Blogher 12 has just ended & I feel the need to offer up my observations about the evolution of a conference that is to many, the crown jewel of women’s networking events. Professional bloggers like Cecily Kellogg over at Babble & Amy who heads up Mom Spark have taken the plunge & posted their feelings about Blogher 12 & fearlessly questioned what they’ve gotten from the event & what that take away is worth to them. They’ve started a worthwhile discussion & I think a closer look at the subject of return on investment (ROI) & women’s reluctance to openly discuss this is important.
BlogHer Grows Up
In 2005 the first BlogHer conference event in San Jose, California opened & had 300 attendees, flash forward to 2012, this year’s event had over 4,000 bloggers in attendance. Phenomenal growth, particularly when you consider that that the vast majority of conference goers are not sponsored & are dipping into the family budget to attend. BlogHer has become like a yearly pilgrimage that many view as a “must do” if they are to achieve recognition in social media. Criticisms of the event & discussions about ROI are met with unease. Women, raised to “be nice” inadvertently silencing other women by encouraging them to “focus on the positive’ or gushing about the emotional “connections” we will all be making, the implication being that a complaining woman only values money or things.
ROI Is Not a Dirty Word
Do you think successful men sit there saying “I spent a butt load of money, traveled thousands of miles & didn’t get what I came for but that’s okay because I had a few positive moments ” ? Do you think sponsoring brands do this? For that matter do you think the talented founders of Blogher do this?
Be you a hobby, creative or product review blogger, you must be willing to look at your professional goals & be willing to measure your ROI from events that you expend your resources attending. You must be willing to offer up your constructive criticism, paired with positive suggestions, without apology to help the organization help you to get maximum return from your investment.
My Criticisms of BlogHer 12
Space – Nice as the Hilton has been, I feel BlogHer has outgrown the Hilton’s resources. Many issues were the direct result of our event being so big that we seriously strained the hotel & it’s staff. OTOH, many conference goers need to understand that big events can frequently involve small inconveniences.
The Swag thing – Hey, I love receiving a thoughtful gift, who doesn’t? but I’m sporting a few not so nice bruises .. all in the name of somebody’s desire to snag a free product coupon or to get their business card in the hands of some company rep before I did. Responsibility for this must be shared though this is NOT all on bloggers, I had a couple of downright rude experiences but much of the shoving & pushing was inadvertent, the result of a ton of brands passing out lots of stuff indiscriminately in a fairly crowded space.
My Positive Suggestions For 2013
1. More Room – BlogHer officials are already on this! I appreciate that the expo will be in a separate venue next year, more room for sessions & panels, keeping the hotel experience calmer & more amenable to groups of folks getting together, talking & connecting.
2. Info First, Swag later – Sponsors please consider mailing out coupons & giveaways AFTER the event, you’ll have quality conversations with bloggers who are truly interested in your brand
3. Education & Teaching about conference etiquette – Many conference attendees are new to social media & have no experience attending work related conference events. Perhaps an official Blogher program where experienced bloggers volunteer to take a newcomer under their wing or be available as a resource to answer questions would be helpful.
4. Pre/Post Open Forum Discussion with Sponsoring Brands – Having a discussion board where Brands & Bloggers can get to know each other, where we can share our conference agendas & expectations, where we can process after BlogHer would be wonderful! Yes, such a forum would need to be moderated but it would go a long way to increasing understanding & helping all of us to increase our ROI.
My Return on Investment
What do I expect to get from a conference? New connections, with brands & with other bloggers, many of whom have formed their own networks. I expect to deepen my existing relationships, spend time with people I already know & work with. Did I get those things this year? Yes, but sadly I also got enough unpleasantness that I am going to be tracking how much actual paid work results from this conference. I’ll also be looking to see what changes Blogher & the sponsoring brands decided to put into play before I decide on my game plan for next year.
Let me finish this up by saying that I have great respect for BlogHer, Elisa Camahort, Lisa Stone & Jory Des Jardins are astute, sharp business women who got where they are by using their true voices & not being afraid to measure the ROI from all of their professional activities. We must honor ourselves, our families & the blogging community as a whole by doing the same.
You, for the most part, summed up my constructive criticism for this year’s BlogHer. This was my first year attending but even I could tell this was not the way the conference normally ran. It was too crowded and the hotel was not prepared for the logistics of hosting 4000 attendees plus sponsors.
I would like to see BlogHer set some more definitive qualifications for who is considered a sponsor. Having a college aged kid run a booth and handing out samples/coupons is not what I was expecting the Expo Hall to be. I would have preferred to see more legitimate representatives from brands who could tell me about their blogger relationships; instead it felt like I was being sold yogurt/organizational products/cell phones at every turn.
I especially like the suggestion about sending out the coupons and so on after the conference. To be honest, I felt a little uncomfortable at the booths, waiting to be handed something that, for the most part, I didn’t need. I’d much rather have the focus be on connecting with the brands.
Jennifer, I have no problem with sponsoring brands who have consumer outreach as their sole goal, I think it would be nice though if those sponsors has their own floor or section of the hall.
Sharon, Judging from the off handed comments I heard in passing from people working the booths, I suspect a lot of the sponsors and/or PR reps wish there was a better way to handle swag too. No brand likes to feel that they are being taken advantage of & I know bloggers are tired of being viewed as entitled swag whores. There’s got to be a better way for us to work & grow together.
I still can’t write my BlogHer recap. I haven’t decided what I want to say, but I can’t wait for the survey to come out. This was my first year at BlogHer and I had a fantastic time. I learned so much and met so many great people. Logistically though? It was probably the worst conference I’ve gone to and I’ve been to a lot. I get that there were a ton of people that are not regular conference goers and do not travel much, if at all. I think this conference made it very hard for those people and that makes me very sad. To me it seemed that BlogHer was more interested in setting a record number of attendees when the smart thing would have been to cut off registration.
I agree with everything you have said. I much preferred the way the Starbucks room did it. Having an appointment for 15 and a real chance to sit and talk to the rep.
Hi Faith, I also have some great memories of the conference & will be sharing them shortly. I needed to get this post out first though to help me process my experiences & help me to clarify my goals for this site.
As for BlogHer, I don’t think they oversold tickets just to boost attendance stats, I prefer to believe that they wanted to hold the door open for women who were scrambling right up to the last days trying to figure out how they were going to get funding & make childcare arrangements to come.
Julia, I love how Starbucks did things, Texas Instruments, Microsoft, Samsung, Sifteo & 6PM also get high marks from me based on my direct experiences with them. I know there were others as well.
I really love this post. A small part of me feels that typically female feeling of being disloyal because I didn’t get as much from the conference this year but this reaffirms my right to truthfully examine my ROI.
Hi Kristin, I love the women behind Blogher, if I didn’t I wouldn’t have bothered putting this post together. What bugged me is that in private convo’s & on private groups many had valid concerns but were frequently advised to “be nice” or “focus on the positive” that drove me crazy.
ROI also isn’t just about dollars & cents – I saw concerns being aired by review bloggers as well as from women who don’t seek to profit from their sites. You have every right to examine what you got out of the conference & with that comes an obligation to give constructive feedback so that hopefully next year you will get MORE. BlogHer can’t help us if we aren’t straight with them.
I love the way you are viewing the conference. ROI is exactly how I have viewed the few conferences I have been to, and i’m also curious to see what kind I will get from BlogHer. I also appreciate you saying that it is important to respect the women who not only list the good of the conference, but the bad. No, it’s not nagging, or whining, it’s placing your opinion and thoughts out there so others can learn from what your viewed. I mean, there are some out there that just love to complain just to do so, but we are smart enough to decipher who is being constructive and who isn’t. This post was the epitome of constructive criticism.
Personally, this was my 1st BlogHer and i’m kind of sad for myself that it was. I feel that in years past, bloggers have gloated over how great the experience was and the camaraderie they had with other bloggers. A few years and a few thousands of extra bloggers later, it’s not the same feeling. I’m a believer of second chances, so it is my plan to give BlogHer another try, if the ROI from this one actually shows itself. Thanks for writing this.
The part you discuss ROI is a great point to make–one that I didn’t even consider. I considered it a vacation–a chance to have a somewhat rendeveouz (sp?) in one of my favorite places, discussing what I love most (i.e. BLOGGING) with a group of women that love it as much as I do. I spent about $600, between hotel, registration, and bus ticket. I’m sure others have spent just as much. But you’re right, it is important to think, “What did I get out of this?” and whether it would be worth spending that kind of loot next year (or on another conference that might have a better ROI). I felt that there could have been more opportunity to connect with blogs that were in the same niche–the “Birds of a Feather” just wasn’t cutting it. I suggested to BlogHer after returning that a database of attendees of some sort that’s people would be able to be registered, might have offered people a better chance to connect with those who are in my niche. I’m in the DIY/crafting niche, and I didn’t feel we were really represented. Most of the sponsors had nothign to do with crafting/DIY (do-it-yourself), so I just sat back and enjoyed getting swag for the sake of getting swag. But yeah, if I had to choose between this conference, and one that was more in my niche, I would have to go with the other conference, for greater ROI. Anyhow…rambling. But, I DID enjoy myself, and it was amazing being in NYC for 4 days, sans kids, sans hubby, and just discussing blogging and discovering others who have a passion for blogging like I do.
Serena
Serena, You are exactly right, ROI can include a lot of different things & each woman will calculate her’s according to her goals for her blog & for the conference. I didn’t see much for craft or DIY bloggers either which kinda surprised me since Martha Stewart was such a big part of the show this year!
Nice recap. Love that you included that it is ok to think about your own ROI – it is needed. That is why I will not be attending in 2013 – the ROI numbers did not work for me this year and I can’t see how it would improve next year with what looks like will be another expansion.
Amiyrah, The thing about any annual conference is that from year to year our experiences will be different in part due to the event but also because our blogs will be different. Goals & needs change & that isn’t anybody’s fault. It just made me sad to see women who made a lot of sacrifices to attend being so hesitant to share their concerns for fear that they’d be labeled as “not nice”
Robyn, Having spent a lot of time with you & witnessing how that hotel waiter treated you, I can’t say I blame you. I haven’t decided what I’ll do yet but already know if I go that I will be handling my time differently. It does seem that you & several other of my favorite bloggers are opting out for next year & I’ll have to consider that factor as well.
I love the Info first, swag later idea this would save them a crap ton of money and the bruises of the crazy swag hags.
I’m glad I didn’t really get exposed to the swag hoards…LOL, yes, I wanted swag but even more so, I wanted the connections, the things that last. Swag comes and goes but if you build lasting relationships, that is gold! For me anyways… :)
Hi Cinny, I was very selective in what swag I took, lol, having to lug suitcases around Penn station is grueling enough :) I have no issue with people who wanted to take the things that were offered to them. I just wish they could have done so a bit more gently, I bruise easy :)
Loved meeting you this year! I am on the fence about heading to Chicago. I loved connecting with my friends and was so grateful for the opportunity to be a speaker. I also feel that some of the complaints I have read since the conference ended were a little unwarranted. However, I need to decide in what direction to take my blog and whether the BlogHer conference will help me with that. Hopefully we can continue to connect, whether I go to BlogHer next year or not! :)
Hi Robin, I think many people had horrible travel experiences on the way home, that coupled with 4-5 days of intensely hot weather had a definite negative impact on people. That said, whether they liked or disliked the conference, my main concern is that all women feel that they have the right to evaluate their experiences & to speak openly about their thoughts.
I’m sure we’ll get a chance to connect again, hopefully soon :)
This is one of THE BEST posts I have read about BlogHer ’12. You were able to point out the pitfalls of the conference, without being whiny, see the good in the conference, and offer really constructive suggestions. Also, I like how you give credit to BlogHer and it’s founders, and ask that we behave accordingly. Bravo!
Hi Elaine, There was much that was good about the conference, things I’ll be posting about over the next few days. The reason I wrote this was not to whine or to bash the Blogher staff but rather to encourage women, it’s not only okay to measure your ROI from attending an event like this, it is mandatory if you are to succeed as a business woman.
Thanks for weighing in, it was a pleasure to hear from you :)