Why Aren't Big Blogs Well Represented At BlogWorld?

Do you think of TechCrunch as a blog? What about Engadget? As a technology product marketer responsible for press relations, you’re probably being counseled to include online publishers like these in your media strategy for product launches.  Yet, surprisingly, very few of the blogs you likely follow were represented at this year’s Blogworld and New Media Expo in Las Vegas, which bills itself as the World's Largest New Media Expo. I've been pondering why that might be, especially given my own publishing partner, Technorati, who publishes the State of the Blogosphere annually and claims to be the "Blog Authority," was not a sponsor or an exhibitor either. 

Sure, when you are as widely known as ReadWriteWeb or Gizmodo, you don’t need to get a booth and show your wares to attract advertisers or writers, but what's the reason that the publishers of those sites are not giving back to the blogging community, helping aspiring writers and participating in the conversation around blogging as business. 

I mean, once you’ve sold your blog to a major portal or media company, I guess you can say you are no longer a blogger, and perhaps that prompts folks to want to forget their humble roots.  Or maybe the pressure to perform at that point is so great you can’t make the time to mentor the next guy or gal, and pass along any lessons you’ve learned.

And then there’s your new boss who thinks because they’ve purchased your blog, they no longer need to represent themselves in panels or sponsorships, showing they are supportive of or empathetic to the blogging community.  AOL, Yahoo, and Microsoft all have their picks of the most popular kids in the blogosphere when they pull their checkbooks out, but none of them were a presence at BlogWorld.

In my conversation with BlogWorld co-founder Rick Calvert, I learned that the show helps brand marketers understand how to use blogs in their media strategy. So why don't the successful bloggers and blog networks socialize theirs brands better to the marketers trying to understand the blogging community and help others learn more about what readers want? 

Who wouldn't benefit from more people engaging in this conversation around new media content creation?