Who’s Coming to Blissdom?

Tomorrow the Blissdom Conference begins. I’ll be going for the first time. And for an extrovert like me, that is really exciting! Remember, for us, strangers are only friends that we haven’t made yet.

But, I’m wondering. Am I really an extrovert—like I used to be? Because I’m feeling a little scared about Blissdom.

It’s my understanding that Blissdom is a conference primarily for women bloggers and writers. (I’m am a TOTAL wanna-be when it comes to this camp.)

This is a demographic that has grown exponentially over the past few years.

There are going to be a LOT of people there. A lot of extremely TALENTED people! That’s intimidating.

The strange thing about this gathering is that most of these women, myself included, are semi-friends, we’re semi-aware of each other. Emphasis on SEMI. We’re neither strangers, nor friends.

You see, we probably follow each other on Twitter, and read some of each other’s blogs. The only thing is, that when you follow hundreds, if not thousands, of people on Twitter it’s impossible to keep them all straight. We have to pick and choose which blogs we read and which Tweets we respond to—all the while becoming friends.

It’s really a strange, unique way to build relationships.

It’s especially challenging because many have different Twitter names from their actual names. That can get very confusing and frustrating when you’re trying to put names and faces together. (Read here to consider changing that practice: http://snipurl.com/8mistakes.)

And then there’s this: I may be much more familiar with you, even to the extent that I know all about you—your families, your struggles, your dreams—and you may not know who I am AT ALL. That is really strange.

But, it goes with the territory.

So, rather than focus on how ‘weird’ it is, I’m choosing to embrace it, see the possibilities and opportunities within it, and accept it as a new way of connecting with people.

It’s still a little scary and definitely out of my comfort zone—I didn’t even know I had a zone for this—but very exciting at the same time.

So, here’s what I’d like to do: I want to find out who’s coming to Blissdom.

Whom do I know, semi-know or who is truly a complete stranger to me?

I think knowing this will help a bit. We’ll see.

Question: I’m coming to Bilssdom. Are you?

What’s your real name, twitter name and blog name?

Remind me if we ‘know’ each other or if you’re just a stranger  … i.e. a friend I haven’t made yet.