Category: BlogHer

#BlogHer10 Memories Part 1 – The #ChevyBlogHer RoadTrip To NYC

BlogHer, Videos

BlogHer 2010 was filled with a ton of great memories.  I got to meet a lot of great people, attended some informative sessions, spoke with company reps, got tons of swag, and even partied a bit.  I think it’s going to take me a bit to process all that went on…. like, say, a week.  So, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to declare this week BlogHer 2010 Memories Week on TechyDad.com.

We’ll start with our car ride down.  After dropping the boys at B’s parents’ house, meeting CutestKidEver, packing the car, dropping more stuff at B’s parents’ house that we forgot and figuring out how to set our Chevy Tahoe Hybrid’s GPS, we were on our way.

Oh, about that Tahoe Hybrid.  Chevy loaned us the car for the trip down and back.  It was completely tricked out: rear camera for seeing behind you when you back up, GPS, XM radio, OnStar, etc.  It was an amazing vehicle.

We took turns driving the car.  B drove first and then CutestKidEver.  I was last as I was the designated "drives in NYC" driver.  I’ll admit that the GPS directions didn’t take us on the best route in the city, it took us down quite a ways only to take us back up, but overall it was a nice feature to have.  And, since it recalculates routes on the fly, you could ignore its advised route and still not get lost.

Before the trip, I had the idea of taking photos every 5 or 10 minutes from out of the front window and stringing them together into a movie.  For privacy’s sake (i.e. to not make the video a "how to reach TechyDad’s house"), I started a bit in on the journey.  Also, at the end, we wound up circling the block a bit trying to find the parking garage so we forgot to take a few photos.  In any event, here’s our trip down in about four minutes.

[flv]2010/08/ChevyBlogHer_Trip_Down.flv|640|480[/flv]

Disclaimer: We applied for and were selected as one of the 10 groups for the Chevy BlogHer carpool.  Chevrolet loaned us a Tahoe Hybrid to drive to and from BlogHer 2010. They paid for parking during our stay and provided goodies to enjoy during our trip. The opinions expressed above are my own.  No other compensation was given and Chevorlet did not ask me to write this post.

On the Road Again…. Headed Off To #BlogHer10

BlogHer, Parenting

As you read this, B, CutestKidEver and I will be packing ourselves into a nice, big Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and headed on the road. Our roadtrip will take us into New York City for BlogHer 2010. As I write this (and prepare it to be scheduled for posting), our bags are mostly packed. Our schedules are printed and we’re getting psyched about the trip.

This will be the first time we’ll be taking a trip without the boys. NHL has slept over Nana and Papa’s house before, but we were always right there in our house (less than a mile away). JSL has never slept over anywhere if we weren’t there. This will be a new (and hopefully good) experience for him.

In addition to spending some quality kid-free time together, we hope to be able to meet a lot of people both new and folks we talk to online. We also hope to connect with some great companies, learn more about the art of blogging and even party a bit. (Yes, I have sparkles for Sparklecorn!)

If you’ll be at BlogHer, I hope to see you there!

#BlogHer10 Fears

BlogHer, Fear

I have many fears going into BlogHer.  Some are pretty mundane: Fear that I’ll be too tired at the end of the day to party.  Fear that I won’t have anything sparkly (yet manly) to wear to Sparklecorn.  Fear that I’ll stick out like a sore thumb in some way.  Mainly, though, my fears involve meeting people face to face instead of online.

I’ve never been good with face to face meetings.  My first problem involves coming up with conversation topics.  I’m pretty good at that, but I tend to either become too quiet (especially if the conversation is between more than two people) or I hog the conversation too much (the dreaded "he’s been talking for 10 minutes straight without so much as stopping to take a breath").  Online, conversation is easy.  Someone sends me a message, I send one back, they send one back to me.  Sometimes multiple messages get sent before one gets sent back, but it’s pretty much an even rhythm.

My second problem involves the filter between my mouth and brain.  Mine can get broken and I might find myself saying things that I really shouldn’t be saying.  For example, when I was looking at new cars and I started telling the salesman how I thought my old one had a busted transmission.  Hello?  TechyDad’s Brain?  Make a note for future exchanges of this nature.  Don’t tell the salesman who’ll be figuring out your trade-in value that you think your transmission is broken!!!  That is all.

Needless to say, online is easier here too.  I can type something out and then edit it fifteen times without the person realizing that the witty thing I just said is the much improved version of the bland, boring comment I was about to leave.  The same goes for debating too.  Online, I can look up sources and take my time to make a solid argument.  In person, my brain can have the most compelling argument with all the facts and words lined up.  It then sends it to my mouth where the filter slices and dices it until it seems as though I don’t know what I’m saying.

My last problem involves seeing people I’ve already met.  You see, I’m not good with faces and names.  There are people who work for my company whom I’ve seen dozens of times over the past nine years who I couldn’t name if I saw them walking down the hall.  I’ll know that I know them from somewhere but I just won’t be able to place it.  If I’m that bad with people I’ve seen over the course of nine years, imagine how I’ll be with the hundred or so people I’ll meet this week.  "Hi.  I’m TechyDad and you are… Oh yes, we did meet before… your name was… Right…. and your website…. Yes, I remember you.  What, do you think I forgot your name since we last met yesterday? …. Oh, we met an hour ago?"

All the nervousness brings back unpleasant memories of high school.  My only consolation is that other bloggers out there are going through the pre-BlogHer jitters too.  Here’s hoping that all my fears are unfounded and I have a wonderful time.  If not, I’ll be that guy curled up in the corner with a stack of business cards trying desperately to commit the faces, names and URLs to memory.

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