For the last couple of days, I have attended a few of the Blogger Bash NYC 2016 sessions. For my “Friday Favorites” this week, I am sharing the highlights. Blogger Bash offered some great meal sessions, pitching sessions, gifting suites and panels overall. I was pretty intentional about my time there though. I went to learn from Dan and Rachel of Blogging Concentrated; to support my friend (and person who gifted me my ticket) Debbie Bookstaber of Bloganthropy and to connect with relevant brands and blogging friends. Fortunately, I was able to do so…
Learn
Dan Morris and Rachel Martin shared the “Escape Velocity” training from their Blogging Concentrated company. It centered around thinking about and preparing for your blogging exit strategy. This blog has always been a lifestyle business that has grown with my family and readers and I see myself blogging (if that’s still a thing) into my senior years. I won’t be writing under “Mom in the City” forever though, so I need to think about whom I will sell or hand the site off to in the future. Hmmm…. Meanwhile, I was able to ask Dan for some specific advice during one of the breaks. After asking me a few questions to see which direction I wanted to take going forward (doubling my paid writing income), he advised me to “Double your value. Double your rates.” I can do that!
Support
Debbie Bookstaber of Element Associates integrated marketing agency and Bloganthropy is one of my favorite online friends. She is so passionate about people using their social media influence for philanthropic purposes. Ally Del Monte, the inspirational anti-bullying teen winner of last year’s Bloganthropy Award for social good, and her family were highlighted at this year’s Blogger Bash conference.
Connect – Blogging Colleagues
Due to family and paid work commitments, I don’t attend a lot of blogging-focused conferences. When I do, I try to catch up with as many of my blogging friends as possible. I was able to chat (sometimes briefly, sometimes in-depth) with these great bloggers: Carissa, Jessica, Mitch, Nancy, Onica and Scherrie. (Definitely check out their sites if you have not already done so!)
Connect – Brands
While there were a wide variety of brands exhibiting at the conference, there were three that excited me.
1. Office Depot: I love notebooks, journals and such. I always have at least one planner notebook and one journal being used at all times. That is why I was excited to learn about Office Depot’s TUL products. I loved it so much that I’m going to do a separate video about it and see if I can schedule a “Back to School for Moms” themed giveaway around it. LOVE.
2. Violet Love headbands: I really don’t like for my hair to be on my face when it’s hot, so headbands are my best friends during the summer. Violet Love has a bunch of comfortable cute options. (The headbands are also PETA and Vegan approved.)
3. Schmackary’s Cookies: I have had these New-York based cookies before but they are so good! I was disciplined and only had one cookie…the Cereal Killer. Oh my…
In any event, I really enjoyed the sessions that I attended at Blogger Bash NYC 2016. I learned a lot, was reminded to use my social media presence to do good and was able to connect with some wonderful friends and companies. If you attended Blogger Bash, I’d love to hear your highlights too.
