Blissdom: The Good, The Funny & The Take-Away

I didn’t intend to write my Blissdom recap post for today. Kristin Glas had told me to have a week’s worth of posts set to publish for the week following Blissdom. Like a good student, I followed her veteran lead, and had a different post set to go for today.

But as I sat here, rifling through the business cards I collected, flipping through the pages of notes I took, and singing along to Katy Perry’s “Firework”, I couldn’t help myself.

I wanted to write it now.

I needed to write it now.

In short, and in the immortal words of Scott Stratten, Blissdom was AWESOME.

I got to meet other bloggers, including (but not limited to) Mama_Rosebud, ErinMargolin, MS_WonderFriend, CrayonWrangler, DutchBeingMe, ByWordMusings, SippyCupMom, ShellThings, AnotherMomOf2, TheBlueZoo, BlueViolet, MollyInMinn, SellabitMum, MommyWords, MommyShorts, LawMomma, HeirToBlair, StilettoDiapers, RMcPhillips1, ARRRJ, ElaineA, HopefulLeigh, BirdontheStreet, NoFlashCards, MomTriedIt, WomanOnAJourney, AllFookedUp, BSiron, HollyHamann and LoriAnderson.

I also met AngryJulie.

(Meeting her was so epic, she deserved her own line.)

Obviously, when you get a bunch of women together, lots of hugs, laughs and wine are shared.

With unforgettable memories created.

Ask anyone who shoveled Red Lobster lobster rolls and Nestle heart-shaped sugar cookies down their gullets…while wearing Jockey ShapeWear.

Or was photographed with #FlatKate.

Or flashmobbed after Scott’s closing keynote (I did!).

Or saw KLZ and me cutting a rug at the pajama party.

Or hammed it up for the Freschetta photo booth.

There were many, MANY good times.

There were also many contacts made and lessons learned, as I’ve come away with new goals and plans, and a general sense of feeling re-focused and energized.

My take-away from the conference centered around a few things:

1. The importance of social media, using it effectively, using it for engagement and using it with focus.

2. Work to improve your content. Instead of spending gobs of time trying to promote yourself through every social media and social bookmarking site out there, spend time on your content. As Scott Stratten said, “If your content sucks, it sucks HARDER on social media!”

3. Numbers mean nothing.  You can have 2 followers who are connected and engaged, and they will “do” more for you than 200 (or 2,000) who aren’t.  You are never too small to reach out to “big” bloggers for a collaborative idea.  You are never too small to reach out to brands you believe in.

There is no reason to wait on trying to achieve your goals.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

There is a lot that could be said about insights gained at Blissdom, so if you have a specific question, shoot me an email (bellebeandog{at}gmail.com).

Overall, I would recommend it to any blogger considering going. I would tell anyone who is preparing for their first conference to be ready to network, and be ready to make your conference experience your own. You’ll be forgoing a huge perk of a conference if you don’t force yourself to mingle with the other attendees and sponsors. Also, you do need to be prepared to “work” a little while you are in the sessions. You will hear very experienced speakers who have walked the walked, but if you don’t take that next step and apply their stories to your blog, you’re missing out.

I’m very grateful for my Blissdom ’11 conference experience, and I’m honored to be part of this vibrant community, full of strong, intelligent women.

#FlatKate was at Blissdom; were you?

Feel free to link up your Blissdom recap post below!

Related Posts:

• Why you should “go local” – and offline – with your social media
• Show Me the Blog, Baby!
• One Last #SummerBlogSocial Post – A Quick Rundown
• What has helped my Blog to Grow
• 10 Tips for a New Blogger