PLACES

One of the many things that kept me sane at BlogHer was getting the FUCK out of dodge sometimes. The first night, Krystyn and I went to Gino's for some deep dish pizza, and ate it at Delilah's, a dark bar with a 70s punk interior vibe. We listened to The Rolling Stones all night, as it was Mick Jagger's birthday, and shared our pizza with the bouncer. It was a balmy night, a breezy cab ride, and the perfect start to the entire trip.

On Saturday I had breakfast at the Eleven City Diner with Eden, Erin, Brian and Henry. After two days of chomping on hors d'oevres I could not have asked for a better meal, or better company.

Sunday was a loose arrangement of slow movements, slight hangovers, and reluctant goodbyes.

PANELS

Forever an organizer, I had my an agenda completed weeks ago. I knew exactly which panels I was going to attend, and which one's I'd throw on the backburner just in case.

I was absolutely TERRIFIED of my panel, "What is Pro-Woman in a Post Palin World?" Discussing politics with strangers is never my strong suit, but panel members Emily, Fausta and Veronica made it a breeze. The audience was passionate and respectful, and I was truly inspired by the nature of the questions and comments. THIS is what I want to see more of at these conferences. Thank you to everyone who attended, and thank you for not throwing pitchforks at me.

The very first panel I attended was "The Transformational Power of Blogging". I was completely unprepared to be blown away, yet there I was, agog and starry-eyed. Kelly tosses inspiration around with ease, reminding me the entire time why I blog in the first place. I blog because I love stories. I love to connect with people through stories. I don't care about your sponsor or your advertisements or your Technorati rank - I WANT TO KNOW YOU. Beginning the conference in this way, this way that reminds me to keep being authentic and that it's OKAY to be revealing, was the one thing I needed most. I didn't even know that I needed it until it washed over me and flooded my senses. Thank you, Kelly, Daniela and Kate, for being real, for being you, for being overwhelmingly honest with that room full of strangers.

Next is a panel I almost missed, WOULD have missed had I not the sudden urge to abandon my plan. I was sitting in on a panel, completely not feeling what the speakers had to say, almost unable to make my escape because the session was packed. People were flowing rather unceremoniously (and loudly) into the hallway. I knew it would be awkward, because I'm as clumsy as can be, but Krystyn and I decided to make a break for it. On our way out, we ran into (the ever lovely) Maria, who told us she was on her way to the International Scholarship winners panel. We followed her.

This singular panel made the entire event worthwhile. I sat there in stunned admiration, tears filling my eyes as I listened to these women - these courageous, intelligent, fearless, unparelleled women - tell their stories. Stories about how they utilize their writing to fight social injustice. How they utilize their blogs to effect change. How they continually throw themselves on the wheels of justice in order to record the history of an entire race of people, a country, a whole continent. The entire world burned brighter as I listened to them.

You can see how parties and swag were an afterthought.

This is the panel that made the entire conference for me.

Coming up next: BlogHer 2009 People and Pictures