A Mommy Story

BlogHer 2006 is now done and over, and the Hyatt has been abandoned as everyone returns to their hometowns. Well, everyone but me. My flight leaves tomorrow morning, so I’m using the downtime to continue with the play-by-play recap of the conference.

Yesterday afternoon I noticed I was having trouble focusing on any conversation I was in, so I decided to rest in the hotel room for a bit. I don’t talk to this many people in a normal month, let alone 3 days. It’s tough to be “on” all the time and with so many people at once. It’s overwhelming. All was good, except that there was a knock on the door, and a lady asking if we were checking out yet. I explained that Catherine and I were here until Monday, and she said we needed to be out of the room, and to talk to the front desk.

I went to the front desk, and was told that we had checked in for the first night, but not for any other nights. (You’d think you wouldn’t have to do that.) The guy at the desk said that they needed the room and we were being thrown out for not checking in so the room could be given to someone else. I told him that we had both checked in, but he wouldn’t do anything else without Catherine there.

So I then tracked down Catherine, who was waiting for the final panel (with Arianna Huffington) to begin. It was really bad timing, and we were both pissed off. The girl at the front desk didn’t help the matter at first by giving us attitude. (Worst thing said, “Well, how is that our fault?” Uh, little girl? We’re the customers, and you’re the one who represents the ones who screwed up. You will not win this battle.)

The situation was finally resolved (and thankfully the girl dropped the attitude), and we went back to the panel to admire Arianna Huffington. More about her in a later post, once I’ve recovered from the weekend and can think a little more coherently.

After the final panel, it was time for the final cocktail party. As can be expected with a conference of over 700 women, the food and drink were consumed quickly. And since it was the final night, you can probably imagine what silly acts were undertaken.

This morning the breakfast tables were jammed with bloggers as we ate our eggs benedict and said our goodbyes. I’d say it was a bittersweet moment, but it wasn’t. Because, as Suebob said, “It’s not like we’re saying ‘I’ll keep in touch!’ and then never write. We’re bloggers.” So yeah, the goodbyes were more of a “See you on your blog tomorrow!”

And listen up – don’t think we didn’t miss you. Yes, you. I can’t count the number of times I said, “I wish [any of you who I read] was here!” You were missed, and we want to see you all at BlogHer 2007 in Chicago next year.