Notice all the sticky notes on the wall for the 31-40 year olds–by far the densest population at BlogHer

Not too many of us mature women attending…Note the paucity of sticky notes in this age range.

If you want to get a sense of the demographics of the BlogHer attendees, this wall of sticky notes is the perfect illustration. One of the vendors had a booth about aging. Each woman filled out a colored sticky note with a message reflecting her attitude and posted it in her age range.

You can clearly see how the age level skewed quite young with the majority of conference goers between 20-40 years old. Not surprising since the vast majority are ‘mommy bloggers.’

I have a notebook filled with facts I picked up–for instance that the #1 topic blogged about is YOUR LIFE. I also wrote down several ideas to investigate over the next several weeks, i.e. my homework.

I also want to share a couple of highlights from the day. After the welcoming message from the BlogHer founders, we formed two enormous circles–an outer and an inner–and speed-networked for 30 minutes to meet as many of our fellow bloggers as possible in that short time. Imagine two concentric circles of 1000 women each introducing themselves to each other, then moving one notch to the left every 2 minutes to meet another blogger and say hello.

Martha Stewart was the luncheon keynote. It happened to be her birthday. One of the reasons she agreed to speak on this day was the promise that she’d be serenaded by thousands of women–which she was. She was quite candid in sharing about her life and success, owning the fact that her marriage didn’t survive her career and that you have to make choices. Not new information, but an unusual admission from a woman noted for her perfectionism.

When asked, “What are you terrible at?” (I loved that someone asked this!) she responded without hesitation or irony, “Things I haven’t tried yet.”

When it comes to blogging, “Comments are currency,” another speaker shared, especially if the blogger is looking for outside sponsorship.

There was much talk about getting sponsorship for blog posts which I see in my future. Just want to find the right fit. Most of the vendors at the trade show were mega-corporations that don’t naturally speak to my demographic–Pfizer, PetSmart, Kohler, McDonalds. But I would happily welcome smaller companies whose services and products appeal to women entrepreneurs who want to grow their small businesses. Know any?