TechyDad

We woke up to BlogHer 2010 Day 1 ready for the day ahead. Luckily, our previous fears of being eaten alive by bedbugs didn’t come true. We showered, got dressed and headed downstairs way too early. We could see tables full of delicious food in the final stages of being set up. We waited patiently and then got a table so we could take turns getting food/watching our stuff.

When it was my turn, I actually let people skip ahead of me. Being a photo geek, I was stopping to take photos of everything before serving myself the food. I didn’t want to slow anybody down, so I would step aside for them to pass/get their food and then would proceed taking photos. » Read more

After we got checked in and settled in, it was time to get ready for the night’s events. B had a Toy Industry Association event and CutestKidEver was going to the BlogHer 2010 parties. I meanwhile, had a Ralph Lauren event to attend, but for dinner I was on my own. I wandered around the streets taking photos and looking for a good place to eat.

I finally settled on The Great American Health Bar. As I walked in, I noticed a mezuzah on the wall. Was this place Kosher, I wondered? Yes, yes it was! (Not that that mattered, but it was a nice surprise.)

I sat down, looked at the menu and decided to order the Tuna Burger. This was canned tuna fish mixed with mashed potatoes, veggies and beans, fried in a patty, covered with cheese, placed on a bun and served with a side salad. It was delicious and I will definitely be replicating this!

After eating, I headed back to my room and killed time before getting ready to go to the Ralph Lauren event. I headed down and wound up being the first person to arrive. I waited as more people came and then we headed out. On the way, I connected with some other bloggers and we chatted for a bit. Here, I must apologize. I am horrible with faces and names. Since I can’t remember everyone’s name (though I still have all of your business cards, I’m not going to name the names of anyone I met – with one exception coming up later.

We were served some hors d’oeuvres, drinks and mini-cupcakes. David Lauren (Ralph Lauren’s son) came out and gave a speech about his father. We were told about how Ralph began (selling homemade ties from a drawer at the Empire State Building) and about their newest initiative. This takes the form of a children’s story book and video titled “RL Gang.”

Before seeing the video, though, a group of kids came out dressed in the RL Gang clothing line. They were incredibly cute and posed for a few photos before sitting down to watch the video. The video itself involved a group of kids, similar to the kids who were with us that night, attending a very special class and a magical trip to help a tree. I won’t spoil the ending, but it was very cute. I could definitely see my kids enjoying a series of these videos.

While there, I got to meet (and here’s the one name exception): dadarocks aka Adam Cohen. We’ve worked together for the past few months on DadRevolution.com, but we had never met in person. We talked quite a bit and in fact were the last ones to leave. We were sort of kicked out (but in a nice way) when the Ralph Lauren staff realized that they needed to close up for the night and that we were still there.

Before leaving, we each got a small bag of swag. Mine contained the RL Gang book, a USB drive (with product shots and a promo for the video which I’ll post as soon as I locate that drive) and some cologne. In addition, dadarocks handed me a Dora’s Big Birthday DVD and a car set. (I don’t have the exact name of the latter on hand… it was sort of a lego-type build-it-yourself product.)

When we got back to the hotel, dadarocks and I talked for a bit both to each other and to some other folks in the hotel lobby. Eventually, B texted me that she was going to get dropped off by the Sheraton and would like to walk back with me. I dropped my stuff off in the room, noticed we had gotten a room drop (including a Mr. Potato Head) and then headed over to the Sheraton. We walked back to our room and settled in, ready for the BlogHer excitement to officially begin the following day.