10.14.16
I am back at it. I didn’t expect last weekend to send me into a spiral of falling behind in every aspect of life. I haven’t felt a burnout like this in a while. As this week is coming to a close I’m finally starting to take a breath of air from under a pile of responsibilities and opportunities I didn’t expect would come my way this week. My adult life has always been “when it rains, it pours,” and recently has been no exception. I mentioned in a previous post my awesome backlog of recipes that are patiently waiting to be edited. And this week I added two more. So stay with me my precious little muffins, I promise it’s coming your way.
But let’s jump into a recap of my time in Austin, Texas for the 2016 BlogHer Food Conference. It was my first time ever at an event of this nature.
It was rewarding, tiring, educational, and fun all within 48 hours. And if you missed out on my new Instagram Story trend called “And Phil’s Here,” I am so sorry for you, ’cause it was entertaining. I’d follow me on Instagram STAT if I were you. I thought I’d share some of the things I learned/thought after attending, just in case you cared, or are a blogger and thinking of going to a conference yourself.
Bring Plenty of Business Cards
Technology is all around us, and we use our phones, tablets, and computers for everything. But at a conference like this, good old fashioned hard copy business cards are the way to go. I had some printed ages ago on the off chance someone would want one. After two days, I blew threw almost all of them. It was actually a lot of fun to exchange cards with a bunch of ladies and check out the name of everyone’s blog. I have a large stack that I plan to go through this weekend while I catch up on the all the information I learned and let sink in. I look forward to looking at everyone’s blog, see how they format it, how they write, and also make some post-conference correspondence with some of the ladies I thoroughly enjoyed. Another piece of advice: there’s no harm in putting your face on your business cards. I had numerous people tell me how helpful it was. After meeting so many people it’s easy to forget who’s who, and with your face on your business card, people automatically remember who you are in association with your blog.
Try to Plan Your Day in Advance
A great thing about BlogHer was the app they provided. It had a map of where workshops were held, who was going, who was speaking, and most importantly the daily options for workshops and special events taking place at certain times. Each time slot had about 3 different workshops you could choose to take. And while everything was generally in the same area, it’s never fun to scramble someplace (I would know, I am a perpetually late person). I looked over everything that was being offered and decided what to go to beforehand. That way I was on time and wasn’t stressing over what was next.
The Women There are Super Supportive
What a nice group of ladies!!!! People were so interesting to talk to, to get to know, hear about their blog. I didn’t get to talk to as many people as I wanted, but during meals together, it was nice to go around and introduced yourself and get the skinny on all the blogs. If you go, shyness is the enemy, don’t give in! Sit at tables with people already there so you have to say hi, talk to people in the lounge area, if you see a cute dress, tell her! It’ll be a great way to start a conversation! I had to get a little out of my comfort zone, I can talk up a storm, but sometimes I don’t want to talk to anyone (especially people I don’t know). I tried to balance my desire to learn from people and meet those who have been doing this for a long time with my desire to be alone at some point too.
Don’t Feel Bad If You Need a Minute
And piggybacking on the note above: the second chunk of time on the second day I totally skipped. I’m not a morning person, so waking up early two days in a row and getting fully made up, dressed, having to talk to people, listen to opening speeches, was hard for me. It was not the routine I was used to. I was so glad my husband came for the weekend because we’d meet up in between my bopping all over the conference, and it was helpful to see a familiar face. The second day we went to Gloria’s for some Tex-Mex and margaritas. Afterward, we walked to the capitol building and then took a nap in the grass for over an hour. It was the best. It was gorgeous outside and laying in the shade together at that moment was by far more important to me than learning how to up my Pinterest game. Of course doing this the whole time would’ve defeated the purpose of going. But if you attend in a city that’s new to you and there’s a time slot with nothing that truly excites you, use that time and explore! Walk a little farther than you normally would. Grab a bite somewhere local. Feeding the soul is just as important as feeding your blog.
and finally….
I May Be a Little in Love with Freddie Prinze Jr
Believe it or not, this 90s heartthrob was one of our closing keynote speakers. He just put out a cookbook and hearing him speak was actually one of my favorite things all weekend. He is charming, but honest, enthusiastic with a great sense of humor, and actually just seems like a normal dude with a family who is married to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Listening to him resonated a lot with my being an actor who has also found this other passion that I really enjoy. Him saying to embrace all your weirdness, all the things you enjoy 100% was inspiring, and made me feel more validated in the life journey I’ve switched to in the past two years . It made me realize that even though I’ve come to love baking and blogging, it doesn’t mean I love acting and auditioning any less. It’s been hard to feel like I’m not abandoning acting by being so active on this blog, and I’ve wrestled with those feelings a lot. By doing both, I have a lot less spare time. But I have a lot more happiness in what I’m accomplishing. And Freddie made me feel ok about. I’d go as far to say that HE’S All That.
Other thoughts are: there is so much food at a food conference that I felt like the day after Thanksgiving all weekend. Oh my god you need so many followers for brands to work with you (hint hint subscribe please!!!). I cannot believe this many people have food blogs. I wish all things ended your day with a glass of champagne. I am so glad I brought my notebook. Whoa, I got a ton of swag.
Not to mention I did an AWESOME wine tasting with Riedel wine glasses, tried these delicious tea-infused drinks based out of NYC (who knew??), and was personally tickled by how many people laughed with glee at my blogs name.
I’m anxiously awaiting the announcement for where next year’s conference will be held, in hopes that I’m interested in that city and can attend! I don’t think I can do more than one of these a year (networking is exhausting, traveling is expensive), but if I do one, I think this will be my choice.
Next week should be back to normal. No conferences, no crazy plans, just you, me and some recipes.
