The Travel Moms Are Heading to Chicago and BlogHer 2013 Next Week

The Travel Moms are heading to Chicago next week from the 24th – 28th of July for BlogHer 2013. We will be staying at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers and will have a review for you when we return. BlogHer is one of the largest conferences for women in social media. Last year’s conference was one of the largest with 5,000 attendees. This year 100s of brands will attend and Annemarie and I hope to meet as many as possible.

Along with the conferences there are many private parties and everyone is vying to get one of the coveted invitations. The Travel Moms have been lucky enough to be going to the conferences and be invited to several private parties.

We are trying to figure out how we can juggle all the parties without giving up any, it is not going to be easy. The parties we are attending are: Petsmart; Avent; Mom Select Swag Suite; Disney Infinity; Blogger’s Baby Shower; SocialLuxe; Sweet Suite; the Awesome Party; National Geographic; Mamarazzi; Hasbro; Cocktails In The Clouds; South Walton; B(l)oomers; Disney Screening & Cocktail; Smurf 2; Confortista Party; Manicures and Mimosas; Vision Council, Lean Cusine and I am sure I have missed a couple.

Add to all of this we want to attend the Expo and spend some time at the actual conference so it is going to be super busy.

This is Annemarie’s second year at BlogHer, last year she attended the event in NYC and was totally overwhelmed. She says nothing can prepare you for the 1000’s of people and 100s of brands. When she attended she brought her business cards with her but did not have her elevator pitch ready, she just kind of winged it. She made some good connections/contacts but this year we expect to make many more.

For me it is my first BlogHer and the big question on my mind is – how do I survive 3½ days away from my 2-year-old daughter? I do have the option of taking her, but it will be so much less stressful for her and myself if she stays with her father. I don’t think a conference is a place for a toddler. First of all the time difference and change of schedule will throw her off for two days. Meaning one cranky baby that is definitely not in the mood to be carted around to events! Plus, lots of the parties serve alcohol, so it’s not very appropriate environment for her. My husband will be home with her every day, so they will enjoy some father-daughter time together. He is planning to take her out and keep her busy. Hopefully, it will distract her too!

We will be posting a follow up post after BlogHer and will let you know how it went!