Today I arrived at the BlogHer convention in San Jose California, the belly button of the Silicon Valley. I am so excited about the opportunity to finally meet so many talented women bloggers, many of whom have supported Ask Patty with their books, articles, blogs and reviews. Ask Patty is a case study for the un-panel for the Saturday afternoon sessions at 3pm and I look forward to this opportunity for the valuable feedback from my women blogging peers!

You must know the reason I chose TypePad over other blogging software hosts ad it is absolutley due to the fact that they have a women CEO! This just made perfect sense for the best hosting choice for Ask Patty. We have not been disapointed as TypePad has provided a wonderful and rich set of tools to deliver the content on the Ask Patty Blog. TypePad's CEO Mena Trott will be here tomorrow and I must thank her personally for Featuring the Ask Patty Blog on Typepad for my birthday last week!

The Hyatt on First Street in San Jose was "the" premier hotel for the "in" technology crowd in the early years of the technology boom. I was totally emersed in nostalgic feelings the moment I arrived today and thought how appropriate that BlogHer is hosted here at the Hyatt where the birth of so many successful technology based business ideas were born...and I mean literally at this hotel. Thirty  years ago  I stayed here for a business meeting as the third employee hired of what is now known as Packard Bell Computers. A company that went for zero to 2  Billion in annual revenues in a short five years. Packard  Bell was sold off to NEC Computers around 1994. Packard Bell and some of the building block technologies produced during that era are just one of hundreds perhaps thousands of thriving technology based ideas that were born out of meetings and conventions held at the San Josse Hyatt Hotel. How appropriate BlogHer is being held at this location and how exciting is it to imagine the many innovative ideas Blogher will give birth to this week? The San Jose Mecury has a front page story about us women bloggers in today's paper and a mention about Ask Patty so all I can say about BlogHer so far is is WOW!

General Motors is a sponsor of BlogHer and delivered an awesome experience for women today to test drive some of their new vehicles including the BEAUTIFUL new Saturn SKY roadster. Two weeks ago I met Jill Ladjsiak at the Motor Press Guild meeting in Los Angeles where she gave me a personal walk around tour of the Saturn SKY roadster which left me with a craving for a test drive...forget the test drive I want to BUY this car right then and there. Talk about an emotional buying decision...I just love the look and feel of this new car....so when Michael Wiley GM's Director of Global Communications, Technology and New Media offered me a test drive of the Saturn Sky Roadster today at BlogHer, it took about a nano second to say YES, NOW??? Please! Off I flew ...blonde hair flying, top down, feeling like a million bucks.Thanks GM and Saturn for sponsoring BlogHer and providing me with an opportunity to fall in love again with this hot new sexy sporty reasonably priced car ( MSRP $24,195).

Another note of thanks this week to John Bell, Vice President and Creative Director of Ogilvy Public Relations and author of the Digital Mapping Influence blog and for his mention of Ask Patty on my birthday. John Bell is also attending BlogHer which provided us a rare opportuity to meet and talk about marketing to women consumers and the vision Ask Patty has for the automotive retailing industry. Thank you John for your insightful remarks!

I parked myself at Sapori in Marina Del Rey California on Tuesday to meet with some of the most talented women in the Automotive Industry from all over Southern California.   Sapori has an incredible view of the Marina and serves fine Italian Cuisine dockside. It was my form of a mini-vacation as I have been burning the candle at both ends preparing for the "offical"nationawide enterprise launch of Ask Patty to automotive retailers.

Glenda Gill an automotive industry diversity expert, Sharon who worked on Danica Patrick's public relations last year, Brie a fancinating automotive writer and a key female automotive editor all joined me to discuss Ask Patty and where we are headed. Thank you ladies for your valuable input and guidance!

Jody DeVere, President -- Ask Patty