Jul 30, 2014

5 Tips For A Blogging Conference

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As you know, I’ve recently returned from BlogHer 2014 in San Jose, California. It was my 4th blogging conference, so I feel I have a few takeaways for people who may feel overwhelmed attending conferences or meeting new people.

1. Plan
Plan ahead! What do you hope to get out of this conference? Are you going to meet new people? Do you want to work with sponsors? Can you contact sponsors to schedule meetings ahead of time? Do you have business cards? Is your blog ready to share? Does it need to be cleaned up? Is your brand strong and your content relevant? Do you have a media kit ready to e-mail or share via dropbox? What are you going to wear? Plan to look and act professional, on behalf of your blog/brand.

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2. Network
With the last few conferences I attended I was able to network and meet people ahead of time via a facebook group, twitter, or a private platform. It eases your nerves a little and I find that more and more conferences are making this available for their attendees. You can even meet up with other attendees ahead of time or plan to meet for meals during the conference.

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3. Engage
Once you are at the conference, engage everyone around you. Be courteous and greet people. Talk to sponsors you are interested in. Share your business cards and have a short ‘elevator pitch’ about your blog/brand that works itself into normal conversation. Make yourself memorable, in a good way. I like to write notes on cards I receive from people about where I met them so I can contact them later. Remember why you are there and what your goals are. Share photos and quotes on social media using a hashtag to meet more people as well.

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4. Breathe
I am not a very outgoing person, so this is something hard for me. I get overstimulated and like to take a break in my hotel room, just to unwind and take some deep breaths before going back out into the hustle and bustle of it all. You can also find other like-minded individuals to take a short break with outside of the conference. Don’t feel like you have to be 100% in the conference 100% of the time if it’s not something that makes you happy. This should be fun!

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5. Reflect
At the end of each day I like to think about my goals and take notes. Am I still on track? Am I happy with my progress? You don’t have to be able to cross off all of your goals at once. Please don’t be too hard on yourself, a little progress is still a step in the right direction. Remember all of those people you met? Contact them afterwards.

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My experience at BlogHer this year was positive. If there is anything I’ve learned about conferences it is that you get out of them what you put in. I feel satisfied with my progress for this year and look forward to partnering with some really wonderful companies in the future.

Have you ever been to a blog conference? What are your tips? If not, would you like to go? What would your goals be?

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Thank you for sharing your advice. As I get ready for WITS2015, it’s good to know that there might be others who are or at least used to be just as nervous at conferences as I am. I especially have to remember “Remember all of those people you met? Contact them afterwards.” I once went to a writers’ conference and met so many interesting people, but didn’t keep in touch and now I regret it.

I find more and more that it is easier if I can pretend I’m someone else while I have to be outgoing. It sounds silly but it makes me feel more at ease. It’s not that I’m not myself but if I tell myself it’s just for a short amount of time I am more outgoing than usual. I have to admit that I am not the best at keeping in contact. I have stacks of business cards of people I need to / should have contacted but sometimes post-conference just gets so busy that it doesn’t always pan out like I envision it.

[…] This new-to-me blog, plus her 5 tips for attending a blogging conference. […]

I love point one. I think a lot of people go into it without planning and then they aren’t able to get out as much of it as they could!

Great tips! I went to BlogHer a few years ago. I could have used some of these tips then!

Awesome tips! I am still a newbie to blogging- but I actually have had dreams about meeting the bloggers that I network with online. I can’t wait for my first conference!

Have fun! Don’t freeze up and end up too scared to approach them like I was at Alt. Lol. 🙁

I have never been to a blog conference but I want to attend one so badly! Hopefully I can fit it in the budget this year!

Love this! I hope I can make it to a conference soon!

These are wonderful tips, especially if someone has never been to a conference before. The only conference I have been to is BloggyCon a couple years ago. I hope to make it to BlogHer sometime in the future!

I really want to go to a blog conference! Hopefully one day I can make it happen.

Great tips – I’m heading to Dallas for a small blogger event and I didn’t even think about having a media kit ready to send!

I would love to go to blogger someday. Thanks for the tips.

I’d love to go to a blogging conference I think they just look so inspiring. The tips are great. esp the dropbox one I remember the first time I took my old business to big conference and people kept asking if I could just send our press pack to there dropbox I had no idea what it was 🙂

Great tips! They’ll come in very handy when I start looking to attend conferences next year 😀

I have never been to a conference. I think I would like to go to one, but I am the same way with being overstimulated. I am also pretty introverted so I don’t know how well I would fare at a conference. These are great tips though!

Such great tips! I’m coming up on a season of conferences and ambassador trips, and these are such great reminders!

I would love to go to a blogger conference one day but like you, I’m shy so it makes me nervous ha.

These are great tips!

Fantastic tips – thank you!

#4 is definitely big on my list. I’m an introvert, and these conferences tend to suck the life right out of me. 😛 it’s so important to know how you put your best foot forward, and for me, recharging is key.

hi jessica! you have such a beautiful blog! i love your tips 4 & 5. like you, i love people, but get tired quickly if there’s a big crowd! =)

great tips! i feel like i’m the same as you. i get overwhelmed at conferences and need to take many breaks in the hotel room. 🙂 i’m also a pretty terrible networker and jacob is great at it. are men allowed? 😀

I have never been to a conference but have heard so much about them. Great tips for when I do go to one

Love your tips! I can’t wait to go to my first conference!

Friggen love all these tips Jessica, love the mimosa pic too 🙂

Great tips! I would love to have been there!

There’s always next year!

Great pictures! I went to school at SJSU and you captured the beauty! Great tips too, so important for business cards and networking!

Thanks! SJSU campus is pretty.

Im a huge blogging conference fan so I love this post!

these are great tips! i hope to attend a blog conference at some point…mostly to meet and conned with other bloggers!

Sounds like a good reason to go! Community is so important.

I’ve never been to one but I’ve heard so many great things about Blogher conferences. I hope to make it to one next year! Thanks for the tips!

Good luck. You will have lots of fun.

Good pointers,

Great post and thoroughly informative!

I have lots of blog events coming up in the next few months and printing some stand-out business cards is top of my list! Thanks for the reminder, I’ll definitely be putting some of this tips to good use!

Katie <3

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