At BlogHer '11 there were more than 100 brands on site and a mighty mix of brands present at off-site parties and events that were sprinkled throughout the San Diego Gaslamp Quarter and beyond.
It's stunning and sometimes maybe even a bit overwhelming to manage your time, expectations and experiences with all of the various different companies hoping to snag a bit of your time and perhaps a bit of space on your blog in one way or another.
The list below represents the brands that I felt did a more than fabulous job of connecting with bloggers. I truly valued the time that I spent with each of them learning more about their company, where they are hoping to go in the blogging space and how we can work together in the future.
1) March of Dimes
It was such a joy to sit down the Wednesday afternoon of BlogHer with Beverly Robertson of March of Dimes. As luck would have it we were both staying on the 5th floor and as I headed down for our meeting she heard the clickety-clack of my flip flops and held the door for me. We made small talk and headed down for our meeting. After a few quick texts we realized that we had ridden the elevator down together. Funny how the universe puts you in the path of great people.
Beverly had tweeted earlier in the week asking if folks were going to be around early and if they would like to meet up. I didn't have anything on my schedule and took her up on her offer. Our conversations were easy and fun. It felt like two old friends sitting down to catch up over what turned out to be some lackluster tea and a soda. I'll let you guess which drink was mine.
We talked about life and social media, our interests and passions, March of Dimes and this blog. It was easy and wonderful. I hope we can find great ways to work together. If you haven't had a chance to meet Beverly, you should.
You can find her on Twitter as @marchofdimes.
2) School Bags For Kids
Luis, Kalon and Maria of School Bags For Kids were a group that I met up with after the BlogHer 5k on Friday morning before the main portion of the conference began. They too had tweeted out before the conference asking if folks were interested in meeting up.
School Bags For Kids is a fantastic company that sells high quality adorable backpacks. When you buy one of their backpacks they also give one away to a child in another part of the world that is in need of not only a school bag, but some supplies (which they provide) as well.
We had an easy and yet very exciting conversation about ways that we could partner together. It was the first time in a very long time that I felt so stimulated and excited about a brand and about brainstorming and working together with other people. We seemed to all be very much on the same page and this meeting was definitely a highlight of the conference for me.
Check them out on Twitter too at @schoolbags4kids.
3) BookBaby
I wasn't even sure that BookBaby would relate to me. I initially thought that they were publishers of Children's Books. Not true. They help folks who want to self publish eBooks take their marketing to a new level by making their digital works available at all online retailers. That's great, but what really impressed me about BookBaby was Kate Sullivan who was at their both during BlogHer.
When I said I had a friend who was thinking about writing an eBook with just a few particulars about her. She responded that she knew just who I was talking about and told me a bit more about their conversation that they had had during the day. I was impressed that she had truly been listening during the day to the bloggers who approached her booth.
If you are thinking about writing an eBook, definitely check BookBaby out.
Connect on Twitter @BookBaby.
Nothing to disclose here. None of the above companies handed out 'swag' at BlogHer '11. I just genuinely loved connecting with each of them.
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