• Love Letter to BlogPaws

Tom

To everyone who planned BlogPaws 2013, to everyone and e-furry-one who came to BlogPaws, and to everyone counting the minutes until BlogPaws 2014 . . . I love you.

I love you, Tom Collins, lone dude on the BlogPaws team. It is no accident that "aplomb" rhymes with "Tom." Does the man ever break a sweat? Maybe in the gym, but never at BlogPaws. He greets every participant with the genuine enthusiasm of a Golden Retriever (without the shedding).

Yvonne

I love you, Yvonne DiVita, you who faced AP reporters with—yes!—aplomb. At lunch one day I looked across the table and swear I saw pieces of paper sticking out from Yvonne's crisp red hair, as if she carried an oversize binder with every last detail of BlogPaws in her head. (She did know every detail, but it never interfered with her hair!)

I love you, too, Chloe DiVita. For two years I pronounced her name with two syllables and Chloe (KLO) was too polite to tell me I was one syllable off. You should see this girl under pressure: she copes like nobody's business. I get the feeling that Tom, Yvonne, and Chloe share the same trait, of looking like ducks gliding smoothly across a lake, whether or not their legs are paddling like hell under the surface.

Carol and Dexter

I love you, Carol Bryant! Carol doesn't throw around her title (BlogPaws PR & Marketing Manager); she just wants you to know that she's Dexter's mom. It was she who brought the AP to BlogPaws. Best of all, she makes you feel as if you are her favorite person in the world. And of course I love my wiggle-butted boy, Dexter.

Pepper Pom

I have eternal love for my furry roomie Pepper and her momma. We hung out before and after the conference and I count the days until I can plunge my face into Pepper's thick fur and kiss her.

I love BlogPaws: love, love, love. Fur everywhere—white, brown, wispy, wiry, long, short—it got on our clothes and no one cared. Wagging tails and endless sniffing of butts . Barks and mews and cheeps and wheeks. Hugging old friends and making new ones. Energetic conversations about what, together, we could accomplish. Laughing so hard my nose dripped. (TMI? Sorry, but that's how it was.)

I'm not going to mention any other names because I know I'll leave some out and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. But you know who you are. And I love you.