A month ago (already!) I went to Bloggy Con 2013. I wasn’t really sure what to expect and I didn’t know any one. I knew OF one person going but had never actually met her. Add in the fact we were taking the whole family on our longest road trip ever and there was a lot of “first time” things to stress about. Back in January I had been told about Bloggy Conference and at that point several friends talked about going. Since it cost $73 + a hotel room ($200 for 2 nights) I figured why not? It sounded like an adventure and even if this unknown conference was a fail I had my family and on-site access to Cedar Point.
We loaded up our van with all sorts of things – road trip food, camping gear, school books, clothes, activities, movies and more movies, books, and laptops, gearing up for a 9 hour trip, a few days of school, and vacation time on the side. As usual, we set out on our adventure a little bit late. I worried and wondered and got tired and with much trepidation, walked up to the registration table, outside, that very windy evening. We received our swag bags with Laura Kelly’s Expressions stationary, Udderly Smooth, information on Erie Shore attractions, a cute little Peanuts stuffed animal who watches over my kids doing their schoolwork, RIT dye that I just haven’t been bold enough to try, our #HondaLove bear, a SKYO Buff, Zone Perfect Bars that are yummy and a breakfast crunch answer, 5 passes to Cedar Point and a $25 gift card for Cedar Point attractions.
We were given 2 meal tickets for the evening kick off party and the option to buy more tickets if we needed more. We skipped that option, took our pulled chicken, baked beans, and cookie back to our room then went and got the kids dinner at WalMart’s Super Center, 15 minutes away. I also received a lunch ticket for the next day’s conference. The food options at the resort are typical resort, a little pricy but when you factor in what you spend in hotel stay and conference it doesn’t come out too bad. We tended to go to Sandusky for food to supplement our road trip box and had many options to choose from – fast food to sit down restaurant.
The conference itself has a casual feel which is nice. You feel relaxed versus stressed out the whole time. We had great sessions with each time frame having 3 options to choose from. My favorite was Pinterest with Amyirah Martin, with SEO by Dan Morris coming in a close second. Quite a few others got great information from an informational session on the legalities of blogging, Photography and Your Blog, Building and Engaging Community, Affilaite Marketing, Email Marketing and several others. I loved the small size of the conference as you really can get so much more networking and interaction with the other bloggers and sponsors. Rather than getting lost in the crowd we were able to meet bloggers from many niches and with different levels of blogging experience. This conference is perfect for beginner and seasoned professional blogger alike, and I met a wide range of bloggers. Another thing I loved was that it had time built in to just go enjoy the park or network with each other.
Tiffany Noth did a great job organizing Bloggy Conference and was present and approachable from start to finish. I am really looking forward to being part of this adventure next year – same time, same place. Make sure you sign up when registration opens in January.
Any specific questions you have about Bloggy Con? Feel free to ask in comments or email me. I’ll try to answer them all.
Check out our experience at Cedar Point.
Though I really hated to pull myself from my warm bed so early in the morning, I really enjoyed the early morning photo walk. The conference will be at Cedar Point again next year. Do you think you’ll make the trip again?
I’m only an hour away so it’s definitely on my agenda.
I loved the Photo Walk too though it WAS hard to get out of bed. I am planning to go next year. There is something else that may need to take priority but we will see what happens.
I wish I could’ve gone! Maybe in 2014!
I just ‘met’ Amyirah this morning. Her kids are SO cute. Holy cow! : ) I am glad you had a fun time.
She is so lovely and her kids are CUTE!