As I said yesterday, I’m off to BlissDom next week and am SO EXCITED about it. But even though I’ve been there before, there are still things that freak me out. And I have to say thank you to Erin for inspiring this post after I read her fears at Shell’s blog.

1. Missing people I genuinely want to see. It’s amazing how you can see so many people in a short time, but still miss the ones you tweet to everyday. I’m working on a list now (or should be after writing this post) on the people I don’t want to miss and need to give hugs to while I’m at BlissDom. (Oh and for what it’s worth, it really doesn’t matter the size of the conference… you miss people NO.MATTER.WHAT. if you don’t seek each other out.)

2. Not knowing what to say. As crazy as it sounds to people who know me or have been around me for any length of time, I can be a person that is somewhat lacking in words when I meet new people. And sometimes even with the people that I know (but haven’t read *every* recent post they’ve written – sorry about that by the way!) I feel like I’m in the dark ages or something in regards to where they’ve taken things. Also? I might not know that you’ve changed your twitter handle recently… and have no idea what your real (full) name is.

3. Finding out that I’m not wanted somewhere – or not included in something. BlissDom (for the most part) is wonderful in this way. The founders – Alli, Barbara, & Paula – do everything in their power to make EVERYONE feel included and loved. However, there are always times that the people attending don’t always feel the same way. I had an experience last year where someone literally walked away from me after I introduced myself. Not to mention the feelings and questions about why I wasn’t “good enough” to be included in the Flash Mob.

And the things I freak out about AFTER a conference…

4. The blog-block. I’ve come to realize that this is normal. I’m thinking about a million and a half things that I think need to be completed to make my blog better, but then never actually do anything because I’m lost. Not to mention I’m missing the friends I just saw, caught up with and want to see again so soon but they live too far away for a day trip.

5. Trying to figure out what, how and where I want to take myself in the future. After last year’s BlissDom I was amazed at how lost I felt afterward with everything in life. I know I’m not the only one who feels this — so I’m already trying to plan a little “me figuring out me time” in the not-so-distant future after the conference.

So there it is. The things that freak me out about conferences… and while BlissDom is the biggest conference I’ve been to (at around 750-800 people this year I think?) it’s NOTHING compared to BlogHer which is 3-4 times that amount of people. I can guarantee you that come August… I’ll be freaking out a little more. Or a lot more.

What freaks you out about going to a conference?

Every Bloggy Boot Camp I’ve gone to is different from the next. I think that’s why I love this conference so much… and why I went to both San Francisco & Philadelphia last year. If I could, I’d be on my way to Denver in just a few weeks to share another experience. {There are a few tickets still available!} I learn so much from each one.

Last year at both events, I took away “Be Yourself” as the biggest lesson throughout. Everyone touched on it and it was definitely something I needed to learn… I think that I was trying to be something I was not for a while.

What did I learn this year? {Here’s a little bit from each speaker…}

Amy Bradley-Hole gave us 5 questions to help steer us in the direction of knowing what our brand is – who we ourselves are – and how to proceed. Sometimes these questions will reveal more about us than what we would like… and it may be hard.

• What are my distinguishing characteristics and personality traits?
• What are my guiding principles and values?
• What is my role on the web?
• What is my promise?
• What is my story?

Danielle Smith shared many tips about vlogging – but the question that still sticks with me yet is “What are you afraid of?”

Cynthia Wheeler talked about blog design. I learned that I really need to use the footer of my blog more effectively – and clean up other areas to make everything cohesive.

After lunch, we split into two groups – I chose to go to the sessions about monetization with Kim Moldofsky and Wendy Piersall.

I loved Kim’s Top Ten list for Social Media Success…

1. Start with a strong foundation (content).
2. Be consistant
3. Be nice
4. Find your tribe
5. Be professional
6. Stay calm
7. Be yourself
8. Think beyond your blog
9. Fail forward
10. Don’t ignore your loved ones!

And Wendy gave invaluable information from her book, Mom Blogging For Dummies, about the blogging mistakes not to make. Toward the end of her presentation, she also focused on helping to define some of the FTC rules/laws… and I know now (more than ever) that I need to learn more about this – especially if I decide to do anything with giveaways or contests.

Finally, LaQuishe Wright finished off the day telling the story about how she transformed her fan website dedicated to Channing Tatum into his official page. What she has done definitely defines following your passion.

 

In Chicago, the biggest takeaway for me was not to focus on too much… but rather make a plan and go step by step. And to not lose sight of the end goal.

So what’s my plan for action?

~ I’ve already purchased Wendy Piersall’s book Mom Blogging For Dummies and am waiting anxiously for it to arrive.

~ I’m working to change up my current blog a little bit (oh so very little) and then with NapWarden‘s help & design expertise to get my new writing blog up and running.

~ To get back to my “roots” of blogging and comment, comment, comment on my friends (new and old) blogs. Along with this – I am very, very, very excited to see what everyone will be linking up with in the Pinterest Challenge that starts in a couple of weeks!

There are other (smaller) goals that I want to get to as well… like changing up my About Julie page and *gasp* even changing up my twitter handle in the next few months. (I know, crazy thoughts… huh)?

 

Ultimately, where I see myself going with my “plans” as listed above don’t have anything to do with what I thought I wanted to learn. Yes, doing a vlog now and then would be great… but I don’t think that’s going to be a main focus right now.

In the coming days (Thursday and Friday perhaps?) there will be a blog post (or two) sharing photos of who I was able to meet and all of the great things that I was able to do while in the city.

This was truly a great weekend… a very special thank you to Tiffany, Francesca as well as all of the BloggyBootCamp sponsors (Invisalign, Mirassou, Sony, Ross, Collective Bias) for putting on such a great event.

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This post is linked up with others who went to BloggyBootCamp Chicago… check out their experiences as well.

*Affiliate links are used in this blog post.