See You at BlogHer!

I’m furiously packing to head off to the big BlogHer conference for women bloggers in San Diego this weekend. If any of you are going (other than Polly of Lesbian Dad and Vikki of Up Popped a Fox, whom I know will be there), drop me a note. I’d love to meet you!

I’m also excited to meet my fellow speakers on Saturday’s “Minding Your Own Business – When diversity is simply good business” panel: Ana Flores of Spanglish Baby, Denene Millner of My Brown Baby, Tracey Friley of One Brown Girl, and moderator Deb Rox of 3 Smart Girlz and Deb on the Rocks. Should be a great discussion!

Here’s the official blurb:

Television and print advertising get disproportionate marketing dollars vs. online. Why? Well, change is hard, for one thing. But also: Advertisers believe they know every little detail about who is seeing their advertising in those media. Subscriber information and services like Nielsen break down audience into easily identified buckets. But online can also offer the ability to target niche audiences. The existence of entire departments within PR firms and brand marketing organizations dedicated to finding and reaching diverse audiences speaks to the fertile opportunity. But if you’re building an affinity community online, are you finding that the niche marketers are banging on your door?

We’ve covered for years at BlogHer that this is not always the case…and that remains true to this day. But the women on this panel are representing such affinity communities and are making the case that there is a huge opportunity…for them, their communities, and for brands.

So how can/should marketers reach out to LGBT parents online? Do you feel, like I often do, that much parenting-focused advertising is targeted to non-LGBT families, while much LGBT advertising is targeted to single gay men? And how can marketers reach us without us feeling like we’re being exploited just so they can make a buck? Share your thoughts in the comments, and I’ll share them at BlogHer.