It’s ON! When we launched SheBlogs.org in August, 2009, our simple goal was to bridge the gap between bloggers or new media professionals and marketers. My goal was partially self-serving – having been on both sides of the media/PR coin and realizing first-hand the challenges of connecting with the right source or brand – as well as realizing that a need existed in the PR world to make an evolutionary move in an industry whose major services have remained largely the same for the last 100 years or longer.

In our early days, we’ve had the privilege of working with an amazing group of diverse female bloggers, who cover a wide range of subjects, from parenting to technology, fashion to gaming. We’ve also had the support and endorsement of some of the biggest brands and best-respected names in the PR world, who’ve seen the value of our community and the services we offer.

Today, we celebrated our first SheBlogs Birthday Bash with a great event at the W Hotel. We had sponsors ranging from Pillsbury and Shutterfly to iStockPhoto and many more, who generously provided us with a wide array of products for our gift bags. We had the support of 9 amazing boutique wineries that provided us with wine for our Fabulous Wine Bar, and sweet treats provided by We Take The Cake. We also had the support of all the amazing women (and men) who came out to help us celebrate our milestone, and we feel incredibly fortunate to be working with such a great group of people.

So tonight, we’re thrilled to be able to take our virtual community to the next level, with the announcement of SheCon ’11 – our first-ever conference for bloggers and social media professionals to attend educational sessions, network with marketers, and enjoy a weekend in sunny South Florida.

Why SheCon?

If the lure of white sand beaches and bright turquise waters (and a Pina Colada or two) isn’t enough to bring you to sunny South Florida, there are several other reasons to check out our event:

- FREE passes?! We know that many of our bloggers – even those who blog for business – can’t afford hefty conference pass prices. We also realize that the bloggers are the reason that we’re able to draw our sponsors. So – the first 200 bloggers who register for our conference will have FREE passes to our event.  They are live now, so visit http://shecon.eventbrite.com to get yours.

- Networking. Networking. Networking. In a social media driven landscape, it’s sometimes easy to forget the value of some good old fashioned face time. Our event will be drawing bloggers and marketers from all over the country to meet, mingle, and share ideas.

- Learning, Learning and More Learning. Our speakers will be offering valuable sessions that will help you improve your blogs – whether you’re a newbie wanting to learn about creating custom blog layouts or a seasoned veteran who’s interested in learning about sponsorship, advertising, and monetization opportunities. We’ll be featuring breakout sessions where bloggers can collaborate on ideas and concepts, and giving bloggers time to share stories, experiences and lessons to learn for each other and help our community grow.