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When online and real life collide. Oh, the awkward.

You've been friends for YEARS.
She knows all your secrets, you know all of hers.
She knows when you're PMSing, you know when her husband got in trouble with his boss at work.
You've shared everything over glasses of wine and coffee, depending on the time of day.
And you've never met In Real Life.

You only picture her as an avatar, or maybe a jumpy G+ hangout or FaceTime video.
You aren't sure if her butt is as big as she claims it is, or what the back of her hair looks like.
Because you've never been in the same room together.

And this is what it's like in the online world.
I've played around on these here interwebz since the mid-1990s. We had an ISDN line in our house, and my sister and I, between the 2 of us, once racked up a $1500 ISDN bill for our parents.
And we had an online friend, Carrie.
Carrie is officially my oldest “we met online” person, and I want to say it's been more about 20 years since we first met face to face.

Now, of course, there's blogging and social media, so my online friendships have exploded. Even my local mom's group formed online, but we primarily communicate online, if just to coordinate our playdates and nights out.

Now conference season is coming, and there's a question looming over everyone's heads. It happens every time you're preparing to meet someone you've known online.

Should I hug her?

If you haven't met a number of online friends before, this might seem weird. But as someone who has met her share of (Like in the “several hundreds” range) people I consider friends, who I've met for the first time online) it's a very real thing.

Huggers and non-huggers are legitimate personality types, I'm telling you, and the big ones can be one of the most challenging places for this question to be asked, over and over and over again!

Enter my crazy brain and Busy Beaver Buttons! I had an idea, and Busy Beaver agreed to make it happen for me! I reached out to Busy Beaver for a few reasons; I love that they're locally (well, local to Chicago!) made, instead of in some factory overseas, and this blog post about their founder's very first button totally cracked me up. Also, I love companies who are on Twitter like they are, so that's a bonus and you should totally follow them. This is the kind of company I love working with, so I was thrilled when they agreed to supply my buttons!

So anyway, allow me to introduce #HugHer13!

HuggerLots

Yes, those are what you think they are. They're buttons so you can easily let people know if you're a “Hugger” or a “Non-Hugger”

I try to make it my personal goal for the people around me to be comfortable and happy. If you need your space and don't want the squeeze attackers coming after you, I've got the button to warn them off! 🙂 It's a little 1″ round circle that you can stick on your lanyard, and since you'll be wearing that all weekend anyway, it's super convenient!

What do you have to do to get your own #HugHer13 swag? Easy! Tweet me with the hashtag and then find me at the conference! And a button shall be yours!

Me? I'm a hugger. But I'm a hugger who doesn't want to make meeting YOU an uncomfortable experience, so I'll happily shake your hand too. Or a high five. Max digs high fives these days when he first meets people, so maybe you do too? How about a Howie Mandel-style fist bump? Or a thumbs up? I'll totally throw an upthumb your way!

So those are the very complicated steps to get your own #HugHer13 swag. Tweet me. Use the hashtag. Find me. Get button. (If you happen to find me and didn't Tweet, just ask. I'll have a bag with the hashtag on it too, so if you spot that, it's probably attached to me. If it isn't attached to me, someone stole it, those bastards! Or I left it somewhere. Or someone's holding it for me.

So anyway.

The buttons.

Get them.

yeshug

Not

OK?

Ok.

Hugs!

Or handshakes.

Whichever.

UPDATE July 23! I finished making the tote that will carry the official #HugHer13 buttons! Keep an eye out for it and ask me for one!
1fc55764f0a811e2b36e22000a1fa437_7

Busy Beaver Buttons provided me with 400 custom buttons free of charge, but no other compensation was received. All opinions and hilarity in this post is 100% my own.

Comments

  2. Elizabeth@Table4Five says

    I will definitely want a Hugger button! I know there are people who really are not comfortable hugging, so at BlogHer I always ask if I can hug them first. But the button is a great idea too! Everyone loves buttons 🙂

    Following you on Twitter, I assume you’ll remind us about finding you for a button when we are in Chicago? 🙂

    Reply

  6. Jackie says

    You’re amazing! What an awesome idea!

    I’m somewhere in the middle of hugger/non-hugger but I’m looking forward to meeting for sure and giving you a hug!

    Reply

  7. Kir says

    there is another way to say HELLO? there is another way to say “OMG! it’s finally YOOOOOUUUUUU!!!!!!”
    than hugging?

    hmmpft. I did not know that. 😉

    I’m a HUGGER!!!! can’t wait to hug you.

    Reply

  10. Chrisor says

    This is genius! I’m most definitely a hugger but it’s not fun hugging someone who doesn’t enjoy hugs. If I make it to the conference, I will be looking you up and am sure to find you surrounded by a swarm of bloggers waiting for their hugs and buttons from you! 🙂

    Reply

  15. Amiyrah says

    Oh my goodness, this is genius! I’m usually not a hugger, but conferences bring out the hugger in me, so I tend to give them out in spades. I can’t wait to get my pin!

    Reply

  22. Stephanie Burrage says

    Love the buttons….very clever!

    I believe we hugged it out when we met at the Giants game so many years ago….

    Reply

  24. Christina says

    I want a Hugger one! This will probably sound weird, but I’m generally not a hugger aside from close friends and for blog conferences. I guess I just consider other bloggers all my close friends. 🙂

    Reply

  28. shaela says

    Love it!! You are awesome. You continue to amaze me. I won’t be there but you never have to guess around us 🙂

    Reply

  29. Kristen Daukas says

    Love this!! And even though I won’t be there now (sniff) I would totally wear the Hugger button. But it is nice to know who’s not because then you know who to fist bump 😉

    Reply

  31. Estelle says

    I love this idea-so clever. Yes, I’m a hugger, but recently was alerted to the fact that one of my blogger friends I was planning to hug in real life is not a hugger, before I made the mistake, so this tool will be so helpful to so many.
    Estelle

    Reply

  32. Jenn says

    Those are awesome!!! That isn’t just swag, that is a life button! So many people would be forewarned and maybe I could avoid that awkward “I just realized you aren’t a hugger and I just invaded your space” feeling post hug. And by “people” I mean “my friend” who after all these years forget I’m a hugger!!!

    Reply

  39. Debby Lyttle says

    Hey Lizz!
    Any way to get those buttons if we aren’t attending the conference? Those are awesome! I think you should sell them to those of us not attending! LOL

    Hugs (of course),
    Debby

    Reply

  40. Sisters From Another Mister says

    Pleeassse … like I would NOT hug YOU?
    Sad to miss Blogher this year, so hugs a few friends for me while you are there m’kay!!!

    Reply

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