I thought about just posting pictures from the Texas Style Council Conference this past weekend, but that doesn't do it justice. If you're interested in what a blogger conference is like or you just want to hear about my adventure then stick with me through this post!
The theme of this year's conference was CAMP - Creating A Meaningful Presence. It was held at Camp Texlake in Spicewood, which is where the Girl Scouts camps are hosted. Indiana and her team did an awesome job with the decor and choosing the perfect sponsors. I think one of my favorite parts were the merit badges. Each activity had a merit badge associated with it.
Day 1:
The first night was kicked off with a Keynote by Jenny Lawson of The Bloggess (love her honesty and bluntness), afterwards we headed to a Create + Connect Mixer for arts and crafts! I thoroughly enjoyed talking with Savannah and Jenny of Maidae, and I won a beautiful 8x10 print. Part of my volunteer job was to run the TXSC Twitter account...check it out here for some fun photos and inspirational quotes from the speakers.
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| Shalyn brought her famous hedgehogs to camp! Just search #hattiethehedgehog on Instagram for some hilarious photos! |
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| Love spending time with Jess Lively #twinsies |
My day started with pouring rain (saved by my $12 Walmart rain boots), breakfast and an inspirational keynote by TOMS director of global customer engagement and community, Bethany Joy Clark. Prior to the keynote, I was sitting next to Bethany during breakfast, and we began chatting. I told her about how I was in the final round of getting a TOMS internship in college, but ultimately didn't get it. She was sincerely appreciative of the work I did for TOMS (throwing an event for #OneDayWithoutShoes at my college and job). She told me that she had brought one pair of sunglasses for a non-speaker, and proceeded to hand me that pair. It was seriously the sweetest moment. Bethany then got on stage....began to speak words of wisdom, truth, encouragement...and we all cried. Seriously. Then she turned in to Oprah and surprised everyone with a TOMS backpack.
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| The wonderful Bethany Joy Clark |
I then had a full day of listening and learning from more amazing women.
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| Carli (Inked Fingers) & Tieka (Selective Potential) discussed vulnerability |
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Cyndi Spiegel, Marisa (New Dress a Day, and Kelly (Design Crush) discuss business and practical steps moving forward with blogging.
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Keynote - Jess Lively & Caroline Joy Casey spoke about lessons learned from blogging and how they've simplified and refocused their lives (online and off).
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After dinner, we headed back to our cabins to prepare for the Camp Jamboree! I wore my EShakti skirt and kept it casual with a v-neck tee. I met some amazing brands, crafted a necklace, ate too many cupcakes from Hey Cupcake!, and spent some time on the dance floor!
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| My cedar cabin for the weekend #ElmCabin |
Spent some quality time talking about motherhood with Linda who brought her precious 7 month old. What a brave Mom!
I also spent some quality time with my German friend, Susie. We met that morning, and felt like we had become best friends when Susie told me she came all the way from Munich. "Wundebar" I shouted! I've always been pretty apprehensive to speak German (the fear of it not being perfect), but Susie really encouraged me and I was surprised of how much I actually remembered.
Day 3:
The last and final day included a Keynote by Sophia Rivka Rossi (Zooey Deschanel's BFF), author and co-founder of Hello Giggles, lots of girl scout cookies, and many sad goodbyes.
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| Our beautiful lake view |
After camp was over, I stuck around to help clean up since I was a volunteer. After our hard work, all of the volunteers headed down the road to Bacon Bar...yes, you read that right! EVERYTHING had bacon in it...well almost everything. I ordered a Mexican Martini and scarfed down the bacon queso. I got to spend some quality time with Indiana and the other lovely volunteers that I didn't get a chance to hang out with during the hustle and bustle of the conference. I arrived home at 8pm to a happy boy that was ecstatic I brought him girl scout cookies and pillows.
Have you attended a blogger conference before? If so, what's your favorite part?
2 comments:
Hey Jesse! Loved reading this recap because it brought me right back to camp, even though step by step we all had different experiences (but all of them wonderful). You're a great volunteer, as I found your helpfulness & enthusiasm reassuring as a participant. Will always remember dancing with you in your fab skirt! Btw, that TOMS story is cool, and yes- SO Oprah! Rock those shades & that pack! Thanks for showing us your pictures too! Take care!
Thanks girl! It was great meeting you and I had a blast on the dance floor. I love reading everyone's recpas to see their perspective of the conference.
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