BlogHer 2011, San Diego. LOVE that town. As for the 3,600 women and the various media and sponsors, I caught up with some fascinating folks and gleaned a few nuggets from the whole affair:
So women trust bloggers more than the news media. That’s according to one of the BlogHer founders who announced the results of a recent survey (funded by BlogHer and iVillage – Social Media Matters) to a rousing round of applauds. Of course this finding made me more than slightly uncomfortable.
How often do you trust the information & advice you get from Blogs you are familiar with?
88% of active blog users report they always/frequently/sometimes trust what they read on blogs.
Geez. Really? Scares me a bit.
True, this still means they sometimes don’t trust what they read on blogs and the “sometimes” probably greatly outweight the “frequentlies” (and of course we didn’t see that data!). I’m sure the stats are different for “non-active blog users” whatever that means. Also, the Nielsen survey focused heavily on consumer recommendations, you know, like what shampoo or baby stroller to buy. Apparently parents rely on bloggers for this kind of info and hey, maybe that’s okay.
Personally I’d love to see a survey addressing which sources parents trust for getting news and information about children’s health. A totally fascinating topic that was absent at BlogHer 2011. In fact, it was too easy to get the impression that no bloggers discuss the matter or really any parenting matter in serious technical detail.
So please, BlogHer 2012 let’s give some attention to the science-minded or otherwise geeky chics in the blogosphere. As Liz Ditz, my fellow blogger and Skeptimommy, commented, we need some attention! We’re here, we’re vocal, and hey, we’re sometimes even entertaining though no spontaneous public dance guaranteed EVER. Maybe we can get the Fearless Formula Feeder on the task too? Who’s in? BlogHer 2012 in my backyard, New York City. There’s nothing like August in Manhattan…
So although I wasn’t completely down with all my fellow women bloggers (especially those who loved the “flash dances” or “mob flash” or whatever the spontaneous dance is called) I did meet a few really cool women way up on science and kids health. Like Robin Herman, the first female reporter to enter the male’s locker room and now at the Harvard School of Public Health. And oh yeah, she wrote a book on cold fusion. Yes I said COLD FUSION! Also met Peg Willingham who works on the Global Vaccines Campaign at the United Nations Foundation. Yes, women working to make a difference in the lives of women and children! Gotta love that.
I was already thinking about coming to NYC next summer, but if we could get some sort of "birds of a feather" or session together, it would clinch it. I'd be happy to get involved in any way I can, although the BlogHer powers that be have no clue I exist…
Well it's about time they met you!! Maybe the problem is that the more science-minded, the more introverted and thus less likely to stand out, stick out or otherwise grab attention??? There's a hypothesis for you.