BlogHer '12 McDonalds Breakfast

I wrote yesterday an overall recap of BlogHer in New York, the good, the bad and the ugly.  There were highlights, and I did come away with some interesting interactions.  On Friday morning, I was invited to the McDonalds breakfast where we tried some of the new menu items and heard from a panel of McDonalds executives

Personally, I adored the blueberry pomegranate smoothie we ate.  The oatmeal wasn't my favorite, primarily because it's instant oatmeal and I like my oatmeal big and chewy.  We also sampled some apple and yogurt dippers that were pretty tasty, and I really enjoyed the smoothie - did I mention that yet?

The real draw of the day was the panel of senior McDonalds executives from McDonalds US President Jan Fields, Senior Director of Nutrition Dr. Cindy Goody, and Nutrition and Culinary Director Chef Jessica Foust R.D.  The session was fairly open ended, with the McDonalds team looking for ideas and suggestions from bloggers in attendance.  While not all the answers were the ones I was hoping to hear - and the vast majority of the questions submitted by Family Arches members (including me) prior to the event weren't addressed, I'm hoping they still will be in the weeks to come.

This is strictly a transcript of the question and answer session, and I am placing no judgements on it.  I would like to know what you think of some of the information shared and the questions asked.  Where do you stand on McDonalds as a restaurant?

McDonalds Breakfast Q&A

At McDonalds, we Have done a lot - the 400 and under calorie favorites, adding more dairy and whole grains to menu, and more.

In terms of the new menu options, the nutrition information and access to it, what else can you do in local communities to make get the word out about how you can make more informed choices?

Question - As an adult, my mom had to be told to go on cholesterol medication and specifically told to not go to McDonalds, an aunt lost a foot to diabetes.  I'm now a vegetarian in response to a lot of heart disease.  What are you doing for vegetarians?

Jan - You can always ask for options with no meat.  That's a vegetarian option.  One of the things people ask me all the time is why you don't have a veggie burger. We never sell any, though we've offered it before.  We did it in Southern California, and it has been a real challenge.  We do continue to look at it,but if you don't sell enough of something in a given amount of time, you can't sell it.  It can't hold.  They can get everything from a grilled cheese to a Big Mac with no meat.

Jan - Can you talk about food causing one thing versus another reason for the health issues?

Cindy - We talk about heart disease and diabetes.  I love the ability to customize.  We have my meal builder on the website are hoping to build it out to the mobile app.  That way you can build a fish sandwich with or without tartar sauce, a two patty burger or not.  It will recalculate the nutritional values for you.

Question: I worked at McDonalds when I was 15.  I've seen a lot of the changes that McDonalds has gone through.  I've noticed the aspect of training people, and the issue of people are not thrilled about the new changes that are coming.  It's a big problem when I ask for no fries and they put them in the Happy Meal anyway.  Is there going to be more employee training?  I get that many are 15 years old, but is there a process to help relieve the frustration of parents?

Jan - I think that there is always an opportunity from a training standpoint, and we're working on it.  It's about customer satisfaction overall and that you're giving the customer what they're asking for overall.  I hear what you're saying.  We've gotten that feedback before, so thank you for that.

Question:  I do enjoy the new Happy Meals.  My son is autistic, so he rejects anything in sandwich form.  This can make things a challenge when we eat out.  Gradually, I'm seeing grilled or baked chicken bites for kids.  Is McDonalds looking at this for the future?

Jan - Chef Jessica is looking.  We are looking at grilled chicken nuggets.  Stay tuned.

Question:  There is a great campaign in Canada on twitter and elsewhere showing the process behind the food.  Is that something that will come here?

Jan - We love the campaign.  We are keeping a big eye on it, and things often move over borders.

Jessica - Social media is borderless.  You'll see that.  We may bring something in.  It's something where my boss Chef Dan showed how to make the sauce in his home. I love that you're seeing it.

Question: I have a son who is almost 3 who has celiac disease.  What is McDonalds doing to provide gluten free options?  I encourage McDonalds to be a leader in gluten free options.  People will follow you.

Jan - I met two nights ago with a mother and father.  It was about celiac disease.  Their doctor told them that the fries at McDonalds are safe, so they started going there.  I've been working on the food allergy issue.  There is a huge need for it.  You've got to be careful.  It's amazing how careful you have to be, and I learned so much about what you have to do.  That is definitely being brought up, and we're looking at it.  I was touched by it when you have a child who wants to do something and isn't able . We'll get there.

Question:  I have a son with food allergies.  I want to thank McDonalds because I know the food is reasonably safe, know what I can order thanks to the website, and I like to be able to customize the meals.  When I go to restaurants, especially the teenagers, they frequently say "I don't think so" when I ask if there is a nut in it.  Is there training for employees around food allergies?

Jan - Probably not enough.  This is being brought up to us.  The parent is always in control, and I know how they are about watching everything.  Over the past couple weeks, it's come to light even more to us about how we need to train more on the ingredient side.  When you hear a theme, it's there.  Half the room will probably give the same feedback.  How many people in this room have the same concern?  That's the beauty of doing something like this.  You have a room with 100 people and so many who are doing this.  There is so much pressure and demand.  I get it.

Question: I am the McMayor of my McDonalds.  My school does chicken nugget Wednesday and pizza Friday.  The parents revolted when they heard about it.  I think it's an education issue.  I was perturbed that they were bothered by it, but I would love to see a side by side comparison to campaign through parents to schools so they can see the results that this is actually better than the greasy cafeteria meals they get every day.  How do you reach schools or parents or communities that way?

Jan - Why we're doing the campaigns like we're doing now is that we are really proud to go side by side from a nutritional standpoint because we believe we'll win.  It's a perception thing.  People say, "Can you give me a Kleenex?" when they mean tissue.  Because of the size and scope, they say McDonalds, but they mean a term and not McDonalds specifically.  We're doing a number of campaigns. It's people like you who can help because it's people like you who are helping to educate and the campaigns we're running that are important.  In grocery stores, it's common to look at labels. I don't know that we do enough of this outside McDonalds.  When you start to ask the same question you ask now at other restaurants, you'll start to be surprised.  Not everything fits everyone's diet.  Then there is the whole activity component that schools need to get on.  It's about moving, too.

Jessica - What has shocked some people, if you look at our menu, 80% of our menu is 400 calories or less.  To Jan's point, people are surprised by this.  It causes people to look at our menu and think differently.

Question:  You brought up labels.  I have 4 children, 3 boys, 1 girl.  They all want the same toy.  They always assume we want 3 boy toys and 1 girl, but the boy toy  is the more fun one.  They feel horrible that they have to ask for the boy toy.  Any choice of taking that label away?

Jan - They are trained to say what the toy is to ask and not to say boy/girl.  It's a stereotype thing, but it doesn't always happen.  I feel your pain.

Jessica - As a parent, my son the other day acted like he was eating dirt when I tried to get him to eat a red pepper.  What thoughts or ideas do you have around fruits and vegetables?  We'd like to offer additional choices.

Fadra - I would really like to see a burger that some of the other brands where they have a lot of good lettuce, tomato, onion.  I don't mean a little sliver of lettuce.  It helps you fill up, too.  I know that there have been a lot of those type of burgers over the years.  As far as kids eating veggies, good luck with that.  I really love the Asian chicken salad and would love to see that as a regular menu item.  There was something I used to get called that All American Meal.  It was just a cheeseburger, small fry, and drink.  It's great for portion control.  I know people who do Weight Watchers can have that as an acceptable meal.  I can get it in one nice package.

Audience: I have kind of picky eaters.  One daughter would not touch yogurt.  Hummus and vegetables are good, especially if you package them like you do yogurt in a cup so it is less likely to spill in a car.  Do it with carrots, cucumbers, red peppers.  That would totally fly.

Audience: I'm a public school teacher in Philly.  We did the hummus and veggies in my school on a healthy foods trial. They didn't go for it.  What did work, I found if people bought the celery and raisins and made ant logs, they ate it.  When they're playing with it, they ate it.  Maybe advertise it with a picture of the logs and then they play with the food to make it (the picture on the ad).  They like to play with their food.  If they don't realize it's healthy, they'll eat it.

Audience: My kids love the fruit and snacks in the happy meals.  Could you make the package more like a cup so when you're driving, they can dip it more easily so they don't have to try to peel it back and not spill it?

Audience: I'm also a big fan of the Asian chicken salad.  My kids all take the edamame.  I would pay extra for a side of edamame.  My kids also love the baby cucumbers.  

Jan - We're actively testing different options. Whether it be kiwi, pineapple, or something else, we're looking at a number of different things.  I will tell you that the Asian salad is seasonal.  If there are ingredients that are only seasonally available, it's hard to do them in the numbers we need.  It's hard to say we want edamame all year when it isn't available in the quantities we need.  We rotate the southwest salad and Asian salad.  The southwest sells 5:1, so it gets to stay all year.  The unique ingredients - corn - are not as hard to get all year as edamame.

Kelby - Have you thought of yogurt parfaits as an option as a side for kids or adults?  I'm not that big of a fan of fries, but my kids won't give up a happy meal for a parfait if we have to build it out.  Have you thought about doing premium sides?  It's great that there are apples.  My kids will eat veggies and dip.  It would be great to offer 4 premium healthy sides for an adult or kid.  You may not have the volume, but I would pay more to have a good side.

Jan - We are testing right now where they have extra value meals where you can put together your own sides.  We haven't done it from a Happy Meal perspective, but we are clearly looking at what other options we can have besides an apple.  The choices are very involved in testing.

Jessica - We've heard a lot about edamame and seasonal.  We're looking at can we have blueberry as a side for happy meals when we have the blueberry oatmeal seasonal item.

Question: My kids love salads.  Buying a $6 salad when they can only eat half of it, I don't do.  Is it possible to make a half size salad even if they don't want a full one to go with a cheeseburger?  The side salads don't have meat, and my kids are meat eaters.

Jan - You can ask for a side salad and ask for meat.  You can ask, "Can I get a fish no bun?"  They'll charge for it, but you can do it.  Along that line, I am one who is very interested in portion control.  That's something we're doing - we lowered the size of McFlurries, we took away the large on them and on the shakes.  We're looking at more smaller portions available, and we feel like that's a good route to go.  Just go smaller.

Question: I didn't like a salad as a kid.  I loved the salad shakers.  I loved shaking it up - it was exciting to me. That's how my dad got me to eat salad.  

Jan - The salad shaker went down in history as one of our big failures.  Unfortunately it didn't shake well.  Either it didn't shake well or people felt we were cheating them because it wasn't very full.

Question:  In the 70s and 80s, my family did the regional advertising for McDonalds.  I have three kids and am a working mom.  I'm from a farm.  Thank you for telling the stories about farmers in your advertising this year.  In the fruits and veggies, it's important to tell where it comes from, and don't feel bad about it.  If you say that it's from California, say that.  If you're supporting the apple farmers in the States, tell us. People have a huge interest in where our food comes from . I would love to connect our farms with our food.  There's a great story to tell with the farm to McDonalds.

Jan - We're really proud of that campaign.  America is farmers.  Those are real farmers who produce food for us out of this country.

Question: Talking about options, both my kids have given up Happy Meals because they love the chicken wrap.  I would love to see that as a happy meal option.

Jan - I think we're going into a test with that....

Jessica - Yes, we are.

Question: I do like knowing where my fruits and veggie are coming form.  A grilled fish sandwich would be good instead of just fried.  I'd like to have bacon added.  I'd love to see, "You bought a burger or happy meal, here are some exercises you can do to burn off the calories."  It encourages not just healthy eating but healthy living.

Cindy - We've committed that 100% of our messages on Happy Meals will be positive where they talk about exercise or nutritional information.  There is something with the Olympics talking about jumping jacks and how to do it.

Jessica - What do you see as McDonalds' role in bringing awareness of the balance of activities.  Do we have a role in bringing that with 14,000 restaurants?

Question: I blog about tweens.  It's a hangout for kids and want to commend you for investing in a lot of space for a hangout with basketball and place for kids to play in the restaurant. It's not just the babies playing in the play spaces. They can go shoot hoops or ride the exercise bike, and that's awesome.  I'd love to see you do more of that, knowing that it's a space issue.  You recognize that this is a hangout, especially where there's space to do so.

Question: I know McDonalds does a lot of sports funding.  There's a backlash for it, because there's the perception that McDonalds is unhealthy but now you just funded this sports field.  I'd love to see more education around "Yes, we're giving a football field, but we're also doing more for nutrition for the football players."  I have a 3 year old and a 6 week old, and we're starting to get into McDonalds now.  I am big into BPA free plastic.  Can you address that issue, too?

Jessica - I know that is something that we have to go back to confirm, but most of our packaging is BPA free.  We'll get back to you on it.  We have looked at it, and we're continuing to look at it.  We're trying to make it more recyclable in our packaging.

Question: My kids will eat anything with dip.  Since you took the caramel away, they throw the apples away now.  They would eat the apples but not the fries; now that you took the caramel away, they don't eat the apples.  I would be happy to pay more and order it on the side.  I'd be happy to pay extra for ranch or caramel.

Jan - I've heard that before.  I know it is a challenge.

Question:  In a slightly different direction, not only does McDonalds get a bad rap for nutrition, but another thing my friends express concern to me about McDonalds is the environmental concerns and animal welfare.  Can you talk a bit about this?

Jan - They can add the technical stuff. We've been involved in the World Wildlife Fund.  We do a good job.  For some, there are infrastructures that cause a problem. We just made an  announcement for the sows to not be in gestation stalls.  Within the industry, there are people on both sides who think that this is not safe.  We continue to do research and worked with industry organizations.  We've been working with PETA from an animal welfare standpoint. We want to do the right thing, and there's no question that we can change an industry.  We can't do everything.

Cindy - We have an animal welfare council, a longstanding council at McDonalds.  We hire a lot, including partnering with Dr. Temple Grandin and continue to discuss these concerns.

Jan - We would be happy to share the sustainability reports.  I think you'd be very proud of what we've done.  I'm not doing justice to this, but I can get you the information.

Jessica - We do have an opportunity to share more about what we're doing.  We put out the reports, but it's not reaching our customers in the ways we're engaging.

Jan - You're a powerful group out there.  If someone has a bias or a slant on something, well now all of a sudden it's real.  We've got to do more to get credible information out there, but some people just don't want to believe.  Sometimes the things I get called and asked about, I can't believe.  We're in a position where everyone looks at everything we do.  If we aren't honest about it and don't look at it, people will find out.  We don't take any risk at all.  We're very careful and conservative in food safety and everything. It disappoints me when I see what someone has said and it's not factual.  That's why we come out and do listening tours.  We have people who go out and talk about everything.  We use outside experts to help us.  We're always looking to do better, but we are proud of what we do.

Cindy - The My Plate, USDA, FDA, etc.  My counterparts in industry are coming to us to talk about what we're doing.

Question:  I lived on a dairy farm, and unfortunately we were really small and sold out in 2009 because you have to go big or you can't feed your family.  Some of the decisions that McDonalds has made about the sow crates, etc are devastating to us.  We feel like people who don't know anything about a farm animal are now making us do things that are devastating for the animals.  We as farmers would love to help educate people on how you really raise a pig or what it's like to raise the vegetables.  It becomes emotional for us, but then we feel like we've been slapped in the face and don't want to go to McDonalds.

Jan -I can't tell you how much I appreciate your comment.  The industry has worked very closely with us, the farm bureaus and pork and beef producers.  There are two sides to everything.  No one cares more about the animals than the farmers.  That's their living.  They want them to be healthy and grow well.  We can't go down a highway without my husband telling me that's a John Deere 210.  He has it in his blood, too.

Question: My son was born missing half his heart.  I'm also a dairy farmer.  I was terrified when we flew to Seattle, and he's been in and out of hospitals.  I had no one to support me in these cities.  It was the Ronald McDonald Charities that were there for us.  In all the places he's had surgery, we have been able to stay in those houses. It was so comforting knowing that those houses were there for me.  We never want to forget where we came from.  We talk about the charities on my blog.  We try to do donation drops, simple things like fruits and veggies so the families can go spend time with their loved ones.  We don't eat at McDonalds that often, but I would love to be able to have a small drop box at McDonalds for the Ronald McDonald charities.  So many people would love to support your charity.  I would love to support it more, but I can't do the long drive to the closest house as often as I'd like.

Jan - I'm thrilled to hear about your son.  We have over 300 Ronald McDonald Houses around the world.  We just opened the largest one in Chicago.  We do the collection box in every restaurant where you can leave money, but I'll take that back to them.  If there's another type of donation that they can handle, I'd love that.  A lot of them do the bottle caps, too.

Question from Family Arches: What does the future of the McDonalds brand look like?

Jan - It's making sure that we are America's favorite, safest, and most reliable place to feed your families everyday. I want you to feel good about eating at McDonalds daily if you want to.  You can rely on, trust, and feel really good about eating here.  We need to change the perception that it's not good food.

Thank you guys so much.  We've enjoyed the dialogue.  It's not ending here today.  You can join the Family Arches community.  We wish you all the best.

BlogHer '12: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

I finally arrived home from BlogHer on Monday afternoon.  Sadly, my luggage has still not arrived.  Apparently it had a little too much fun in New York and got lost on the way back to Chicago.  I am holding out hope that it will appear somewhere, but in the meantime, I'm making a list of everything I remember being in there - from the several outfits I'd worn first the first time in New York to my bloggy business cards.

BlogHer this year?  It wasn't what I was expecting from the time I arrived in the Big Apple to the time I set feet back in the Windy City.  

The Good

I enjoyed it... most of it.  I love BlogHer for the people, as I think most who attend do.  It's an awesome chance to catch up with the people we don't see very often - or ever - and meet some of the people we've been longing to connect with.  And that was awesome.

The parties?  Way fun.  Incredibly loud for my ever-aging ears, but fun fun fun until I headed up to my hotel room and my feet explained what they'd been trying to scream at me amidst the rockin' DJs: ouch.  I love dancing, and dancing with friends is always more fun than dancing at home.

The food in New York was a blast, too, from the Stand4 milkshakes recommended by Connie Burke - the toasted marshmallow is to die for, and the pumpkin spice is pretty awesome, too - to the halal truck we decided to try.  Street food in New York is awesome, and we so enjoyed the truck we chose based on the line halfway down the block.

"We are different."  Nope, not better, not awesome, just... different.  We ate elsewhere.

And oh did we have fun with Flat Sue.  Flat Sue was created by a friend who couldn't make it to BlogHer this year.  We were so sad not to have Sue with us, but this made it fun.  Sue went everywhere.  She danced with the Elvis Blue M&M in M&M World.  She ate too many cheeseburgers at CheeseBurgHer.  She visited Times Square, the 9/11 Memorial, and Rockefeller Center.  It was beyond hilarious when Flat Sue got left behind at Social Fiesta, and a tweet-a-thon was begun to find her.  We did find her, and she even made it to the traditional party in Room L where she blew the bubbles we bring every year.

The brands I was able to connect with were amazing.  I had the most awesome talk with the Wholly Guacamole folks (you've seen my addiction to guacamole before, right?) about what they're aiming to do and ideas of how to do it.  The connection I made with the school lists folks was worth the trip alone for the benefits I'll be able to share with the rest of my exec board at the wee ones' school's PTO.  I learned about new products that I simply must have from the Sifteo - which is a really cool set of six cubes you can use to play all sorts of games - to TRIA - an at home laser hair removal and blue light systems - to how an adjustable bed really works and what you need to do to purchase one from the Leggett & Platt folks to Neato Robotics - a laser sighting robotic vacuum that I must have.  I had some wonderful conversations with brands that I will be following up on over the next several weeks, and I hope that some of them turn into relationships that benefit us both going forward.

The Bad
I'll be honest.  I don't think all the brands who attended BlogHer were there for the right reason, nor did they all have the right people there.  There were so many brands I approached to learn more about the products because of what I was interested in learning - for myself selfishly and for potential work with my blog - who were checked out.  Either they weren't able to answer my questions ("How much does this product sell for at retail?") or they blatantly had no interest in talking to anyone.  At all.  And those experiences leave a bad taste in my mouth about the brand.  I get the pressure to be there.  And I understand the expense of setting up the booth.  I get how exhausting it must be to stand there chatting day after day.  But Thursday afternoon before everything really starts?  It's hard.  I'll name no names, but there are some products I don't like as much anymore.

I have no suitcase.  I could care less about the swag that didn't make it home - a bottle of alcohol and some books, among other things.  It's my special electric toothbrush that I miss.  And my makeup.  And the clothes that I had bought just before BlogHer that I'm afraid I'll never see again.  It's "still being traced" - which isn't a good sign more than 48 hours after my flight landed.

I raved about the food I ate in New York.  I ate not a bite of the official breakfasts or lunches at BlogHer.  I either skipped the meals or ate elsewhere.  Why?  Oh my holy cats.  There were 5,000 people trying to eat at once.  And that's just a nightmare.  The nightmare was compounded by other factors, but suffice it to say that it wasn't pretty.  I'm glad I had other options.

And speaking of 5,000 people, that was also part of the bad for me.  My first BlogHer was in 2009 when it was held in my hometown of Chicago.  There were about 2,400 people there, if I recall correctly.  It was big, but it was manageable.  It's gotten bigger every year.  I thought 3,000 in New York in 2010 was too big.  3,500 in San Diego last year?  Yeah, that was starting to get unmanageable.  I couldn't get through the entire expo and missed connecting with some brands I really wanted to see and meet.  This year, there were 5,000 people.  And 5,000 people trying to do something isn't pretty, especially when they aren't always polite.  I heard quite a bit of cattiness and saw a lot of line cutting and other disrespectful behavior.

The Ugly
The line cutting and cattiness isn't pretty.  The grabbing things from brand reps' hands?  The saying "Oh, there's nothing good in here, let's go" or "they aren't handing out anything; it isn't worth it" is just ugly.  I know there are a lot of bloggers who do their best to be professional and learn and grow when they attend conferences.  And it's just a minority of people who are in it to get as much stuff as they possibly can.  That saying about a few rotten apples?  It's true.  Seeing a hotel luggage cart literally filled from top to bottom with swag that one person - one person - is taking home makes me feel a little ill.  Yes, I brought some things home, but I visited only those sponsors who I felt would be a good fit.  And I took only a) that which was offered to me and b) that which I knew I would use once I arrived home.  I feel like it's one step forward, two steps backwards in getting bloggers taken seriously.

And I do take what I do seriously.  I went to BlogHer not just to have fun with friends and connect with brands that will help pay bills for the next 12 months, but I also wanted to learn.  I marked sessions on my calendar that I felt would be interesting to me.  I had five sessions I wanted to attend, aside from the keynotes and such.  Five.  I would have loved to attend one or two of the Geek Bar sessions, specifically on coding and on moving to WordPress.  Those were completely filled up almost instantaneously (back to the "5,000 is too big" mantra), only for me to see people saying "Oh, I didn't know what these were.  Does anyone want this session or that session?  I signed up for all of them not knowing what I was signing up for."

Want to know how many sessions I attended?  Zero.  I didn't attend a single session that allowed me to learn.  I tried.  The first session I wanted to attend I failed to get there because I couldn't figure out where the sessions were being held.  Signage could have been improved, although I know I should have taken it upon myself to figure out the session locations more specifically myself.  The others?  I was turned away at the door - even when I arrived early - because the sessions were full and they couldn't allow anyone else in.  I paid how much more for my conference pass to attend these sessions?

So yes, I had a blast.  Most of the time.  My flight getting canceled on Sunday and rebooked to Monday due to a) mechanical failure, b) a security breach at Newark "shutting down all airports from White Plains to New Jersey and New York" so I couldn't be rebooked on another airline, and c) horrible storms in New York canceling many other flights later in the day - well, that wasn't all bad.  It allowed me to catch up with a friend who lived three doors down from me growing up.  I spent the night at her apartment, and we had a hoot catching up.

But next year?  Next year BlogHer is in my hometown of Chicago.  I live here.  I don't have to pay for an airline ticket.  Potentially I could not even pay for a hotel.  But I don't know that I'm going to attend.  The conference I'm sure won't be any smaller than it was this year.  And it's being held at McCormick Place during the day (Expo and sessions), while the evening events and official hotel is the Sheraton on Michigan, miles away.  You can't walk from one to the other.  There's no easy public transportation from one to the other.  Instead, there will be shuttles running.  Yep, shuttles to get 5,000 people from one place to the other. Picture that during Chicago rush hour.

Right now, the picture of the bad and the ugly is looming large.  Perhaps this is why BlogHer tickets aren't going on sale until September 1 this year.  Maybe by then it will be like childbirth, and I will have forgotten that part just to remember the good - the fun with friends, the sights I saw, and the people and brands I connected with.  Your thoughts?

How To Make It All Fit In Your Suitcase

I wrote a couple weeks ago about what to pack when I go to a conference, including my list so that I don't forget anything critical. I'd mentioned then that I had everything I needed for three days (I left on a Sunday and came back on a Wednesday) in a single roll aboard and my, ahem, large purse. Seriously. It's doable.

Granted, if I'm going to a blogger conference, I'm going to generally bring a larger suitcase to check for a few reasons. I'm more likely there to want truly comfortable shoes to walk around in during the day and fun shoes for the parties at night. Plus, with all the brands represented, there are generally gifts to bring home from both them and from the sponsors of the conference via a bag when you check in the first day. While I am very careful to ensure that I'm only bringing home things that we are truly interested in and passing along to other attendees anything that we won't use. Who needs more "stuff" in their house anyway?

That said, I've got some secrets to ensure everything fits - especially on the way home. While I don't have vacuum sealing bags, I know people who swear by them. That doesn't work on gift-y items, however, just clothes. And I'm always concerned that packing that tightly with clothes means any checked bags will go over the 50 pound maximum and get a hefty excess weight fee.

I have other secrets, the first of which is wearing clothes in a single color palette so I don't have to bring as many shoes or sweaters to toss over my clothes or even pants, since I can reuse them from day to day. The other fun one I learned a long time ago is to roll my clothes. Yep, instead of folding them and laying them in the suitcase, I roll them tightly and place them in. If it's something that you worry about wrinkling, use a dry cleaner bag outside it, then roll it. It's amazing the reduction in wrinkles you'll see just from packing an item of clothing inside a dry cleaner's bag. Try it. It's amazing how much more will fit in a suitcase by rolling. This is my 20 inch roll aboard suitcase with three days' worth of clothing rolled up. And look at how much more room I have for everything else on my list!

When you leave the conference, it's a whole lot harder to get everything to fit because of the gifts you've received. You did remember to leave extra space in your suitcase, right? The other alternative is to ship your items home, but that's frequently more expensive than checking your bag, although not always. Once you've sorted through what you truly want and will use, remove as many items from the packaging as possible. Do you really want to take up valuable space (and weight!) with plastic and cardboard? That makes a huge difference, right there.

You want to ensure that you stack your suitcase effectively, so use soft items (clothing, generally) to fill in the uneven areas in the bottom of your suitcase so that you have a level surface if you don't already. Then put your larger items in first, packing smaller items around them to maximize space. And those smaller soft items - especially if they're dirty already because you've worn them - stuff them inside shoes and other items that have empty space inside them. You can do it. It sometimes just takes a little effort.

So have you started packing yet? Where will I see you this year?

How To Host A Party

I have a new giveaway up for a Monopoly board game here.

***

I've been seeing a ton of BlogHer recap posts, and I know I've got one or two in me to write. Before I get to that, I have another topic to address. One of the big areas of focus this year has been the parties - both private and not - that happen outside the conference themselves. Were they all successful? Ummm no. Are there things that organizers and brands can do to improve them? Absolutely.

An Open Letter To Brands Hosting Parties At BlogHer

Dear All,

Thank you so much for hosting the parties you put on at BlogHer (and elsewhere). It's a great idea and an excellent opportunity to showcase yourselves and your brands. Trust me, most bloggers love the opportunity to have some fun while being out and about somewhere they otherwise wouldn't (especially the mommies among us who may not have as much adult interaction as we'd like).

When you host a party, however, it's important to make sure that you're doing everything you can to make sure it's successful and that people there walk out of it talking about it - in a postive manner. And unfortunately, at BlogHer, that didn't always happen.

There were some absolutely great parties - and different things about different parties made them stand out. But there were some parties I heard about that I was glad I wasn't invited to. And some that I attended that I left early.

One important factor is to make sure that you have the right number of people there. While you don't want to have six attendees for a large space, you also don't want to be in a situation where people feel claustrophobic trying to maneuver in the party. I know people are always angling for invites, but you're better off keeping the guest list manageable and having a great party for those who can and do attend. While people might be disappointed that they weren't invited, it's better than being miserable at a party. Invite a more intimate group (and that can be 50-80 people easily) but make it a great experience for them. The 200 or 300 people parties become more about the venue and too generic.

And once people are at your party? Make sure there's something for them to do. I attended more than one party where we were completely left to our own devices - we got a drink and had some passed appetizers and chatted amongst ourselves. That isn't a great representation of a brand, especially if the attendees don't know each other at all. I had the most fun at parties where there was a diversion - be it someone cooking, some sort of a project to make, an interactive presentation by the brand, games to play, etc.

And since we're typically women attending the parties, we dress up. That involves wearing heels that aren't always the most comfortable shoes. And it's possible that we didn't wear the smartest shoes earlier in the day, either. Please please please offer us a way to sit down. I can't tell you how many parties I attended without a single chair. On the other hand, some parties had great groupings of seating that made it fun and easy to sit and chat with friends.

Working in the business world, I've heard and lived "underpromise and overdeliver" time and time again. I attended more than one party where something was touted as being at the party - from makeovers to chatting with a celebrity to br@ fittings and more - that simply didn't materialize. Either there weren't enough makeup artists to get through the attendees or the "fitting" was a chart that a rep walked you through. I would have been happy without those things if I weren't expecting them. I'd rather be happily surprised by massage chairs for five minute wakeup massages than anticipate something fun and see that it won't happen.

With BlogHer requiring all on-site parties to be by sponsors of BlogHer, that meant that many parties were held far from the hotel. I was so impressed by some of the brands that proactively communicated with attendees letting us know how to get to the location - with walking, cab and subway directions. That was a huge help and such a pleasant surprise. And the brands that set up shuttles to get attendees to and from the parties? That took so much stress away and was a really unexpected plus.

Several parties got knocked for making changes once invitations had been sent out. I know that things change, and that's how the world works. However, there were a few parties that changed venues, that mismanaged their invitee list and would only be able to get guests in first come, first served. Let's just say that's going to backfire via word of mouth. Hugely. Delay sending out your invites for a couple days if you need to, but get as much solidified as possible before you start inviting people. Perception is, after all, reality.

At the same time, give invitees enough time to respond. I was amazed hearing from friends that people were still receiving invites in the days before BlogHer started. While some invites and save the dates went out in June, others were far too late. I know I was traveling starting Wednesday morning and had gotten my schedule set a week earlier. I received a couple invites for parties I would have loved to attend, but I had already made other commitments. And once I say I'm going to do something, I won't back out.

With how BlogHer has been evolving, I think more and more people are arriving early and staying late for conferences now. I heard a lot of people say this year that they are planning to arrive in San Diego on Tuesday next year and stay until later on Sunday. Use that extra time to your advantage. Not everyone will be able to come, but it's a great way to separate yourself from the pack. And if you send out your invites early enough, people will be able to plan their travel around your event.

I also went to some events where swag was given only to those invited and their guests were given nothing. Some people weren't sure who was a guest and who was invited, but ... how does that make the guest feel? We don't need swag at every party. Sure, it's fun to get and some of it is really neat, but I'd rather have a great time at a great party and go home with nothing (as I did at a few parties) than have half the attendees feel marginalized as they're walking out - their last impression of the party.

Another issue for some parties was getting people into them. If you've invited a large number of people to that party, make sure that there is more than a single elevator that takes ten people at a time to the point that it takes over forty-five minutes to get in. If the party says it is starting on the hour, don't make people wait outside telling them you'll open the doors "in two minutes" until twenty-five minutes past the hour. If you're crossing names off a guest list, do it efficiently. Have more than one person doing it, and make sure you're going quickly. Nothing kills the vibe or buzz about a party more than having to sit around and wait for something you're anticipating. You don't just want to end on a positive note, you want to begin on one, too.

No one hosts a party not wanting it to go well. And I can only imagine the nightmares that the organizers go through trying to pull everything together - and dealing with some of the more pushy people out there - but there are simple things that can easily be done in some cases to make it a more positive experience. We all want to have fun, and hopefully some of this will help make more parties more fun next year.

And if you want some help planning those parties? Well, let's just say that I put spreadsheets together for fun. I'm a planning junkie.

Hugs and kisses,



PS For attendees, what other things did I miss that work really well and that don't work?

Pre-BlogHer Recap

Holy cow! Have you ever felt so overwhelmed that you don't know where to start? That's me thinking about my BlogHer experience. I had so much fun and packed so much into five days that I've just been sitting here looking at a blank screen trying not to hyperventilate.

I have a plan now though... today we discuss all the fun that we had in New York prior to the start of the actual conference. Then we'll delve into the conference itself - specifically my recommendations for brands who are looking to connect with bloggers while at BlogHer or any other conference. I have lots of opinions about that - and if you do, too, share them! It can only make things more productive for everyone.

But let's start with before the conference starts, shall we? Please excuse the lack of pictures. Since I don't have a fancy camera (yet), I felt rather inadequate taking out my little point and shoot around everyone else who was taking fantastic pictures, so I didn't take nearly so many as I'd once hoped I would.

Melisa and I flew out to New York together. She booked the 6am flight on Wednesday and talked me into joining her. While that meant getting up way earlier than any human should have to (at O'Hare only one security line was open, if that tells you anything), it was worth it to have the whole day in front of us.

Miraculously, our flight arrived early in New York, and we quickly gathered our luggage and got into the near-vacant cab line. Remembering the advice Patty had given, I asked our cabbie to take us to 6th Avenue, between 53rd and 54th. It's possible I had minor panic walking up to the line trying to remember where our hotel was, but my brain somehow woke up enough to pass along that tidbit before going back to sleep. I think I sounded like someone who knew what she was doing.

Once we arrived, Melisa and I headed up to Central Park to do some reconnoisance for our 5K on Friday. Ok, so really we were walking to check out the Shake Shack's location for lunch later that day. Much like those plans, we never made it to check it out before our roommate Sue called to say that she was on her way from Penn Station to the hotel.

Once we picked up Sue, we were off on our "sugar day," as I called it. We started out in Soho at Dean & DeLuca's original store, which was really foodie heaven. I could have stayed there for hours, but other places beckoned.

For example, we had to get lemonade at Balthazaar - where Melisa did not trip in the intersection and meet Brad Pitt, much to her sister's disappointment. And yum, was that good lemonade!

Our next stop was Magnolia Bakery for cupcakes - and yes, again we were headed to the original. As we began our walk, Melisa and I noticed the same cute little shop. And when I say little, I mean l.i.t.t.l.e. It was literally one of those New York places that is a hole in the wall with shutters they open to the street. And they sold mini filled cupcakes with flavors like cookie dough and mint chocolate chip and PB&J.

Just because we were on our way to get cupcakes doesn't mean that we couldn't have mini cupcakes first. They were truly tiny. Amongst ourselves, we came up with three different flavors to try, and they came in a little paper tray - so adorable.

I looked at my friends and asked who wanted to try first. Sue picked up the mint chocolate chip cupcake and popped it in her mouth. Melisa and I looked at each other in shocked silence for a moment before both bursting into uncontrollable laughter. Poor Sue. Apparently she hadn't quite understood our intention of each taking a bit of the three cupcakes to try them all. Melisa and I shared the remaining two cupcakes, however, and then we were off to our original destination.

As we were walking, we happened upon a photo shoot. There was a pretty fashionably dressed woman doing interseting poses on a street corner with men holding up and then putting down sun filters as the clouds came and went. Up the street, we could see a "Got Milk" truck, but when we asked the photographer on our way back what the shoot was for (they were on a break then and no one was around but him), he insisted it was for birth control. We don't believe him. None of us recognized the model though.

We finally got to Magnolia and chose our cupcakes. It's a tiny little store, and the cupcake selection wasn't quite what I was expecting. You choose a box (or a plate) and pick up your own cupcake - essentially chocolate or vanilla - with either chocolate frosting or a pastel colored frosting. Somehow, I was expecting... more. More unique flavors or decorations or something. The rest of the bakery had all sorts of neat stuff that I was drooling over, but we came for cupcakes and I got my cupcake. Yes, the purple one.

From there, we hoofed it back to the hotel to meet our other roommate Momo. Melisa and I changed for tea at the Plaza (yep, more sugar and more on this event later). After tea? I met up with our group at Serendipity where there were people waiting outside with their luggage. It's was a great people watching opportunity.

Serendipity though? I would be find never heading back there again. The food was completely mediocre - and the waiter messed up two people's orders. The famous frozen hot chocolate we went there for (I know, I know... more sugar!) were beautiful, but they were really hard to drink. The chocolate chunks kept getting caught on the bottom of my straw, as did the chunks of not blended enough ice. The frozen chocolate itself tasted pretty good, but it wasn't easy to drink. And the whipped cream on top? Ick. I like whipped cream, but this one had no flavor whatsoever. And of course friends of mine who live in New York heard I went there and immediately had other recommendations of better places to get the frozen hot chocolate. Oh well!

After stuffing ourselves with yet more sugar (I was smart enough to share mine at least), we walked over to Dylan's Candy Bar. Wow is that place huge. It's of course way different from the quaint, old fashioned, super long dark wood bar I'd pictured in my head. It was bright and loud and smelled like all sorts of candy (best time for me to go, as I had zero interest in even touching any of the candy there at that point). The two floors were very fun to explore, and they had just about anything and everything you could imagine. I did find it interesting that the international candy section contained only Japanese candies, but that's just me.

You'd think we'd be done at that point, but somehow we weren't. We hung out in the lobby bar for a bit, chatting. And somehow we learned that the waffle truck was parked outside for the bloggers available and was giving out their special waffles.

We decided to investigate. We weren't really going to eat any. After all, we'd eaten so much already. But no one else was ordering anything, and the guys (Paul and ... ummm his partner) were really nice and funny. So the three of us decided to split a single waffle. We ordered it with a special Nutella like spread that has a graham cracker like taste. And Nutella. And strawberries. It was heaven. It really was too bad that we could only eat a little of it.

From there? It's possible that we just collapsed into bed, knowing what was coming the next day.

On Thursday morning, we woke up early (again) so we could take the subway down to Brooklyn and then walk back across the Brooklyn Bridge. At 7am, this was gorgeous. There were a few runners and bikers, but the bridge was quiet and peaceful - with mostly us oblivious girls wandering across it and taking a zillion pictures.

I loved how there were the points of interest along the bridge where you could stop to read about the history of the bridge and what New York looked like at various points in history. Curious me loved reading all that. My favorite part though? Ohhhh the beautiful breeze that buffetted us as we walked.

I found it really impressive that there were serious joggers going across the bridge. There was a man who was obviously in much better shape than his partner, but you could see him cheering her on and her continuing because of that. There were the commuters biking across to get to work. And there was the sweat soaked woman with a small bag over one shoulder. We saw her later at one of the open areas of the bridge. She was leading a fitness class with another six or so people right on the bridge. It was so inspiring to see her doing that - knowing she was following a passion and had found a way to make a living at it and also realizing that her workout when we saw her had only just begun.

Once across the bridge, we walked over to Ground Zero. On our way, we saw a great founding in City Hall Park, so we decided to stop to take a picture of it (ok, the camera experts did - I was along for the ride though). As we got closer, we realized that it wasn't just the fountain we'd be taking a picture of. Inside the fountain was a man. He appeared to be bathing. We didn't get close enough to confirm whether he did or did not retain his clothing.

Once at Ground Zero, we wandered a bit. It was surprisingly crowded there, and the signage wasn't all we'd hoped. While there was a ton of information on the fences surrounding the construction site, the observation deck has been removed (or at least it doesn't exist where my Droid's GPS took us - and on a side note, BOO to Google Maps for taking away the walking and public transportation navigation with the most recent upgrade; this was not cool). We did visit Engine Company Number 10, which was the fire station located nearest the fallen towers and were the first responders. The memorials there were so moving, and I'm grateful that it's still an operational firehouse. We thought about visiting the Ground Zero Museum, but it wasn't open yet since we had been up and out so early that morning!

Instead, we walked over to Chinatown where we saw all sorts of neat little shops, although we didn't have a ton of time to browse them. We were accosted by the "Gucci, Coach, Prada, Luis Vuitton" criers who were eager to show us their wares in back rooms. We didn't go. I wish we had more time to explore Chinatown - and have some dim sum - but it wasn't to be.

As the noon our approached, our group sans me headed back to the hotel for various tours they were starting. I walked up past NYU to Bar Six where I met two high school friends for lunch. I had some extra time, so I did some wandering of the streets in the general area which was fun. This also provided my most entertaining experience of the weekend. As I was walking, a woman stopped me to ask me for directions. And the best part? I knew how to get to the street she was looking for. I am a rock star.

Lunch with my friends was great. Bar Six has awesome and unique food and is a really neat and quiet atmosphere, perfect for catching up with friends I hadn't seen in two years. Time with them always flies too fast, but hearing what they're up to and sharing some fun stories made it a great hour plus. And it reminds me that I need to spend more time with my friends just relaxing and catching up.

Once my lunch was over, it was time for me to start my conference activities. But in the twenty-six hours before that, I think we did a pretty good job exploring New York! And I wonder why I'm tired now!