SwagHer or Not?

I was happy to attend my first BlogHer this past weekend for so many reasons, but I must admit that there was one thing that I didn't embrace as wholly as I should have (I guess) - swag! Sounds crazy, doesn't it? But I was overwhelmed by and with swag. Marketers got onto the fact that women bloggers are a force in the marketplace so they descended upon BlogHer with arms open wide. I wish I had taken some photos of the amount of stuff that we were showered with and the crates of boxes in the hallway and the gigantic giveaway bags.

I was grateful to have received swag, but also overwhelmed by it all. I felt disgusted after a while having been offered, and probably more importantly, taken, stuff because I knew that there was no way that I would EVER use that stuff. I mean, c'mon why in the world would I need 5 different kinds of dish clothes, or onesies for a 3 month old? But there I was sitting in all that stuff wondering why!

It was excessive and I feel like it brought out the wrong side of me and many other women there. I was excited on the first night, but by the second night, I just couldn't deal with it any more and I abandoned ship. I heard that lines were endless for some of the parties because the gift bags were so ridiculous; I heard there was fighting and pushing at some events; I heard that folks were at the events just for swag - they got 'em and then left.

It appears like it was about the swag and not the women/community. Maybe next year BlogHer should require all marketers to contribute to the ONE conference swag bag rather than all the random swag parties. Maybe that way the focus would not be on the swag but on the conference - just a thought!

What are your thoughts on the SwagHer?

Blogalicious 2009 Chicago Meetup

If you are planning on attending BlogHer '09, we want to know! We've already got a Blogalicious 2009 Happy Hour Meetup in the works for all of you that will be in Chicago that weekend. Stay tuned for details and see you in July!

[Psst! If you'd like to see a Blogalicious 2009 Meetup in your city before October, we want to hear from you too!]