Online BlogCon Review- and New Friends Made! | Occasionally Crafty: Online BlogCon Review- and New Friends Made!

Wednesday, November 7

Online BlogCon Review- and New Friends Made!


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No Scrappin' Wednesday today!  I have to admit- it was a busy few days and I didn't get a scrapbook page done.  Instead, I decided to share my experience with Online BlogCon, and tell you about a fun night I had meeting bloggers IN PERSON (gasp!)
Online BlogCon
A few months ago, I saw an announcement about an online blog conference.  I've always wanted to attend something like Creative Estates or SNAP, but money and time has been an issue for me.  It's hard to justify the cost of a conference, plus airfare or gas and hotel, for a blog that isn't really making any money and is supposed to just be a hobby.  Still, everyone seems to learn so much and have such fun making new connections.

Well, Online BlogCon gave me all that and more.  This was the brainchild of Ashton at Something Swanky and Dorothy at Crazy for Crust and it was WONDERFUL!  For $15, we got posts, exclusively written for us by some big-name craft and food bloggers.  They were posted online, but we could access them at any time (even in our pajamas!) .  The posts were perfectly written.  So often I read "how to grow your blog" posts that are quite negative (as in- why are you doing that? If you're doing that you're stupid")  These posts struck the perfect tone, suggesting better ways to do things and giving tips from the "pros" in a supportive, encouraging manner.

I learned a lot from Jamielyn of I Heart Naptime, Stephanie from Somewhat Simple, Kristyn from Lil' Luna, Nikki from Chef in Training, Jessica from How Sweet It Is, Christi from Love from the Oven, Shelly from Cookies and Cups, Camille from Six Sister's Stuff, and Lexie from voiceBoks

 We also got a great support group in the form of a Facebook group.  The Facebook group started off as a way to connect with other conference goers, but it quickly evolved into a place to ask any and all questions, follow each other on social media, and gain new blog friends!  Most of the bloggers were food bloggers, but I still got a whole bunch of new traffic to my blog and social media.  Awesome!

There were even some awesome giveaways.  I didn't win anything (boo!) but there were some great prizes up for grabs.  Now if we can just figure out a way to give us all "swag" bags like the live conferences do.  Just kidding.  Kind of.

A fun thing was the local meet-up.  A group of conference-goers live here in Arizona, so I was able to meet up with them at a local restaurant for happy hour.We had a fun few hours getting to know each other, and we had such fun that we have plans to get together more in the future!



From L to R-  Julie from White Lights on Wednesday, Stacey and Aubrey from Real Housemoms, me, Lynne from 365 Days of Baking, and Rachel from My Disorganized Life.  Several other locals couldn't make it :(




There are plans for an Online BlogCon 2013, so if you are a blogger (or want to become one) but can't attend a live conference, plan on attending!  It's worth the registration fee and more!

Happy Wednesday!
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7 comments:

  1. Thanks for the great review! :) And swag totally needs to be on the list. We're trying to figure out a way to do it next year. :)

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    1. Yay! But it was TOTALLY fun and worth every penny, even without the swag. But we love swag, so yay! :)

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  2. I totally agree on the swag! I am glad I did OnlineBlogCon. I learned a great deal and met great people like you! :)

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  3. This conference came at just the right time for me. I am new to this blogger world and had just been introduced to the idea of going to one. But I knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Best of all, it gave me the opportunity to meet local bloggers that I could connect with IN PERSON {like you, Valerie}. And for that I am very thankful!

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  4. We had so much fun meeting you and can't wait to see everyone again. We will definitely be attending next year. The conference was the best thing to happen to our blog so far.

    Aubrey
    http://www.realhousemoms.com

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  5. Awesome review! I can't wait for next year, I learned so much from this conference but I know we only just touched a few of the many subjects that can be covered.

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  6. Wonderful really loved your blog, learned a lot from the conference, excited and waiting for the next conference.
    it konsulenter

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