The Blog Societies Conference Recap 2018

Happy Friday! I can’t believe it’s been a week since The Blog Societies Conference! Lots of y’all followed along with the conference on social media, but today I wanted to share a recap of the event. This was my first conference ever and honestly so so worth it. Going to a conference had been a long-time coming and I’m so glad The Blog Societies was my first one.

Photo credit: xxiiiphoto

Strap in! This post is a long one! All of my outfits from the conference are linked at the bottom in the “shop the post” widget.

The Blog Societies is a community of bloggers and influencers who network to gain resources, connections and tools to grow their blogs. I actually met some of my best blogging pals through The Blog Societies. You may remember last year when I went to the Kendra Scott event for Atlanta bloggers, and met some of the most incredible friends and mentors. Since then I have spent so much time with my blogging friends and I’m so thankful The Blog Societies brought us together.

Photo credit: xxiiiphoto

Because The Blog Societies has already been such a positive experience for me, I could not wait for the actual conference. This year’s conference took place at the beautiful Hotel at Avalon. This hotel is in Alpharetta, GA at Avalon and is without a doubt the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever seen. The rooms are white and grey and gorgeous. They are modern and fully upgraded too. The lobby is stunning and full of fabulous places to take pictures. If you’re in Atlanta, I highly recommend you stay at the Hotel at Avalon.

I took the Thursday off before the event so I could run all over town and get things ready. I went to Dry Bar to get my hair looking fresh, then checked into the hotel around 2 p.m. I was so lucky to room with Amanda of Pardon Muah, Danielle of Sparkling Southerner and Victoria of The Victoria Jane. We all got along so well and it was so much fun rooming with these fun girls. So I got to the hotel, hung out a little, and got ready for the first night.

Photo credit: xxiiiphoto

Welcome Party

To kick off the conference we had a welcome party so we could check-in to the conference, meet all the attendees and interact with brands. This party was sponsored by: Dress Up, La Croix, Vera Bradley, Goody, Kendra Scott, Dry Bar, and Yankee Candle. It was great to interact with the brand representatives and get excited about upcoming launches.

We got to bop around, sip champagne, meet fellow bloggers and take a lot of pictures! Some of the highlights for me were finally meeting Erica from Coming Up Roses. I have followed her for awhile and took her BossPitch course last year. This course totally changed my blog and really my life. If you want to really learn how to pitch and work with brands–take this course.

I also got two see two of my friends from college who went on to represent brands! It was great to see them after such a long time totally crushing their jobs. Not to mention all the fabulous new blogging friends I made.

After the party, a group of us went over to the restaurant across the street to have a late night dinner and drinks. Then we went back to the hotel and got to hang out with my roommates for awhile before we had to go to bed.

Photo credit: xxiiiphoto

Day 2-Workshops

Day 2 was so helpful! I took four workshops that have changed everything I think about my blog. I am already implementing strategies and techniques that I learned from each of the workshop leaders.

Photo credit: xxiiiphoto

So I kicked off the day with accounting. This class was so beyond necessary. I clearly was not doing what I needed to be doing when it comes to keeping track of my income and expenses. I learned the best ways to do taxes as a blogger, what expenses I can deduct, how to track my mileage and more. I was a little overwhelmed in this workshop, but came home and spent two days getting organized and I feel like I’m in a great place going forward financially.

 

After accounting, I headed to social media. This workshop taught us how to diversify our social media and really honed in on paid advertising.

Once the first two workshops were done, we got to head to lunch! Day 2’s lunch was hosted at South City Kitchen by Mudpie and Goody. The lunch was set up so stinking cute and decorated with the fall collection of Mudpie home decor. We also received a swag bag of Goody hair items. Both brands made a presentation about upcoming product launches and the overall brand. We ate delicious chicken Caesar salads, pimento cheese appetizers, and delicious angel pie trifles.

Photo credit: xxiiiphoto

After lunch we had two more workshops. I took contracts–which I desperately needed. Up until this point I have been using Google and copy and paste, so I was really thankful to learn the best practices. Then I headed to SEO and design.

Photo credit: xxiiiphoto

We ended the day with a “swag grab.” The brands represented at this event were: L’Occitane, Crock Pot, Rachel Parcell, Pureology, Waiting on Martha, Colleen Rothschild, Mary Kay, Ball, Aerie, Papermate, Rubbermaid, Calphalon, and Chalk Hill Estates. We went home with SO many goodies it was insane.

After a full day of learning and fun, a big group of us headed to dinner at El Felix for margaritas and Mexican food. We did have to wait two hours for a table, so we spent that time taking Boomerangs and outfit photos. Finally, we went back to the room and crashed hard.

Day 3 – Speakers and Panel

The day began with breakfast hosted by La Croix and Ball. This was such a fun breakfast! La Croix had the best photo booths and props. They set up this gorgeous La Croix fruit bar, and a full throne made of La Croix. Needless to say…we took a lot of pictures.

After the breakfast, we went to the conference and began the day with keynote speaker Grace Atwood from The Stripe. I loved hearing her story of how she created her thriving business. She gave the perfect amount of advice and tough love. She was both encouraging, but refreshingly honest and gave her full perspective on the blogging industry.

Next Brittany from Lawyer Lookbook came to scare us about FTC Guidelines. Ok not really! Brittany is a lawyer, blogger, and elected official. She had great information and laid down the law..ha ha..about the guidelines we need to follow.

The conference portion ended with a panel of fabulous bloggers: Rachel Martino, Noelle Downing, Alicia Tenise, and Cathy Peshek from Poor Little It Girl. They answered so many questions from the attendees, the live feed, and focused on their journeys and experiences. I really learned a lot from this panel about the insider tips and strategies to succeed. I took SO many notes from this panel and have already begun testing their advice.

We ended the conference with a lunch hosted by Joules clothing and a flower making crown session. I heard someone say they are more Soho than Boho and that is also true for me, but it was fun to put in the effort and attempt to make a crown. One side was significantly larger than the other so I had to turn sideways in all my photos so you didn’t see how lopsided I was…but it was fun!

After the conference, those of us who were staying at the hotel another night went to dinner and hung out afterwards so we could chat more about blogging and bounce ideas off of each other. This conference was the best thing I have done for my blog so far. I am so inspired after spending the weekend with so many like-minded women who are only interested in helping each other succeed. We could very easily be competitive in this space, but it wasn’t like that. Everyone was genuinely collaborative and helpful.

I met so many fabulous new friends AND got to spend some time with friends that I’ve had for awhile. I love the blogging community so much and I am so very thankful for my first conference experience. If you are interested in joining The Blog Societies, you can apply on their website. They do have some requirements–you must be a consistent blogger, have original photography, and have content for at least 90 days. Once you apply and are accepted, you can plan to go to the conference next year (AND YOU SHOULD!)

I will 100 percent be attending next year and am already counting down the days! Have you ever been to a blog conference? What is your favorite part?

| SHOP THE POST |