I attended Blissdom 2010 Thursday night, Friday and part of the day Saturday last week. Thursday night I attended the Country Party event which was fun. It was held at the Country Inns & Suites in Goodlettsville, TN which is about 10 minutes from the Gaylord hotel where Blissdom was being held. I stayed at the Country Inns instead of staying at the Gaylord because I wanted to save some money. I think when I attend another conference in the future I will stay at the hotel where it is being hosted. Not that staying at the Country Inns wasn’t a good experience because it was awesome. I just think I would have enjoyed myself more if I had stayed at the Gaylord.

If you have never been to the Gaylord Hotel & Convention Center in Nashville let me tell you, it.is.HUGE. There were several other official and unofficial events at Blissdom in the evenings that I had signed up to attend but I ended up being tired and decided to hang out alone in my hotel room instead. BIG MISTAKE! If I had been at the Gaylord I think I would have felt more inclined to attend those events.

I met some wonderful women and enjoyed the most of the speakers and sessions I attended. I got some great ideas and learned a lot of different things. Here is a list of the things that I learned from my Blissdom experience.

1. Don’t come up with an image of a blogger in your head based on their head shot. People often use pictures of how they want to portray themselves and not how they really look. I am not knocking this practice, I just don’t roll like that. What you see in my pictures is really me.
2. Don’t bring everything and the kitchen sink to the sessions with you. It gets heavy carrying all that stuff around.

3. Mom bloggers come in all forms. Each one is unique. Be who YOU are, don’t try to be someone else. What works for them may or may NOT work for you. Be Authentic!

4. Get to know people for who they are and not for what they can do for you.
5. Use the power of social media not only to get your brand noticed but also to build relationships.

6. GIVE GIVE GIVE and GIVE some more.

7. Netbooks are much better for taking to a conference. Laptops are just too bulky and heavy. (remember this is my opinion)
8. Being yourself while vlogging is preferable to trying to be perfect.
9. Take cash with you! You never know when you might need it.
10. Last but not least… Pack more clothes than you need. I packed too few clothes and had a zipper issue and was down to two pairs of pants. Not fun!

I am sure there is much more that I will remember later but this is what comes to mind immediately when I think of my Blissdom experience. I think I would have learned more if I had stayed for the whole day Saturday. Overall I had a good time. I just wish I would have had more energy to attend the parties  and that my heartstrings were being tugged on by my kids calling me from home. But then again, the kids ARE my life. Without them I couldn’t exactly call myself a mommy blogger.

One change I would make to the conference is the days in which it takes place. I would have it start Friday and end on Sunday. Having the Wisdom Workshops on Thursday means that I can’t make it with my husband’s work schedule. However, next year I think I will attend the Wisdom Workshops if I can get sponsored or if I can afford it. I feel like I really missed out by not attending them.

Until next time!

~Andrea