Category: Conferences

Mom2.0Summit Day 2

May 29, 2017

In my last post about the Mom2.0 Summit, I shared with you my experience during my first day at the conference.  The second day was just as good as the first, if not better!  You can also view a video recap of my day.

Mom2.0Summit Day 2 – Yoga hosted by Motrin

The day began with a 45 minute yoga class at 6:45 a.m.  It was a beautiful, sunny, Florida morning with blue skies and the temperature was perfect.  There were about 50 women in the garden area where we had the class.  What a wonderful way to kick off the second day of the conference and energize ourselves before breakfast.  I went back to the room, took a quick shower, had some FaceTime with the kids as they got ready for the bus and then went down to the lawn to eat breakfast quickly before the opening session.

Opening Session

Julianna Margulies was the keynote speaker for the opening session and she was phenomenal!  Jess Weiner and Julianna spoke about the perception of women in business, doing what is right for you, social media as an actor, how to raise your children and aging.  Some of the takeaways I got from their conversation were the following:

  • When you are in a transition in life, listen to yourself.  Do what is right for you, not what is right for other people.
  • Listen to your body.  You don’t have to do it all.  It is ok to say no, or this not right for me.
  • In regards to your social media presence – be careful how you want the world to perceive you.
  • We have to be responsible in the way we raise our children in this age of social media.  We have to teach our children to think before you tweet!
  • We have to stop beating up on each other.  Get dressed up for your girlfriends!  Make going out with your girlfriends and event.
  • Raise our boys to be men.  It’s ok for our sons to see mommy go to work.
  • There is no balance – you have to sacrifice some things for other things.  Be careful what you are sacrificing.
  • When women have to raise their voice and be commanding in a position they are looked at like a bitch; but if you are a man they are thought of as good leaders.

I could have listened to Julianna and Jess talk all day.  You can watch some of the interview on my YouTube Channel.

Market Place

After the Welcome and keynote conversation there was time for a networking break at the Market Place.  This is where we had the time to visit all the sponsors and form relationships with their brands so when we returned home we could write about them and identify opportunities to become affiliates or brand ambassadors.  I had some great conversations with Munchkin, Fresh Wave, Treehouse and Flipp.

We were also surprised with a chance to win a Google home by visiting the Best Buy suite and taking a tour of their networked home.  I was very impressed by the technology that is available to make your home a connected home with the use of several Samsung products, appliances and Google home.  And I was a lucky winner to take home a Google home for my house!  The kids love it and love to play trivia with it.  I love the ability to ask it questions when the kids ask me something I don’t know, or I can set a time hands-free, set an alarm to get out to the bus stop, or just ask it to play music.

At the Market Place we were loaded up with bags and more bags with samples and swag!  I was told to pack an extra suitcase for this conference and now I knew why!  I love that I can take photos of the products that I am sampling, use them myself and then I can give my honest opinion to my readers about what I learned about each product.  Because there were so many vendors, and also so many great hands-on workshops that I wanted to attend, I had a hard time visiting every booth.  So i did the best I could to get to the most important ones on my list.

The following sponsors were at the Market Place:

  • Dove
  • Kia
  • Amazon FreeTime
  • Best Buy
  • Facebook
  • Prudential
  • Similac
  • Munchkin Grass Fed
  • G.H. Cretors(R) Popped Corn
  • Green Giant
  • GSK
  • MOTRIN
  • UP TV
  • Canadian Lentils
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Domain.me
  • Eagle Brand
  • SmartyPants Vitamins
  • Fresh Wave(R)
  • Mini Babybel(R)
  • TarcherPerigee
  • Flipboard
  • Treehouse
  • Toca Boca
  • Olive Garden
  • Flipp
  • OxiClean
  • TODAY Parenting Team
  • BuzzFeed

Hands-On Workshops

The hands-on workshop I was most interested in attending was Live streaming 2.0 – Understanding the Platforms, the Tools and Opportunities.  When I learned about the Mom2.0Summit and saw the list of Iris Award nominees, Cat & Nat and Meredith Masony from “That’s Inappropriatete” caught my attention.  They were nominated as for Breakout of the Year.  So I needed to learn what they were all about.  They were hysterical!  Also, Kristin Hensley and Jen Smedley from “I Mom So Hard” are now on my top 3 to watch in my feeds.  I love the tell it like it is approach from these moms.  But what impressed me the most is the number of followers they have!  So I needed to learn how this whole live streaming trend was happening.  I also wanted a front row seat so I could be closer to Cat & Nat and meet them in person!

Their workshop was great.  I learned about some tools to use for simulcasting on multiple platforms, brand integration, setting up events on Facebook ahead of the broadcast to notify people when you will be going live, using your metrics to find out where your biggest audience is.  Funneling from periscope, to an email list, to a Facebook group.  All these little tidbits of information that I hadn’t considered when working live streaming into your digital strategy.  It’s a whole new chapter for me that I have on my goals radar.

After the workshop Cat & Nat were going live with Meredith so the Cat & Nat stalkers followed them over to the TODAY Parents booth where they were going to live-stream from and watched them in action.  It was fun!

Dove Self-Esteem Workshop

For lunch I attended the Dove Self-Esteem workshop with Jess Weiner.  When I arrived groups were forming to create videos to have us talk about real stories about ourselves.  I was in a group with Mona (from lunch the previous day) and Karen Hartzell.  We shared about what we were insecure about in our childhood and then how or why that doesn’t bother us now as adults.  I shared how insecure and shy I was when I was younger and I feel like I am the complete opposite of that now as an adult.  Especially in the last few years.  I think when I began running and joined a running community, I became less shy because everyone, especially my runDisney friends, had a shared common interest.

After that Jess shared with us how girls perceive themselves today.  She said that middle school girls’ self esteem drops compared to girls in the third grade.  I have a daughter in third grade and I am very careful about the way I speak about myself, other women and people in general.  I never want her to think less of herself or criticize her appearance.  I want her to be comfortable with her body all the time.  When I am not happy with something about myself, I take care of it on my own but my children see what I do as a part of my lifestyle (eating healthy, exercising and running).

RISE

The theme of the Mom2.0Summit was Rise.  The afternoon keynote speakers spoke about how to Rise Up, Rise and Shine, Rise Above and Rise Beyond.  Each speaker was incredible.  Gabrielle Bernstein, Sheinelle Jones, Mary Jennings Hegar and Tala Raasii each shared personal stories of how they used challenges in their life to Rise above and beyond them to shine in their own way.

The points I took away from each of these wonderful women were:

From Gabrielle:
  • What is actually working in this moment now.
  • Claim ownership over the way we want to feel.
  • Your feelings form your experience.
  • If you want change your experiences, you have to change the way you experience your experiences.
From Sheinelle:
  • How do people feel when you walk into a room?  How do your kids act when you walk into a room?
    what energy do you give off?
  • Always believe in the special abilities God has created for you.
  • Two gifts to give your kids, roots and wings.
  • Girls compete with one another women empower one another.
From Mary:
  • Empathize with people who try to shoot you down.
  • What do you when you are afraid of a challenge?
  • Every time something scares you punch it in the face.
From Tala:
  • Do things that you love.  If you love things so much it has a purpose from you.
  • Believe in what you want to do and follow through with it.
  • Overcoming the most difficult changes in life will set you on fire.
  • It’s human nature to focus on the catastrophe of what if .
  • It’s better to be at the bottom of the staircase of what you want to be on then to be on the top of one that you don’t want to be on.

How can you not walk away from hearing such powerful statements like these from such awesome women who are or have overcome challenges in their lives.  After the speakers, I skipped the last workshop session of the day and continued to visit the Market Place and interact with the vendors.  Then I dropped everything off at my room and hurried down to the Dove Real Beauty Suite to have my hair done for the Cabana Party.

Cabana Party

The Cabana Party was fun!  It was held on the Da Vinci Lawn and I spent the majority of my time there at the Up TV booth playing Trivia.  The women running the booth experienced some wi-fi issues so I offered my phone as a hotspot so they could run the game.  It was a lot of fun and Barry Watson, the star of the new UP show Date My Dad played along with us for a few rounds!

After Party

The Cabana party ended around 8:00 p.m. and a group of us went to the hotel lounge to spend some time together.  It was a great time!  I was with Sarah and Lori Strong, Laura Christman and Steve Jones from Tree house, and Mandy Bennett from Eagle Family Foods Group.  We enjoyed several hours of laughter, stories, drinks and appetizers.  Steve’s wife and kids even came down to hang out for a little bit.  It was a lot of fun and I loved how easy it was to hook up with people and enjoy a good time together.

This conference has been one of the best conferences I ever attended.  It had such an easy, open environment for people to get to know one another, network, and learn from one another.

Here’s my recap video of Day 2.

Mom2.0Summit

My First Day at Mom2.0Summit

May 17, 2017

I am so glad I took the jump to attend the Mom2.0Summit held in Orlando, May 10-12.  A week ago I was awake at 3:00 a.m. to catch a 6:15 a.m. flight to Orlando. I don’t do early flights anymore; but I didn’t want to miss a minute of this conference! I don’t usually attend blogging conferences.  The last one I attended I was invited to by Disney Social Media moms.  But I want to grow my network; learn new skills and begin with with affiliates and brands. So I needed the guidance and education from a conference just like this to get the education I need.

How I found the Mom2.0Summit

I stumbled across the conference in my Facebook news feed and learned that someone needed to back out of the conference and could transfer their ticket to me.  I jumped on the opportunity right away!  I was so excited, did some shopping for a few new outfits, as most women usually do.  Then I had to face the fact that I had to tell the kids I was going away during a school week.  They are usually used to me travelling for races, but they were having a hard time with this trip. It meant that I wouldn’t be there when they woke up for three school days.  But I was going to FaceTime them as much as possible.

Highlight number 1 – the Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes is beautiful

WOW!!! From the minute I arrive to the Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes via Kia’s curbside pickups, to the time I had to shove every possible gift into every inch of my luggage, I was blown away. This conference was INCREDIBLE!  I loved the room I had.  I unpacked all my carefully packed items so they weren’t going to be wrinkled, hung them in my closet, laid out everything for the week, set up my diffuser in my room for my essential oils at night and then went down to the pool for lunch.

Highlight number 2 – Everyone is so welcoming!

I knew of two people attending the conference that I met at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration and also knew from runDisney; but other than that, I was going solo.  And this was my first time attending this conference.  But I approached it like I do everything else.  I had an open mind, a smile, and a positive attitude.  When I reached the pool bar and didn’t see a large crowd there, I asked two women if I could join them for lunch.  They were very welcoming and next thing I knew there was a crowd of six of us enjoying lunch and a cocktail before registration opened.  I met Lizz Porter, Mona Darling, Jenn Belden, Sharon Rowley, and Michelle Price.

Highlight number 3 – The jump start workshops were fantastic!

I was going to attend the newbie workshop but Mona from lunch recommended the program to “Find, Own and Monetize Your Expertise”.  Great advice, thanks Mona!  I loved the idea of jumping right into learning and decided that I wanted to do that instead of a newbie overview workshop.  I was a sponge and I wanted to learn, learn, learn.  I also attended “The Art of Negotiation”, “Strategies for Creating Consistent Affiliate Income”, and “Taking The Mystery Out Of Blog Campaign Reporting”.  The workshops were great.  I’m still trying to wrap my brain around everything I learned and formulate a strategy for how to move forward, connect with third party media agencies and become an affiliate to various brands.

Highlight number 4 – The Swag

Mom2.0SummitMom2.0SummitAs soon as the workshop was over, I went back up to my room, changed into a party dress and plugged in my devices to charge them up for the night.  When I arrived to the room I had a gift waiting for me from Olive Garden.  Then not long after that there was a knock at the door.  It was a swag bag full of goodies from all of the vendors who would be at the Marketplace throughout the week.  I am glad I packed a semi-empty carry on to bring home all of the extra goodies with me!

 

Highlight number 5 – The Florida SunFest Welcome Party

I went down to the pool and bumped into my lunch buddies again, picked up a delicious cocktail called the Sunrise, and then got into line for the book signing of Everything, Everything by Nicole Yoon.  I hooked up with Kori Lusignan, Kristina Grum, Michelle Albright-Peters, and Jenn Labit, while waiting in line for the book signing.  Then after we ate I met Erin Peloquin, Lori Strong, and Sara Strong.  The food was wonderful, the night was beautiful, the conversations were easy, and the drinks kept flowing.  I really had a great time and was so glad to meet such great people.  I also spotted Cat & Nat from #MomTruth and wanted to go up and say hi to them, but someone else was talking with them and I didn’t want to seem like the stalker I was!

The party ended around 9:30 and we all went back to our rooms.  We had a busy day planned the next day with a 6:45 a.m. yoga class out in the garden.  I was looking forward to that.  Thankfully, I didn’t feel or look like I had been up since 3:00 a.m. that day.  I think the adrenaline of the conference kept me perked up.  So far Mom2.0Summit was more than I expected and I was so glad to be there.

Preparing for a Conference

Preparing For A Conference

May 5, 2017

I am excited to attend the Mom2.0Summit hosted by Dove in Orlando, FL next week.  I have to prepare for the conference this weekend.  That includes packing, selecting the sessions I want to attend, and finalizing my travel itinerary.  In addition to this conference, I will be attending the #BLOGHER17 conference at the end of June. As I continue to build my blog audience and social media presence, I want to take this opportunity to network with several other bloggers.  These conferences are also being sponsored by many major product brands.  Prior to attending a conference there is a lot you should do to prepare.

What are these conferences about?

The Mom 2.0 Summit

Preparing for a conference

This professional conference features educational programs, social gatherings, and the fostering of relationships between influencers and major brands.  This year the attendance is expected to be around 800 leading influencers.  That’s a large conference.  I hope to gain some insight on how to build relationships with large brands and maybe even get a sponsorship opportunity with one.

BLOGHER

#BlogHer17 Conference

#BlogHer17 is also focused towards social media influencers.  The focus of this conference is on highlighting the skills and talents of women who are creating online content.  #BlogHer is the world’s largest conference for women and content creators. Pairing so many women with so many brands will create the most opportunity for me to me connections.

What Happens At These Conferences?

I have been fortunate to receive an invitation by Disney to attend the Social Media Moms Celebration in 2015.  At that event I met many bloggers and have remained in contact with them.  I am so excited that I will be attending both of these conferences with some of the women that were also at the Disney event. The conferences are a great platform to become inspired by the keynote speakers and by the friendships and conversations you have with other women at the event.

There are also several educational sessions at the conferences.  These sessions will help me step up my efforts in growing my brand, creating a stronger network and developing relationships with other brands.  I also read that there is a lot of fun activities scheduled into the agenda.  I am looking forward to the yoga on Thursday morning and the run 2.0 on Friday morning at the Mom 2.0 Summit.  These are nice times to network with other women in a smaller, more intimate and casual gathering.

Preparing For A Conference

Begin Networking Off Site

After I registered for these conferences one of the first things I did was follow the conference twitter accounts.  The second thing I did was get connected to the conference private Facebook groups.  This lends me the opportunity to begin networking with others attending the conference weeks before I even get to the conference. It also keeps me abreast of the latest news and announcements related to the conference, such as the guest speakers, new sponsors, event information, meetups, and travel information.

I built several Twitter lists for each event.  These lists contain the conference speakers, attendees and sponsors.  I also created a spreadsheet with everyone’s social media contact information including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook pages, LinkedIn, blogs, and Pinterest accounts.

Another tool that I was introduced to from the Mom 2.0 Summit is Flipboard.  I have been saving articles that I read online or on social media as links and copy them into my Flipboard so I can read them when I have more time or refer back to them later on for more details.

Twitter Parties

Mom 2.0 Summit hosted several Twitter parties each week to help the attendees learn more about what they will be presenting.  It also drums up the excitement prior to the event and encourages others to get to know one another.  There is a Virtual Packing Party on Monday night on Twitter.  I can’t wait to see what is said during this party to help me prepare for the event with last minute details.

Business Cards

If you don’t have business cards, you need them!  I redesigned my cards and can’t wait to pass them out.  When I was at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration I collected business cards and put them in my name badge holder.  I learned a little trick for these upcoming conferences.  I will take photos of the business cards I collect, with notes about the person on the back, and upload them into my Flipboard so that all of my contacts will be in one location.

Update Your Media Kit

If you don’t have a media kit, you should create one.  I didn’t have one and began creating mine.   I need to finish is so that after I network during the conferences, if I a brand wants to work with me, I will send them my social media stats.  I asked the Facebook group for some examples of blogger media kits and Andrea Updyke shared this great link with us!

Learn The Dress Code

My fellow blogger friend Claudia Krusch from Trendy Latina did a Facebook Live broadcast to help conference attendees know what to look forward to when attending a conference.  In her video she talks about dress code and how it represents you and your brand.  Take that into consideration when packing for your trip. Also, consider your footwear.  As much as you want to look good in your shoes, make sure they are comfortable.  Pack a pair of flats in your bag so you can make a quick change should your feet get tired.

Select Your Learning Tract

If the conference has workshops, review the schedule ahead of time and highlight the training sessions that you want to attend.  This is one of my favorite parts of conference preparation. It’s like picking our your college courses before the semester, but the are all great classes!  I have also engaged in some conversations with attendees of the conference who want to have sidebar conversations.  So we have to schedule that into our calendars so we can get the most out of our time there.

Packing For The Conference

How To Pack

One of my favorite social media influencers is Chalene Johnson.  I listen to several of her podcasts and she recently had an episode on how to pack for stress free travel.  What I found useful was her travel itinerary sheet and her packing list.  I travel often for running races in several different locations, so I am used to packing with just a carry on bag.  When traveling for conferences, I need to consider my dress code and packing so I don’t wrinkle everything.  I also have to use larger luggage because of all the swag I may receive from the sponsors.

What Not To Pack

Something else Claudia mentioned in her Facebook Live and blog post was what not to pack.  One point in particular was not to bring your nice camera.  I have the iPhone 7 Plus which does portrait photography, so I hope that I can get blog-worthy photographs at the event using just my phone.  I do plan on bringing my Surface Pro with me for taking notes; but will be leaving my larger laptop in my room for after hours.

It’s Time To Rise

The theme of this year’s conference is Rise.  This is perfect for me as I Rise up to work on enhancing something I enjoy doing, writing, networking and socializing. Remember to bring a positive attitude, an open mind, a notepad and pen, and enjoy the opportunities in front of you!  I can’t wait for what I will learn during these next upcoming months and I look forward to meeting everyone I have been communicating with and also meeting new people on site!  I just learned today that Julianna Margulies is going to be the welcome keynote speaker.  She will share her experiences in front of and behind the camera and her thoughts on media and representation of women. There is so much to look forward to.  I know I am going to come home energized and inspired and I can’t wait!

Make As Many Connections As You Can

May 27, 2015

In the past few weeks I have been craving more  information and wanting to find new sources of inspiration. I came across a a few new pod casts to listen to for bloggers. One if them is called Blogging Betties. So far I have enjoyed what I have heard and today especially, I took away something that their guest speaker said. Val Curris said networking is very important to helping get your name out there. Make as many connections as you can.  She also mentioned using Twitter as a source for networking and not just pushing your content out via tweets. 

That is something I also realized about myself at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Pinterest and Twitter are platforms that I need to start interacting and networking with more. I need to build up relationships with brands via these media channels. 

She also mentioned how she set particular goals for herself. One of her goals she had set for herself was to be on Huffington Post. I thought about that and that. It is a pretty hefty goal to set but why not set it for myself? You never know what could happen?!  I never thought I would have been chosen to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, and that goal became a reality!

Val also mentioned the importance of visiting other blogs that you like, commenting on them, tweet to the editors or the blog owners and share your thoughts. She also mentioned that when you tweet, include them so they will begin to recognize your name. Tag the writers in your social media platforms and develop a relationship with those that you admire and wish to work with. It never hurts to get your name out there. 

Do you have goals for yourself or your blog?

I Received News I Completely Didn’t Expect!!

March 21, 2015

This week I had a lot going on. Most of it pertaining to work.  So I hadn’t been very active on social media.  I had to teach classes for work on Thursday and then met up with the girls for a drink and a bite to eat before heading to a SharePoint user group meeting. Then on Friday I taught all day and got home in time for a spring snow storm. 

As I was going home I stopped to pick up dinner for the family and checked my emails. 

I saw the subject and who it was from and was very, very stunned.  Was this what I think it is?  I quickly opened it and glanced through it to learn that I was being invited to Orlando for the Social Media Moms Celebration Conference.  At first, I thought maybe it was the announcement for the social media moms conferences on the road. I had to read it again to ensure that it is indeed the one in Orlando!!!!  To top that off!  It was taking place the same time we were going to be on vacation there!     

I called my husband and told him but he has no clue what it all means and I still had to actually read the email and figure it all out. I will be attending and am reaching out to learn if I have to pay the full registration fee since we are already booked with DVC points and have an annual pass the same time it is being held. 

I still can’t believe I was chosen. I am so honored and humbled that I got an invitation. I always thought I was a Disney lover but was never good enough to be considered for this. I am a runDisney enthusiast.  I did get married in Disney. I talk about Disney and listen to Disney podcasts every single day so I guess I am qualified!  

Thank you to the Disney Social Media Moms team for inviting me!!!

 

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