I’m not going to say much here… and let my slideshow do the “talking”.
BloggyBootCamp – like any conference – is about meeting everyone and the friendships.
Chicago was no different.
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This post is linked up with others who went to BloggyBootCamp Chicago…
check out their experiences as well. 
Every Bloggy Boot Camp I’ve gone to is different from the next. I think that’s why I love this conference so much… and why I went to both San Francisco & Philadelphia last year. If I could, I’d be on my way to Denver in just a few weeks to share another experience. {There are a few tickets still available!} I learn so much from each one.
Last year at both events, I took away “Be Yourself” as the biggest lesson throughout. Everyone touched on it and it was definitely something I needed to learn… I think that I was trying to be something I was not for a while.
What did I learn this year? {Here’s a little bit from each speaker…}
Amy Bradley-Hole gave us 5 questions to help steer us in the direction of knowing what our brand is – who we ourselves are – and how to proceed. Sometimes these questions will reveal more about us than what we would like… and it may be hard.
Danielle Smith shared many tips about vlogging – but the question that still sticks with me yet is “What are you afraid of?”
Cynthia Wheeler talked about blog design. I learned that I really need to use the footer of my blog more effectively – and clean up other areas to make everything cohesive.
After lunch, we split into two groups – I chose to go to the sessions about monetization with Kim Moldofsky and Wendy Piersall.
I loved Kim’s Top Ten list for Social Media Success…
And Wendy gave invaluable information from her book, Mom Blogging For Dummies
Finally, LaQuishe Wright finished off the day telling the story about how she transformed her fan website dedicated to Channing Tatum into his official page. What she has done definitely defines following your passion.
In Chicago, the biggest takeaway for me was not to focus on too much… but rather make a plan and go step by step. And to not lose sight of the end goal.
So what’s my plan for action?
~ I’ve already purchased Wendy Piersall’s book Mom Blogging For Dummies
~ I’m working to change up my current blog a little bit (oh so very little) and then with NapWarden‘s help & design expertise to get my new writing blog up and running.
~ To get back to my “roots” of blogging and comment, comment, comment on my friends (new and old) blogs. Along with this – I am very, very, very excited to see what everyone will be linking up with in the Pinterest Challenge that starts in a couple of weeks!
There are other (smaller) goals that I want to get to as well… like changing up my About Julie page and *gasp* even changing up my twitter handle in the next few months. (I know, crazy thoughts… huh)?
Ultimately, where I see myself going with my “plans” as listed above don’t have anything to do with what I thought I wanted to learn. Yes, doing a vlog now and then would be great… but I don’t think that’s going to be a main focus right now.
In the coming days (Thursday and Friday perhaps?) there will be a blog post (or two) sharing photos of who I was able to meet and all of the great things that I was able to do while in the city.
This was truly a great weekend… a very special thank you to Tiffany, Francesca as well as all of the BloggyBootCamp sponsors (Invisalign, Mirassou, Sony, Ross, Collective Bias) for putting on such a great event.
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This post is linked up with others who went to BloggyBootCamp Chicago… check out their experiences as well.
*Affiliate links are used in this blog post.
I’ve been so behind and overwhelmed after BlissDom in the last week or so that I have let my blogging habits slip a little bit… and have yet to get even a few of the highlights of the conference up to show you. So today I’m playing along with OhAmanda (another BlissDom attendee… but unfortunately I don’t think I got to meet her!) and her Top Ten Tuesdays.
The top 10 picture highlights from BlissDom
Having bling and a purse all in one.
For more information about Pursey and what she’s raising money for: Project Purse and Boots
Looking for bread.
with Kelly
Being at the *beautiful* Opryland Hotel
Listening to Brene Brown speak… and then being able to chat with her.
Getting to meet a television star
Melissa Peterman of Working Class
Learning from AMAZING and talented writers.
One of my favorite panels was done by Cecily, Arianne and Heather
Meeting Scott Stratton. Hearing his closing keynote. Getting a copy of his book signed. Wow.
Hanging with Chris Mann
(p.s. if I had known who he was when I initially met him, I might have not been such a dork.)
Karaoke. Baby Got Back. #awesome
Leah, Jim Lin & Becky
Meeting friends. New and old. Love love love them all.
So there it is…
Do you have a BlissDom highlight that’s not included in my top 10?
Before I have you all read this post… just know that it was written last weekend at just about the same time as my last SOC Sunday post “Back from Blissdom“. I’ve had a really difficult time deciding whether I would even put up this post at all… but have decided to do it. Yes, this one – like the last – took me more than 5 minutes (actually more like 15, but whatev’s), but for some reason feel more strongly now that I have to hit publish than I even did last weekend.
I just returned from Blissdom. It has shed so much light into my life that I have been trying to put words onto paper (or rather computer) for hours now. But I can’t. The experience really has left me speechless. Brene Brown started the conference off by sharing that sometimes we have to choose discomfort over resentment… and Scott Stratton shared that we should only ever publish the “awesome”. So that’s what I’m going to try to do.
But it was the experiences in between that made the conference what created the most severe highs and low for me.
The highs of meeting friends that I’ve connected with on twitter and through reading their blogs. Friends that I’ve met at previous conferences and events that I couldn’t wait to connect with again. Friends that I didn’t know well before and now wish that I lived next door to them. I also have to say that so many of the speakers were fantastic to talk to after their sessions… a couple of them inspired me so much I want to follow up with them again. And again. And again.
There was only one real low for me. But it stuck with me throughout the conference like a sore thumb. Bloggers I was trying to meet and connect with… who didn’t give me the time of day. And they all were from the same “group” in the blogging world. Ironically so many of them would feel so much different about me now if I had changed one decision this past year.
So I went to church this morning thinking about this. Pondering how I could write this out without hurting anyone. And then I heard the message from my pastor about how we need to change and grow in order to be better people, stronger Christians. Like the child that needs to be potty trained so that he can go to school to learn & grow. We must do the same… shedding things around us that hold us back.
And then right there in the middle of the sermon… it hit me. I had done the same *exact* thing to another blogger at the conference. Not really intending to. Not on purpose… but the words spoken to me by that person near the end of the conference events cut like a knife this morning. And to that person (and anyone else) I’m so sorry. I feel awful that I had made someone feel like a “second class” blogger or that I didn’t have time for them.
I want to make connections. I want to get close to others to better my life by knowing them… and hopefully be able to do the same for them.
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This post is linked up with Fadra‘s Stream Of Consciousness Sunday.
