Whisky + Sunshine

Northeastern Travel Blogger, Entertainment Writer & Lifestyle Blogger

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What I Learned at BlogHer

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serta blogher

Chilling with a sheep at the Serta booth

Last week, I attended #BlogHer13 in Chicago, IL. What did I learn at BlogHer? Lots. Last year, I was a newbie at BlogHer in NYC. Having attended once before definitely helped me to have an overall more productive and engaging experience at my second BlogHer. Here is a quick summary of what I learned at BlogHer, and why I’ll go to BlogHer next year.

Networking is important, and friendships are built from the ground up

Each time I’ve gone to a conference, I’ve ended up with tons of new people in my networks, re-connections with people I already new, and a handful of new friends that I made during the course of a few days. This year’s top new pals include some fabulous women!
Georgia Johnson, an Aussie, fellow mom to twins, and blogger at Parental Parody 
Yes there are quite a few more of you out there that I connected with, but I spent much of the conference chilling with this crew.

Offsite parties are fun, but they can also be stressful.

Trying to manage attending 14 overlapping parties in one evening can be a bit much. I went to several on Thursday night, but next time I might go to a few less. I love the connections I made at them, and I had a really great time (and even won some great prizes!), but trying to manage back-to-back parties for hours on end is stressful. I feel as though I would have gotten more information and maybe better connections had I spent a little more time at the parties I attended.

You need to think about collaboration and long-term goals

Before attending a conference like BlogHer, it’s helpful to see who is sponsoring the event. Map out a game plan of what brands you are interested in working with. Make sure you get some time with them, either on the expo floor or at a quick one-on-one meeting outside the expo floor. Sure, spinning the wheel to win free lube and vibrators at one of the expo booths was entertaining (and I won!), but if it isn’t a company I hope to work with long term, then it’s not time well spent.

Also, when it comes to sessions and tracks, there are so many options. It is helpful to plan out what sessions you are interested in attending. Pick the top 2 for each time slot, because the sessions can fill up. It’s good to know where you want to head to  if a session is filled up so you don’t feel disappointed by not getting into your first choice.

Keynotes are inspirational

While I don’t always like the keynotes chosen at conferences (sometimes for personal reasons, sometimes for legit reasons), I usually try to attend. In my experience keynote speakers are often inspirational, and sometimes even informative. I don’t always walk away from a keynote speech feeling I’ve learned something that I can put my finger on, but I do walk away inspired…and being inspired is where greatness starts.

 

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What were your BlogHer take-aways? What did you learn?

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About Jana

Jana Seitzer is a writer, traveler, podcaster, and geek. Although well-versed in many fictional universes, Star Wars & Marvel have always been her favorites.

Comments

  1. MicheleC. says

    Hey there girl!!! I am very happy we got to hang together. I agree, between official and unofficial parties on Thursday I felt like I was torn in 100 directions. I felt that Friday and Saturday were a bit more balanced but that was because I also gave up on the idea of being able to be everywhere all the time. The sad part for me was when official events overlapped so much I couldn’t even make it to them – the 5K then breakfast with Ree Drummond was impossible given time to shower and get on the shuttle, etc. But I did have a fabulous newbie experience and I certainly hope to see you next year, if not sooner!

    Reply

    • jseitzer@ymail.com says

      It’s hard when events overlap…you want to absorb it all! I can’t wait to connect with you again!

      Reply

  2. Krista says

    I always pick two sessions per time slot too. It’s always good to have a plan B 🙂

    Hopefully next year we’ll get to hang out at BlogHer’14!!

    Reply

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