At the 2006 South by Southwest conference (Austin, holla!) I sat on a panel for Blogher on how blogger's online personas' negatively affected their real lives. I talked about my blog and how I thought that because one of my superiors somehow found it and shortly after I was laid off (NOTE: I never discussed my workplace or fellow employees on my blog) might have been a cause to my demise.

I don't mean to put any more pressure on you than you're probably already feeling, but I'm here to remind you that it IS already the second week of December. But hey -- who cares if your shopping isn't done? Or if you still don't know what you're taking to that holiday potluck next Saturday? Or what on earth you're going to do on New Year's? There's still plenty of time for all that. (Ahem.) Whereas there's only THREE MORE DAYS until the BlogHer Meet-Up! Where else will you go this holiday season where you can speak freely about CSS and RSS and ad networks and that time that commenter said that thing, and not have to worry about anyone's eyes glazing over? Come, feel the blog love.

Advertising slogans are supposed to state the main benefits of the brand. Good slogans, make that great slogans, have a distinct personality of their own and are  hard to forget. Scotland used to have such a slogan. It was,"Scotland, the Best Small Country in the World."

Hi everyone, I come bearing an update on our new conference web site and imminent conference registration launch. For those of you keeping score, we had originally planned to launch those both today, however, it may have been a little over-optimistic to plan on such a launch on the day after a four-day weekend.

It's live! The BlogHers Act team has launched a new mini-site to act as a clearinghouse for this community's initiative to improve the world by harnessing the power of women online. As many of you know, in 2007-2008, we're blogging to save women's lives by improving maternal health world-wide. On this page you can:

It's time to get your festive on! What holiday calendar would be complete without a little BlogHer revelry? Certainly not ours...and we'd love for you to join us! Who: All Bay Area BlogHers When: Thursday, December 13th Time: 5:30 to 8 p.m. Where: Cafe Royale, 800 Post St. @ Leavenworth in San Francisco Our holiday event is a great opportunity for you to meet, mingle & jingle with the ever-growing BlogHer community. Members and non-members are welcome, as are friends, family, and colleagues. The event will take place at Cafe Royale, the cozy cafe in downtown SF where we held last year's meetup. Once again we'll be offering complimentary hors d'oeuvres along with a fine selection of wines, beers, and Soju cocktails (no-host bar). So join the party, and eat, drink, and be merry! *Due to the venue's capacity limits, we do need you to RSVP if you intend to join us. Please RSVP in comments below, or send an email to let us know to expect you!

We reviewed the survey, compiled the poll results, read your blog posts and comments, and we are ready to unveil our BlogHer in 2008 plans...this coming Thursday, September 27th at 9AM Pacific time. And we'd like to do it live and "in person" on a community conference call. We'll take about 15 minutes to outline our entire schedule for 2008, and then we'll have time for Q&A as well. As soon as the call is over we'll push the info live in a blog post and press release too, so don't worry if you can't make it. You won't have to wait too long for the info.

One hour of editing down and nine to go from BlogHer 2007! The first sessions that I attended was the The Life Stages of Online Communities.

Story goes, when my grandfather was asked how to be addressed, he'd answer, "Call me anything you want, just don't call me late for supper." So here's the promised list of attendees at Blogher's food blogger panel The Art of Food Blogging, late but please, not late for supper.

So this is my much overdue Blogher '07 wrap up. Honestly, I'm still absorbing it all. There is so much that has happened in my life this past year that took its toll on my spirit, and this conference was just the inspiration I needed.

Elisa Camahort moderates discussion about technology, social spaces, blogging women and the power of the internet. Guest speakers include tech visionary Esther Dyson, She's Such a Geek editor & tech journalist Annalee Newitz and Slideshare CEO Rashmi Sinha.