Blogher Session Choices

Day 1

I think I’ll attend this workshop on community-based blogs. I’m very invested in my offline community, and I’m interested in the discussion of creating online communities. Also, I follow Nancy White’s blog, and was even linked by her when I posted my Year of Melodic Shouting video. Her comments on that post really got me thinking about what effects the strength of my offline community has on my attachment to participating in online communities. Do they work together? Do they detract from one another?

For the second workshop I think I’ll attend this and this. I’m definitely interested in understanding my traffic statistics, especially since I get a lot of traffic from Google searches. I’m also interested in building a greater audience, but TRYING to build an audience seems so contrived, so I’m anxious to hear what Elise has to say. And the writing workshop is perfect because much of what I publish on my blog is essentially a way for me to practice the craft of writing.

For the third workshop I definitely want to attend this session on video blogging because, as you may have noticed, I’ve been doing it a lot lately. As for the other workshop, I can’t decide between this session on design customization, or this session on tagging tools. I’m leaning more toward the first – any suggestions?

Day 2

I was thinking about attending this session on identity obligations because, though I’m a Christian, I’m very intentional about keeping my writing personal rather than preachy. But then, I just don’t think I can miss this discussion on Mommy blogging. Am I a mommy blogger? Though I do write about my experiences as a parent, I feel I want to be known for much more than “just” a mommy blogger. But why? What’s wrong with being seen as a mommy blogger? And why do moms so often search for something “more” than being a mom?

Again, a tough choice for session 2. I’m intrigued by this session on sex because, for cryin’ out loud, I haven’t talked about EVERYTHING on my blog yet. But I may attend this session because I blab about ALL my issues quite frankly, AND I have co-dependent tendencies, and it just seems like a good idea to hear some of these stories. Any thoughts?

And finally, for session 3, I plan to attend this session on getting naked because, well, I’m pretty naked. Pros? Cons? Plus, my friend Maryam is on the panel!

If you have any input, I would appreciate it, particularly because I’m doing a rush job of researching all this and my brain hurts from thinking too much. I’m hoping I will have the energy to blog my thoughts about each session at some point during the weekend.