reek of Cheeseburgers)?

I have been sitting on answering this since I came home. I thought that if I sat back and let it digest I would be able to say I have come away with x, y & z - but it hasn't worked out like that. I do however feel a pressure to come forth with lots of forward thinking ideas but if I am totally honest what I came away with was more of a gut feeling, that I am on the right path. That I know what I am doing in the social media arena and that I should have more confidence in my abilities. Not just in the blogosphere but in all avenues of my life.

I met some beautiful people, each one with amazing inspirational stories to tell. Some that I will keep in touch with and others that I will not. One totally amazing thing is that in an environment packed with over 1500 women the vibe was really friendly. If you sat down alone a group would quickly gather around you likewise if you chose to join a group you were welcomed with open arms.

I am thrilled to be one of social media's early adopters and for the first time in my life I feel like I am at the forefront of a revolution. It excites me to see where this will lead me personally and professionally as the UK market tries to catch up with what has been the norm over in the US for years.

The social media revolution is huge over there - it has to be for global brands such as Pepsico and Johnson & Johnson to see the importance in sponsoring a Women's Blogging conference. They see the importance in being able to tap into their key target consumers for what it is - essential.

I missed my family dearly and them me. When I came home I felt such a surge of love that can only be felt by absence so another thing that I have learnt is that I shouldn't take those close to me for granted.

You may want to take a look at the pages of some of the lovely people that I met. Knotty Yarn, Grasping for Objectivity, Moosh in Indy, Chronic Babe, Advocation me, and the lovely Tim Gunn - who is so nice. He signed a pic for my hubby!

And finally I have learnt that the American's love the word Awsome! On Saturday I decided to count just how many times I heard it and by the time I passed out from an OD on cocktails courtesy of Knotty Yarn the count was nearly at 700! Awsome!

I will add a list of good stuff to look at later on today. I wanted to get this post wrapped before we did the live chat on BMB. If you were there, thanks for joining us. If you have any more questions about BlogHer and what i got out of it, please leave a comment and I will come back to you.