Faculty

2016 Keynotes

Deva Dalporto - My Life Suckers

Deva Dalporto is the creator of the viral videos “Suburban Funk,” “I Just Need Some Space,” "What Does the Kid Say,” "Let It Go - Mom Parody," “Adele Mom Parody,” “I’m So Cranky” and more. NBC recently called her the “Weird Al of YouTube Moms.” Her viral videos have garnered over 50 million views across platforms and have been on Good Morning America, The Today Show, People.com, CNN, Headline News, Fox News, Today Parents, Yahoo’s homepage, Today Australia, The Huffington Post, Parents.com, PopSugar Moms, Babble, CafeMom and many more. A former Senior Editor for Nickelodeon's ParentsConnect, Deva’s writing has been featured on The Huffington Post, Yahoo! Shine, PopSugar, Scary Mommy, NickMom, Bundoo, What The Flicka, Bio.com and WeAreTeachers. Deva is a contributor to the anthologies I Just Want to Be Alone and The Bigger Book of Parenting Tweets. Deva won a BlogHer Voice of the Year Award for Short Form Video and was nominated by ABC News as “Best Fan Cover Artist” in their Billboard Music Awards Special. She blogs at MyLifeSuckers.com. Deva is represented by United Talent Agency.

 

D.J. Paris - Thoughts from Paris

D.J. Paris is a humor blogger whose site Thoughts From Paris confuses everyone because it is not about France. D.J. writes exclusively about himself which he would agree is the most interesting subject in the world. He also hosts the podcast Bloggers are Weird, interviewing writers and having them read their best posts. 143 thousand people follow him on Twitter which he hopes impresses you. D.J.'s been a featured speaker at blog conferences and one time someone asked for his autograph. His writing is a blend of humor, vulnerability and honesty. He chooses not to list his credits because he doesn't want you to think he's bragging. Plus, he has none. He lives in Chicago with his dog Lil' Miss Meepers, his cat Pantaloons, and his tolerant girlfriend, Beth.

 

G.G. Renee Hill - All the Many Layers

GG Renee Hill is an independent author, blogger and creative coach based in the DC area.  She quit her corporate job in 2013 to transform her writing hobby into a career and even with all the ups and downs, she can't believe how well it has worked out.  Her blog, books and self-discovery courses are designed for women who crave honest dialogue and inspiration for the joys and challenges they face every day. A self-proclaimed student of human nature, she's constantly preoccupied with the meaning of life and how to live bravely with an open heart. In addition to writing books and coaching, GG ghostwrites for other bloggers and creatives who want to emotionally connect with their readers. Her blog has been featured by BlackEnterprise.com and TotalBeauty.com as a notable blog to follow.   She loves melancholy music that makes her cry and rowdy music that makes her dance and big hair is one of her favorite things.  She publishes her thoughts weekly at AllTheManyLayers.com.

Steering Committee

Stephanie Giese // Founder & President

Binkies and Briefcases

Stephanie Giese is the blogger behind Binkies and Briefcases and the founder of The Blog University, of which BlogU Conference is a part. She has been blogging since 2010. In 2015, she received a Voice of the Year Award from BlogHer and SheKnows Media and the Huffington Post named her one of their Most Viral Bloggers of the Decade. She has appeared on Good Morning America and Glenn Beck. She has been featured by sites like Good Housekeeping, Today.com, The Good Men Project, Elle.com, In the Powder Room, and Redbook. 

Meredith Spidel // Executive Vice President & Operations Manager

Mom of the Year

Meredith spoofily earns her Mom of the Year title one epic parenting fail at a time, offering heart and hope with a sweet dose of humor for fellow parents of the world and all their empathizers. She’s  been honored to share this voice with others in several best-selling anthologies, including I Just Want to Pee Alone, I Still Just Want to Pee Alone, I Just Want to Be Alone, You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth, and Clash of the Couples. She’s also served as a staff writer at Aiming Low and has been featured on prominent sites such as Huffington Post, BlogHer, In the Powder Room, Bonbon Break and Scary Mommy. Currently, she works as a Content Contributor for VProud, loves her role as the Executive VP/Operations Manager of The BlogU Conference, and enjoys providing social media consultation and management services to her clients. When she's not dedicating undue hours to extracting teeny doll shoes and LEGO bricks from the carpet, she remains fully committed to sharing a less serious look at the world of parenting and some much-needed encouragement.

Janel Mills // Social Media Coordinator

649.133: Girls, the Care and Maintenance of

Janel Mills is the librarian/thug behind the blog 649.133: Girls, the Care and Maintenance Of, where she writes about raising a princess, a wild child, and the happiest toddler on Earth using as many curse words as possible. Janel is a contributor to NickMom, and has also been featured on In the Powder Room, Scary Mommy, and was a contributor to the wildly successful anthology You Have Lipstick On Your Teeth. When not blogging or librarian-ing, she keeps busy raising three beautiful little girls with her beardedly gifted husband in the wilds of metro Detroit.

Eddie Giese // Co-Founder & I.T. Director

The Blog University

Eddie is a without-a-doubt left-brainer, but likes to explore the right side of his brain through graphic design, web design, photography, and music. He is a highway engineer by day, where each challenge brings the need for creative and innovative solutions. He's learned to apply that in other realms including his design, maintenance, and graphic work on bloguconference.com, simpletenants.com, teriwilkins.com, and his web design and consulting business through The Blog University. You'll often find him working into the wee hours helping Steph on Binkies and Briefcases or assisting other bloggers improve their websites.

Christine Burke // Events Coordinator

Keeper of the Fruit Loops

Christine Burke is the Keeper of the Fruit Loops, Manager of the Fecal Roster and Driver of the People Mover. In other words, she's a mom. An Erma Bombeck Martha Stewart with a Roseanne Barr twist, she has the mouth and organized cabinets to prove it. She resides in Pennsylvania with her ever budget-conscious husband, two blog inspiring Fruit Loops and her extensive collection of thrift shop shoes. In her spare time, she is a staff writer for Club Mid, freelances for a variety of sites, was a LTYM 2015 cast member, and is a regular contributor to the Today Show Parenting Team. She's also published in four humor anthologies.

Jennifer Hicks // Sponsorship Coordinator

Real Life Parenting

Jennifer Hicks is the writer behind Real Life Parenting. With sass, smarts, and a big mouth, she keeps it real writing what most people think but are afraid to say out loud. Tackling the good, the bad, the ugly, and sometimes the very funny in life and parenting, she’s often inspired by her two teens: the Boy and Girl. She’s been featured on multiple sites on-line and went viral on The Huffington Post with her piece “Dear Mom on the iPhone: You’re Doing Fine” where she was named Best of Huffington Post Parents in 2014. Jennifer is the producer of Listen to Your Mother: Pittsburgh and is a contributing author in I STILL Just Want to Pee Alone and The HerStories Project. You can find her inspired hashtags and famous #SelfiesThatEmbarrassYourTeen on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google+.

Emcee

Nicole Leigh Shaw

Tyop Aretist

Nicole Leigh Shaw began writing as a newspaper journalist in 1999, but has been moving through all the metamorphic stages of the modern writer, except "tortured novelist." Soon she'll emerge as a butterfly or a vlogger. Nicole writes for Cosmopolitan.com, ScaryMommy.com, local magazines, and her children's' teachers in the form of desperate emails about unfinished school projects. She has contributed to five anthologies, including the NYT Best Seller "I Just Want to Pee Alone."

Nicole has been live and on stage for Listen to Your Mother and That's What She Said, as well as stringing sentences together as The Blog University Conference emcee.

She also maintains a blog, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account.

On-Site Team

Maddie Baldassari

The Whimsy One

Maddie Baldassari usually fills the space of her blog with her recipes, cocktail creations, and travels. She discusses her journey with mental illness and prolonged infertility. She has appeared on the Rachael Ray show and her written work can also be found on The Good Men Project and Fertility Authority. Her cocktail creations, which usually involve her beloved bourbon, have been featured in numerous publications.

Nicole Johnson

The Life of the Baseball Wife

Nicole Johnson is a blogging baseball wife and mom to three kids.  She runs the show at The Life of the Baseball Wife, a contributor based blog that discusses baseball lifestyle, marriage, parenting, food allergies, postpartum depression, and parenting twins.  On her blog, she shares her raw emotions regarding the changes she experiences in her husband's career, and her life as a wife and mother with postpartum depression.  Nicole has been featured in posts on Carolina Parent and Bon Bon Break.  Nicole has social media experience with her own business, as well as experience in assisting local businesses with their own social media campaigns, most notably Headbands of Hope.  Nicole is well-versed in SEO and content marketing, which she has attained in her experience as a ghostwriter for several business blogs nationwide.  

Jessica Cobb

Domestic Pirate

An aspiring novelist, Jessica is the Domestic Pirate, Ren Faire Privateer Gone Mom. When she's not blogging or wasting time on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram she's taking care of the Captain and their 4 Cabin Kids. Her writing has been featured on Scary Mommy, xoJane, Mamalode, Sammiches and Psych Meds, Mamapedia Voices, BLUNTmoms, and BlogHer, and she is working on publishing her first children’s book. Obsessed with Pirates and the internet, she is convinced that the dough is always better than the cookie.

Joy

Evil Joy

Courtney Fitzgerald

Our Small Moments

Courtney is a mom, widow, girlfriend, teacher, writer, and a dreamer. She loves to make people laugh, but people love it when she makes them cry. Courtney writes honestly about her perfectly imperfect family at Our Small Moments. Her work has been featured on sites like The Huffington Post, Mamalode, and Autism Speaks. She was a speaker at BlogU 14. She wrote an essay about marriage that is in the hit anthologies, I Just want to Be Alone and I Still Just want to Pee Alone. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Melanie Madamba

The Not So Super Mom

Mindy Altland

Mindy graduated from Shippensburg University in 2000 with a B.A. in English. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and 4 children. When working outside of the home no longer made sense, she decided to pursue other options and found that becoming a virtual assistant fit her family's needs perfectly. She got her start with Stephanie Giese of Binkies and Briefcases.

Faculty Members

Heather Hopson

Diary of a First Time Mom

Not long ago, Heather Hopson hosted a television show in the Cayman Islands. Today, she's back home writing a different kind of story as a new mom. In her 15 years working as a professional journalist, this by far is her best assignment! Growing up, she dreamed of becoming Oprah Winfrey. She also served on the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters and spearheaded a Send a Kid to Camp campaign. Then, she relocated to Washington, D.C. to obtain a teaching certification and instruct 8th grade reading at a high needs middle school. She later returned to her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA to raise her daughter Caitlynn, now 4-years-old. During her 10-month-stint as a stay-at-home mom, Caitlynn inspired her to create Diary of a First Time Mom. Two years later, she expanded the family to include 20+ writers. Currently, Heather serves as the communications director at Allies for Children. In addition, she is the owner of Motor Mouth Multimedia, which ranked #49 in Startup Nation’s Home-Based 100 Competition sponsored by Discover Card and Sam’s Club. Recently, The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments selected Heather to receive an Emerging Black Artist award to develop Diary of a First Time Mom.

Kim Bongiorno

Let Me Start By Saying

Kim Bongiorno is an author, freelance writer, and the award-winning blogger behind Let Me Start By Saying. She has had over 1500 articles published by over two dozen websites and magazines since 2012, has essays in seven humor anthologies, self-published a collection of short fiction, wrote a young adult novel, regularly makes weekly “best of” lists for her Twitter and Facebook presence, and still comes up with new content every single day. If she were less tired, she'd totally add something really clever to her bio so you'd never forget this moment.

Amanda Mushro

AmandaMushro.com

Amanda Mushro is a Lifestyle/Mom personality and the writer behind the blogs AmandaMushro.com and Questionable Choices in Parenting. Her life hacks and parenting tips have been featured on The Today Show, The Rachael Ray Show, The Chew, and Great Day Washington. She is a TODAY Show Parenting Team contributor and has a life hacks webseries on TLC. Her writing can be found on Today.com, TLC, Scary Mommy and The Huffington Post and has essays featured in eight anthologies. Amanda lives in Maryland with her husband and two children.

Tyece Wilkins

Twenties Unscripted

Tyece Wilkins believes in the power of witty women, wise words, and full wine glasses. She is the voice behind the award-winning blog Twenties Unscripted and author of Twenties Unscripted: A Journey of Womanhood, Writing, and Relativity. Her Twenties Unscripted mission is to cultivate a personal blog that sparks women to connect to the best, bravest, and boldest parts of themselves.

Arnebya Herndon

Arnebya.com

Arnebya is the taxed, but not represented, DC native writer behind the popular lifestyle blog Arnebya. (It's pronounced Arnebya.) A writer/editor by trade, Arnebya is a wife, mother, adjunct professor, and Brussels sprouts lover ready to help you take control of everything involved in editing your writing.

Kathryn Leehane

Foxy Wine Pocket

Kathryn Leehane is a writer, author, and storyteller. She pens the humor blog, Foxy Wine Pocket, and loves to tell stories that make you spit out your drink. A regular contributor to Scary Mommy, her writing is also published in several anthologies and popular web sites, includingRedbook Magazine, The Huffington Post, and BLUNTmoms. In her down time, she inhales books, bacon, and Pinot Noir, and her interests include over-sharing, Jason Bateman, and crashing high school reunions.

Jen Mann

People I Want To Punch In The Throat

Jen Mann is best known for her wildly popular and hysterical blog People I Want to Punch in the Throat. She has been described by many as Erma Bombeck―with f-bombs. Jen is known for her hilarious rants and funny observations on everything from parenting to gift giving to celebrity behavior to politics to Elves on Shelves. Her blog received the 2014 Bloggie Award for Best Parenting Blog. Jen is the author of the New York Times Bestseller People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Competitive Crafters, Drop-Off Despots, and Other Suburban Scourges which was a Finalist for a 2014 Goodreads Reader's Choice Award. Her latest book is Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat.

Kristen Mae

Abandoning Pretense

Kristen Mae is a freelance writer, editor, novelist and social media manager, with specific expertise in Facebook. She is the social media manager for Club Mid, and her essays can be found at Huffpost, Scary Mommy, Club Mid, ADDitude Mag and her blog, Abandoning Pretense. Her novel, Beyond the Break, is slated to be released this year.

Susan Maccarelli

Beyond Your Blog

Susan Maccarelli is the creator of Beyond Your Blog, a resource site that focuses on helping bloggers successfully submit their writing for publishing opportunities beyond their personal blogs. Her site is a one-stop shop where bloggers can easily find everything they need to get started submitting their writing, from submission and pitch tips, to directories of submission opportunities. Susan also hosts the Beyond Your Blog weekly podcast where she has interviewed dozens of editors from publications such as Hearst Digital’s The Mix, New York Times Motherlode, The Huffington Post, Brain, Child, Chicken Soup For The Soul, The Washington Post, and many more. Susan's own writing has been published on Blogher, Scary Mommy, The Huffington Post, In The Powder Room, Mamapedia, BLUNTmoms, BonBon Break, Mamalode, and several anthologies including I Still Just Want to Pee Alone. Susan has spoken at conferences and events including BlogHer ’15, International Bloggers Association, and Bloggers at Midlife.

Design Lab Team

Lynn Morrison

The Nomad Mom Diary

Lynn Morrison is the Head of Business Engagement at Opus Energy, where she spends far too much time worrying what Google is up to. Truth be told, she's probably the only person in the world who is more excited to be on the first page of the search results than on the front of the Huffington Post. When she isn't reading SEO articles, you can find her on her blog The Nomad Mom Diary or over on BLUNTmoms.com. 

Jen Kehl

Beyond Blog Design

Jen Kehl has a passion for knowledge and puzzles. After spending 6 years as a blogger, 3 of them spent redesigning them more than writing, she decided to go to school to learn to write the code that made WordPress work. Now her passion for puzzles is fulfilled by building and tweaking blogs. Give her a broken blog, a mystery to solve and she is in her element. When she's not figuring out code, she's reading sci-fi, listening to Antonio Carlos Jobim and watching old Batman TV re-runs.

Anne Radcliffe

Food Retro

Anne Radcliffe is one of those people who usually speaks to others in memes, pop culture references, and SAT words. On those occasions she can be understood at all, she likes to entertain others with a sense of humour usually described by friends as “hilarious—once you get to know her.” When she's not building websites on the side, she can be found working as tech support, copy editor, and writer over at the major Canadian collaborative blogs BLUNTmoms.com and YummyMummyClub.ca and at her own food blog, FoodRetro.com.