Today, I wanted to talk a little bit about blog conferences.

There are so many choices out there: BlogHer, Type-A Parent, Evo, Mom 2.0, Alt Summit, Bloggy Boot Camp…the list goes on and on and on. It seems the more I dig into conferences, the more of them I find!

There are niche conferences – for foodies, crafters, techie people, you name it.

So if you’ve never been to one, how do you decide which to go to? For most of us, our annual conference budget might be limited to one or two a year – if we’re lucky – and it’s important to allocate that money to get the biggest bang for your buck!

I want to talk about some tips for how to get the real lowdown on any conference you’re looking at attending.

1. Go to the source first. It’s important to go to the conference website first and foremost. Read the bios of the scheduled speakers. Look over the conference schedule. Are there sessions that appeal to you or do they seem like they’re not a fit?

2. Follow the Twitter stream. Most conference chatter will happen under a specific hashtag – #typeacon, for example, is the hashtag for Type-A Parent Conference. Keep a column open in your Twitter management system so you can follow the stream. You’ll learn a TON about the types of people attending, what they’re excited about and all the other inside scoop.

3. Read blog posts from previous years. Going to BlogHer ’11 in San Diego? Go Google “blogher conference 2010 post” or something similar. I promise you’ll get a good overview of the good, bad and ugly about the one you’re looking at attending.

4. Look at attendance numbers. If you don’t like being a small fish in a ginormous pond, then the thousands of people at BlogHer might overwhelm you. If you want to be a social butterfly and meet a thousand people? A smaller conference, like Casual Bloggers or Evo, may be too small.

5. Read news sources. ShePosts (ahem, yes, I write for them, too, not that I’m biased) covers most of the major conferences and what they’re about. Another excellent resource is Blog Conference Newbie – which is a site dedicated to all things blog conference-y.

So tell me…are you planning to go to any conferences in 2011? Which ones and why? What other sources do you use to get conference info?