SITS Down, I Have a Lot of Links Here.

**You may not be interested in this post if you are not a blogger not a local blogger not a local blogger who went to the SITS conference not me. You are excused. Come back tomorrow. I will probably be blogging about cake. Or haircuts. Or my ottoman. Or something equally delightful.**

I went to a little blogging conference in Baltimore yesterday. It was put on by the SITS girls and was a lot of fun. I was lucky enough to catch a ride with Teach Mama, who is so nice and smart and fun and whose blog is must-read material for anyone with young kids. It was great to be able to chat with her all the way up and back on I-95. New DC Metro Moms blogger Minky Moo also rode with us. She's very cool too, and it was nice to get to know her.

I wanted to go to this conference because I figured it would be a good way to meet some local-ish bloggers, and I was right. I met some wonderful women there, including some whose blogs I read and really wanted to meet, like Sunday and Jennifer. Plus there is always the benefit of meeting new people who I didn't know before, many of whom are already in my tweetstream. (Mel stands out because she is just so goddamn adorable. Really.)

I had some nice conversations with Mindy, Mommy Kennedy, Tara, Madeleine, Kiran, Shelley, Catherine, Kirsten (who has great hair), Parenting BY Dummies, Scrappin Michele, Kristen, and a bunch more. Sorry if I didn't link to you. I got tired. It was a long day. I did really enjoy meeting each of you.

The thing I think the SITS girls do best is make their conferences low pressure and easy. Everyone had assigned tables for each of the panels and for lunch, so there is no standing around not knowing who to talk to, plus you get to meet a few new people every time you switch a table. It really helps attendees who don't know anyone, plus it gets people who do know people out of their comfort zone to meet new folks.

I liked every one of the speakers, although the focus was a little bit more on branding and PR than I do on my blogs. Nonetheless, even if it's not something I do, it was fascinating to hear Resourceful Mommy and Tiffany talk about what they do with PR people. I'm putting that information in my file-this-away-until-I-have-more-than-four-consecutive-minutes-to-do-anything brainspace.

Scary Mommy is beautiful and not at all scary, as was her co-speaker Mama Kat (who was a little scary when she threw FTC magnets at my table, but I forgive her because she seems to be terribly funny). Justice Fergie, one of the MamaLaw/Blogalicious ladies, spoke about the FTC regulations that affect bloggers, which was one of the most informative sessions of the day. She is in a position to really, really know what's up, so it was fantastic to hear the real deal straight from the horse's Justice's mouth.

The person who gave me the most information applicable to my blog, was Tara from Feels Like Home, who spoke about SEO (search engine optimization). I tend to ignore a lot of that, but it's nice to have some scribbled notes to remind me of what I should be doing. Although I think I am already probably the highest ranking search result for "autistic gerbils" out there. And if I wasn't before, I am now. And if any of my three boys ever wants a homemade tutu, now I know where to go: straight to Tara's blog, where her tutu tutorial has evidently gotten 28,000 hits. Shazam!

In related news, I was finally around a group of people who understood (and even coveted) my twitter nameplate necklace:

This is an old photo. And HELLO, Stimey's eyebrows. Damn.

It was a good day, altogether. Many thanks to Alex, who not only took care of the three munchkins all day, but also cleaned the entire house. He's a rock star. Don't forget to come back tomorrow. You know you want to hear about my ottoman. (You think I'm kidding, right? Prepare to be disappointed.)

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