Rob's Blog

1000 Women Bloggers......and me!

July 18: First impressions of BlogHer 08, in San Francisco. Fantastic conference. And I'm just exaggerating, there are a bunch of us guys, but we are definitely a tiny minority. A new concept for white males! In many positive ways, this conference is unique by dint of its population, but on the other hand, a BlogHer is a blogger, is a blogger. And I'm finding there is ample common ground, information sharing and interests. One thing that you can't help noticing is the amazing positive energy here. It's palpable. It's also extremely well organized, and boy (or girl), do they know snack food - danish, Snickers, popcorn, chocloate, even Swedish Fish at the Sesame St. booth. It is also striking how non-commercial this is. Even though there are sponsors (J&J is here through the Safe Kids Worldwide organization, of which we are a founding sponsor), there is surprisingly little "pitching" going on. Maybe I'm stereotyping, but it seems that there is a female sensibility for "sharing" and connecting, as opposed to a masculine one of "selling" and deal making. Speaking of which, I'm reluctantly being impressed by Twitter, which the participants here seem to love. While it seems a bit like "social stalking" to me, it certainly is an interesting way to keep in touch. I noticed a twitter from BlogHer yesterday which read: "I'm amused that there are men here at BlogHer..............they're smarties! ;-)" I was kind of amused by THAT! But I think she may be right.

Katie's blog

Before I collapse tonight, I wanted to link to my niece Katie's hysterical blog
Halpyourself . Good work Katie. Keep up the Halper tradition of humor, sarcasm and disbelief!