I am often chided for always being right. I am unsure of why people think that being right all the time is a bad thing, but hey, who am I to tell them something different.

When I am wrong, tho, I will often pretend that I forgot the question or situation, which ensure that my being right all the time streak continues.

I am a man right? We are always right.

Except when we are wrong.

I assumed that BlogHer would be a bunch of women that were mixed in this manner:

- 10% real “business” women, who understood the importance of the internet in furthering their businesses.

- 60% women who blogged for fun and went to a few conferences each year. These women all kinda know each other from various conferences and would rather clique-y.

- 29% women who came because they were friends with someone from the previous two groups.

- 1% men. Most are either husbands/boyfriends or folks (like me) that work for a company that would like to learn how to present our product to this group of women.

In some ways, I am right about that.

But, what I didnt expect is: Thats not a bad thing.

Women are different then men. I am right about.

But, what has been the most interesting thing for me, is that women in large groups are exactly the same as men.

They share. They learn. They meet. They support.

Thats right, ladies. That the dirty secret of what we men do when we are in large groups.

You know what we also do? We consider women as accessories, while we men “do business.”

Which is exactly how I feel today.

But not in a bad way. I have a lot to learn from the women around me. I am right about this.

BlogHer allows women the proper comfort zone in which to speak freely and openly about issues that have no gender lines (entrepreneurship, depression, bipolar, etc.) or things that are specific to women.

I feel like a 6 year old again when I would listen to my mom with her friends talk about their issues of the day. Where I found myself learning new stuff every day (did you know that there are specific times when wearing white pants is bad? Me neither.)

So, what am I wrong about?

BlogHer is not a tech conference. BlogHer is not some exclusive place for women where men would be treated as afterthoughts, as intruders or unwelcome.

We may not be celebrated for our attendence but we are allowed to learn.

Which is fantastic. I am right about that.

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Because thats how important it is.

I started this blog about a year ago. It say dormant for many a month, and then about six months ago, I started to get serious about blogging. What I found as I began to write and got more involved in the social communities created through writing and sharing (such as Twitter), that the people in those communities are pretty amazing.

I watched Fred Wilson, a Venture Capitalist in New York dominate a Donor’s Choose Challenge, where he was able to get a large number of his community to donate to schools all over the country, and provide one person a seat at lunch with Jerry Yang.

And now my friend Erin, who is a big part of the BlogHer community, has brought another effort to the table. The BlogHer community is asking a simple question: How many women’s lives can we save with donations from the BlogHer community, between now and Mother’s Day?

That post tells you how you can get involved. And here is what they are raising money for: BlogHer on GlobalGiving.

Now there are lots of other cool things you can do. You can add a widget to your blog, you can spread the word, and of course, you can give.

Just do something. It certainly doesnt have to be this, but if you dont get involved with some community, you arent really a blogger. A year of doing this has at least taught me that.

Now, I am going to sleep, and I hope the sickness gods decide to leave me be by the time I wake up or I might have to club a baby seal.

I recently wrote a post on if it was better to comment on a post, or to write your own post referencing the original article.

I got some interesting responses, both on Twitter and in the comments of the post, as well as being directed to other posts from Todd Vernon and Chris Brogan.

To further my exploration, I decided to install CrazyEgg on my home page to see what people were clicking on. Crazy Egg creates a heat map of the clicks on a page. Its free for small page view tests, and I certainly didnt need to conduct a long test.

So the results?

Over the past week or so, more than 15% of the clicks on my home page were on the comment links.

Seriously. Coming in second? The color chooser. Favorite color? Green.

So I guess comments do matter, and people do find them an important part of the blog conversation. Which means, I will try and do a better job of leaving comments on posts I find interesting, and ask that you consider doing the same. And, if you have comments turned off, you are probably missing out.