BlissDom 2013 Dallas

The BlissDom blogging conference held here in Dallas is over, but the connections I made and the to-do list to improve my blog will go on! This was my first BlissDom Conference even though I have been blogging f.o.r.e.v.e.r. and know many of the people involved personally.  It was such a treat to have it come to Dallas, just a few miles from my home. This was also my first time to have a sponsor for a conference.  The sweet {and I mean that in more ways than one!} people at  Pure Via ® made all this possible for me.  Lucky for all the other participants, they also were handing out samples of the new  Pure Via ® Tubinado Raw Cane Sugar and Stevia Blend in the BlissDom goodie bags, so everyone got a chance to try this new product that is only available in Dallas stores now!  Please follow them on twitter, @PureVia for more sweet information! It all started with a photo walk on Thursday afternoon through the atrium of the Gaylord Texan.  I had my fancy camera hanging around my neck and started to follow my group along the riverwalk, but 30 minutes into the walk I realized I hadn’t taken ONE PICTURE. Why? Because I was giggling and talking and hugging online friends that I hadn’t seen in years or was meeting in person for the first time.  I put my camera away and enjoyed the moments unphotographed. The Meet & Greet was the first organized event with nearly 40% of the attendees being new to the conference.  Being a newbie at this conference is no big deal.  I felt included as soon as I walked into the room.  There were some mixer games and soon it didn’t seem weird to be in a room of 100s of women who I didn’t know {yet}. Bliss After Hours was a hoot.  My dear friend, Amy Locurto, moderated a panel of soap stars!  All My Children and One Life to Live aired a sneak preview of their new daytime drama which will start on Hulu starting April 29th.  Robert Scott Wilson, Cady McClain and Vincent Irizzary told stories and chatted about behind the scenes fun. The Friday morning keynote was given by Scott Stratten of Unmarketing fame.  He is super funny and smart.  His unconventional look at marketing and the ridiculously simple idea of making social…social…was a ton of fun to hear.  I was excited to see his book, The Book of Business Awesome, in my conference bag.  Don’t read this book in public unless you are OK with bursting out in laughter without warning. What I didn’t expect was the incredible sponsor booths.  In the past, I have been to trade shows and such where booths are lined up with a clipboard to get your email address and a bowl of candy to thank you for it.  That is NOT the case at BlissDom.  These sponsors had literally programmed their booths with new and engaging activities throughout the conference. For instance, the California Raisins had Event Toons drawing caricatures. I love mine! ConAgra Foods was promoting their campaign against #ChildHunger.  By choosing foods marked with the red pushpin and entering an easy online code from the packaging, you can trigger a donation to end child hunger in the United States. The National Honey Board was handing out the most amazing honey-based treats.  Honey jelly beans?  I was a little suspicious until I tasted them.  Yum! VO5 was doing full makeovers with headshots.  I didn’t have time to get a makeover, but I slipped into the booth for a new picture.  It was seriously like a celebrity salon in there. Johnson & Johnson was promoting a very cool social program that helps women, children and girls around the world.  More information by following @JNJCares on Twitter. I grabbed a super sweet goodie bag from PediCare.  They were showing a new pre-measured product for kids’ medicine that will be released this summer.  Since one of the biggest reasons kids visit ERs is medicine overdose, this can really be a life saver in the middle of the night when parent’s aren’t thinking straight! There were tons of other great booths including one from Extra Space Storage that were providing boxes and shipping HOME for all the BlissDom swag.  Genius! I went to all the available break-out sessions.  The one that I found the most inspiring and useful was created by Maker Studios & The Moms View Team about “Demystifying YouTube”.  It was incredible to hear from and meet moms who are using YouTube to share their stories.  Mindy McKnight, Kayli Butler, Carlie Butler, and Sarah Malkin all spoke.  It was so exciting to be able to talk to Mindy McKnight and her husband personally and ask some questions I had.  I would have gone to BlissDom for JUST that experience. The party on Friday evening sponsored by ConAgra Foods also benefited Child Hunger was at the Glass Cactus.  It was a concert by Chris Mann and then Amber Riley from Glee performed.  Both were amazing. Saturday’ sessions continued with motivational breakout sessions and ended with an incredible talk by Jon Acuff who spoke about his new book, Start.  Again, I would have attended BlissDom for just this talk.  It was realistic and relatable.  I can’t wait to get all the way through the book! But really. When you get down to it. The sweetest thing about BlissDom is being able to hug your friends in person. {squeal} Thanks again  Pure Via ® for sponsoring this amazing experience!