Type-A Parent: The Sessions

(@pattidigh)

Type-A Parent Conference '11 was held last week in Asheville, NC and I was lucky enough to attend.

I was lucky enough to have an entire week to myself and I won't lie, it was pretty awesome.

(@punditmom)

But, here's the deal...I know that I was lucky to go and that for one reason or another or heck maybe even a whole slew of reasons lots of others weren't able to go.

I did keep copious notes--so here's my offer.

If you are a blogger and are interested in hearing about any of the sessions that I went to in more detail, leave a comment with which sesssion you'd like to know more about and I'll email those interested with my take on the session and my notes. All of the sessions (with the exception of one) were incredible. It's been a long time since I have been at a conference where I have felt all the speakers were so well prepared.

All I ask in return is that if you have the opportunity to attend a conference in the future, you  pay it forward as well.

Personal Blogging Tribe Session

SESSIONS

• So You Want to Be a VideoBlogger? (@gregoryng)
• Blogger Outreach That Works (@cecilyk @tokissthecook @anarc @jennfowler)
• Traffic Building Bootcamp (@heathersolos)
• Writing A Pitch (@childhood)
• Clueless Is Not An Excuse: Numbers Matter (@ShellyKramer)
• Design and Usability: Make Sure People Don't Hate Your Blog on First Sight (@andrewghayes)
• Personal Bloggers Tribe (@chelechestnut @staceynerdin)
• Bloggers' Block: Writing Exercises to Beat Burnout (@pattidigh)
• Monetization Power Session (@dbinkowski @hollyhamann @momtalkradio @tvdeegan)
• The Myth of Doing It All (@mom101)

For more things Type-A, check out Type-A Parent: The Experience .

Type-A Parent: The Experience

Virginia Military Institute Barracks (VMI)

I took my time driving down to Asheville, NC for the Type-A Parent Conference. I stopped for the night in Lexington, VA where I had stayed once before. Woke up leisurely (7am) the next morning and made my way to the conference hotel. Aside from some user error with my GPS the trip was pretty and uneventful.

Just before the North Carolina line

 

 

 

I wasn't sure what to expect from the conference as my only previous experience was BlogHer '10 in NYC last year. I knew this would be smaller, but I wasn't sure what that meant. I was pleasantly surprised at the intimate sessions, knowledgeable speakers, friendliness of attendees and all that bacon! 

Not in fact bacon, but Blue Bunny ice cream. Yum!

I left his conference just as overwhelmed as after BlogHer, but I felt like I learned a lot more. I would definitely suggest this conference to all the parent bloggers out there looking for a laid-back conference in a funky little town.

Monetization Power Session

I had a really great time meeting bloggers that I only knew on-line and finding out they were even better in person. Wouldn't it be nice if that were the case everywhere in life?

Fadra Nally, @allthingsfadra

Stop back tomorrow to see how I'm going to Pay It Forward Type-A Style!

Smurfette, Ubisoft Party

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.]

Boy Meets Girl

The last challenge in the #TypeACeleb contest that is being run by Social Media Moms is to create a Whrrl story. Here's mine!

Powered by Whrrl

Join us for a Twitter party March 18 at 6pm PST/9pm EST. #TypeACeleb party will be the culmination of the contest. It will be a time to recap the challenges, recognize the contestants for all of the hard work that they did and most of all, announce the winner of the TypeACeleb contest. Invite your friends to join us for this celebration and make sure to thank Kelby and our contest sponsors for helping to make this possible!

Me vs. Me

My very first YouTube video and vlog entry.



Yet, another challenge in the #TypeACeleb contest!

Wish me luck!

Pick Me! Pick Me!

(Photo: Nick Hobgood)

Admittedly, I'm a little fish in the big pond of blogging. But, Nemo was small and look what became of him? Little fishy got himself a movie about his life story and some excellent merchandising profits. I mean, hellooo, he's on diapers, swimsuits and a made in his image stuffed animal just to name a few. All because he kept on believing in himself and changing things up a bit as his world changed.

He also made great connections with other fish along the way, like when he was in the aquarium at the dentist's office, which is a great correlation to me and this blog-- the little blogger going to the Type-A Parent conference. I might be little but I'm willing to learn, to change and to share what I know with other bloggers. No matter the size of our audience we all have the ability to share great ideas for content, layout, or a really great widget that makes our readers more engaged. This past summer I had the opportunity to attend a huge blogging conference where the connections I made were the big highlight for me. Those connections became relationships with women...with moms...who continue to inspire me to this day.

But, Nemo wasn't the only one with with a nugget of wisdom to share. I think Tortoise of The Tortoise and The Hare fame had it right too when he said "Slow and steady wins the race." It's so easy to get caught up in all the different on-line communities, to raise your Klout score, your Twitter followers, your subscribers--but if doing so causes you to lose focus and to alienate your readers--then what was the point to begin with? I believe in growing my blog organically and interacting with people, blogs and brands with whom I have a connection with. From everything I have heard out and about in the blogosphere, Type-A-Parent is just this kind of conference. A conference that is intimate enough that it can provide bloggers with strong connections and learning opportunities and large enough to pack in tons of fun.

Lastly, I'd like to talk about the wisdom of a non-animated celebrity, Sandra Bullock. I don't know if you remember when she just got started? When she was a little fish in the giant fish tank called Hollywood? I do. I remember clearly the stories of how she used to bring donuts to the set for the cast and crew. Not because she had to, but because she wanted to! She was excited to have this new opportunity before her, thankful to share it with her co-workers. And more than a little bit smart, I mean everyone loves donuts.

So, I'm not saying I will, but I'm not saying I won't.

But, pick me and there might be some free donuts in it for you.


Pick me! Pick me!



**The Type-A Parent conference is happening in Asheville, NC this June and I'd really love to go. Social Media Moms is hosting a competition amongst 33 bloggers, of which I am one. It's kind of like Amazing Race meets blogging, how cool is that?! We have four challenges to complete over the course of the next week. This post is the first of them, whereby we write about "why we are meant to win (using a dash of celebrity)".  If you'd like to follow on Twitter the hashtag is #TypeACeleb.**