This post was inspired by BlogHer’s National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo), which is finally getting me to blog. Join the fun!

It doesn’t have to be healthy, right? Do I have an endless stomach? I guess I’m setting the stage, so let’s go big (and in this order):

• Cold microbrew beer (duh)
• Macaroni and cheese (the homemade good stuff)
• Melt-in-your-mouth steak, medium rare
• Broccoli, mushrooms, and onions sautéed olive oil with fresh-squeezed lemon and ground pepper
• Seasoned fries (guilty pleasure)
• Tiramisu
• Cappuccino

I’ve been trying to eat a lot healthier lately, so if I ate this meal now it would only be the steak and veggies, and the beer of course. Now I’m hungry. And on a plane. Rats. Any idea where I can get this meal?

This post was inspired by BlogHer’s National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo), which is finally getting me to blog. Join the fun!

Telling a story and reflecting on the past, present, and future.

Every since I was little I loved telling stories. I always hated drawing in school, but give me a prompt and I would write for days. From my third grade story “Trapped in the World Wide Web” to my 12 page biography of Louis Braille in 5th grade, once I started I could never stop. I always had trouble getting that first word written, but as soon as the pencil started it wouldn’t stop. This was actually a big problem for me when I was younger. I was a perfectionist that never saw the end. I loved telling stories of fun events in my life, adding every single detail, and probably 10 extra words per sentence. I still have a problem with brevity, but it’s less of a problem if I’m enjoying the process of writing.

Often when I write I go off on tangents – my brain is going in five different directions and sometimes I forget where I started. This is actually what I love about writing, conversations, and the human brain. We see this happen in Livefyre conversations and around the dinner table – we start talking about Occupy Wall Street, and end talking about that wakeboarding trip last summer. It’s fascinating how our mind makes these connections, and I think there is a lot of insight that can be drawn by the progression of thoughts and conversation. So while some people think it’s a bad thing if we get off topic, I think it’s even more interesting to trace how we got from Point A to Point Z.

Here I go, doing it again. What was I writing about? Right, my favorite part about writing. I just love that I’m creating an archive of my thoughts, what I’m doing at any given moment, what my opinions are on a hot-button issue. My writing style has changed over the years, but I’m still the same conversational writer, not paying too much attention to the rules of writing. I laugh hysterically when I read a story I wrote when I was 10, and it will be fun to read this post in another 10 years so I can laugh at myself again.

So what’s your favorite part about writing?

Once again, I attended a blogging conference and realized I need to get back to writing. The hardest part for me is execution: making time, developing an idea, and feeling like it’s worthy of posting. These are all really internal roadblocks and I feel like I continually write about trying to write.

My question to you: How can I get over this writing block?

My current path: While I’m starting late, I’m participating in BlogHer’s NaBloPoMo – National Blog Posting Month. The goal of this month, for me especially, is to get people writing everyday, continually posting content and sharing unique perspectives. BlogHer provides a prompt each day, which helps me get over my “developing any idea” hurdle. I’ve always struggled with the topic of my blog, and NaBloPoMo is helping me see that my topic will come, the first step for me is just writing. Luckily for me, I’m on a plane with no Internet right now so it’s the perfect time to start.

What I love about NaBloPoMo: It isn’t just me, reiterating to myself that I need to be blogging. I’m part of a movement, a community sharing personal stories and connecting through a common medium.

My challenge with NaBloPoMo will be keeping with the schedule, and not writing a novel for each prompt. Maybe the means I should stop here, considering my BlogWorld post turned into a trip down memory lane. At least I know I’ll have some fun reads 10 years from now, when I reflect back on journeys through the blogosphere. I probably won’t write for each prompt, but I will try to blog consistently to keep the writing juices flowing.

Are you participating in NaBloPoMo? Share a link to your blog below, I’d love to check it out. If not, what’s you’re content strategy? I’ll be working on mine to make sure I continue writing past the month of November.

Lately it seems like I only write blog posts before or after I attend an event. So to keep up with that trend, here is my recap of my third trip to BlogWorld – this time in Los Angeles, California.

Let’s start with summaries from my previous experiences:

I attended my first BlogWorld in Las Vegas in November 2010, and we were definite newbies. We had a semi-plan of interviewing bloggers, but that quickly fell short when we realized you couldn’t hear any audio from the FlipCam, and without a central location it was hard to pin people down. We eventually parked at a table next to the Sony Lounge (where I met the wonderful Sukhjit) and started tweeting at friends that were attending. It was great to finally put faces to names (and avatars), and I’m sure they enjoyed getting an insider’s look at Livefyre’s new private beta features. This was my first glimpse at the regulars I would continually see at future conferences. It was an educational first experience and we knew next time we would represent Livefyre in full force.

This picture makes BlogWorld look like one big party. Well, it kind of is, with blogging in between. Networking at its finest.

Fast forward to May 2011. The week before BlogWorld New York, Jordan and I were stressed beyond belief, fighting off colds, organizing our booth, and getting ready for a client trip to London before making our way back to NYC. We had no experience with exhibiting at a trade show, which was evident when we showed up to our booth and there was too much furniture to even stand. After ditching a table and chairs and rolling in the keg, our booth quickly became a success. Unfortunately the exhibit hall wasn’t as active as Las Vegas, as the Javitz Center felt a bit like a basement and there was much less overall activity. But the highlight of the trip, once again, was the people. We hosted a dinner with around 20 Livefyre bloggers and friends that were attending the conference. It was great to get to know everyone on a personal level, and to express appreciation for our early adopters. After that I knew I wanted to attend every BlogWorld, so we could continue to thank our biggest supporters.

We met Justin and Heather in person at BlogWorld Vegas. Here we are at The Park celebrating their awesomeness. (Thanks Shonali for the photo!)

Here we are in November 2011. Livefyre is on over 15,000 sites, we just announced our partnership with BlogcastFM, and people came up to us already knowing our name and that they needed to see our special sauce. Max, Joe, and I were the face of our brand, excited to share Livefyre with everyone rolling through. Along with Srini, Sid, Capsun, and later Jordan, our booth was continually buzzing. Livefyre champions continually stopped by, sharing their praises and taking a shirt for the road. We got to amaze new friends with the likes of SocialSync, FriendTag, and real-time updates, enticing many to install right on the spot. Not to mention Srini interviewing over 25 bloggers and our amazing rendition of Reading Rainbow. Needless to say, we had a blast.

Wait, did I forget to mention the Livefyre Happy Hour and After Party? The Livefyre team was happy to treat BlogWorld attendees to whiskey and drinks at Seven Grand and The Standard, to again say thanks for everyone’s continued support. The next day I heard our party was “the place to be,” so I think we achieved our goal. And to clarify, the goal was meeting people and connecting, with some social lubricant to help the cause.

By the end of Saturday we could barely stand – I still have no idea how people made it all the way through Saturday night. We made our way back to San Francisco, walking tall wearing our Livefyre shirts in the airport, catching some ZZZs on the plane, watching the sunset above the clouds, cabbing it through the pouring rain back home. I was in bed by 10pm, reflecting and cherishing all the great people we met and reconnected with during the conference.

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I hope next time you think about Livefyre you don’t just think think of the best conversation platform; you think of the people behind it. Don’t be afraid to say hi, we always want to talk and share our mission with others.

Were you at BlogWorld this time around? Did you get to come by our booth? Please share your reflections of the event here. And if you couldn’t make it, where do you live? We’ll try to make it to a conference near you!

UPDATE: I wrote this post on Sunday night, before I really let BlogWorld sink in. There are SO MANY more people to thank for making it a great trip, that I have to write a follow up post to make sure I’m able to share how much I appreciated everyone that I met. So for now, a huge THANK YOU is what I have, more to come soon.