Conferences Galore – Who, What, Where and When?

There comes a time in every bloggers life when they realize the need to step away from the desktop/laptop/iPad and seek additional knowledge and network with gurus they have been following online in person. Attending a conference is an efficient way to learn new skills and meet subject matter experts in areas where you seek to learn more. In today’s tough economic environment, it is important to consider the type of conference you would like to attend, but also which will give you the most return on your investment.

I’ve cobbled together a list organized into three popular categories –  Tech, Political and Blogging While Female.

Tech:

There are oodles of conferences to choose from in this category, from very broad based conferences to narrow, niche focused conferences. I’ve listed the top five conferences that should give you a good overview of all things tech regarding the world wide web. This list is by no means complete and is completely subjective. Registration costs for these conferences range from US $20.00 to US $3,000.

Blogworld - One of the first tech conferences I considered attending a bunch of years ago. The organizers have expanded their conference to two cities – LA and NYC.  Blogworld gives a compelling reason to attend this conference “BlogWorld & New Media Expo is the first and only industry-wide conference, tradeshow & media event for all New Media! Anyone who is creating content online with Blogging, Podcasting, Vlogging, Web TV or Internet Radio, Social Media, or New Media Content of any kind should attend BlogWorld & New Media Expo!” How approachable the new media-ites are at this conference is unknown, but it attracts the brightest lights in New Media as presenters.

Le Web - How could your resist a Blogger/New Media conference held in Paris? This conference is the premier conference for European tech gurus.  Organizer, Loic LeMuer, has worked tirelessly to raise the bar with this conference.  If you have the disposable income, I say go for it!

Podcamp -  A local and inexpensive conference that offers participants two or three intensive days of quality social media information.  Podcamps are run as bar-camp style community unconferences. They provide content for new media enthusiasts and professionals including bloggers, podcasters,YouTubers, social networkers, and anyone curious about new media. The first PodCamp was held September 8-10, 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts.PodCamps are now being held worldwide. I have attended a Podcamp in Philly this  year and found this to be a great and inexpensive way to gain a ton of new ideas for utilizing new media. This is conference should be high on your list of attending, as most are local and inexpensive.

SXSW - This conference is nine days of Music, Film and Tech hosted every year in Austin, Texas. It is an outrageously fun time and offers phenomenal networking opportunities.  Pricey, but fun conference.

WordCamp and WordCamp Central – There is one scheduled to take place in Philly this coming November which  I am registered to attend.  These conferences are great opportunities to learn more detail about the WordPress platform. Since I use WordPress to power this blog, I want to learn all I can about this platform.

Political:

People are political, bloggers sometimes more so. Depending upon the direction of your blog, you may want to look into attending one or many of the following conferences. I’ve listed conferences from both sides of the political spectrum for your perusal. Nearly all of these conferences contain lectures on blogging issues which give the participants a bit of technical know-how along with their respective political networking.

To the Right

CPAC - If your budget allows you to attend only one conference this year, make it this one. The networking opportunities are phenomenal, along with meeting the political movers and shakers in the GOP

BlogCon - Tabitha Hale and FreedomWorks started this blogger conference last year in DC. This year, the conference will be held in Colorado. If you can’t make CPAC, attend this conference.

Red State Gathering - Meet and greet Redstate bloggers.

Defending the Dream Summit - This conference is held in Washington DC and host a plethora of conservative speakers.

Smart Girl Summit - Smart girls meeting to talk politics. Love it!

Right Online - I love the concept of ROL - It was the first conservative event to ever counter the leftwing Netroots Nation Convention (formerly known as YearlyKos), an annual gathering of what the media called the most concentrated gathering of high-profile progressive bloggers to date.

Pennsylvania Leadership Conference - Considered the CPAC of Pennsylvania.

To the Left

Netroots Nation - If your budget allows you to attend only one conference this year, make it this one. The networking opportunities are phenomenal, along with meeting the political movers and shakers in the DNC.  This is the CPAC of the left.

Occupy Everywhere See Netroots Nations

Take Back the American Dream See Netroots Nation

Young feminist Conference See Netroots Nation

Blogging while Female Conferences:

The number of conferences marketed towards female bloggers is quite staggering. I have yet to attend a conference of this nature, being a single woman, I get the impression a large part of the conference tends to focus upon the  ’mommy blogger’. While this is a perfectly reasonable demographic to focus on conference-wise, I often wondered if the information provided at these conferences would be relevant to the ‘non-mommy’ blogger? I posted this question on Twitter to garner perspectives from mommy bloggers and non-mommy bloggers. The answers I received were timely and informative.

I’ve selected two conferences that have crafted their agendas to be inclusive of all female bloggers. The costs associated with registration are similar as well as the number of days for the conference.

BlogHer - The website motto is ‘Life Well Said’. Indeed it does do just that with a vibrant mix of lifestyle, politics, fashion..you name it and it is written about by BlogHer bloggers.

Blissdom - Think Big. Be Bold. Create Your Bliss. Via the website - BlissDom is one of today’s leading social media conferences, mindfully designed with content suited to the diverse interests and needs of its evolving audience. 

Check out the video below to get a feel for what a Blissdom Conference offers women bloggers:

As you can see in the photo below, I’ve reached the end of my rope…review of blogging conferences. I hope the information is useful to anyone looking to attend a blogging conference or two this year and I  hope to see you at conference this year!

Disclosure: My opinions are my own, I have no financial agreements with the conferences listed above.

Posted on October 23, 2011  ::  Categories: Conference, Product Review  ::  Tags: Product Review
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