BlogPaws 2012 Recap

I survived BlogPaws 2012.

After three days of talks about Word Press, WP plugins, SEO, and the like, my head is still spinning. (And my suspicions have been confirmed: Vox Felina is due for some serious revisions.)

Among the highlights were two keynote addresses—the first from Betsy Saul, co-founder of Petfinder.com, who, to her credit, made cats (including community cats) the first item on her list of issues that the companion animal welfare community needs to focus on. The second was a pull-no-punches wake-up call from Lena West, who challenged all of us to treat our blogging like a business—and in doing so, increase the good we can do.

Easily the best part of the event, though, was spending time with so many bloggers I’d known only virtually until now—including: Tamar Arslanian (I Have Cat); Angie Bailey (Catladyland); Deb Barnes (The Chronicles of Zee and Zoey); Crystal Fogg, who blogs about her “special needs” cat, Moki at The Wobbly Cat; Debbie Glovatsky (Glogirly), winner of BlogPaws’ Nose-to-Nose Award for Best Meow Blog; Stephanie Harwin (Catsparella); Janea Kelley (Paws and Effect); Ingrid King (The Conscious Cat); Joanne McGonagle (The Tiniest Tiger Conservation Cub Club); Christine Michaels (Riverfront Cats); Karen Nichols (Mousebreath), winner of the Nose-to-Nose Award for Best Blog Design; Robin Olson (Covered in Cat Hair), and Dorian Wagner (Your Daily Cute).

The Catification Lounge, the creation of Kate Benjamin, “Miss Moderncat,” and “Cat Daddy” Jackson Galaxy, proved to be an excellent venue for conversations both serious and light (the latter being aided immeasurably by Jill Delzer owner of Ally McPets).

I hope to see you all again at BlogPaws 2013!