I had no idea what to expect at my first blogging conference. Repeat…no idea! I was concerned that it was in Baltimore after all of the riots shown on TV. That was my first surprise! Baltimore is a beautiful city. The riots actually took place on just a few streets. The city was not burned down as I expected. Thanks, news media! I really didn’t need to pack a gas mask after all.
My second surprise was there were so many young bloggers. There were women in their twenties, thirties and early forties. My initial thought was, “Holy Crap! I could be their mother.” Then I noticed the pregnant woman and I thought,” “Holy double crap! I could be those babies’ grandmother.” Only a minor mental whirlwind swirled in my head. Well to be honest, a baby tornado. I’m keeping with the family theme here.
It’s a bit intimidating to be surrounded by youngsters when you’re sixty-two. Maybe this is why menopause gave me the gift of thinking I’m a 36C. For years I confused my age and my bra size. There’s only a smidge of denial in there.
Their brain cells fire a thousand times faster than mine. By the time I figure out analytics, they’ll be my age! After I put on my “big girl panties”…. note I didn’t say my granny panties, I calmed down and talked myself off the ledge. Actually my roomie and I had a shared meltdown. I recommend meltdowns in pairs. We could each see the others fears, while valid, were just a smoke screen for feeling outdated, old, out of touch, and what the heck were we doing here?! Then we ate brownies with lunch and charged through the classes. The power of the brownie!
By the second day I felt like my real self. There is a special feeling being in the presence of so much talent. I looked around the room and each woman was uniquely talented. The shared comradery of writers is a special bond. It’s a Sisterhood. For the few men there, you are now my brothers. Each is willing to share what helped them get noticed in the blogging world. They offered ideas and even sent links to help me out. I didn’t even know a woman who sent me a note after the conference and gave me a suggestion to get my book marketed.
I left feeling inspired. I met some amazing women. I am so impressed with the young women making their dreams come alive. We had five kids, owned our own business and the office was in our dining room. I know how to nurse a baby while trying to sound professional on the phone. I know how to erase the “for deposit only” stamps off the walls that the kids did while I sealed a big contract. A chair rail of stamps was a small price to pay to keep them quiet. I hired my first secretary in my bathrobe because she arrived twenty minutes early. I’ve been there with small kids and it is not an easy feat. To all those women with young children, I applaud you.
I’m glad I took the plunge and attended the conference. There were so many good classes, it was difficult to choose.
Thank you so much to all of the organizers and sponsors. You did a fabulous job!
My only suggestion for next conference would be to have Kim Bongiorno give dance lessons.
Leave a Reply