After last night’s keynote, several of us hopped over to Macy’s where Susan picked up a copy of the first book to emerge from BlogHer, Sleep Is For The Weak by Rita Arens (whose blog is entitled Surrender Dorothy, which happens to also be the title of a favorite Meg Wolitzer novel of mine). Then it was a cab ride up to Great Eastern Restaurant for dinner and drinks with a wonderful group. More on the socializing later, including an explanation of how if Susan took off her panty hose her legs would fall off “like a marionette” (this made sense in context, believe me) but here are some hasty observations about our panel, as well as the closing keynote.
–Questions during the panel included those about how to handle differences in communication between partners about their children with special needs. Moms wanted to talk and blog about it, dads wanted to protect the family’s privacy. Kristina Chew also described her experience of going from blogging specifically about her son to blogging about autism in general, in part to protect her son’s privacy as he grew older.
–Where to find resources? The blogosphere was so overwhelming, how to start?
–Differences between visible disabilities and those that were hidden. How to handle them with one’s children, specifically when dealing with school and peers?
–Explaining our children to others. How to start the dialogue, when it’s okay to step back.
–Increasing acceptance for these stories in mainstream media, thanks to telling these stories on blogs.
It was a terrific session with lots of great information being shared and discussed. My only complaint? Too short! The dialogue had just begun when it was time to end.
As for the closing keynote, featuring “famous” bloggers Stephanie Klein and Heather Armstrong: it was great to hear these women talk in person about their experiences being under the spolight (or limelight) in the blogging world, and even more impressive to remember that blogging hasn’t been around very long, and yet it has already made stars of its members. Again issues of privacy emerged as topical.
Tomorrow: pictures and some afterthoughts. Right now it’s time to get on that plane. Surrender Dorothy indeed. There’s no place like home.
now available on Amazon.
Comments 6
Sounds really productive and interesting–too bad there isn’t a webcast!
“Surrender Dorothy”: I live in the WDC area and for about a decade or more, the official clean-up types left standing spray-painted on a train overpass above the Capitol Beltway those words, which drivers saw just as the enormous and elaborate dome & spires of the Mormon Temple came into view.
Posted 20 Jul 2008 at 9:14 am ¶Ahem and why would Susan be removing her pantyhose in the cab??? From Jordan’s post it sounds like it was a raucus evening! LOL
Wish there was a blog to summarize the conference for those of us who couldn’t attend!
Posted 20 Jul 2008 at 9:17 am ¶ok, I totally misspelled raucous and that bothers me…Josie would be disappointed in me, I know!
Posted 20 Jul 2008 at 9:18 am ¶Thanks for posting about the session. As my son is now 13 I try not to write about things that would embarass him and try to generalize stuff more.
Sounds like a good start for communicating, but these things are always too short.
Posted 20 Jul 2008 at 9:34 am ¶it was way, way, way, way too short—-felt artificial to have to stop talking. fortunately we can blog—-wonderful to meet you and hope it was safe travels home.
Posted 20 Jul 2008 at 10:55 am ¶It was great to meet you in person. I agree — the panel was too short.
Posted 21 Jul 2008 at 7:42 am ¶Post a Comment