Admittedly, my turnaround time when it comes to blog conference recap posts isn’t stellar…this one is no exception. It’s been a little over two weeks since I’ve been back from the conference and I’m still trying to put my thoughts in order. But Blissdom was pretty darn amazing and I wanted to make sure that sat down and organized my thoughts before they got lost in the mommy shuffle. So without further adieu – My Blissdom Recap!
If you’ve never heard of Blissdom before, it’s a blogging conference that has 4 different tracks – Writing, Photography, Life Development, and Business. Unlike BlogHer, Blissdom limits the number of attendees, so the group is small. This year, I heard rumor that there were approximately 850 attendees, with half of those being first time attendees. I was one of those first time attendees. [Gulp] No matter how many conferences I go to, it’s still a little scary to walk into a conference where I don’t know anyone. Blissdom typically takes place in Nashville, but this year they decided to move it to the Gaylord Texan Resort in Dallas, Texas (technically Grapevine, Texas, but whatever). While I was originally a bit upset that it had moved to Dallas, let me assure you, the new location did not disappoint. I was thoroughly in love with the resort just minutes into arriving. 
But with all conferences, there are good parts and bad parts. Here are a few of the things that I loved and didn’t love about Blissdom…
The Good:
The People – The entire focus of Blissdom is community, and for that reason, it is no doubt the friendliest conference out there. From the second you get there, people want to make you feel welcome and I loved that! They even have community leaders whose purpose is to make sure that everyone feels welcome and included. I truly felt that I could walk up to just about any group of people and introduce myself – it was a great feeling.
The Size – By keeping a limited audience of under 1000, as opposed to BlogHer’s over 5000 in attendance, I loved that I would meet someone and then actually see them again. I felt that I also got to know the sponsors better because I wasn’t just one of thousands filing through the expo area.
The Sponsors – Speaking of sponsors…I loved them all. They really treated us well (I probably shouldn’t say this, but the swag was amazing!). I got to craft and relax and get pampered as I walked through the sponsor booths and suites. Many also had yummy drinks to consume along the way. And a huge thanks to Extra Space Storage for shipping all my swag home!
The Keynote Speakers – So, so, so motivational. I think as a blogger I struggle with the motivation…motivation to write, Facebook, Tweet, Pin, and the oh so many other things that we are “supposed to do” as bloggers. Jon Acuff, now a 2 time speaker at Blissdom, seemed to understand my never-ending battle with the word “enough” – as in, am I writing enough, is what I’m writing good enough, am I doing enough to promote my blog – and seemed to be speaking right to me. And I learned a ton about introverts from Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of QUIET: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking, namely that I might be one and that’s okay. Finally, Scott Stratten of Unmarketing had me laughing ’til I almost cried over QR codes. Definitely a diverse group, but thought-provoking and motivational at every turn.
One of a Kind Experiences – The after hours entertainment is amazing. Not only was I able to meet the stars of All My Children, but when I told Cady McClain who plays Dixie on AMC, that the first episode I ever remember watching (at the ripe age of 11) was when she was marrying character “Adam Chandler”, she turned to me and recited a line from that very episode. OMG. Unreal. She is awesome. I will definitely be watching when All My Children returns on April 29th!
The music was sensational.
That’s Chris Mann from The Voice and Amber P Riley (Mercedes from Glee).
And meeting Jeremy Sisto who so graciously agreed to relive his “Clueless” days by doing “Rolling with the Homies”, was um, the highlight of my week month. As if it needs to be said, Ana Gasteyer is hilarious. Period.
But it wasn’t just that you got to see these amazing people. You got to say hi to them. You got pictures with them. You connected. I haven’t heard of any other conference with that type of opportunity.
The Handmade Market Place – The Handmade Market Place is a space where several artists come together to offer their artwork for sale. Everything from jewelry to wreaths to soaps to candles to purses…I could go on and on. All in one meeting room. I’ll admit, it was smaller than I expected it to me, but I don’t know of another conference that does anything like it. It was really cool. To say that I spent a little more than I planned would be an understatement (shhh…don’t tell my husband).
The Bad:
The Break Out Sessions – A total waste. Okay, maybe that’s harsh, but I’m just trying to be honest here. I need a conference to be equal parts motivational and educational, like SheCon was. At that conference, I not only got to hear the highly inspirational Miss Lori, but also got the nuts and bolts of how to be a better blogger and spread my message further (blogging facebook groups, how to hashtag properly, and there were even sessions on SEO)…I didn’t get any of that at Blissdom. Maybe it was just the sessions that I chose, but everything was so abstract and general. I wanted to take notes, there just wasn’t much to take notes about. The motivational part was delivered 100 times over, but the educational component was missing. For me at least. And I can assure you that it wasn’t because I’m an advanced blogger who already knows everything, because that’s certainly not the case.
The Schedule – The keynote sessions in the morning were about 1 1/2 hours a piece and the breakout sessions were 1 hour a piece. Unfortunately, there were 1+ hour gaps of time between the keynote sessions in the morning and the breakout sessions. Then more long breaks throughout the day between the breakout sessions. And then another long break before the closing on Saturday. On Friday this wasn’t a problem because I could wander the expo hall or the Handmade Market Place, but by the second day there wasn’t much to do. I actually went back to my room to take a nap after the keynote session because I had 1+ hour to kill and I had a terrible migraine. I wish that they would have condensed the day a little so we would have had more time in the evening to get ready for the night-time entertainment or have some time on our own. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t terrible, it just wasn’t the best.
With that said, I’m definitely putting Blissdom on my blog conference list for next year. I can’t wait to see what Blissdom 2014 holds!
