CHICAGO: As bloggers visit BlogHer's annual conference this weekend, now in its fifth year, companies like Scholastic, Nikon, Bill Me Later, and Zappos.com are leveraging the event as a chance to interact one-on-one with these influencers.

"We wanted to try to build brand awareness around Scholastic and some of our brands in a way that would be personal, but also cost-effective, and still fun and memorable," said Amanda Hebert, a publicist at Scholastic. Scholastic's #findamanda campaign features Hebert Tweeting ...