Blog Conference “Blogalicious 12” Recap

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Dear Creatives, I thought I would share thoughts about the blog conference I won & went to. First off if you are a new reader I won tickets to Blogalicious 12 from One 2 One Network. Although, with short turn around & unsure if I would accept them I decided to take the offer up, so I purchased my plane fare, hotel & rent a car. I didn’t really have time for seeking out sponsorship, due to the quick turn around. ( I did post & make a few attempts, but had so much to do…) I hoped the costs incurred would be worth the experience & it was in more ways than one. With that said I hope to share some things that may help you decide if you are ever on the fence about a blogging conference & will create a mini series of blogging tips sharing what I have learned along the way to help others who are newer to blogging.

 Jazzywho was conference point person, creative bloggers from Las Vegas area & CA, speakers , Brandi @ the Ross Dress for Less Board, new friends teaching each other & connecting, new friends having fun

Was I nervous to go to the conference, not being  sure if I knew even one person? Putting myself out there, sharing who I am trying to let people know the real me & not just my blog, site, crafts, artwork, writing…. Yes, of course. I’d be lying if I said anything different. So when I was there & listened to a speaker Mario Armstrong this saying resonated with me even stronger! Be Comfortable Being Uncomfortable! Basically if you are going to move forward in life, business…..you will have to be putting yourself, your vision, your writing, your business out there & if you aren’t comfortable with being uncomfortable you aren’t going to move forward, learn, grow, gain…. The biggest risks I have taken in life have required just that being uncomfortable, not knowing how I was going to move forward with my plans but having an idea, developing a plan, learning what I needed to do to make my uncomfortable be more comfortable. To to hear those words from Mario & realize I wasn’t alone with those feelings was great! Of course then he shared ways to be an entrepreneur & earn money,thoughts on not giving up, mistakes along the way, but I’ll get into those key learning s another day. Another speaker I learned from was Corinne Corrbet who spoke about branding, passion & purpose. Now, I have to go through all my notes & organize them before I continue to share my key takeaways from all the various speakers.

Brianne Bell, Ross Dress For Less Ladies & all the styled photos, Sears-Kmart Afternoon Tea Winners (Brandi HCM on rt) iPhone photos

Who did I meet? Barbara Jones from One2One Network after she spoke I went up to her & introduced myself as the ticket winner. Brandi Jeter from @mamaknowsitall & Collective Bias her blogalicious12 post where she shares her experience & Brandi from @HomeCookingMemories, who happens to be from Collective Bias too & her blogalicious12 ShopYourWay Tea post which shares all the great goodies they served & what she won! I sat next to at lunch one day & spoke to Brianne Bell from Blog Frog, since being part of that community that was a treat, she is one of the account managers. I will have to save a list of  more & who is who on another post because I met so many bloggers…..

I even met someone who was introduced to me as staying at my hotel. She didn’t have transportation so I offered rides & we coordinated with each other when, where to meet & sometimes even going to certain talks together. Mary of Haute Totti was such a sweetheart as a thank you, hearing me mention that I saw that President Obama was speaking in Las Vegas the last day of the blog conference got in touch with someone she knew & found out there were still tickets. So instead of the planned late afternoon pool &  hike at Red Rock we planned we went & dashed over to grab the tickets. Then stood in the hot! hot! Las Vegas sun walking blocks with tons of people to make our way through the crowd to hear him speak. We randomly got selected for a press interview, Mary being the more articulate of us. I am more camera shy & got nervous. (Important to be informed & have knowledge when you vote! ) Here is just one set of the many photographs.

The press who interviewed us, Mary Walker of Haute Totti, President Obama photo’s by me & The crowd from top of the stands ( by Mary)

Wrapping it up: Learning there was plenty! Speakers there was many. Fun, there were lots of choices. Lastly, I enjoyed styling at the Ross Dress For Less area. I think lots of people did! Bringing me back to the days of when I studied  Merchandising Display Design. Then there were parties, business booths & more. There were representatives for great causes like Shot@Life, International Rescue Committee! More on them later! I am sure each conference is very different but, I am happy to say my first conference experience was really great, loads of fun, information & learning! I hope that some of the connections I made will turn into genuine friendships (online or offline) & connections that will last. My post is a bit later than I wanted but, better late than never. I will share some blogging tips soon from my notes.

Have you ever attended a conference? Which one & what was your experience? 

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