What I Learned at SheCON {And Swag Giveaway!}

Earlier this month I found out that there was going to be a blog conference in Orlando over Memorial Day weekend.  I really wanted to go, but wasn’t sure how to make it work schedule-wise.  Then slowly but surely, things started to come to together and before I knew it, we were on our way to Orlando.  Due to major traffic (as a result of wild fires that shut down highways and roads) I was unable to attend the afternoon sessions and parties on Friday, but I made sure to make it to Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort bright and early on Saturday morning.

Since this was my first blogging conference, I had no idea what to expect and I knew absolutely no one.  My comfort zone was so far away, you would have needed binoculars to find it.  But blogging for me has been about trying new things, stepping out of my shell, and meeting new people from all over the world, so I suppose this was just par for the course.

Saturday morning kicked off with a fabulous session on pinning/Pinterest, followed by insider Disney tips, and a session on developing the brand and blogger relationship.  Actually, there were tons of other sessions offered, but there was no way to make it to everything.  I’m only one person and have not yet mastered being in 2 or 3 places at once (although my family seems to think it’s my specialty).  Next year, I’m going to look into cloning for this very purpose.  But I digress.  Between the informative sessions and a quick trip through the expo hall, the morning flew by and before I knew it, it was lunch time.

For the afternoon I picked a session focusing on social media, specifically, how to use Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest to bring in more readers.  This was also where I learned that I’d been using social media all wrong.  Okay, well maybe not wrong, but not efficiently.  My Facebook statuses are too long, I don’t use hashtags enough, and Pinterest is barely on my radar.  This session was eye-opening and gave me an idea of things I need to work on.

But the highlight of the day was hearing Miss. Lori’s keynote closing.  I’m embarrassed to say that I almost skipped it.  I mean, I had left my husband with my two small kids in a hotel room and he was planning to take both of them to a theme park by himself – Who knew what I was going to come back to.  I was scared…for him.  I figured the less time away meant the less damage that could be done.  But by 3pm, I hadn’t received a frantic phone call from him that the kids were burning the hotel down, so I decided to stay, and I’m so glad that I did.

Known for her work with kids on PBS (hence the “Miss.” in front of her name) and her own blog Musings from My Mini-Van, Miss Lori’s session was called “Finding the ME in New MEdia”.  To call it inspiring would be an understatement.  I could swear she was speaking directly to me.  So often when people say to me, “oh, you have a blog, right?”, I down play it.  I act as if it’s this “little thing” that I work on in my spare time.  But the bottom line is – I love it and I want it to be more.  Bigger.  Better.  I don’t know where I want to go with this yet, but I need to set some goals.  Soon.  There are tremendous opportunities for bloggers out there and I need to take myself seriously, before I’ll be seriously considered for any of those opportunities.  Miss Lori’s message was clear – Blogs are businesses and need a business plan.  They need a path.  They need to evolve.  But the evolution must be purposeful.

And Miss Lori’s session came at the perfect time.  I battle blog haters everyday.  Many of my friend in real life support me and my blog, but others, not so much.  I mean, they feign support, but talk about me like a crazy person behind my back because I blog.  I’m officially done caring about those people.  For real.  Done.  And the evidence is this – Before SheCON, I told very few people I was going to a blogging conference over Memorial Day weekend, because I’m tired of seeing people’s eyes roll back in their head when they hear the word “blog”, but now I’m writing it for everyone to see.  As Miss. Lori’s session wrapped up, I felt confident in why I blog and that I want to continue blogging.  I came out excited about writing and where blogging can lead.

Then it was off to highly anticipated scavenger hunt organized by The WDW Dads and Hidden Mickey Guy to find hidden Mickey images around the various theme parks.  Fun Facts:  (1) I love scavenger hunts and (2) there are Mickey images “hidden” all over Disney World.  Who knew?  Some are easy to find, others are far more concealed.  I’ve been going to Disney forever and never heard of them, but ask any cast member in the parks and they can direct you to a hidden Mickey.  My family ventured to Epcot and we had a ball looking for the images and sending them in via twitter.  And it’s addicting, because we looked for them the next day and the next…even though the scavenger hunt was over.  I might actually purchase the book – it’s that addicting.

Hidden Mickey in the Canada Pavilion at Epcot

Hidden Mickeys in a gift shop at the Moroccan Pavilion

I won’t lie though, SheCON wasn’t all puppy dogs and rainbows – I met a couple of bloggers that took every opportunity to exclude me from their conversation and my feelings were hurt when the blogger in front of me grabbed the last two swag bags in the RealMomsRock.com gifting suite, just so she could give the extra one to her friend who was at the end of the line.  But that’s the way life is, right?  You can’t dwell on that kind of stuff.  Instead,  as I reflect on this past weekend I think about the fun we had on the scavenger hunt, the nice people I met, and the great speakers I listened to.  And still got to spend time with my family in the most magical place on Earth.  How great is that?  I’m already looking forward to next year.  I’m crossing my fingers that they’ll choose to have it at Disney World again.

So about that swag (I did eventually get a gift bag, by the way)…  These blogging conferences are full of it – oh so many things to take with you.  And I wanted to take them all, trust me.  But if I bring more stuff into our house that already looks like an episode of Hoarders, my cleaning lady is going to quit.  Seriously.  It could happen.  So I’m turning my swag over to you, my lovely readers.  This swag pack includes a singing Let’s Rock Elmo, Charm-It Bracelet, activity books, crayons, and more!  All courtesy of Playskool, SheCON12, and my cleaning lady myself.  The only swag we’re keeping is our Cuddleuppet, because it’s awesome and Hazeline is in love.  I’m hoping my cleaning lady can handle it.  Anyway, this giveaway is open to those with US addresses only because I’m paying the shipping, and the budget for this isn’t huge.  Sorry.  I love you all, but I can only afford to ship to some of you.  If I get some swag at BlogHer this summer, I’ll try increase the shipping budget.  To enter, just use the Rafflecopter widget below…Good luck everyone!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway