Travel - Pocketful of Joules

What I Wish I Knew Before my First BlogHer

Last year’s BlogHer conference was the first blogging conference I’d EVER attended. After freaking the frack out for weeks (ahem…months) before the event, it went by in a blur. This year I’ll be going to the conference again – this time in Chicago – and I feel like I’m MUCH more prepared. And maybe even much more excited, if that’s possible.

If you want to catch up on my thoughts before/during/after last year’s conference, check out these posts:

bonus-week-1 — Did I mention that I made out with Zac Efron at last year’s BlogHer?

Freaking out before the conference
On my way
Was it worth it?
My Swag breakdown

I will be meeting up with some bloggy friends at BlogHer this year and have been pretending to be a BlogHer Guru to answer their questions. Since over 5,000 ladies attended last year’s conference, I’m sure that there are other people with questions on what to expect. If you’re anything like me, I scoured the internet for BlogHer tips for WEEKS before the event last year!

So here you go, the Pocketful of Joules list of what I wish I knew before my first BlogHer:

The Learning Part
There are a ton of really cool sessions at BlogHer. I mean, one of the main reasons to go is to LEARN, right?

There are keynote speakers each day (in the morning and at lunch) and my personal opinion is that they are usually AWESOME so you should definitely attend each of those sessions. Since almost everyone comes to the keynote presentations, it is a good idea to show up a little early so you can grab your food and get a good seat before the room fills.

The breakout sessions are organized by tracks, such as Marketing & Monetization, Tools & Technology, Interest & Identity and more. If you’d like, you can stick with one track… or you can switch it up and pick a little from each offering. Since there are so many sessions offered, I usually like to write down my choices before I go and include an alternate in case the room is overcrowded.

Take a notebook and scribble down lots of notes. Your first time attending (and probably your second time, I’ll let you know) will be incredibly overwhelming so it’s nice to be able to revisit your thoughts/session tips weeks and months after the conference. Even if they didn’t spark anything at the time, a few months later that information might be exactly what you need to hear!

blogher12 — Bad Networking: I didn’t even get this blogger’s name. I was being a pretty princess though, so that’s obviously very important.

The Networking Part
Did I mention that there were over 5,000 ladies at last year’s conference? Yeah, I’ve got no shame in my game to admit that I was a little intimidated. Okay, a lot intimidated. The kind of intimidated where you want to hide in your hotel room and only come out for a session and then return back into your secure little space.

So what helped me feel less scared? Well, first, reach out to your fellow bloggers BEFORE the conference. If you read other blogs and someone mentions that they’re going, leave them a comment that you’ll be there too and would love to meet up. Go on twitter and checkout the #blogher13 hashtag to see what your twitter friends are saying about the conference.

On the first day of the conference there is a BlogHer Newbie Breakfast. GO! I know its butt-early in the morning and you’d rather sleep in a little extra and grab a coffee on the way… go anyway. Everyone in that room will be new like you. Which means it a little easier to introduce yourself, right?

Also very important: if you find someone you like GET THEIR BLOG BUSINESS CARD! Scribble a little note on the back of it to remind you who they are and what you talked about. That way, when you get home you can start following their blog and maybe you’ll become best bloggy buddies!

The Expo Hall & Swag
Last year there were a few different Expo Halls with trade show tables set up with tons of different companies. Once again, it can be a bit overwhelming when you walk in and there are dozens of ladies crowded around each table.

If I remember correctly, you get a map of vendors in your conference packet. This makes it easy to determine who you MUST visit. I also find it helpful to do a big loop of each room to see what’s there before deciding who to approach. Many companies are giving away free items and coupons. Other times you’ll see a representative that is looking to make blogger connections. Decide what you want out of the experience before jumping in.

If you like free stuff, you can literally FILL your bags with an absolute TON of stuff. However, before shoving three bottles of cleaning solution in your tote think about whether you actually want to deal with lugging it home. Before picking up your sixth cheepo t-shirt with a huge logo on the front… decide if you’d ever actually WEAR it before adding it to your collection. One really cool thing that I took advantage of last year was the BlogHer room where you can trade stuff – you drop off what you don’t want and take what you do want. So if you find yourself in a swag frenzy, you can offload a bit of it before going home.

Packing Tips
Okay there are full posts on what clothing to pack and what shoes to wear, because when you get a bunch of ladies together we like to dress up all pretty. Here’s the dirty secret though, you can really wear whatever you want. It’s true – sure there were some fashion bloggers dressed like they just stomped off a runway, but there were also plenty of people in shorts.

I wore a mix of everything last year, from a cute maxi dress to a pair of jean shorts. However, I felt most comfortable when I was a teensy bit dressed up. This year I will be bringing a couple dresses for the sessions (with a sweater because conference rooms tend to be kinda chilly) because I FEEL like I look better in dresses. Also, people tend to take a crap-ton of pictures and if I’m going to be photo-bombing a stranger and end up on their blog… I want to look cute, darn it!

For the evenings, it depends on your plans. If you plan to do a bunch of exploring, pack shorts and comfy walking shoes. If you’re going to a sponsor party, something business casual would probably be a good idea. If you plan to shake your tail feather at any of the dancing/drinking parties, add some sparkle or something ridiculous… like a tutu. Or jeans are fine too; if that is what you are most comfortable wearing.

biz cards — Love my updated business cards!

Another MUST HAVE to pack is some blog business cards. You’re going to be making a lot of contacts and EVERYONE will ask you for your card. You can make them super cheap online or even take advantage of this amazing deal from Moo for 100 free mini cards. I did!

Don’t Worry, They Feed You
One of the most frequent questions I’ve gotten is whether any food is provided at the conference. What can I say; my bloggy friends and I get along really well and will definitely not go hungry.

Breakfast
Breakfast is provided each day of the conference. On the first day you can choose to attend the regular breakfast or the newbie breakfast. Last year there was a huge buffet with typical breakfast food: scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, bagels, etc. And yes, there is coffee. The second day has a keynote presentation interview with Sheryl Sandberg (the author of Lean In) during breakfast. So there will most likely be another buffet for you to load up on before settling down for the talk.

Lunch
On both Thursday and Friday there are scheduled lunch events with keynote speakers. So before entering the room for the presentation, there will be huge buffet stations with lots of lunch options. Last year there was salads, sandwiches, a bunch of sides and cute little desserts. They also make sure you are caffeinated with soda available for everyone. I’m sure there was water too, but when I’m sitting in presentations all day I need something with a little more kick to keep me going.

Other Food
I honestly can’t remember if there were snacks offered between sessions, but I assume that there was probably something. Conference organizers like to feed you and keep your energy up! Some of the evening parties also have appetizer-type food, but you are on your own for your actual dinner. Believe me, you will WANT to get dinner on your own so that you can have something other than conference food when visiting Chicago.

So there you go, everything I wish I would have known last summer before I dived into BlogHer for the very first time. I feel a bit more prepared this year and am going to force myself to actually go to some of the evening parties to shake my groove thing. I’ve also been invited to special VIP party sponsored by Hasbro, so I’m pretty excited about that!

How about you – are you going to BlogHer this year? Are you jealous of my Zac Efron smooch? Is there a question/concern you have that I haven’t answered?

Vancouvering All Over the Place

I was flabbergasted by the saran wrapped toilet seats at O’Hare. I wish EVERYWHERE had them!

So I already shared with you my wicked awesome packing skills and my dorky photo shoot of what I wore while I was in Vancouver. Now it’s time to talk about what I actually DID while I was there. Well, besides my work conference because that’s not very interesting to people outside of my industry.

Since the flights were so long (about 8 hours total) I arrived in Vancouver on Tuesday before the conference actually started. I stayed at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre (1088 Burrard Street) right in downtown Vancouver. The hotel was gorgeous and I was pretty excited about having a room ALL TO MYSELF. Oh, and also a teeny bit apprehensive because I had never been away from Jack for four whole days before.

I was exhausted by time I finally made my way to my hotel late Tuesday afternoon, so I just went out for sushi (Kamei Royale) and returned to my room for some much needed ‘me’ time. I squished myself into my big bed with FOUR fluffy pillows, caught up on my online life and finished reading the book that I started on the plane. The time difference was 3 hours, so I had to struggle to keep myself awake so I wouldn’t be up at the crack of dawn in the morning.

I had Wednesday free to explore until I had to check in for the conference at 3:00, so I started my day with a trip to Tim Hortons. I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to order while I was there, so I went with the Canadian Maple doughnut and a regular coffee. I mean, I was in CANADA so a Canadian Maple doughnut makes sense, right?*

After scarfing my doughnut and coffee, I continued down Granville Street in search of the shopping. I passed lots of ‘cool kids shops’ and record stores and generally just felt very old. There were a couple stores I stopped in, but nothing exciting. I walked and walked and walked some more and eventually ended up in an area called Gastown.

I LOVED Gastown. There were all sorts of adorable little shops and restaurants. I picked up a Vancouver t-shirt for my husband (it’s a tradition that I always buy him a souvenir t-shirt when I travel) and a cute little stuffed moose wearing a Vancouver hoodie for Jack.

fun IS awful — Apparently, in Gastown, fun is awful. Or maybe the band “fun.” is awful? I’m not quite sure…

Everyone was ridiculously nice and I ended up chatting with a bunch of shop workers/owners. One of my favorites was Casey, the co-owner of Meadow. Not only did I want to pack up EVERYTHING in that store to bring it home with me, I want her to be one of my new besties (and her 2 ½ year old twin sons can be Jack’s posse)!

I couldn’t leave without buying a necklace (made by either Casey or her sister) and a fantastic bird pin created by a Canadian artist named Genevieve Jodouin. After shopping up an appetite, I ate probably the best pulled pork sandwich I’ve ever had at a pub called Steamworks. And believe me; I’ve had A LOT of pulled pork sandwiches. So. Good.

I made my way back to the hotel just in time to change into my nice clothes for my conference activities. Once the last event was over, I ran back to my room to throw on some jeans and run back out to try my very first taste of poutine. According to Yelp, Fritz was the best poutine place around so I grabbed a small order and hoofed it back to my hotel.

Here’s my first bite.

I liked it, but I can’t say I LOVED it.*

After my lackluster poutine experience, I spent another night reveling in having the bed to myself and woke up bright and early Thursday morning. I was in the conference from 7am – 5pm, but as soon as it was over I did a quick change and went back out for a last chance shopping trip. I had heard that Robson Street was the place to go, so I walked a few blocks and picked up some treats for myself at a few Canada-only stores. I ended up with another t-shirt for my main man, 2 tops for myself, a pretty scarf and a cute heart necklace that broke before I could even wear it (it’s fixable though, I just need to get to a craft store).

I wasn’t super hungry, so I decided to give poutine another try. I stopped by Yelp’s #2 place, called Mean Poutine. The lady who worked in the tiny little shop was a total sweetheart (I didn’t get her name) and we chatted for a good 15 minutes while she cooked me up my batch. Once again, I retreated to my room so I could throw on some fat-pants (aka pajamas) and stuff my face.

And stuff my face I did.

Excuse me kind stranger, would you mind taking a picture of me kissing this horse?

Holy WOW. Now THIS is what I was expecting! Hot fries, peppery gravy and gooey cheese curds!*** I ate the ENTIRE thing, washed down with a root beer and then spent the next few hours feeling like I might explode. Totally worth it though. Even though I still have no idea how the heck a cheese curd is supposed to squeak…

It’s a good thing I carbo loaded, because Friday was the day from hell. I had my last conference sessions in the morning and then packed up to leave my hotel at 11:30. Between the taxi ride, security/customs, waiting for my flight, my layover, a plane delay, my last flight, the shuttle to my car and my drive home… it took me until 2:30 am to get home. Thank goodness Jack decided to let me sleep until 9:30 (Travis had to work), so I wasn’t too much of a zombie over the weekend.

I really enjoyed the trip and love that I had the opportunity to do a little exploring around my work conference.

It is especially nice to have the fun of visiting someplace new without putting out much money (since work paid for my transportation, hotel and most food).

So how about you – are you a fan of poutine? Have you done any fun sightseeing while on a work trip to someplace new? Don’t you think the saran wrapped toilets at O’Hare are the best things ever?

* Fun Fact: even though you are IN Canada, they don’t know what you mean if you order a “maple” donut. You must call it by its full name of “Canadian Maple.” I don’t know why I found this hilarious, but I totally did and made an idiot of myself by laughing for WAY too long.

** Dear poutine lovers: don’t freak out on me yet, I’m going to try it again in another couple paragraphs.

*** I still don’t really know the difference between cheese and a cheese curd. I kinda don’t want to google it in case it’s something gross…

I Rock at Packing

You know how I describe myself as a “recovering Type A overachiever?”* Well, I’m working hard to relax a bit more and leave some of that Type A stuff behind me. Except when it comes to packing… I am an AWESOME packer.

I’ve worked packing down to a science and I even have spreadsheets divided by the type of trip and who is coming with me. Oh, am I going on a cruise with the husband? No biggie. Taking a long weekend to the beach house with the baby? Bring it! Going to a different country for a work conference where I need to be dressy? I show that trip who’s in charge!

So how do I win at packing? Well, my goal is to pack EXACTLY what I need for the trip and not one extra thing. If I wear everything I’ve packed, I consider that a WIN at packing. And frankly a WIN at LIFE!

Want to see the method to my madness? Well, check out my packing list from last week’s trip to Vancouver:

By planning out exactly what I need to wear each day, I can make sure I’m not just throwing in a bunch of stuff that doesn’t go together. I also include underclothes and pajamas, of course.

If I was short on space, I could have pared it down to just one pair of jeans and one sweater, but I like options. Also, with rain in the forecast for every day I didn’t want to end up trying to put on wet jeans if I was soaked on a sightseeing trip. Everything on this list (and everything I bought for my husband and Jack) all fit in just a backpack and small Heys carry-on suitcase.

So, you want to see a bunch of dorky pictures of all my outfits?

*Tuesday: (jeans #1, t-shirt, sandals and scarf) I wore this on two planes, sightseeing and dinner.*

Wednesday 1 — *Wednesday morning: (jeans #2, t-shirt, jacket, sneakers) I wore this for a ton of walking and sightseeing. I have no idea why Kid Rock is on TV…*

Wednesday 2 — *Wednesday afternoon: (dress #1, sweater, sandals) – I wore this outfit for the conference check-in, one session and a welcome reception.*

Thursday 1 — *Thursday: (dress #2, sweater, sandals) I wore this from 7am – 5pm for my conference.*

Thursday 2 — *Thursday night: (jeans #2, t-shirt, scarf, sneakers) This is my ‘last chance at shopping’ outfit! It was raining outside, so I didn’t even bother with trying to keep my hair under control.*

*Friday morning: (jeans #1, t-shirt, sweater, sandals) – one last conference session and then a LONG plane ride. I finally got home at 2:30 am on Saturday!*

Wait… did you not think these pictures were dorky enough? Well, how about THIS:

silly pics — Just in case you think I get American Next Top Model’s smizing perfection in every shot… here’s what the majority of the pictures looked like on my camera when I got home:

So how about you, do you like to pack JUST what you plan to wear on your trip or do you prefer throwing in your whole closet and sorting through it all later? Am I the only one who feels like I WIN at packing if I wear everything I packed?

* If you didn’t know that you can totally look up at my website header… see, it’s there.