While on vacation a few months ago, I was reading a blog, which led to another blog, which led to a link, then an article, and somehow I landed on a page to sign up for a blog conference. Seeing that I had just enough funds in Paypal account, I decided.. “why not, I’m willing to learn.” Granted, my little blog is mostly a leisure activity and I didn’t really think I had any business at a blog conference.

Leading up to the event, I read a few blog posts and articles on how to be prepared. If you are looking for a comprehensive article about blog conferences, I suggest reading Bloggers IRL: Get the Most Out of Blogging Conferences. You will get pointers on how to pick a conference, how to be prepared, how to maximize the experience, and how to have a game plan afterward.

My first blog conference, Bloggy Bootcamp – Atlanta, was hosted by The SITSgirls. I ended up sharing a room with three other bloggers that I did not meet until the night before the conference. They turned out to be awesome mothers and bloggers and I soaked up their conversation and felt like I found my people and the conference hadn’t even started.

One blogger posted a question to our Facebook group a week before that she was a runner and was looking for a running buddy the morning of the conference. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to run with her and found out she was training for the Soldier Marathon at the end of the month.

The conference was a one day event with assigned seating that had us move to new seats after different sessions. I was able to connect with bloggers of different genres, different experience, and a few fitness bloggers like myself. The morning sessions addressed social media, affiliate marketing, an expert panel, and a guest speaker. The afternoon sessions included a session on mastering Pinterest, conducting giveaways, getting back to basics, and how to balance work and life. With a notebook full of notes, I can honestly say that I took something away from every session!

With so much amazing content shared, I decided to share two comments that resonated and jolted by soul:

“As mothers, when we empower our children, we empower the future.” -Nell Merlino

“Live your life as the woman you want your daughter to become.” -SITSgirls