This year, by the generosity of my friends, I was able to attend the MN Bloggers Conference. I’ve been writing on a blog for about 3 years and I haven’t even heard of this conference (insert embarrassed emoji).
The problem is I haven’t networked much. I was beyond excited to attend the conference just for a networking stand point. Little did I know how much valuable information I would obtain.
The actual conference was jam packed with classes. The schedule was in block fashion and a few of the classes I wanted to attend were in the same time frame. Picking and choosing was hard. It helped that I knew Vicky from Beerploma and she attended a different class in the first time block we were able to compare notes and double our learning! It would be nice to get a group of collaborators to divide and conquer.
The first class I attended was: Webmaster Tool with Rachel and Dan. This class was interesting to me because I hadn’t really ever thought of monetizing this. I also wasn’t sure how to efficiently drive traffic. There were many take-a-ways and although the information was compacted and kind of rushed (all the classes felt this way) it was all very useful.
The second class I chose was, Building Social Communities by Adam Dince. Out of all the social media platforms Twitter is one I don’t utilize often. I actually had no idea how many things are possible within the Twitter world. The power of the hashtag is amazing and while I’m not ready to host a twitter chat, I am interested in attending some!
The third and fourth time blocked classes I didn’t really have any interest in. Being a YouTube sensation and a food photography expert were not something I thought myself capable of. I also didn’t want to waste this opportunity so I took both classes.
The YouTube class was hosted by: Jenna Redfield. I was surprised to see how young she is and how much experience she has. I could have easily watched a couple sessions with her. I’m looking forward to blocking out some time and checking her videos out.
Food photography with: Alice Seuffert. She had SO many hints and tricks that this was probably the class I got the most out of and I’m not even close to a food blog at all! She inspired me so much that I might actual make this a focus for the coming years! Although I’m not a foodie, I do like to try different recipes and sub out ingredients to make it my own. Alice gave us some great tips on how to make foods look like they have feelings. I’m excited to try this out. Although, I will be honest…the cooking talents may come from other family members. I can cook but the creative cooking gene was not given to me.
The last class was: On Camera Confidence with Erica Hanna. This class was my favorite as far as how much fun I had in it. Erica is hilarious and her personal stories she shared were great! Again, not sure how I feel about video blogging but she made it seem relatively easy!
There were other things going on as well but the four classes I listed had the most take-a-ways. I do wish the classes were a little longer. The experts could have definitely filled a larger timeslot.
The award for the best class, for me, would have gone to Alice Seuffert without a doubt. She gave so many great tips that I am actually going to start using here in the coming weeks. Maybe all my recipes will not be super healthy but regardless the pictures will be beautiful!