I’m a…umm…blogger.

I’m a wife, a working mother, a writer, a triathlete and … ummm … a blogger.

That last title I say with hesitation, as it always seems to solicit eye rolls and a sarcastic “oh really…” Because let’s face it, not many people {including my friends and family} know what a blogger does. They think blogging is a hobby, a cute way to share photos of the kiddos or share stories of our vacations. They just can’t understand why I would spend copious amounts of money and time away from my family to attend a blog conference.

Often like the infamous WSJ article insinuated, they perceive these trips as a sort of mom-gone-wild escape, which includes laying on the floor of the hotel room gorging on the mini bar, sleeping in, partying till all hours and watching trash TV.

I’m here to tell you it’s all wrong, and that as I hopped in my car last Tuesday to drive the four hours to Chicago for BlogHER {the largest blog conference in the nation} I was more excited to hear about SEO {that’s Search Engine Optimization} and how to write a media kit and pitch a company than whether there was wine in the mini-bar.

It may sound silly, but I’m hoping to make money one of these days from blogging, and going to these conferences is going to introduce me to the tools and techniques, and the people I need in order to make that happen. Not only that, but it will also benefit my professional marketing career as well. It’s a win, win.

However the biggest reason I love conferences is the PEOPLE. I can finally meet some of my blogging mentors and friends {yes they are friends even if you’ve only talked on Twitter}. I’ve built a strong community by attending these so called “mom getaways”.  Through these women’s blogs I have witnessed their heartache, their failures and their successes, and they have witnessed mine. With each pageview, we’ve supported one another. By meeting in person, I can give these women a big fat thank-you hug for their love and support.

Oh, and for the record I didn’t sleep in once during BlogHER; in fact, I woke up earlier than I do for work. Plus I would NEVER lay on a hotel room floor, because that’s totally gross; or raid the mini bar, it’s too expensive. Oh, and I watch more TV at home than I do at any conference.

Blogging and attending conferences are ways for women to grow our professional community. By the way, without this community and blogging in general you may not have made that super-awesome recipe by the Pioneer Woman…you know because she’s a…ummm…blogger.