Hanging out with other people who feel the same need to get their thoughts down and share them with others for whatever reason helped me to refocus my commitment to my blog and my other writing endeavours. That commitment had dwindled a little bit in the wake of having my second child in late August.
In short, I've been busy.
I know, we're ALL busy, but having a new baby around gave me a built in excuse to not post/write when I didn't feel like it. Never mind that my little guy sleeps for hours at a time and sometimes no one realizes he's even awake because unless he's hungry or uncomfortable he doesn't see the point in crying. We'll sneak a peek in his room and there he is, giggling at the mobile hanging above his crib, even though it's not moving. To illustrate my point, this morning after returning home from dropping my older son off at daycare, I took the baby out of his carseat and put him on the carpet so he could stretch and I could take my shoes off. This is what I found when I came to pick him up, literally about 30 seconds later.
So the munchkin is no excuse for slacking on the blogposts.
Sometimes we all just need a little motivation, a reboot of sorts to get ourselves going again. At least I do, and it brings me great comfort to believe that everyone else does too. Spending time with others helps me do that.
Obviously I didn't just go to the conference to hang out with cool people (well, maybe a little bit). I went to learn from others who were willing to share their knowledge. I was disappointed that there was a limit of 3 sessions that one could attend because there were so many great topics being presented. I'm really happy with the ones I picked though, so I'm going to share one thing I will use moving forward from each of the sessions I attended.
1- Rebecca S. from bitofmomsense.com had this to say about building an organic online community: Support others more than you promote yourself. Be kind in your comments, give more than you expect to get, and have fun. Sage advice.
2- Lindsay Dianne from Running Scared Photography (runningscared.ca) offered tips for taking better blog photos. She taught me that the camera is a tool, but photography is a skill. Play around and find your own unique vision and perspective. What you bring to the photograph can be more interesting than the traditional take. She backed up those words with really beautiful images that prove she knows what she's talking about.
3- Finally, Rebecca Brown from bunchfamily.ca gave a session on how to price and value your services. She provided participants with valuable insight into how the paid market works for bloggers, taking the mystery out of the whole endeavour. Her best tip was regarding what type of work to look for and to know your own worth. She said "Always be paid to think. The margin on thinking is really good."
Words of wisdom from three very smart and talented women.
And that was just the morning!
The afternoon saw Jian Ghomeshi, Amber Mac and Susan Cain among others take to the stage and give speeches that were informative, funny, transformative, and inspiring. Chef Michael Smith provided a demonstration in the sponsor area and took photos with attendees.
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| This is a picture of the photo that was printed at the conference. And yes he is really, really, tall. And nice. |
If I could make one suggestion for next year, it would be for a wider variety of food options, particularly for those with dietary restrictions. For those avoiding gluten or dairy, the options were severely limited. The organizers at Bliss have already told me that they're on it for next year.
I guess now I'll have to attend again next year so I can hold them to it!
Did you go to Blissdom Canada? Have a memory you'd like to share? Leave a post in the comments section. I'd love to hear from you!
