I shared in early January that I had two big trips scheduled for the month. The first was the Martha Stewart Dreamer Into Doers event in New York, and the second was the BlissDom 2011 blogger’s conference in Nashville.
I have to pause and share this picture of Laurie of Tip Junkie, Courtney of Pizzazzerie, me, Chris of Celebrations At Home and Amy of Living Locurto and co-founder of I Heart Faces all standing with a sign for the new CMT show Working Class (we got to meet the star and view the premier). And behind the camera was the super talented Angie of The Arthur Clan and the other co-founder of I Heart Faces. I “heart” all of these women!
I really wanted to go to BlissDom in 2010 and it just didn’t work out so when the 2011 registration opened up in the fall I booked early. There was no way I was missing it again. And now that I’m back home I couldn’t be more thrilled with my experience. I met fabulous women in person that I’ve been talking to online for years, I made new friends and I was completely energized by extraordinary speakers including
the keynote speaker and author of The Gifts of Imperfection, Brene Brown, who talked about the power of vulnerability. This is a snapshot of a slide (in a very dark room mind you) from her presentation. I love this because it is simple reminder to all of us who put ourselves out there for the world to read and see everyday. Some will love what you do and others will not. Don’t fret or be boastful, simply do your best and be proud of it.
And then there was the closing note speaker, Scott Stratton of UnMarketing. Okay, so this wasn’t his presentation. It’s another fabulous image taken by Angie of The Arthur Clan at one of the evening events, but this gives you some insight into his personality. I would sum him up as a real. smart. crazy. fun. guy… that you should listen to if you want to be successful in social media. You can find him on his blog at UnMarketing, on twitter at @unmarketing and his book is none other than UNMarketing (which by the way, per Scott, is not about marketing for the U.N.). {smirk}
I also loved that they offered tiered breakout sessions based on what you were looking to learn. Since I’ve been around for a while I went to all the professional sessions, but they offered just as many for begginning bloggers. There truly was something for everyone!
And these are some shots from my little point and shoot (except for the last image) of just a few of the wonderfully talented bloggers I got to spend time with on the second evening. I wish I had more pictures, but to be honest I was so absorbed in the moment I forgot my camera most of the time. In the top image, from left to right, Courtney of Pizzazzerie, Chris of Celebrations At Home, me, Angie of The Arthur Clan and I Heart Faces and Amy of Living Locurto and I Heart Faces. Second image is the lovely Laurie of Tip Junkie and me. Third image is me, Bridget of Bake at 350 and Cheryl of Tidy Mom. And the bottom image is of Chris of Celebrations At Home, me, Matt Kearney and Michelle Branch (our entertainment for the evening), Courtney of Pizzazzerie and Laurie of Tip Junkie.
And I can’t end this post without also mentioning the BlissDom sponsors. Alli and Barbara, the BlissDom masterminds, outdid themselves by rounding up some fabulous companies including Intel, Hallmark, Blue Bunny, Clorox, GE, Yoplait, ConAgra, Kellogg’s, Lifetime Moms and so many more. One of which has given me a little something something to giveaway. Make sure you stop in tomorrow for your chance to win! If you’re a party girl it’s right up your alley!
As always, I hope you’re inspired. AND I sincerely hope that if you’re a blogger I’ll see you next year at BlissDom. Trust me. You won’t regret it. But if you simply can’t wait that long, Alli and Barbara are offering audios, videos, transcripts and slides from all the events. Just visit BlissDom At Home to learn more!
Peep inspired bunny buntings