Midlife Bloggers Want a Seat at the Table

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It is that time of year again.  Almost daily, I receive an invitation or update in my inbox about upcoming blogging conferences.  Since I started blogging three years ago, I’ve attended my share of blog events, from small gatherings with only a handful of attendees to huge conferences with thousands of bloggers from far-flung locations.

However, last year I opted out of blogging conferences and this year doing the same.

Yes, in the past I enjoyed these events immensely — learning, laughing and making new connections.  My new blogger friends are smart and seasoned, and they have enriched my life tremendously.

Even so, I have found the vast majority of attendees and speakers at blogging conference do not look like me.  They are decades younger.  And, most often, those in the spotlight are mommy bloggers whose writing does not reflect my stage of life.

Born smack in the middle of the baby boom generation, I’m part of the largest generation ever.  Even though we are huge in terms of numbers, baby boomers are vastly under represented at blogger events.  In fact, baby-boomer age-bloggers, often called midlife bloggers, are so under-represented at conferences we are a niche, not even a category.

To the blog conference organizers and to major blogging platforms, I say this: You are missing a huge opportunity.

Midlife bloggers chronicle a wide-range of issues, including empty nests, relationships, aging, parenting adult children, travel, politics, feminism, caregiving, health, food, careers, memories, divorce, remarriage, single life, partners, finances, menopause, retirement, grandchildren, spirituality, second and third acts, and, yes, even sex.

The midlife blogger’s writing is filled with a rich perspective, a perspective that can only be acquired over time.  Even though we have done a lot of living, midlife bloggers are in the prime years of life — not young and not yet old.  We are certainly not about to quietly fade away.

Midlife bloggers know life does not end when the children grow up, and the big career is phased out.  It is only a new beginning.  We still have so much to say, and we are not afraid to say it.  We want more than a token mention.  We want a seat at the table.

While I’m taking a break from blogger conferences, I’m not giving up.  Why?  Midlife bloggers have seen so much change in their lives, they know anything is possible.

Nancy Wurtzel is a public relations professional and creative writer.  She pens Dating Dementia (www.datingdementia.com) a mostly humorous and sometimes twisted blog about making big changes at midlife.  Read Nancy's journey through divorce, moving across country, empty nest issues, baby boomer challenges, dating and caregiving.