It’s very cool — and that’s what happened yesterday in Las Vegas!  At BlogWorld Expo — a time to meet up with old friends and make new.

Some old b5 friends:  CEO Jeremy Wright, Aaron Brazell, Christina Jones, Leora Zellman, and Liz Strauss.

And some new b5 friends:  Deborah, techies Brian, Lee, and Mark, Jeanne and Jyle, Geoff, Kevin, Darcie, and Gabrielle from our sales team.

It was nice to have the opportunity to meet Des from down under, to hear what Allen has to say about how Twitter pays his rent, and to meet Shama.

If I forgot to mention you, I’m sorry.  It was a busy three days, and with so many people, I’m bound to have someone slip my mind.  If that’s you, please leave me a comment so that I can rectify the omission.

Friends.  Old and new.  What an added bonus to traveling!

Photo credit:  wikimedia

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Party down with all your monster friends, and enjoy a safe, but fun-filled Halloween!

Photo credit:  wikipedia

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I’ve updated my reading list, and am now making a reading list for the fall travel season.  With lots of travel plans this fall, I’m going to need to stock up on some good books to keep me company!

If you’ve got some good suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

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BlogHer, while open to everyone, is primarily a group for women bloggers.  And since we come in all shapes, sizes, varying interests and backgrounds, the conference program tried to reflect the interests of a diverse group of attendees.  While there will be debate about whether it met the needs of attendees, I can wholeheartedly say that I am glad that I went.

Here are a few of my thoughts:

• It was the first time I’ve been to this type of event, and I didn’t know what to expect.  I was pretty spot on, though, about how it would be.
• There were lots of discussions (both in the break out sessions, and in one-on-one networking) that were well above my knowledge level, but I also found that many times I had enough knowledge to add to other conversations.
• It was fun to put names and faces to blogs, and I loved meeting the other b5media bloggers that were there:  CJ from eBeauty Daily, Arieanna from Lohan Groupie (among others), both of whom are also channel editors, Elizabeth from Gen Between, Liz from Successful Blog, Leora from Desperate Blog (among others), and Kelly from Tax Girl.
• It was also fun to meet the bloggers that I’ve been reading for some time now, including Sheila at Family Travel, Jory at Pause, and Christine from Christine Kane’s Blog.
• And, of course, it’s great to meet new people, blogging on a wide variety of topics.  Here’s a few I’ll be checking out over the next few days:  Eggbeater, AAG Blog, Simply Recipes, and Jurgen Nation.
• You get out of a conference what you’re willing to put into it.  Sometimes what you get out of it is the networking and friendships that spring up outside of the actual conference room.
• Sometimes when people speak of “inclusivity” in the blogging world, they deep down mean “inclusivity” of people who are just like them, not necessarily those with contrary opinions, backgrounds, skill levels, and/or beliefs.  This occurs even at BlogHer.
• I LOVE pina coladas.  If you were at the event, you’ll know what that means.

If you’ve been wondering if a blogging conference is for you — give it a try.  There are lots of conferences, unconferences, workshops, and meetups around the country, catering to a variety of different audiences, subject matter, and skill level.

Give it a try!  I’m glad that I did.

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Along with the relaxation has come a lot of reading, so I’ve updated my page on What I’m Reading 2007.

Take a look and see if we share any common opinions of what we’ve read.  Or, feel free to leave the name of your favorite summer read in the comments to this post!

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Although my father passed away over 19 years ago, I’ve been fortunate to acquire a sort of “adoptive” father.

To Al, and all the other father’s out there — best wishes for a very happy day!

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Earth Day is a modern holiday, established on April 22nd 1970, with US Senator Gaylor Nelson (Wisconsin) providing the push for the legislation after witnessing the devastation of an oil spill off the California Coast. Senator Gaylord persuaded his colleagues in the importance of environmental legislation, and eventually helped to pass the Clean Air Act, along with laws to protect our drinking water, open lands, and open water.

Earth Day started out as grass roots environmental campaign, and has grown to an international effort aimed at learning to be a good steward of our resources and to protect mother earth.

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Tags: b5media, Earth Day, flight attendants, Flyaway Cafe, travel, travel tips, vacation

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In honor of National Library Month, I’m adding a Blog Page where I’ll track what I’m reading. It’s likely to be a pretty diverse list, covering a variety of writing genres, with a couple of common themes: mysteries (of all sub-categories, especially legal thrillers), a fair smattering of chick lit (great for hours spent on the beach or on an airplane), and the occasional interest in an odd topic (I’m curious about people and things).

I’ll update the list whenever I start a new book, and try to annotate the list with a few comments on how I liked the book. (I’m reconstructing this list from January 1st, so some of the previous details may be a little skimpy.)

If, after perusing this list, you have a recommendation about a book you think I’d like, just send me an email. I’m always looking for a new author, or something that I may have missed.

So go check it out at What I’m Reading: 2007, located in the “Pages” section of the sidebar.

What are you reading right now?

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Turns out that on March 1st U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming) introduced the “Freedom to Travel Cuba Act,” which would finally remove the embargo now in place and allow Americans to legitimately travel to Cuba.   Although not the first time that this type of legislation has been proposed, this time there is bi-partisan support, and there may be a very real chance for a change in policy.

Cuba is “officially” off limits to American travelers when it comes to tourist travel.  There are exceptions when it comes to journalist travel, education, political groups, meetings, humanitarian aid, etc.

Some Americans go to Cuba via Canada or Mexico, effectively circumventing this travel restriction.  However, the State Department’s Consular Sheet makes it clear that this, still, is illegal, and returning travelers will be subject to civil and criminal penalties. 

The newly introduced legislation would normalize travel between the U.S. and Cuba, as well as remove all restrictions and penalties for U.S. citizens who wish to travel to Cuba.  You can read the details of the bill, and get further information about it, at Senator Enzi’s website.

I’ve always wanted to go to Cuba.  Now that it may be a real possibility, it’s going back on my list. 

Photo credit:  SXC

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