Blogher 12 Invites - If you have to ask, you're not cool enough to attend

One in a series of posts about attending Blogher 12 in NYC
Blogher is a great conference, but the whole "unofficial" party thing is starting to make me a little nuts.   The official conference parties used to be by ticket.   Once a party was announced it was a race to Eventbrite to get a ticket.    Thankfully those have become open to all conference attendees, so you can get a free drink and some appetizers from 7PM-1AM every evening.   The music is great, there are often massages,I've made some great friends there, and there is no pressure.  


Then there are the "invite-only" parties.  Supposedly if you are the "right" kind of person, the sponsors will know about you and you will get an invite.    All anyone talks about in their blogs is how amazing these are. According to what I read from other bloggers, being the right kind of person involves hanging out on Twitter constantly and watching the feed for Blogher 12 party discussion.    Some parties are announced for a sign-up and in less than a minute, are full.   


I had a few parties I wanted to get invited to. (past tense)   After two months of stalking the Twitter and Facebook feeds, and not getting my request in until 90 seconds after the party opened, I gave up.  Really, sponsors, I have a life and I need to live without my smartphone constantly in hand.    I have family responsibilities and work responsibilities and my effectiveness in both arenas is compromised by too much party stalking.     My life provides the interesting content that sometimes appears in my blog that occasionally discusses a product and how it makes my life and my family's life better.   My work provides the income to buy your products.     


Is the only thing about me that interests you is that I constantly tweet and surf the Twitter stream and monitor my Facebook feed?     Quite frankly, I un-follow the feeds that are constantly blathering on product after product without any content like a social media infomercial.  


There must be a better way, because all the fun people I am meeting at the official parties who are not at the invite-only are the ones I end up following after the conference.