Well Blissdom just ended and I already cant wait for next year. I absolutely LOVED being a community leader. It was so fun to get to interact with so many different people and really feel like I answered some questions and helped out some newbies. I also loved spending tons of time with roomies and friends(old and new). The best part may have been the birthday party Ash and Steph and Heather threw for me Saturday night before girls night in. My best friend Michele(who is not a blogger) and A both came to the hotel to celebrate which made it even more special. Since A and I will be gone for my birthday this year and all my blog friends(minus a few) happened to be in town right before my birthday it was PERFECT!
Also this video took me like 9 hours to make
I have to disagree with you. No one comes into a conference with a bad attitude, in fact it’s the opposite. So to say people had a bad attitude & that’s why they were tweeting negative comments is just a wrong assumption on your part.
No one was looking to be blog famous that’s not what you come to a conference for. You go to learn & grow. Though I learned absoutley nothing that I didn’t already know. Maybe if the courses actually had more how to content it would be worth the hassle but sadly it wasn’t.
There is always going to be a negative nelly no matter what the situation. Its what you put into it, that you’ll get the most out of. Many people I read who go to Blissdom have nothing but positives about it and if I had enough time to do that with my blog, I feel that it would be a great experience for me to attend one of the conferences. But for now I’ll just have to see what everyone posts and build off that. Glad you had a great time 🙂
Neely you know I love you and everything, and I was not at Blissdom but all this negative commenting is really making me sad. A persons blog is to express his/her own feelings and I know several people who did that about Blissdom and it wasn’t all smiles for them. No need to call them out. I mean really? Let it go.
This made me SO excited! You need to help me figure out next year!
I had a great time at Blissdom. Did I get what I wanted out of it? No, not really – but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t get ANYTHING out of it. I enjoyed networking, meeting new friends and seeing old friends. I had tons of great conversations with other attendees in the halls and at dinner and enjoyed the fun/positive attitude. That being said, I feel like if you’re going to market yourself as a blogging and social media conference {and not, say, a motivational or inspirational conference} you need to provide actual logistical information to your attendees … and none of the sessions I went to did that. Hopefully the organization reads some of the reviews and takes them as action items as what to work on for next year.
Regardless, I had a blast. And your video is adorbs 🙂
This comment is in response to some of the others comments and your post. Obviously I wasn’t at the conference but I’ve read a lot about it. If any of what I say below comes off as rude or ignorant I sincerely apologize. That’s not the tone of my comment at all. I just have some things to point out and questions to ask based on what I’ve seen.
There was a lot going around on twitter about this conference. I even read a blog post about how terrible someone’s experience was. From reading that post, it was my assumption that this particular individual just went into that conference with a bad attitude. She talked about not “fitting in”, no one being “social” with her, etc. It didn’t seem like she made an effort to meet anyone and from the way she wrote the post it made it seem that she did go into the conference with a negative mindset. Obviously this is just my opinion but that’s what I gathered from it so I can agree with you that some people probably had a bad attitude. It sounds like the majority of people had a great attitude though!
I’ve been to many conferences and aren’t they supposed to be about community, interaction, and making new friends? The sessions are just an added bonus, correct? Maybe it’s different in this type of setting (I could be wrong here) but when I think of a blog conference I don’t think of the sessions, I think of going to meet new bloggers and to build community. I keep hearing that people didn’t get what they wanted out of the sessions and I guess I’m just confused as to what people wanted? Then again, I wasn’t there to judge but I’m just curious as to why so many people via twitter have said they didn’t get what they wanted out of the sessions. For me, it wouldn’t be about the sessions – but obviously that’s just me and I could be way off in left field here.
That all being said, I’m really glad you and so many others had a great time! It’s disappointing to see some of the negative comments but in the end, everyone is entitled to their opinions and we have to remember that. If someone didn’t like it and they want to write a blog about how awful it was they have the right to do that. At the end of the day, gathering our thoughts and writing down our opinions is the reason we blog.
I loved reading the tweets the last few days. I hope my blog is at a point next year where I can attend a conference. Sounds like such an amazing experience!
Loved your video. Sweet that A and your best friend came up for your birthday. My husband got me that same exact ice cream cake for my bday. lol.
I for one am excited to try and go next year! Everyone in my twitter feed had great things to say, learned a lot, and had a great time.
I’ve seen a few people talk about bad experiences, but I think you get back what you put out. I think you have to go into it with the mindset that YOU are going to introduce yourself, be social, put yourself in awkward situations etc in order to network. Plus, with the speakers in attendance, I find it hard to believe people didn’t learn anything/think that the learning part was worth it. Again, I was not there, but I got a lot of great info from my friends tweeting. I thought it seemed worth it!
Glad you had a great time and can show the happy, enjoyable perspective. I don’t think blog conferences are for everyone, but I think this is one I could enjoy.
Everyone’s experiences are different. I’ve read a few recaps from people who hated it, a bunch from people who were just “meh” about the experience, and a few from those who loved it.
Like Amanda, I feel like you won’t let go the fact that some people didn’t have a good experience. That was their experience to share, just like this is yours.
I am so glad we got to hang out for more than five minutes! I appreciate how you always stand up for what you believe in. I think people don’t really understand that this conference means a lot to you and that it hurts you when you hear negative things. Everyone is going to have their opinions and you can’t really expect everyone to have an amazing experience. You can only control what you take out of it. Thank you for making the video! I love it!!!
Sounds like it was alot of fun, and major networking happened – which is actually should be the main premise of attending any conference. I have attended many, many hotel and tourism conferences all around the world, and my goal has always been to meet new people and network so as to set up and strengthen new business.
I did not think this was a conference specifically about “blogging” so I am unsure why some people are being so negative about it.
Love the video and I can see you got alot out of it, which means it was a positive and rewarding for you!
I will def attend next year for sure.
All the best,
Jeanine
oh what were the neg comments?
i’m sad i didn’t make it to see u ash and natalie
Well not I’m just curious as hell about what the negative feedback was!! You were my main source of deets throughout the weekend & it seemed awesome! Conferences never ever go as planned, ever – been there done that. And as with every experience, it is what you make it. I’ve gone into plenty of situations with a negative attitude and get what I put in (nothing), and the opposite is true as well.
I think some people should just consider yourself lucky that you even had the the OPPORTUNITY to attend Blissdom b/c being from Canada, that is likely never going to happen for me 🙁
*I take back the last part – apparently there’s a Blissdom Canada? No info on 2013 but there’s hope!
Loved the video! I watched the whole thing 🙂 Looks like y’all had such a blast. I really want to join y’all next year!
So glad we got to skype!!
so glad you had an awesome time and an awesome birthday! you deserve it. x
So glad we got to spend some time together! Because clearly we don’t do it enough. I’m happy to have now attended 2 blissdoms with you. Each strengthenING OUR FRIENDSHIP EACH TIME> I LOVE YOU!!!
I totally wanna go next year, any idea where it’s going to be?
Such a cute video and great little recap! 😉 See you next year! Hopefully TEXAS!