Seeing how I had an amazing time attending Go Blog Social's blogger conference in Kansas City last year, I thought it would be great to see what this year's conference was going to be about. The conference was a two-day event; Friday and Saturday and was held at a local hotel called, Hotel Renovo.
Since there was going to be a networking event on Friday, I thought it would be cool to check it out so, I packed up my luggage and headed towards Des Moines. I was nervous but excited to go.
Arriving at Hotel Renovo I felt lost because there were so many people hanging around the lobby and bar area that I didn't know where to go. From left to right I saw people getting their hair braided, making flower crowns, getting henna done, taking pictures in the GBS photo booth, and even getting a bra fitting with a company called Peach. Since I went by myself and I didn't really know or recognize anyone from Omaha, I decided to roam around and check out some of the different stations they had.
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| Essential Oils by Alex |
It felt kinda weird going up to people and introducing myself but I guess that's the purpose of a networking event, to be able to meet someone or a group of people and share what your passions are. I met a few girls who were locals from Des Moines and they recommended me some cool places to visit while I was in town. We also got to exchange business cards and we each shared a little bit about ourselves. I'm happy I was able to get out of my comfort zone and not let my shyness get in the way of meeting new people, I feel like that's always the hardest part when going to a social event.
At the end of the night, I ended up getting a henna creation by the fabulous Rayna from Rad Henna and even got to make my own flower crown with the help of CamBam Custom Floral!
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| Henna creation by RAD Henna |
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| Selfies with Holly from Style From the Sticks! |
I couldn't leave the event without taking a picture in the photo-booth. Don't we look cute!?
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| Sienna from Style By Si and I at the GBS photo-booth! |
Saturday was part two of the Go Blog Social event which was conference day. As I walked in the hotel one of the interns that were helping out handed me a gift bag, which I was excited to open later! The conference took place in a big meeting room where they had rows and rows of chairs that everyone could choose where to sit at. As I found my spot I was really looking forward to seeing who the speakers were. I had my notebook and pen handy to take some good notes!
The morning kicked off with a warm welcome from the Go Blog Social team who are, Kathryn and Sarah; the co-founders, Katelyn who is the sponsorship director, and Sara who is the events coordinator.
They gave us a quick run through of the days itinerary and introduced the first speaker who was Katie Patterson, CEO and Founder of Happy Medium. Happy Medium is an advertising agency located in Des Moine, IA that focuses on providing creative services for brands and businesses. Katie spoke about The Journey of Entrepreneurship and shared about her life experiences in being a CEO. She talked about getting comfortable with uncertainty and how to get through those moments where you feel like you can't do it anymore and how to better prepare yourself and plan for those moments.
She also covered some helpful tips that I thought were pretty beneficial when using social media:
- Don't make your personal page your business page, it's not a great user experience.
- Use more visual posts such as videos, photos, designed graphics = better performance
- Depending on which social media platforms you use, don't over use images. Spread your postings out a couple of days or so for your audience.
She covered a lot of other great information, but those were some take-aways that stood out to me.
The second speaker was Cassandra Monroe who is a freelancer/stylist and covered the topic of Pitching and Freelance Opportunities. She started her career in the military working in public affairs and then transitioned to freelancing in photography and blogging. She also mentioned that while she was deployed, she was a food stylist for a company called Mittera and is/was also a writer for an online magazine called, The Everygirl.
Cassandra shared insight on how to brand yourself and what goes into creating a good pitch. Some take-aways I got from her were:
- Jump on opportunities or create them. Partner with someone and create something.
- Build a network. Make friends with people who are in the industry, network with other freelancers.
- Make your pitch standout to brands/business marketers.
- BE GENUINE, be honest with yourself and with your client.
As the morning continued, it was time for a mini break. I decided to meet up with some of the girls I had met on Friday and catch up. Next to the room we were in, some of the vendors that were at the hotel on Friday were there again on Saturday doing bra fittings and selling wall decorations. We decided to check it out.
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| Peach hosting bra fittings and making you feel fabulous! |
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| Cute pillows and wall decorations from Walls Need Love |
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| Girl gang! |
As our mini break was over, we returned to our seats and got to listen to Lauren and Austin Day cover Photo Styling and Photography Tips.
During this presentation I felt as if I was back in my old photography class because they covered some basic photography lingo like aperture and shutter speed. They also gave helpful tips on what to look out for when styling an object or how to find the right lighting and mood when doing a photo-shoot. They even showed us a presentation of various shots that they took around their studio.
After the presentation was done, it was time to break out for lunch. Yay!! Food!! Lunch was provided by a new upcoming restaurant in Des Moines called Goldfinch.They had mini sandwiches, salad, and freshly made cookies which were pretty delicious!
After lunch, it was time for the last three speakers of the day. Bevin Mugford from Peach Company presented on Pursuing Your Passion In a Creative Industry. She and two other women on her team started off by introducing themselves and sharing a little bit about what made them want to be part of Peach. Peach is a startup bra business located in Boston that was created to inspire women to feel beautiful and confident in their own skin. They have personal stylists to help you find a perfect bra that fits your needs and lifestyle. Bevin spoke about the ABC's of confidence and how to use action, bounce, and connect to access it.
Here are some take-aways that I took from her presentation:
- Confidence is actually in the body. It's not something you are given but a practice, it's a process.
- ACT- a mixture of ambition and doubt which is something we face in our minds. Biggest tip is to build knowledge to get to your action step/goal.
- BOUNCE- although you will get more closed doors than opened ones, look for the crack instead of the wide door. Don't let "NO" get to you.
- CONNECT- Share vulnerability with someone to help restore you.
Once Bevin's presentation was done it was time to present the last two presenters. One of them was Karla Walsh from Meredith Corporations who presented on Digital Strategy & Social Media and the other was a local Omaha blogger, Sara Sabaliauskas from Sabby Style who presented on, From 9-to-5 to Full- Time. I wasn't able to get as much notes as I wanted to but I definitely learned a lot about how stay connected with my audience and share my story.
After a long day of networking and learning, the day had finally come to an end. The GBS team stood in front of the room and thanked everyone for coming to their event. I had said my see you laters to the group of girls that I had met and was back on the road to Omaha.
Looking back at this event, I gotta say I had an amazing time. I really enjoyed connecting with people from different parts of the Midwest and also gained so much helpful information.
If you are new to the blogging world or are an active blogger, I highly recommend attending this blogger conference or any other blogger conference out there. It's fun and definitely worth going. Thanks again Go Blog Social for hosting this great event! Hope to see you next year!
Until next time,
Fati <3
