I decided to go for immersion in the event rather than doing a whole lot of live blogging at BlogHer, so I plan to make up for that by taking some time to delve into the massive volume of aftermath coming out of the event. It's a little bit of taking to heart some of the vibe of BlogHer -- that there is value in slowing down, listening hard, and letting the ideas, information and conversation percolate a bit -- as opposed to my normal blogging pace at Engadget where it's breakneck speed read, filter, analyze and post. That's rapid blogging; this is slow blogging.

What I've noticed most immediately is that everybody is talking about BlogHer. And it's not just the folks who were there, and not just the organizers, but also the folks who wished they could have been there, the folks who intentionally were absent, and other observant non-attendees. There's a lot goin' on. I'll be digesting this potluck/buffet/smorgasbord for some time.

Charlene Li and Halley Suitt, moderated by Lisa Stone, led the discussion in the first panel -- but there were a ton of great comments from the floor. Here is a good subset surrounding how relevant the old guard link counters (Technorati, Icerocket, e.g.) are to what we want to do.

Charlene Li: you gotta network. A-list is important. [more in her own words]

Halley Suitt: but... blogging is about breaking the rules. But still -- you need to ask people to link to you. [more in her own words]

Lisa Stone: but some people get offended when you ask.
HS: Who cares?
HS: If I blow it, just ask me again.

CL: Network, be relevant, be unique. Have your own A-list.

HS: Don't compromise your vision of what blogging can be based on what you think will get you on the A-list or Technorati 100

Audience: Do we need to be validated by Technorati? No. We are our own validation. Let's create our own critera.

I'll be keeping a stream of cameraphone shots on Flickr as we go -- so for the latest just head over to my photostream and refresh. At the end of the conference I'll tag them all up and post the link to the complete collection.