This past weekend I was able to go to one of the Bloggy Boot Camp events… in San Francisco. Not only was it the first time I was able to go to California and see the Pacific Ocean (yes, I have officially crossed that off the 101 in 1001 list now) but it was the first time I had met many, many friends in real life. Twitter created these connections for me. Reading their blogs developed them. But these relationships grew leaps and bounds when we exchanged hugs and bonded over things outside of the blog world. It really was amazing.

But back to my list. {I could talk about friendships made for an entire post.}

The 10 things I learned at Bloggy Boot Camp…

10. There is no reason to be nervous.
Everyone is walking into the same room, at the same time, for the same reason, with the same nerves. Some people just mask it better than others. And ultimately, we all just want to get to know one another.

9. If you are going to do a vlog (a video blog), make sure to prepare.
Jessica gave some amazing infomation (at 9am no less) on keeping your vlogs short, preparing your background (make sure to remove the kids pictures if you don’t want others to see them), and to check your lighting.

8. Ask someone you trust if this is good… Did I get my point across?
Jessica also said this little tidbit of information toward the end of her presentation. This is an invaluable piece of advice I think most of us forget… and then rely on comment feedback rather than trusting the people that truly know us.

7. Decide what and how much you are going to share on your blog. And get permission.
I think I could actually have an entire blog post dedicated to what Julie said… and well, here’s her outline of her presentation… but it was amazing to learn that it doesn’t matter what you put out there (and try to delete it later), at some level it stays out there forever.

Julie also passed along some insights from getting permission when featuring others (especially kids) on your blog to tracking those that visit your blog (particularly people that you wouldn’t want visiting you) and setting up privacy for facebook and your domain registrations.

And speaking of domain registrations…

6. Buy up your domains – as well as your kids names.
Pretty much as soon as I got home, this is what I did. Not only did I buy “dutchbeingme.net” but I also bought my nephew’s name and a couple others that I wanted to protect (and/or possibly use in the near future.)

5. Tiffany is pretty.
First, for those not familiar with SITS or Bloggy Boot Camp, Tiffany is one of the founders of these sites and has a huge desire to connect bloggers (and women in general) to others for support – and really she the person who deserves all of the credit for making these events the success that they are.

Not only that but all of her Bloggy Boot Camp friends will tell you – both on their blogs and on twitter – that Tiffany is pretty. And she likes hearing her voice in the microphone… which was awesome because she gave some amazing info and insight before/after each speaker.

4. Have a business plan for your blog.
Linsay had some great insight from the business and legal aspects of blogging. If you want to take your blog to the next level, surround yourself with the people (accountant, lawyer, etc.) that can help you achieve these plans.

3. Write, write, write… and when you have writers block, write.
Kristy spoke on writing… and to keep doing it – even if it’s only 5 minutes a day about nothing. Not everything needs to be post-worthy, just keep the creative juices flowing.

However…

2. If it’s not fun to blog, stop.
I’m pretty sure it was Tiffany said this toward the beginning of the day… and I couldn’t agree more, especially since (well, as of right now at least) this is a hobby for me.

1. Be Authentic.
No matter if you are doing a vlog or deciding what to write, you need to maintain your voice. You must remain true to who you are.

So there it is. I’m not sure how I well I really did compacting this into 10 items into this rather long post. {I didn’t even get to highlight things from Ciaran, Jennifer or Ted!}

Thanks to the sponsors of the event… Mastermind, FRS Healthy Energy, Open Sky and Collective Bias.

This weekend was so much fun, filled with amazing people – amazing blogs – amazing stories. I already miss many of them and wish I could go to their houses just to chat – because as Tiffany has shared many times {on twitter at least} – “blog friends are real.”