Yes I’m doing the easy BlogHer Con 07 posts first. I’m happy to report that so far I’ve seen very few anti-swag posts. No heternormative swag gripes. No negative body image swag gripes, though Anne Marie did blog a bit of anti-Curves ranting which is to be expected. (I have a love/hate relationship with Curves, myself.) She also mentions the Butterball potholders were ugly and I just have to say I don’t really care, I always need potholders so I was glad to have four more to toss into the drawer. I suppose I prefer Anne-Marie’s gripe over A Mommy Story’s complaint – I think that’s pushing it just a bit further than even the queer griping last year.

The flash drives from AOL were the favorites here, as expected. The zillion t-shirts were also popular particularly because we pack light and were not expecting two extra days of travel time. Having those extra t-shirts was a real boost to our spirits on Monday morning. I just wish we’d tucked a few into our carry on bags for the second unexpected delay that left us wearing “tired” clothing on Tuesday morning.

That laptop bag from AOL- awesome. I cannot tell you how many times we said “wow this bag makes it easy to get your laptop out and put it back in while going through airport security!” Really awesome, AOL – thank you. (Ummm I don’t think I’ve ever publicly or privately thanked AOL for anything. This is a real first for me.)

It was interesting to see Prince J’s enthusiasm over all of the freebies, not just the bag full of swag that was presented to everyone walking through the door but the fun stuff at the exhibitor tables and the even more fun stuff handed out randomly by bloggers. Who knew the boy would be interested in a tiny make-up bag? (He liked the pattern of the fabric, I don’t think he’s interested in actually carrying the bag around with him.)

I have to mention the Zappos dude. He wasn’t “officially” there but on Sunday during the un-conference he wandered in with a huge box of Zappos duffles. Again, this was a life saver. Even though we knew to pack light and bring suitcases larger than we needed so we could pack up the swag, we didn’t expect THAT much swag – Prince J actually attending the conference put us way over the top. Being able to toss a ton of stuff into that bag on Sunday was just awesome. Dude, I’m totally ordering some shoes from y’all this month so tell your boss that your visit paid off, ok?

OK fine, I’ll link to a post about the too much swag problem. Though I agree, we’re too wrapped up in “stuff” I think it’s probably pretty easy to donate your unwanted items to one charity or another. And I can probably link you to a few Second Life attendees who would be thrilled to receive your swag in the mail if you are so inclined. Stuff isn’t always bad, it’s what YOU choose to do with the stuff that counts. The folks who tossed their stuff in the trash – what exactly were you thinking? If you leave it loose, some homeless person or tourist wandering around the Navy Pier will pick it up. Really, they will. But yea, a place to specifically put swag so folks don’t actually have to think about what they’re doing would be good, I guess.

BOF was fun to work and I got to see a zillion people but I didn’t get to talk to many people for any real length of time. Except I gushed over Susie Freaking Bright like always and made Badger blush like always and said hello and got quick hugs a lot. But, working that table made it hard for me to get into a flow for the conference. Here it is 3:21 and I don’t feel like I’ve gotten it together for this conference yet.

I live blogged the first session (that’s on BlogHer) then I had a quick lunch with Prince J and joined the BOF GLBT group and chatted with them while Prince J and Michelle wandered around Navy Pier.

After that, we wandered through half of the exhibitors and landed in the Yahoo Cafe where I cleaned up my live blog (mostly) and charged my laptop a bit and just chilled for an hour. Now I’m with Michelle in Elise Bauer’s blog traffic panel. Elise is brilliant but I’m not focusing much and trying to catch up with work and feeds and email.

While reading my feeds, I stumbled upon Daring Young Mom suggesting folks might want to pay attention when they are in panels. Ya think? 😉

Yes I was the woman who said she would never buy special shoes for BlogHer. I was the woman who teased TW for looking for the perfect BlogHer shoes for like a year. Yes I am the woman who has the BEST BlogHer shoes – Ever.

Since I’m trapped in an airport, with a delayed flight, and all of the CEs and speakers are about to start the party without me… you can have a sneak peek at my shoes. (You should click the photo. Seriously.)