Today held a fun and new experience for me! I attended my first blogging/social media conference here in St. Louis called the Show Me The Blog Conference (put together by Danyelle at The Cubicle Chick). Last night was the pre-conference mixer. I attended with Robyn from Robyn’s Online World. Robyn and I live in the same town and have been friends online for some time. We have never had the chance to meet in person though and last night we finally did. It was a fun event from pre-start to finish. All I have to say is thank goodness Robyn was driving! I seriously haven’t laughed that hard in awhile. Wrong addresses, closed exits, and one-way streets were all part of the excitement. Once there, we were able to mingle, meet some great sponsors including Haven House (more of that to come soon) and have a round-table discussion about beginning blogging.
Today, I arrived late (thanks to problems at home) and found a very packed room. It was so great to see so many people come together in St. Louis for a conference! I participated directly by being part of the Mommy Bloggers panel and talked about my blog, my life, and how they combine to create ToBeThode. I really enjoyed being part of the panel, but figured I would since I love to talk so much! I did learn some fun things but all my notes are on my drained netbook (note to self- bring power cord next time). I will come back and share more with you when it is charged and I get my thoughts together. The main point we all walked away with is this though… be authentic. Choose quality over quantity. Also, be yourself!
I met some great people including someone that I admire for her great work, Jessica from That Tech Chick. Jessica has worked on a lot of blogs you see on the web (although not mine but I am going to talk to her about something I need done in the future). She designs, transfers, gives great tips, and offers other services for bloggers. You should check out her blog and keep her in mind if you have any blogging needs.
If you are into sports, visit Robert at Black Sports Online. Not only is he very knowledgeable, but he is hilarious too. I really enjoyed his talk today. If you like techy reviews, visit Reggie at ReggieLevine.net. Reggie talked today about how to blog on a budget… great info I will be sharing soon. Finally, the last person that I want to mention is Vernon Ross from Ross Public Relations. Vernon gave some super great information today and I truly enjoyed his discussion on sponsorship.
One company I will be working with in the future was also present today called His Gem Gifts. They specialize in spiritually-inspired baby clothes and accessories. I fell in love with their products and they will be featured on my blog soon with a giveaway. Keep your eyes open for that!
I met a very interesting lady who talks about how to research your home’s history on her blog. Visit Kim at My House History for more information on how to go about doing that. I love this idea if you have an older home. Kim is also a published author.
I met so many people and there are way more than I mentioned who had fantastic blogs, fantastic ideas, and were just fantastic people. I wish I could talk about them all but honestly, I am tired. As things come to me, I will share on here and Twitter. Check out the hashtag #smbstl on Twitter to see the tweets that were sent and find more attendees.
I had a great time and thank Danyelle for asking me to be part of the conference. I look forward to more conferences in the future. I am also thankful that I have a new friend. I truly think that Robyn and I were destined to be friends so I am very glad to have met her finally and hope to get together again soon.
What did you all do this weekend?
Blog conferences are always fun! 🙂
We left a bit early, so I don’t think I got to talk with you much while there. I was slammed with an icky sinus infection and got to feeling pretty bad.
It was so great meeting you. And I got to brag that I did! Lol there was more content packed into 9hrs than I ever had at any other conference I have attended.
Nice meeting you this weekend @ SMTB 🙂
Stefany, Great blog! Thanks a bunch for the mention.
I sooo enjoyed meeting you yesterday and know we will be communicating much more in the future. Thanks for all your twitter tips 🙂
I am overwhelmed and over-blessed by all the people and info shared at Show me the Blog!
I figure you will never get in the car with my again after all of that Friday night. I sure wish we could have gotten a pick of the port-a-potty in the sky too, that was hilarious!
So glad we finally met in person, we need to do this more often for sure {{{HUGS}}}
Oh heck! Your driving didn’t upset or scare me at all… too funny!
The port-a-potty! I told Mike about that as soon as I got home! LOL
What a wonderful recap of a fantastic day! I’m still trying to get all my thoughts together since there was so much blogging love flying around the room the entire day! Thanks for the mention in your post – I look forward to following your bog.
No problem Kim. I think what you do is truly fascinating… anything I can do to help get the word out is my pleasure.
Enjoyed learning about Mommy blogging at Show Me Blog which I really didn’t have much knowledge about. Looking forward to learning more about the mommy’s through your blog
Thanks! I wanted to personally thank you for the fairshare site!
I enjoyed the conference as well. I learned so much and the speakers all brought something different to the table. Each one was knowledgeable, interesting, and genuine. This was well put together and I truly appreciated meeting some of the bloggers whose blogs that I have visited. Hopefully, they will hold it again next year, I would recommend attending if you have a blog or a thinking about starting one.
It was nice to meet you! Thanks for coming by and visiting me. I know you like giveaways and I do plenty so be sure to come back!
I’m all the way in Florida and as a new blogger, I really enjoyed following along with the hashtag on Twitter today. Learned a lot of great tips! Sounds like it was a very successful day!
I’m your newest GFC follower, btw! 🙂
Thanks for commenting Carrie! I hope you were able to get some new knowledge today. Feel free to email me if you have any questions I may be able to help with. I love helping out new bloggers. 🙂
You rocked today! Thanks so much for being a part of Show Me the Blog—and thank you for the wonderful blog post on the event.
Thanks for including me!!! I had a blast and would love to be part of future events. 🙂
It was great meeting you today at the conference! Great recap post! 🙂
Thanks Stephanie! It was nice meeting you too!
It was great to meet you and hear you talk! I look forward to reading more of your blog and chatting with you on Twitter!
You too Melissa! I wish we had more time to talk! I am following your blog now and will be around. 🙂