The massage therapists stand ready. The breastfeeding areas are arranged. The HTML session is teed up. Chicago has readied itself. The women bloggers are coming.

Today around 1,500 bloggers will flock to the Sheraton Towers overlooking the Chicago River for the fifth annual BlogHer conference. Attendees will swap tips, get advice from online media experts and socialise in a whirlwind of events ranging from an early-morning 5K charity run to drinks receptions to a pyjama party sponsored by GapBody. It's a techie conference, Jim, but not as we know it.

There will be the usual hallmarks common to all conferences: overly air-conditioned meeting rooms, branded badges and folders, refreshments set out on squeaky polyester tablecloths. The differences at BlogHer aren't just its soaring popularity (live feeds from the sessions will show in the hotel lobby to an overflow crowd), or the online-savvy crowd (one conference veteran recommends printing cards with your Twitter account to avoid writing it out while networking). It's the full-on feminine power that animates this gathering, and impart its own particular personality.

BlogHer was founded in 2005 by Lisa Stone, Elisa Camahort Page and Jory Des Jardins as a community for women bloggers. Today it is an empire that includes a site that publicises blogs, a network that helps women generate revenue through ads, and an events team that organises national meet-ups and conferences. Some of the marquee names in attendance over the next two days will be former New Yorker editor Tina Brown, now head honcho at Dailybeast.com; Ilene Chaiken, creator of "The L Word"; New York Times Motherlode blogger Lisa Belkin; and Lee Woodruff, author and blogger for The Huffington Post.

Just like the consciousness-raising groups of the Seventies were part of a seismic shift in social attitudes about women, the early days of individuals' blogging about their private lives has given way to a full-on industry of women writing about everything from lesbian issues to photography to technology. Mummy blogging, a cornerstone of the female blogging oeuvre, garners a session in every time slot here. As the female blogging world has gained traction - attracting more bloggers and readers - sponsors have come calling. Big-name bloggers who earn a living from their sites can expect to be buttonholed by hopefuls. PepsiCo and Chevrolet are "platinum sponsors" for the conference.

Business aside, the atmosphere preceding the event conjures the feeling of sorority rush week - that time when Greek social clubs at American universities throw parties to woo and select new members. There are cocktail parties to RSVP to, talk of rituals unfathomable to outsiders (at one party, organisers encourage everyone to wear paper bags on their heads), and makeup touch-ups to schedule.

The girls' clubhouse approach is the key, says Woodruff, who is hosting a Pepsico-sponsored live Tweeting discussion about finding purpose in life. "It has little to do with blogging but [everything] to do with the nature of women," she says. "In the beginning of time maybe it was quilting bees or book clubs. Women get together - support one another, express opinions in the safety of gender," she says. "There needs to be a place to address issues that are specific to women."

The vibe on the official conference blog is all enthusiastic sense of sisterhood. Attend "speed-dating" on the first morning to make friends with others. Sign up to claim a lunchtime seat at tables with themed conversations, such as feminism or living sober. Don't feel like socialising? Put a badge on your blog that reads "I'll be hiding in a corner at BlogHer 09". Even a keynote speech is communal, with 21 people reading selections from their blogs.

Microsoft Office is hosting a suite, dubbed Microspa, where women can come to get a back rub, makeup application or hand reflexology, plug in their computers and see a demo of MS Office 2010. "The concept of the Microspa is it allows you to recharge and relax not only yourself but also your technology tools," says Louise Rasho, the social media guru (aka senior marketing manager) for Office Life. Microsoft does outreach to bloggers but BlogHer will be its first event with a major presence. "Microspa is really just a place to come and relax. It is something that caters very nicely to women." With 120 appointments available, it will cater very nicely to about 8 percent of BlogHer participants.

Diane Hayman, the Brit who runs www.powderroomgraffiti.com, a website that caters to women over 40 and features bloggers, is attending for the first time, with an eye toward connecting with humour bloggers. "You build up intense relationships online without having met somebody," she says. "I'm hoping to meet people face to face."

Yet for some first-timers, the jam-packed schedule of sessions, break-out sessions and list of more than 20 official parties can be a bit too much to handle.

"Am I the only one a little overwhelmed by all the BlogHer parties going on?" writes one woman on www.sweetnsassygirls.com .

Sounds like she needs to relax. We hear there are still some massage slots available in the Sheraton's Missouri room.

- Get all the news from the Blog Her conference on the Alpha Mummy blog: www.timesonline.co.uk/alphamummy

Explore Women

• Fashion

• Beauty

• Diet & Fitness

• Relationships

• Families

• Celebrity

• The Way We Live

• Horoscopes

Times recommends

• 12 party beauty tips
• Nutrition: is being big a genetic destiny?
• What it feels like: to pry into other people's lives