How To Manage Your Business Cards At A Conference

Can we really say blog conference season is here again?

At this point it seems like it never stops. At last count I knew of 54 conferences held sometime from January to October of this year. Add to that the blogger outreach from brands for local events and I think it's a safe bet to assume you should always have a media kit and business cards at the ready.

Having been to professional conferences before I came to the wonderful world of blogging, I have to tell you that business cards are currency at blogging conferences in ways that they just aren't at other conferences.

You. MUST. Have. Them.

Keeping that in mind, here are some helpful tips to managing your business cards (both those you give away and those you receive) while at a blog conference.

One.

My advice is to keep YOUR business cards in one pocket and those you collect in another. Personally I put mine in my left pocket and those I collect in my right. I used to do just the opposite, but have since found it advantageous to put my cards in my left pocket, allowing me to grab one while simultaneously shaking a hand.

If I'm wearing a dress or skirt I put MY cards to the outside of my purse pocket and those I collect to the inside.

Thus, making sure I don't hand someone a card that isn't mine and it helps me know when I need to replenish my stock

Two.

Go with a standard size card. While there are adorable mini-cards and lots of fabulous larger size cards that will allow you to put a ton of information on them, most people stack their cards up all together and those that are larger or smaller have the unfortunate possibility of being lost or worse thrown out by bloggers and brands alike.

If you really want to customize your card, add color, round the corners, or publish a vertical card--but keep the size traditional.

Three.

While we all love a beautiful and snazzy card, keep in mind that they really are there for the receiver and not the giver. Add a photo if you can, often it is difficult to remember where or how exactly you met someone at a conference and a photo will go a long way to jogging a memory. Put down the essentials for contacting you, but don't go overboard. And, try to steer yourself away from a double-sided glossy card. It makes it very hard for bloggers/brands to make notes on. Speaking of which, you should always carry a pen with you, so you can make notes of a meaningful conversation or about how/where you met.

I also like to keep my cards in the order that I collected them. I find this incredibly useful in placing people and conversations after the whirlwind of a conference is behind me.

Four.

Lastly, how do I keep my cards organized after returning home? As often as I can during the conference I punch a whole in each card and place it on a ring. After arriving home, I finish up with any cards I might have missed and add them. I have one such ring for each conference that I have attended. It makes it a cinch to follow up with brands and bloggers after the conference and doesn't take up any space in my office.

What tips do you have for organizing your conference business cards?

Disclosure: Tiny Prints compensated me for this review. However the opinions expressed in this review are mine and mine alone and were in no way influenced by Tiny Prints. I wouldn't have written about them if I didn't love them.

The Most Wonderful Day of the Year

Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday, no contest.

I've always loved the festive nature of it from the tiny conversation hearts that I used as part of my wedding vows to the fact that my mom used to wake up extra early to set out a red placemat for each of us with some sort of trinket and candy playfully displayed on.

For my husband I realized that could be a lot of pressure and so I've planned a lot of our Valentine celebrations from fancy dinners out to cozy relaxing nights in.

As a mother I am now excited to share this holiday and new traditions with my son. We've been cranking out the Valentine's Day crafts, we even made our microwave smoke one day (whoops-a-daisy). Among the crafts and chocolate, I've been inspired to think about sending out Valentine Cards instead of Christmas cards next year. A little less hustle and bustle for us, and an unexpected bit of fun mail for our family and friends. We'll see if I can part with the Christmas Card tradition when the time comes, I suppose.

In the meantime, here are a bunch of super adorable Valentine's Day Greeting Cards I'd love to personalize from the fabulous folks at Tiny Prints and hand out to Liam's class this year.

You know every boy in his class would swoon over these! Every Monday on our way to the nature center we have to build in at least an extra 45 minutes to stop at two separate construction sites to watch the diggers, dumpers and cranes do all of their magic moving, lifting and dumping. In fact at the Type-A parent conference last year I caught myself strolling past a construction site and (gasp) waving at the guys out of habit. They must have laughed about that "crazy lady" all day.

Batman is our little guy's favorite and I think he might just decide to keep all of these cards to himself. A little boy down our block is often out and about in full Batman regalia and so Liam would very much like his own superhero wardrobe. These cards would most certainly top his list.

Dino-love! When it rains on a school day, Liam gets to go out to lunch. Some weeks this gets a little pricey, but it's a super fun tradition. A pizza place that he often chooses has the little toy machines where if he eats his meal he is rewarded with a quarter or two to spend at his discretion. Most weeks he chooses a dino of one sort or another, one that we affectionately call "baby dino" gets toted around to and fro routinely. For something so tiny, I can't believe we haven't lost it yet.

And, one last card to make the parents swoon with nostalgia. The kids might pass this one by, but I'm sure it would bring at least a small smile to most of his classmate's parents. Perhaps that smile will distract them from the sugar I gave their child with the Valentine.

Don't miss a bit of Tiny Prints awesomeness by following them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Disclosure: Tiny Prints compensated me with 50 cards for this review. However,  the opinions expressed in this review are mine and mine alone and were in no way influenced by Tiny Prints.

86 Shopping Days Until Christmas

86 shopping days left until Christmas.

There, I said it.

I love this time of year with the anticipation of numerous holidays upon us. It's a super-fabulous time to be a mom in my opinion. And, I love shopping for other people. Holiday shopping is one of my favorite times of the year. I love finding just the perfect thing and then keeping an eye on it throughout the season to see if it goes on sale. My most favorite things is Black Friday, but that's another post all of its own.

Although I do love this time of year, as the Yuletide season gets ever nearer, it seems the length of my to-do list gets ever longer. In an effort to keep myself as stress-free as I can and to keep the holiday spirit about I try to tackle my Christmas cards (at least a little) in October. I always try to have them addressed and stamped by October 15, leaving me only to find the perfect picture or two to tuck inside and a brief note to write in each. If I don't start then, I'd never get them in the mail "on time" (which I always send out the day after Thanksgiving).

Photo cards are great and I love seeing folks and their families (big and small), the kiddos, the fur-friends, etc. But, I never know what to do with them after the holidays. Because while I think the picture of little Johnny is adorable. I am probably not likely to keep the photo of him hugging a candy cane on my 'fridge all year. (A few of you might have a coronary here, but I do not keep Christmas cards.) Mid-January they all go to the happy recycling center.

Instead of a photo card I usually choose to include a pic or two inside that granparents can tuck into their wallet or showcase on their desk at work.

That said, this year Tiny Prints has a few of each (regular cards/photo cards) that I just can't resist.

This is the card I think you'll find gracing your mailbox come the end of November. I just can't get enough of it. I love the sweet little sleeping partridge and I love that it's not in your face Christmas-y...at least not to me. I also love that its size is just a hair off the traditional holiday card size.

This card is a very close second. Apparently I like things to be sleepy on my Christmas cards. I might even order half of my cards in the partridge one above and half of this one. I love it's simple design and color palette.

What's not to love about this card? I think we could definitely find a few naughty and nice photos in our house. What a fun way to add a little bit of mischief to your holiday cards!

 

If this had been around the year that Liam was born, I'm pretty sure I would have boycotted my photo card rule and sent this out. It's absolutely precious. It makes me smile every time I look at it and I don't even know the kids in this card. Imagine what it would do if I did? 

Disclaimer: Tiny Prints provided me 50 holiday cards in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own and were not influenced one way or another by Tiny Prints.

Back-To-School Traditions

It's hard to believe that the back-to-school season is already upon us. We are lucky in that Liam's new school doesn't have a required supply list. And, yet he and I love to go browsing through the section anyway. Just last week he insisted on both a green and pink roll of tape.

Who can say no when they are only 25 cents a piece?

It's also hard to believe that he's already soon to be starting his second year of school..and YES we already have some traditions. Last year Daddy went into work late so he could drop the little man off and I hope that continues to be something that we can make part of our yearly tradition.

We also start off the day with our little guy's favorite food: blueberry pancakes with lots of "dip dip" (syrup) and this year we'll be adding some of his second favorite food...BACON.

He'll get to take his new Orioles lunch box and you know we'll have to take his picture outside of school this year too.

But, my favorite part of the back-to-school season? We have a deal that if it rains on a school day we get to go out for lunch after school. It rained so much on his school days last year that we went out almost every single week. I love that it gives us something to look forward to, keeps him interested in the weather, and gives us (hopefully) several days of mamma/dude time that is just ours throughout the school year.

Do you have your own back-to-school traditions?

This post was sponsored by Tiny Prints. Check out their great collection of back-to-school items by clicking on the image at the top of this post. 

Disclosure: Tiny Prints provided me with compensation for this review. The opinions expressed in this review are mine and mine alone and were in no way influenced by Tiny Prints.

Graduation Dreams

When I graduated from High School I would never have imagined that my life would turn out as it has. For one, I took an actual typing class--not a computer class. Who knew that one day I would be blogging??

I also thought I'd be living in New York or LA. I had no idea that I would be an interpreter, live in the Baltimore/DC Metro area, be married or have kids.

Here's what I hope for Liam come graduation day in June of 2027.

I hope that he graduates at or near the top of his class because although grades are not everything, they do open doors. Doors to colleges, to opportunities, to a certain level of respect from peers and educators and most critically to scholarships which will be key to him attending his school of choice.

Speaking of which, I hope he goes away to school and stays in the dorms. Although I moved away to school I stayed off campus, 30 minutes away and it's something I always wish I had done differently. I wish I had had the myriad of experiences that happen from staying in close quarters with co-eds.

I also hope that he has a close knit group of friends that stay with him for the rest of his life. I think there is something incredibly valuable in having people around you have always known you.

Lastly, I hope he continues to have an incredible sense of self. Even though he's only 3--on the playground and at activities that we participate in he has a very strong sense of himself. Just the other day he had his school picnic where he wanted to play in the dirt with sticks, stones, leaves, etc. He was more than happy to play with other kids who wanted to join him, but when they went back to the playground he just kept on doing what he was already having a good time doing. I love that he stays true to himself.

Past graduation I hope that he finds a job that he loves, and a person that he can't live without. I hope he knows happiness and success in ways that we haven't even imagined.

No matter what happens we'll always be there for him and support him no matter what. And, we'll probably make a big deal about just everything wonderful that happens in life for him.

The great folks at Tiny Prints are all about making celebrations as happy and as festive as possible. They sponsored this post with the ever so fast approaching graduation season in mind. If you know someone who will be celebrating a graduation this year, make sure to check them out.

Tiny Prints provides stylish, modern and unique graduation stationery including graduation announcements, graduation invitations, and thank you cards for teens. When graduation season has come and gone Tiny Prints will still be here to fill all your stationary needs with their exclusive designs from the nation's top designers. You'll find summer party invitations, personalized greeting cards, thank you cards, business cards, and even custom wedding invitations. Come try the easy cared personalization, powerful preview engine and top-notch customer service and paper quality for yourself! With Tiny Prints by your side commemorating every holiday and momentous occasion is a cinch!

[Disclosure: This opportunity was made available to me by Global Influence. Tiny Prints compensated me for this sponsored post. The opinions expressed in this sponsored post are mine and mine alone and were in no way influenced by Tiny Prints or Global Influence.]

Tiny Prints {Review}

Blog conference season is upon us! It seems every weekend there is some sort of fabulous happening in the blogosphere. I am lucky to be attending Type-A Parent and BlogHer this year and I can barely contain my excitement.

Amongst the fabulous workshops, parties and expo halls lies the holy grail of blogging (to me at least) the opportunity to meet and network with other bloggers. The connections I made to other bloggers and with great brands were the absolute highlight of BlogHer '10 for me. With so many people and so little time business cards are an absolute must!

I loved that when I came back home from the conference I was able to review the cards and check out gobs of new blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages.

All that to say that when Tiny Prints contacted me to review some of their super stylish business cards, I couldn't say YES fast enough. In addition to my obsession with business cards for blogging I also go through a fair number for work (interpreting) and I always like to keep my look distinct.

The classiness of Tiny Prints is what intrigued me most. I also loved that several people I trust look to Tiny Prints for great quality products. At one of my son's friends first birthday parties, a fellow mom could not say enough fabulous things about the adorable invitations that she had ordered from Tiny Prints. A co-worker of mine had recently ordered baby shower invites where she couldn't get the photo just right, and she was ecstatic that the designer at Tiny Prints fixed what she could not and sent her a proof just to make sure that everything was correct.

I have to say that my experience with them was also wonderful. I knew that since my blog has a dark background, I also wanted a business card that had the same feel. It took me awhile playing around with the options provided to find a card with colors available that would work with the existing color palette on my blog. But, it was worth the time as I am thrilled with the result. Just like my co-worker I received an email proof confirming my product before it was sent to the printers. I loved the personal touch of having a designer double check things for me. This isn't something that I have experienced with other on-line business card companies.

The cards arrived in a cute little Tiny Prints themed box and were very securely packed. I was impressed with the richness of the colors on my cards as well as the sturdiness of the paper.

If you are at Type-A Parent or BlogHer this year, you'll have to come say hello and snag a card.

[Disclosure: Tiny Prints provided me a 100 business cards for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this review are mine and mine alone and were in no way influenced by Tiny Prints.]