I got a call from the Chief Technology Mom, Beth “TechMama” Blecherman, partner at The CMB, a couple of weeks ago. She informed me that she would be in New York City for the BlogHer Business Conference at the same time that I would be in New Jersey for the J&J event. She told me that an invite had been extended to her by the folks at CBS in New York to have a meet-and-greet with Katie Couric. I was just ecstatic that Beth then then invited me to come along. Of course, my mind raced. “Oh wait! I’m in Chicago and CBS is in New York. Oh, but then, I’m going to be in New Jersey and New York is not that far from New Jersey.” I usually go into a frantic “decision-needed-to-be-made-yesterday” mode when an opportunity arises that I really want to pursue.

So, I immediately phoned the travel company who booked my flights to and from the Johnson’s Camp Baby event to find out if there was any way possible to change my return flight home. It really wasn’t an option at that point because the change fee would have been quite pricey. So, I figured that making the impromptu trip to NYC was not all that realistic. Although, I did still have a *little* hope that we might be able to swing it.

Fast forward to Johnson’s Camp Baby in New Jersey where I approached the event planners one more time. I explained the situation and they were more than willing to look into a later return flight home for me out of NYC. I was pretty happy about that!

Now, there were several others going to New York for the meet-and-greet from the J&J event. Representatives from GM were with us because they were hired by Johnson and Johnson to chauffeur all of the mamas around town. They graciously gave the five of us a lift into the city after the event.

We made it to the city and it was just a mess of traffic and people everywhere. I’ve been saying this a lot lately…New York City makes Chicago seem so manageable!

Our GM guy let us out on the street because he couldn’t make it closer to the hotel where we were staying due to some major traffic.

So there we were, suitcases and bags in tote, weaving through the mass of people in Manhattan.

When we made it to the Affinia hotel (where BlogHer Business was held); we had just enough time to freshen up before making our way to the CBS studio. Excitement was definitely in the air. We were soon on our way to meet some of the other collective parent bloggers at the studio.

There were just under twenty of us, so we split up into two groups. While one group went off to meet with Katie, the rest of us were given a tour of CBS. We were taken behind the scenes, back into the control room and out onto the floor, you’ve seen the pictures!

Then, the rest of the group came out, followed by Katie, who was about to record some of her news snippets. We were able to watch from the sidelines. It was fascinating to me to witness everything in action.

The CBS staff couldn’t have been more accommodating to us. They really made us feel welcome and seemed just as excited to have us there as we were to BE there.

After Katie was finished recording her segments, the rest of our group was invited back to her office for a chat. She was so friendly and comfortable with us and vice versa. It felt like a bunch of girlfriends just hanging out. So in a way, the meeting was much better than I had anticipated! Of course, I’m always thinking of my mom (I am!), so right away I thought, “I should call my mom and ask Katie to say hi”. My mom has always been a fan of hers. I forgot that she was out to dinner with her friends, so Katie ended up leaving a message on her machine. I love it! We all got a good laugh out of it. I have a video to post but that’s going to take some time to upload. I’ve already shared the one that Katie’s team posted on her You Tube site. I didn’t know they had captured the phone message on their end too, so that was fun to hear it coming from their side.

We parted ways after an hour or so and (geez this is a long post) went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and karaoke. I must say, it was a pretty fun night of blogger karaoke in our own private little party room.

On Saturday, I had some time to do touristy things. As luck would have it, a friend of mine from my hometown lives in NYC, so we were able to meet and play catch-up during lunch at a diner and then she played tour guide for me! I was happy to get out and about while I was there.

I’m saying it again, NYC is just a bit too chaotic for me but I’m glad I had the chance to experience it…finally!