mere cat

What a Week, Part the First

I will have to re-read this post come Thanksgiving to remind myself how much I have to be thankful for. It was a great week. (Last week, I mean. I know it's Wednesday already. Being busy is just another thing I have to be thankful for. Really, it wasn't until Sunday that I realized how much fun I had all in one week and theeeen every post on mere cat has to be approved by a team of picky, picky editors. It’s ridiculous.)

C’est moi! Caught in a rare moment when I wasn’t smiling. Toonerized in living Toonamation by Toonerstan (Stan Schwartz). Not sure he took this or just processed it.

The work week itself was short, because I took Thursday and Friday off to attend BlogPhiladelphia. I had no business attending this, really, because it was aimed toward professionals, or at the very least amateurs with higher aspirations. It seemed as if I was the only blogger there who just had a dinky little blog without a professional interest or work-related agenda. But who cares? It was just so much fun—and I didn't even go to the parties, which judging by the pictures was where the serious fun was.

The sessions were great and gave me some reassuring perspective on the blogging gestalt, so much of which is conducted in relative isolation. Scott McNulty’s two sessions were particularly entertaining. He’s funny enough to have his own TV show. (Oh, wait, he already does.) I was laughing out loud. I really enjoyed meeting some new people, seeing some familiar faces, and definitely feel a lot less isolated for the experience. A couple of bloggers that I read who attended but didn't run into were The 14th Windiest State and Akkam’s Razor. As Colin Devroe wrote, “The value of these events is in the relationships you build while attending them.” Not to mention the beer you drink in the process. I couldn’t agree more. About the relationships, I mean.

The turnout was fantastic, so I feel confident it will happen again next year. I sure hope so. There are a host of people to thank for putting it all together and keeping it running smoothly as well as the sponsors who stepped up and kept the conference free. That’s right, free. All that fellowship, all that good food, all that information—for nothing! We'll be talking about this one for year to come. :-) I love Philly.