The interview with Michelle Drake was postponed due to a death in the family - hers, not mine. My heartfelt wishes go out to her.

Life at WME Books is hectic - I'm in the midst of preparing a virtual blog tour for Mary Hunt, and working on the release of our Employment Law Book. We have several more books coming down the pipeline, so...watch this space for announcements.

Meanwhile, here's more insight - via my erratic notetaking - from Blogher '06. First of all, the shoe factor: understand that women are all about shoes! Imelda Marcos may have been a real witch (I say with a smile on my face) but she had her priorities right when it came to dressing - shoes are it! You must visit Flickr and Blogher to see all the neat pics of all the neat shoes. Sad to say, I did not wear any exciting footwear. My feet do not like the fun shoes, anymore. I wore my little flippy sandles - all the better for comfort.   [Lisa Stone, Elisa Camahort, and Jory  DesJardins - compliments of a blogger at Blogher; 'stolen' from Google images.]

Beyond the shoes, I was impressed with the daycare idea. When did you last attend a conference where daycare was provided? Be honest. The answer is NEVER! But, of course Blogher would have baby-sitting. I don't know how many of the Mommy bloggers took advantage of it, but what a great idea. Three cheers for on-site childcare!

Orange. Yep, as the title of this post says - organge is the IN color! I get my insight on this from none other than Susan Getgood, who is writing reams of content (be prepared, when Susan takes a stand, she takes a stand - go Susan!) about Blogher. Get over to her blog and read all - including my comments! She brought organge everything! And looked marvelous in it! I brought a sheer blouse that had a hint of orange - and lamented the entire time that I did not have more orange in my wardrobe. Tom will be proud of me, though. Even though Susan and I made a trip to Chicos, I did NOT buy anything. I'm saving my shopping for...TOMORROW...cause TOMORROW is my BIRTHDAY!!! Never mind how old I am...just write with happy thoughts.

Ok...back to Blogher. It wasn't all fun and games, folks. It was full of women offering insight and advice, and sharing their blog experiences. I attended the session on legal issues like copyright. Very good stuff. Lauren Gelman gave us the scoop on who owns what. It's kind of murky - YOU own your writing. But, if you create something as a work for hire, your employer owns it. Best to check with a lawyer when you are in doubt. As for 'stealing' other's content - I know you don't do it. Only sleeze-balls do that. But, if you want to quote from another blogger or from a magazine or news site, use your brain. Be fair. Fair use allows you to use SOME of the content, not all of it, and certainly not most of it - remember to CITE your source. NEVER repurpose it for your own use. Think about how you would feel if someone hijacked your content.

All in all, I think this quote from Susannah Gardner works best for me: "We're trying to connect people with questions to people with answers."

And, from Lauren, "Contracts trump copyright."

I'll sprinkle more Blogher thoughts and content throughout the blog over the next few weeks. I have SOOOoooo many notes! For now...I have to fly! Lots of editing to do.