A plug for a blogging convention: BlogHer in Chicago in July

No, I haven't gone "pay per post."

Yet.

But I saw that the BlogHer Conference is to be held in Chicago next month and I wanted to pass the news along.

The BlogHer home page says that there are over 9,000 blogs that are listed in its blog index, providing numeric support for its claim that BlogHer is "where the women bloggers are."

I looked at the registration form and it even has provisions for registering under one's nom de blog. Here's a snippet from that form:

What It's About: A Brief Overview
BlogHer's annual event is a fantastic opportunity for you to meet your virtual friends face-to-face while getting a chance to learn from the collective wisdom of the entire BlogHer Community. Over two-plus days, you'll have a chance to meet, greet, socialize, and attend sessions in any of six tracks with your fellow BlogHers (and BlogHims).

* * *

Who Should Attend
BlogHer is open to anyone and everyone who considers themselves part of the blogosphere, and is particularly focused on serving women who blog. All ages, etnicities, genders, and levels of blogging experience are encouraged to attend.

I'm not planning to attend, you understand, anonymously or otherwise. (This may come as a relief to the event organizers.)

So why am I plugging the event?

I call it "enlightened self-interest": The taxes on your hotel, your meals, any event tickets you might purchase -- all of that will help defray my property taxes. So I strongly encourage tourism: Whenever I see anyone consulting a map in the street I immediately offer assistance. I want this person to go home to Düsseldorf (or wherever) and sing the praises of the nice people of Chicago... so that, next year, his neighbors will come, too -- and bring more money.

I'm not a Curmudgeon for nothing, you know. Besides that, as some of you may have noticed over time, I consider myself a civic booster and unofficial cheerleader for what I truly believe to be a beautiful city. So make plans to come to BlogHer -- and don't tell 'em that the Curmudgeon sent you.