I’m Going to BlissDom’13

I am delighted to announce that I will be attending the BlissDom 2013 Conference being held this year in Dallas, Texas. What is BlissDom about, you might ask, here is a brief introduction:

BlissDom is the premier conference for women who find and express their bliss by publishing online. BlissDom ’13, our ninth conference (including three BlissDom Canada events held in Toronto), is a welcoming oasis in the ever-changing blogging world. Speakers and panels featuring the best blogging, public relationsand social media pros will be gathering to mentor new and old friends alike.

I created a RebelMouse page to collate all my BlissDom conference posts from 2012 and new information regarding the 2013 conference. BlissDom photos, blog posts and videos can now be found all in one place.  Enjoy and keep checking this post for updates as the conference draws near.

[rebelmouse site_name=”TaniaBlissDomConference2013″]

Contest Entry – Blissdom 2013 Sponsorship via One2One Network

There are two things that make me smile – an upcoming Blissdom Conference and the chance to earn a sponsorship award to attend Blissdom 2013 with One2One Network. 

Why should I be so fortunate to be chosen by One2One Network for sponsorship to 2013 Blissdom Conference?

As a social media influencer who successfully crosswalks photography, running,  lifestyle, and political communities, I enjoy the ability to share information with a broad range of followers. For years I’ve been creating blog posts of product reviews. I have always been careful to provide my readership with an honest and accurate review of the product – including disclosures before disclosures were cool. My goal with product reviews is to provide high quality, useful information for prospective customers. When I discovered the One2One Network  at Blissdom Nashville, I found an organization that works with bloggers and brands to produce the same  high quality content. Hallelujah! It was like peanut butter meeting jelly for the first time – simply magic!

Invest in me.  Blissdom is a content rich conference that provides bloggers technical skills and empowerment to be better in blogging and in life.  I want to build upon what I’ve learned from Blissdom 2012 within social media to help people do better. Better in social media and in life. Sending me to Blissdom will put me in a position to increase my knowledge base and social media influence – making me a better helper and a better One2One member.

Quite frankly, if chosen I’ll be the best One2One network ambassador you’ve ever had 🙂

 

Buster approves this blog post!

 

RNC/GOP Convention 2012

Sadly, I am not attending the 2012 GOP Presidential convention, other bloggers are covering it. I had planned on linking the credentialed bloggers so far I have been unsuccessful in acquiring an official list from the GOP Convention. To date, my tweet has gone unanswered.

@gopconvention Hi! Could you provide a link or list of bloggers who received media credentials? Thanks:) — Tania Gail (@Skye820) August 24, 2012

To be clear, I did start the process of applying for blogger/media credentials but came up against a curious wall. I was asked to submit a sample of published work on letterhead to the press galleries in D.C.   While I  have published work, it is not political in nature. My online skill set has evolved  focusing within the social media/photojournalism ecosystem. I found it difficult to translate my skills adequately onto fine linen letter head paper, so I abandoned the quest to obtain credentials.

To give you a feel for a behind-the-scenes experience of a national political convention, check out my photos from the 2008 GOP Convention.

This time around, you will have to depend on the likes of Bret Baier along with unnamed bloggers for the type of convention coverage I would have shared with you.

Just because you might have missed it – Governor Chris Christie’s Convention Speech:

Blissdom 2012 Handmade Market Place

Blissdom conference showcased the vibrant handmade industry within the blogosphere community by hosting a Handmade Marketplace prior to the start of the conference. It was delightful to peruse the home made items and meet the designer/artist/blogger behind the creation. Needless to say, I made a few purchases.

I’ve put together photos and links to the artist websites of items I acquired at Blissdom.  Here is a link to the full list of blogging entrepreneurs that were showcased at Blissdom.

SGD Artistry

Lisa Leonard Designs

The Pleated Poppy

Allorah Handmade

A complete list of participating shops can be found by clicking HERE

Lessons Learned at Blissdom 2012

In February I had the opportunity to attend the fabulous Blissdom conference in Nashville, TN.

The conference was packed full of knowledge, inspiration and networking. So much so, it took till now to sort through the experience and write about it. Actually, up until last week, I was still mulling over the best way to describe the essence of this conference. Then last week,  several narrow minded women decided to broadcast vicious misconceptions about Stay At Home Moms (SAHM’s) for blatant political reasons.

I was stunned at the cynical and ignorant tone of these statements, yet their words helped focus my impression of the Blissdom conference and attendees.

It was my pleasure to spend time with 700+ women (and a few gentlemen), a majority of whom claim the title of  Mom. In fact, several attendees brought their children with them to this conference.  Of the mom’s in attendance, I suspect a large portion of them are SAHM’s.

My impressions after interacting with the attendees was 1,000% positive.  I truly suspect there are several ‘Bill Gates’ in the making within the Blissdom community. This in not hyperbole on my part, the women I encountered have brilliant branding and marketing skills. They have drive, a positive attitude and the entrepreneurial skills to be successful in their ventures. The organizers of the Blissdom Conference – the Bliss Chicks – completely get this and have created a powerful platform to celebrate,  promote and support women entrepreneurs within the online community.

While our nation struggles with a faltering economy, women who run craft business from home are revolutionizing the corporate landscape and blazing new trails of economic opportunity for others. Blissdom organizers  sponsored a Handmade Marketplace to highlight and support these at home entrepreneurs.

These women wear many hats – mom, entrepreneur, blogger, photographer, writer, artist, future Bill Gates – they cannot be so easily dismissed or placed into a one size fits no-one political category. These women (and men) represent hope. Hope for a better tomorrow for their family, for their community, for our nation.  It is a beautiful thing to should be celebrated and supported and thanks to the Blissdom Conference and its online community – it is 🙂

 

 

A Day in The Life of a Blissdom 2012 Attendee

To give those seriously considering attending a future Blissdom conference (which you should) I put together a series of photos highlighting a typical day and night of a BlissDom conference attendee.

A Snapshot of BlissDom 2012 – Nashville

Finally getting my thoughts together and blogging on my experience attending Blissdom 2012 Nashville.  I’m frequently discovering I’m always the last to post on this subject.

Several months ago I wrote a post comparing women blogger conferences and posted the following question:

The number of conferences marketed towards female bloggers is quite staggering. I have yet to attend a conference of this nature, being a single woman, I get the impression a large part of the conference tends to focus upon the  ’mommy blogger’. While this is a perfectly reasonable demographic to focus on conference-wise, I often wondered if the information provided at these conferences would be relevant to the ‘non-mommy’ blogger?

After extensively reading blog posts and reviewing photos of both BlogHer and BlissDom, I chose to attend BlissDom 2012 in Nashville, TN.  The conference appeared more intensely blogger focused and I encountered a more positive vibe from 2011 conference recaps from BlissDom attendees then of Blogher attendees. Since I budgeted for one blogger conference this year, I chose BlissDom.  I am  happy to report, I chose well.

The Bliss Chicks – Alli, Paula, and Barbara created an open, inclusive culture within this conference for bloggers of every stripe. Equal parts amazing organization and excellent content mixed together 750 smart, passionate, creative women (and men) and you get magic, baby!

Oh, I didn’t mention the venue – Gaylord Opryland Hotel – 9 acres of indoor gardens, waterfall, and indoor river. It’s like sleeping over in a tropical conservatory – I always wanted to do that.  This is what I walked by every day – a double waterfall – seriously amazing venue.

A differentiates BlissDom from other conferences was a take home expectation from the speakers and organizers to use the connections, inspiration and knowledge shared at this conference to build something beautiful and meaningful. You can see this idea percolating  within numerous conference recap blog posts.

From the pre conference welcome kit, insightful keynote speakers, content rich lectures, engaging sponsors, to the stylish entertainment, this conference is well worth the investment of your time and money.

There is no way I can briefly summarize BlissDom 2012 in one post. . Follow along this week as I post my thoughts on conference content, entertainment, sponsors and point out some outstanding bloggers I had the good fortune to meet.

 You can query all my BlissDom posts to date by clicking on this link:  ‘Blissdom 2012‘.

 

BlissDom 2012 Update

Hey y’all, I’m still in Nashville spending a few more days soaking up the music, food and beauty of this city.  I’m also taking the time to digest all that I’ve learned during the BlissDom 2012 conference.

 

 

Yes. the BlissDom conference was so much fun!

I’m looking forward to sharing the pearls of wisdom I gleaned from this conference, building upon the knowledge and nurturing an idea that formed at BlissDom.

For now, I’m just a happy-go-lucky tourist in Nashville. You can follow my exploration of the city and its surroundings on Instagram, Posterous and Storie.

Follow My BlissDom 2012 Nashville Experience

Curious about what all the fuss over a conference? You can follow along on my BlissDom 2012 experience in the following social media platforms:

Flickr – All photos from BlissDom will be collected into this set.

Storify – A platform to curate thoughts, images, perhaps video snippets from BlissDom into a free flowing story.

Posterous – A place to share Instagram photos from BlissDom.

Instagram – One of the best iPhone photo apps around and so very integrated into other photo sharing applications.

Storie – I like this app as it curates photos and a quick note into a cohesive story.

I am very interested to see how well these platforms perform in capturing moments at Blissdom and yet not being overly burdensome.

For my photo peeps, I’ve decided to take the Canon 40D with the following lenses: 50mm f1/4, Tokina 12-24mm, Canon IS 28-135 zoom lens. In addition, I’m bringing the Panasonic LX3 Lumix. Flash? Of course, with snoot.

Questions, comments, suggestions for good places to eat in Nashville – leave me a comment 🙂

What Does Hope Mean To You?

BlissDom has partnered with longtime supporter ConAgra Foods in their campaign ChildHungerEndsHere:

 ConAgra Foods has been Feeding America’s leading partner in the fight to end child hunger in America. So far, we’ve donated a total of $30 million to the fight and have committed another $10 million over the next five years.

While attending BlissDom 2012 Nashville, for every tweet that includes the hashtag #childhunger, ConAgra will donate one meal.

The organizers of BlissDom reached out to their community and asked the question, ‘What does hope mean to you?”,  the responses were compiled into the video embedded above.  Watching the video is amazingly inspiring and I am so proud to have contributed a photo to this project.

Whether participating in ConAgra’s campaign or donating to a local food bank, every little bit helps in your community. Many thanks to BlissDom and ConAgra for taking the lead in ending child hunger.