Now that it's been a month since I attended Blissdom, it's probably time for me to tell you about it.
However, my format is going to be a little different....may I present to you the ABC's of Blissdom.
A: Allie Worthington
B: Barbara Jones
These ladies are the founders of Blissdom and they really know how to do a conference! From the Blissdom website, "The dynamic balance of their visions, and their passion for quality and community, make Blissdom a must-attend conference for social media mavens, online publishers and sponsors." This year a new addition was added to the Blissdom team, Paula Bruno. Thank you, ladies! (Because I know they read my blog *snort* )
C: Cards. Part of the fun is exchanging business cards with everyone. They were no two cards alike. I'd like to take a moment and announce the winner of the first ever GreekGRITS Blogger's Card Award to Jenny of 867-5309 fame. How totally rad is this:
D: Dedra from Just a Chick. My fabulous roomie for the weekend. I actually let her put makeup on me, so we are now friends for life. I think we were the only two people who got any sleep at all
E: Eliminate. Attending Blissdom eliminated the imaginary lines between "friends" who live in my computer and friends in real life. I was more than excited to finally meet Kristen, Jessica, Jill and Pam in living color.
F: Food. It was fabulous and free. It doesn't get any better than that in my book. Truthfully, all the meals I ate were included in the cost of my ticket....and THAT is the fabulous part.
G: Gaylord Opryland Hotel.....the setting for Blissdom 2010. It is a beautiful hotel with 9 acres of INDOOR of gardens. The getting-lost-potential in this place was VERY high. So, Teresa, you'll be very disappointed that I did not get lost, well, not REAL lost. However, I did get a blister because the distance from my room to the conference area was about 3 miles, give or take 2.
H: Harry Connick, Jr. He was our Friday night entertainment. I had to overlook his attempt at mindless humor after he made some weird comments about women in flannel with crew cuts.....joking he thought he was singing at a female logger's conference. See the whole awkward dialogue HERE. However, I enjoyed his singing and I did get my picture taken with him:
I: Inspiring. There's something about being with 499 others who "get" you and your passion for blogging.
J: Joy. The emotion of the weekend, as evidenced by squealing, smiling and A LOT of laughing!
K: Kevin Carroll of Katalyst. Kevin was the keynote speaker at the opening of Blissdom. He was PHENOMENAL and his message was very inspirational. I'll share more about what he said in a single post.
L: Lisa Leonard Designs. We all received this fabulous necklace from her (I apologize to Lisa for the very poor picture quality):
M: Mixers. We had several opportunities to mingle and meet the "masses." I enjoyed meeting MANY bloggers from, literally, all over the country. Just to name a couple of bloggers (new to me) I adore are, Amber from the Run a Muck; and Jenny of 867-5309 fame. During one of the mixers, my roomie and I had the privilege of talking with MckMama and her husband for a few minutes. They are incredible people with an amazing story about their miracle son, Stellan.
N: Nashville. The capital of Tennessee and home of Blissdom.
O: Overwhelmed. In all honesty, I loved every minute of Blissdom; however, as a first year attendee and neophyte blogger, I experienced information overload. I mean that in a good way! Each session was filled to the rim with blogging goodness.
P: Prayer. On Saturday morning, Pensieve Robin , along with the lovely folks from (in)Courage, hosted a coffee and prayer time. The room was full of women gathered in Jesus' name. Robin shared a quick verse, 1 Peter 2:9 which reminds us, "we're all daughters of the King which means we're princesses!" Then we spent the rest of our time in prayer together. Honestly, this was my favorite get together!
Q: Quality. I think all 500 Blissdom attendees will agree there was no skimping at this conference. The sponsors were absolutely wonderful, the speakers were awesome and the setting couldn't have been any better.
R: Renew. After my entry into the blogging world, I went full force. 350 posts later I seemed to have lost my mojo. I'm hoping to apply some of the things I learned at Blissdom and get this place back to its
S: Swag. Everyone knows the way to a blogger's heart is through free stuff. The first thing we received at the registration table was the fabulous tote from Lands' End filled with goodies from several of the Blissdom sponsors listed HERE. I must say my two favorite items were the Lisa Leonard necklace and the two bags of Hershey's BLISS chocolate. I guess I should throw in that my least favorite item was the Cover Girl Smoky Eyes kit......only because I don't really wear makeup and my blue eyeshadow days ended in the 80's.
T: Tommy "Girls". Dedra and I met these fabulous ladies on our very first day. They all work for Thomas Nelson Publishers. I totally enjoyed meeting and spending most of our time with them!
U: Unity. Blissdom brings together 500 different people as one...people with a passion for blogging.
V: Value. I will testify that I got more than my money's worth at Blissdom. I not only got 3 days of blogging information, I had a wonderful "girl's" get-away weekend in a beautiful setting with delicious food and quality entertainment. (But don't tell the hubby that....he thinks I sat in dimly lit conference rooms for hours with unbelievably boring people).
W: Wisdom Workshops. These sessions were held on Thursday and were not officially part of Blissdom and each workshop had a separate fee. They provided a more hands-on approach in a variety of areas including writing, vlogging, coding, photography, graphic design, etc.
X: Xenophobia. If you have it, Blissdom is certainly no place for you! (proud of myself for pulling off that one)
Y: Year. The time period until the next Blissdom. Don't miss out!
Z: Zeal. The feeling you get after spending 3 days with people from all over the country, from all walks of life who have one thing in common with you.....a story to tell and a place on the Internet to tell it.
And if you still don't understand what Blissdom was all about, watch this:
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