Hey everyone!

I’m making some changes around here, so if you notice a bunch of errors while looking at the site, do not be alarmed. I imagine I will be done with everything in February two years from now (just kidding).

In the meantime, talk amongst yourselves.

Every year I feel compelled to write a post announcing the fact that I’m going to BlogHer View definition in a new window, as if there are legions of people sitting at home sitting on pins and needles to hear this news. At first this was probably due to anxiety, last year it was probably due to the cross-country trip and a messed up sleep schedule. Now it just seems more like tradition.

Me Looking Semi Normal With Jenny The Bloggess

So let’s get to it: yes, I’m going to BlogHer View definition in a new window, and I hope to see you there.

New thoughts for this year: I am skeptical about San Diego as a venue for BlogHer View definition in a new window. I’m happy it’s in San Diego, because this makes it much easier for me to attend, but I think it is going to be a bit inconvenient for all of the usual suspects to attend, and because of that I’m wondering what the turnout will be like. Come to think of it, it may just be better this way.

Now, as for anybody new who might be going: don’t worry about the stupid private parties. For the record, I generally get zero private party invitations, and though this might not be wholly surprising in my case (cough.), there are many, many well-known, longterm, beloved bloggers for whom this is also the case. You simply cannot base your self-esteem one way or the other on the presence or absence of private party invitations, and I am not just saying that.

In fact, let me demystify the process of the party invitation guest list for you while I’m already here. The ways to obtain a private party invitation are:

  1. organize a private party;
  2. be friends with somebody who is organizing a private party
  3. be on the blogroll of somebody who is organizing a private party
  4. enter your name for an invite after a mass call on Twitter; and/or
  5. blind, dumb luck.

Your invite status has nothing to do with your relative worth as a blogger. Also: generally what you get when you go to a private party is a razor that you will curse yourself for using for the year afterwards, both because the refills are so damned expensive, and also because they used a car show-inspired floor show with scantily clad models to promote it.

As for the cliques, they absolutely exist, as they do nearly anywhere else. Who cares? I don’t have a clique, and I don’t plan to join one. I’m OK with this. And if you see me entertaining furtive glances and angry glares in the lobby one day, please do come say hello. I promise not to bite too hard.

Babble.com is best known in the mommyblogosphere as the purveyor of traffic-grabbing “Best of” lists that crop up every three months and send mommybloggers into a frenzy of retweeted requests for votes. But if the recent rumors coming out of Canadia are accurate (or anything close to it), there will soon be another reason to think of Babble — Her Bad Mother.

Rumors have been going around about Canadian blogger of note Catherine Connors taking a position with Babble.com. Babble Media CEO Rufus Griscom confirmed that Connors is set to join the Babble team, but stated that the specifics of her employment and job title are still being worked out. There has been some talk about the Connors’ position being somehow connected to a sale/acquisition of Connors’ group parenting site, The Bad Moms Club (estimated traffic via Quantcast is 30,000 pageviews per month), by Babble Media. Though Griscom was not able to provide any more details about the partnership between Connors and Babble Media at this time, he stated that this partnership “does not involve the sale of Catherine’s site.”

In order to work with Babble, Connors is reportedly moving her family of four from the Toronto area to New York City. The specifics of the move are unclear, and Connors was unable to be reached for comment on this story. UPDATE: Catherine Connors responded to my email and said the move will take place at the end of the summer, and that she will be able to answer more fully once all of the details of employment are worked out.