Last month I posted about my trip to Charleston, I’ve shared the outfits I wore (here, here, and here in case you missed them!), but I have yet to tell you much about the reason I was there—The Blog Societies’ Conference!
I had never been to a blog conference before, so this was a completely new experience and I had no idea what to expect beyond a lot of women taking pictures of their food and each other’s outfits. Of course we did plenty of that, but beyond that, there was so much to take in and learn, all while networking and trying to put together the faces and names that we already know through Instagram.
So, what were my biggest takeaways from the weekend?
- This particular conference is a totally manageable size. At around 80 lifestyle bloggers, it made for an easy and approachable environment where it was no big deal to walk up to someone and introduce yourself with the side note that you already follow them (and probably know that their go to coffee order and that they adopted an adorable dog last year). On that note, those random introductions are the best networking move you can make. Lots of people will say to bring your business cards for this purpose, and I did because I adore my minted business cards, but it seemed more effective to just follow people on Instagram on the spot.
- A blog conference is a wonderful way to discover brands that you may not have known before. Cosmedix was completely unknown to me before this conference, and now I’m obsessed with their products—in fact, look out for a beauty post next week on the skincare products that I can’t get enough of.
- You will leave with more ideas than you can possibly implement in the immediate future. Don’t get intimidated and create a plan of attack that you can tackle over the next several months. There were so many great sessions, but considering that most of us have full time jobs, it’s simply not realistic to refresh a few years’ worth of content, redesign the blog, pitch an entire season’s worth of posts, and overhaul an entire Instagram aesthetic as soon as the conference is over. Break it out into an achievable plan and reassess every few weeks.
After this experience, I will definitely be sure not to miss The Blog Societies’ Conference next year, and I would love to add another conference or two into the mix. A conference that focuses on creative entrepreneurs might be a nice addition, or perhaps a larger conference with a wider variety of bloggers. Have y’all attended any blogger conferences? Are there any I should definitely check out?
