I have been blogging on my own website since 2000, so it was only natural that I should start blogging for 1000 Words. I have also had a great opportunity to attend BlogHer 2007 and work at a lab session helping blog newbies start their own blog. The conference took place this past weekend in Chicago.

The BlogHer Conference sprung from the BlogHer Online Community which is a place for creating "opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community and economic empowerment".

There were some really great sessions that I got to attend like "The Art of Storytelling" and "The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion in Online Communities". Betcha didn't know there was so much to blogging!

Here is a panoramic picture I took during one of the sessions. What you don't see is all of the attendees that are sitting on the floor because there were so many! Check out the fellow sitting right smack in the center. He is one of the 25% of men that attend BlogHer. The interesting thing is those numbers are flipped at most online/technical conferences. Not at BlogHer.

This is a view of the conference attendees at lunch.

I was there to help newbie bloggers with their blogs. It was great to see their faces light up when I showed them how to upload a picture or add a link to their blog!

We had power strips and wireless connections in every room. We could blog all day long, anywhere we wanted. Heaven!

Interesting story about this picture. I was chatting with someone about where I lived when Donna turned around and told me she lived in Rochester too. Turns out she lives only a few blocks from me.

Funny how sometimes you have to leave home to meet someone from around the corner.

The conference turned out to be a wonderful experience of learning, networking and bonding. I also realized that bloggers are a special bunch.

Chicago is pretty awesome too. Photo ops around every corner. Here is Crown Fountain in Millenium Park at night.

And what most people fondly call "the bean"... the Cloud Gate Sculpture... also shot at night.

I found it hard to tear myself away from the bean.

I know I do weird things with photography, like wrapping gorilla pods around my dog and taking pictures from the back of a moving scooter. But you should meet my friend Joel who works with me at kodak.com.

It's a lucky thing if you love what you do at your job... it's another to think about it as much as we do at our office. Some of us are truly obsessed with photography. So much so that one might put one's life on the line to get "the shot".

Meet Joel.

I found him lying on the ground inches from the carbon fiber bike frames whizzing by at the Rochester Bike Criterium. We were there to cheer on the Kodak Gallery team. Joel was there to get a picture of a bike bearing down on him at 30+ miles an hour.

This past Saturday, Joel showed up to the Kodak Building 9 implosion at 6 am with a tripod and determination. I had listened to him talk about shutter speeds and burst mode all week during lunch.

I could just see in his face that he did not feel he was close enough though.

Why is he so happy to be clutching a handful of straws? Is he planning on downing 137 pina coladas? Oh no.

Recently, Joel had read a blog post about making a DIY camera snoot out of black drinking straws. We were at a business dinner, when he spotted a black straw sticking out of my lemonade. Next thing I know he is up at the bar requesting as many black straws as they can spare.

Joel is crazy about what he does and there are a lot more like him here.