BlogHer conference--Design Session

I will be leading a session on blog design at the BlogHer conference on July 30th. Do let me know if you are attending...it will be great to meet in person and if you are a graphic designer who designs and develops blogs definitely get in touch with me (lkeeler@yahoo.com) so I can feature your work during the session. Here's info on the session:

Grab ‘em by the eyeballs:
Use visual design to enhance, engage and keep them coming back.
You don’t have to be a graphic designer or even have an advanced design sensibility to incorporate design elements that will create a more easy to use blog. Designs elements ranging from layout to icons to photography are easy to find and with most blog templates easy to integrate.
Good design encourages more readers, more interaction, more return visitors and more referrals. It also allows you to create an identity for you and the blog that will be memorable in a visual sense rather than only through your writing. It’s not about being pretty it’s about capturing attention and giving your readers the chance to quickly scan and decide what’s new, what’s interesting and what to spend time on.
The Room of her Own will be a give and take and show some of the best examples of how blogs have used design to heighten the experience. We’ll show some before and after case studies and share resources of blog designers, design elements, template creators and other tools that help create a visually exciting experience that showcases your personal style. Not being a designer I encourage design professionals to join in with me to lead the session.

BlogHer.org--I'm going, are you?

On July 30th a group of women bloggers will be gathering in Santa Clara for the first BlogHer conference.  Want to join in?  Info on the conference is below and you'll be able to meet, hear and connect with a fantastic range of top bloggers.  I've been tapped to lead a discussion on design and will be recruiting designers, artists and blogger who have created blogs incorporating great design.  I'll post tomorrow on the details of the session.

Where are the women bloggers? We're right here. . . www.blogher.org

This flagship event is open to all bloggers—including men and beginners—interested in enhancing their online exposure, learning the latest best practices in blogging, networking with other bloggers, and specifically cultivating the female blogging community.

BlogHer Conference '05 will provide an open, inclusive forum to:

1. Discuss the role of women within the larger blog community
2. Examine the developing (and debatable) code of blogging ethics
3. Discover how blogging is shrinking the world and amplifying the voices of women worldwide

Plus:
 

1. Best technology practices, newbie to advanced: how to use technology and tools to achieve text, photo, audio and video blogging goals
2. Best industry-specific practices: Why are journalists, marketers, lawyers, academics, technologists and many more blogging? And how do you find the ones you're interested in?
3. The rights and the responsibilities of the blogger