I was in such a hurry to get my thoughts out on BlogHer '12 while they were fresh and now that a couple weeks have passed I had a few more thoughts to share (and a fun giveaway if you can make it all the way to the end of the post). . .
- Have business cards you can write on (and with a picture of yourself!) - as I've been working on my follow-up I find it was so helpful when attendees had non-glossy cards that I could make notes on. At the end of each night I would go through my cards and jot down notes from who I met each day on the cards. One of the advice posts I read before attending mentioned this tip and I kept it in mind when I ordered my cards and I think it really helped! I loved my cards from Moo (and a few women were very interested in my Mr. Love Bird - hey I can't blame 'em, he's pretty hot!); you can get yours here through my personal link.
- Get away so you can experience the city - since I live in the city I wasn't too bummed about not being able to break away from the conference to explore, but I'm thankful that the private parties gave me the chance to do so and the impromptu dinner with Weather Anchor Mama as well. For those not from the host city, I think it's important to add in time to get away, even if it means missing a session or a party. To go that far and not to be able to take in all the city has to offer would be such a disappointment. I really like how Jess from Curating Style stayed at the Ace Hotel (one of my faves) and ventured to partake in the awesomeness that is Shake Shack as well as scheduled an appointment at one of the city's premiere blow-out bars.
- There were extremely disparate experiences amongst the attendees - from disappointment to elation, it's incredible to review the recap posts and seriously wonder if some of the attendees were even at the same conference, but of course that's to be expected given the large attendee list; here are a few recaps to check out:
- Evil Slut Clique had the most honest (and long!) review of BlogHer '12; they are Squeaky Wheels for sure and as 4 year veterans of the conference I really like their perspective
- Mae at Life's Candy shared the conflicting feelings she had after attending but summed up the main reason why she keeps going back to BlogHer: the people and her passion
- Cecily who I had the pleasure of hearing in the How to Price and Value Your Services panel echoed my post-conference sentiments about blogging for money vs. pleasure over on Babble
- Amy at Baby Baby Lemon shared a quick-hit list of her faves (I completely agree that the Social Fiesta had the best food out of all the official parties!)
- As a highly sought after blogger it was interesting to see Emily's experience (she blogs at Baby Dickey); she attended a bunch of off-site events that sounded like a lot of fun. The with-baby part, not so much!
- Mom to the Screaming Masses explained the "special snowflake" mentality she witnessed from many of the attendees; as a panelist her perspective is very interesting
- Baby Shopaholic's Lipgloss and High Heels Party had hands down the best fashion (and cupcakes!) of BlogHer '12; I was running around like a mad woman doin' tha most so only made it to the last 45 mintues of the party but I was so glad I went
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| Our hostess, The Baby Shopaholic on the far right |
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| {Images Credit} |
I'm giving away a prize pack including 3 items I picked up at the conference:
Item #1: imPress Press-On Nails
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| I blogged about them here and am giving away the purple set pictured {Image Credit} |
Item #2: Ollo Clip
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| You can enhance your iPhone 4 & 4s camera with this clip on lens! BlogHer veteran Fadra of All Things Fadra named it her #1 favorite item in her swag recap here. {Image Credit} |
Item#3:
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| You may have heard about Trojan's swag and subsequent NYC campaign (it ended up getting shut down!); well I was able to snag one ( |
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| Near the arguably most popular booth at BlogHer '12 with Brandhyze (Frugal-Nomics) and Stacy-Ann (Weather Anchor Mama) {Thank you Stacy-Ann for the pic!} |
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Have a good weekend everyone!
P.S. If you're thinking of attending a blogging conference in the future here's a fantastic list of all the blogging conferences!
