A few weeks ago I received an invitation to attend the first annual Blogger Week: A multicultural festival of bloggers, journalists, and social media mavens. It’s been on my Blue Swallow list (all dreams have plans I’ve learned) to attend a conference geared towards blogging, so I didn’t want to miss the opportunity. I honestly will say the weeks before heading to the conference were difficult and I didn’t feel as “prepared” as I would have desired. I didn’t have an outfit planned or even business cards to provide to anyone – and to top it off I had just closed my shop to focus on helping my mom and focusing on my own family! However, not all was lost and though I wasn’t prepared I still felt like I took away many things from it.
Upon arriving, I will say that my expectations did not necessarily meet my experience. Mind you I only stayed for the morning session so I did not get to encompass the full experience, but I was thrown off slightly. I’ve looked at different blogging events and I’ve always enjoyed the sense of really networking and capturing the essence of how diverse the blogging community has become. So when I stepped into the room and I did not necessarily see the multicultural aspect (which truly was the reason I signed up), I was disappointed. I wasn’t sure if I was invited to attend the event because of my race or because of the potential of my blog and my skills. The venue was beautiful and the other attendees were very kind, I just didn’t see the full spectrum I had hoped for.
Despite that aspect, I did find a wealth of information in terms of really gearing my blog in an expansive way as well as feeling encouraged that everyone starts at ZERO. From social media followers to blog views, we all start with no one and over time you grow. Keeping that into perspective as well as preparing myself to take more risks with this journey were more than enough for me to take away that Saturday. I am hopeful to attend another event, maybe Alt Summit when it returns to New York or if there is another local one.
This most certainly isn’t my last experience. It was a great launching pad to get my feet wet and stick to the commitment I’ve made to A Blue Swallow.
