By Melissa Jennings
In May, 2010 I attended Camp Blogaway in the sunny mountains of Southern California. I want to start out by saying that I am NOT a camper. I applied to attend Camp Blogaway through Mom Bloggers Club and honestly the only reason I applied is because I knew it would be the only way I would be able to attend a conference in 2010. After applying I honestly never gave it another thought (ok I gave it a couple) but didn’t really think I would be selected.
In March I was ecstatic to wake up to an email that I had been selected to attend. The kicker was that the “prize” included the registration only. However, where there is a will there is a way and I made the decision to accept the registration fee in “hopes” that I would be able to secure a sponsor. I emailed 3 companies that I had been working with and 2 said YES; not only was I going to my first blogging conference I was going with 2 sponsors!
Because I was traveling from KY to attend Camp Blogaway, I began networking with other bloggers to carpool. I was lucky enough to meet and spend time with two awesome gals: Vanessa from ChefDrucksMusings and Anne Marie from ThisMamaCooks. In the ride to and from the airport alone I learned so much! I can’t say enough about how important networking is. I can’t thank Vanessa enough for her Twitter tutorial and to both Anne Marie and Vanessa for all the knowledge they shared with me.
Camp Blogaway was a very well organized blog conference. It is owned by Patti Londre, PR consultant who also blogs at Worth the Whisk and she did an awesome job finding quality speakers. In addition, she had some excellent PR panels and there was some fabulous networking time. The highlight for me was the time I spent with Denise Vivaldo and speaking with the PR panelists. As I said, I am NOT a camper and though I will have to be honest that it really IS camping (in bunk beds) the food was gourmet and amazing! Camping is definitely not something I would normally do and nor is flying across the country, however in the end I learned so much during this 2 night/3 day blogging conference. In addition to having 2 sponsors and networking for them, the networking I was able to accomplish was amazing.
I loved the intimate setting, that you really got to “know” the speakers and not only did it change me as a person, but the benefits to our blog have been 3-fold. I would highly encourage you to attend Camp Blogaway if you are a recipe or foodie blogger. I am personally a Frugal Blogger, however we post frugal recipes and weekly meal plans. The networking, PR opportunities and skills that I learned are already benefiting me just 3 months later. Thanks Patti for the opportunity and the great conference. I give it 2 thumbs up!
Blog Conference Newbie’s Thoughts….
Want to learn more about Camp Blogaway? Read Patti’s conference coordinator interview and watch the #CampBlogaway Twitter stream this Saturday to learn from the 9/25 Camp Blogaway event!
About The Author:
You can find Melissa at StockpilingMoms.com or on Twitter at @stockpilingmoms
Melissa, GREAT write up. So glad we met at campblogaway!
Thanks Diane, me too!