As I have returned to reality and the cold of a real winter, one with snow and below zero temperatures, I can still feel the Bliss that I experienced in Nashville this past weekend.  Although I am not new to conferences having attended both Blissdom Canada’s, BlogHer ’10 & ’11, Women in Biz, She’s Connected, Amplify Her Awesome and I am sure I am missing at least one in there… I came away with a little different feeling from Blissdom.  Despite being somewhat involved in the Conference as a Community Leader for Photography, I still felt I had time to connect and meet more people than I usually get to. Perhaps it was because of the location, perhaps it was because I forced myself to say ‘hi’ to everyone since I was wearing my Community Leader badge and perhaps it was because people approached me more too. I can’t tell you exactly why, I just know that I found a little more Bliss in Nashville and I hope that I get the chance to return.

I traveled with my girlfriend Krista, this is our third conference together both with the travel and as roommates. Krista and I seem to go well together with out travels. We are like opposites that attract, I am my beachy self, I play with light and cameras and Krista is my geeky (and I say that with the utmost love) girlfriend who plays with tech and apps and can make my mind spin when she talks about it all. And I love her for that! That and the fact that we can go out for dinner and before we even get to the restaurant we are sporting cowboy boots and fitting in with the locals. We laughed, we cried, we ate fried chicken and fried pickles, we experienced lots of live music and we danced the night away. We stayed up late chatting when we should have been sleeping and we ran through Opryland in our pj’s (our real pj’s not the pretty ones for the party) looking for lost items. I couldn’t have asked for a better roommate and travel partner. And I am already looking forward to our next adventure this summer with another of our girlfriends Capital Mom, can you say ROAD TRIP???

Blissdom was full of so much awesome, I don’t even know where to start. I should say that I only attended sessions in the Photography Track because I was a Community Leader  for some of the sessions and I wanted to hear all the good stuff from the other sessions that I wasn’t a leader in. We didn’t quite follow the new worksheet format due to the nature of the sessions, but it was awesome just the same. I got to meet and hear Me Ra Koh, so beautiful and inspirational, she has Best Seller out called Your Baby in Pictures. Me Ra reminded us to be proud when we “Shoot Like a Woman” as we do have a different view than most men do. Aimee Giese, she is witty and funny and I loved everything she had to share with “Capturing the Moment” if you wait for perfection, you may miss what is going on right in front of you. Diane Cu from White on Rice Couple, oh my (yes, she made me cry again!) with her “Storytelling and Bracing Imperfection”. Diane demonstrated how photos and video can be perfect even when they are not technically correct. And Ryan Marshall and fellow Canadian Jason Hudson discussed “Expanding your Brand: Mobile Photography with Microblogging and Instagram”. They discussed how you should have a purpose with your mobile blogging and instagram as it is still an extension of you. This is something I hope to work on more as I think I am lacking in this area.

And last but not least, the amazing Kristin Luna, who gave us great tips on getting better images and got us exploring our cameras, some of us worked on getting our cameras going and some of us went on a photowalk. Kristen is so lovely and it was such a treat to hear her speak.

And to top off all the awesomeness that was learning, we were treated to lots and lots of talented musicians (Nathan Pacheco, Joe Jonas, Rascal Flatts and Chris Mann) a few parties and plenty of time to network and visit the sponsor booths.

Whew!! I know I could share so much more, but I may have to save that for another post….

I do have one last fun thing though so don’t run off !!!

So many people asked me about my amazing Twitter necklace. You can see Krista and I wearing them in our red carpet photo below with Shannon and Tara, you can also see Alli Worthington wearing hers on stage in her opening speech. These necklaces are made by a local (to Ottawa) jeweler called Blend Creations and since they heard how many people had been asking about the necklaces they have offered to give one away to one of my readers! The winner will receive one @ Necklace with their twitter handle on it, shipped directly to them.
How exciting is that???  All you have to do is leave a comment telling me who your fave artist of Blissdom’12 is. Even if you didn’t attend Blissdom’12 you can still play along and win a necklace, just let me know who your fave artist is out of the four who played for us at Blissdom’12 and you will be entered to win.  Contest closes Friday at Noon (EST) and the winner will be announced later in the day.

In just 23 Days, I will be getting on another airplane and heading South again. And again, I am traveling to a place I have never been before. I think it is prudent to say that 2012 is the year of Travel for BeachMama, travel to new and exciting places, where I get to meet amazing people and have amazing experiences.

Next stop for me, Nashville, Tennessee for Blissdom’12 at the Opryland Hotel. Wow! I am so thrilled to be a Community Leader in the Photography Niche, which means that I will be hosting a round table in the Photography Niche, so bring your photo questions, gear questions, blog questions and join me at my table.

Of Course this post doesn’t stop there.  I also welcome you to come and talk to me anytime at the conference. If you are a newbie to conferences or Blissdom, please don’t be shy.  Although this is my first Blissdom in the US, I have attended both Blissdom Canada Conferences in Toronto. And although I was part of the official photography team, I was able to absorb and enjoy both conferences. I have also attended Blogher ’10 and ’11, Women in Business last May, She’s Connected ’10 and ’11, Amplify Her Awesome as the official photographer, Imaging USA, The Savvy Photographer Workshop on the Waterfront and, and, I think that is all in the last few years, but it is a lot. And I have enjoyed each and every one of them for so many reasons. The best one being how I was able to connect with different people and be inspired by them.

Since I am so often on the other side of the camera, here is a little photo of me so you can get the idea. Although I don’t think I will be dressed for summer in Nashville, I will have my camera with me so I thought it would be fun to show you one of my self portraits from San Diego last year. I will be less tanned, but just as smiley.

Since I have attended a few conferences, I thought it would be a good idea for me to offer a few of my Do’s And Don’ts of Conference Etiquette. I am sure others will find more to add, but here are a few tips from me.

DO:

• Bring your power supplies for all your devices, you will need to recharge when you least expect it and you don’t want to be running around looking for the one person who has the same cell phone as you.
• Label all your power supplies and personal devices. There will be room’s full of people with all the same things you want to be able to identify yours.
• Bring a power bar for your hotel room and to possibly bring down with you to the conference rooms. There are never enough plugs and unless you want to find yourself sitting on the floor leaning on the wall next to a plug, it’s a good idea.
• Bring a refillable water bottle. Hotels are dry and there is usually jugs of water or stations to refill, its a good thing to remember.
• Bring a few extra things to wear.  Once you plan your wardrobe, throw in an extra outfit or two. You never know when your plans might change or you just feel like changing! You may not want to go from sitting in a conference room to a party in the same outfit. It feels good to change (some say I do it a lot…)
• Extra pair of comfortable shoes. Packing is always tight and if you are like me you bring all your party shoes, and look great shoes and by the end of the second day you just wish you had your really comfy shoes. Throw them in! Better to be comfy than not, I always say.
• A sweater. Since I have never been to Nashville, well, ever, I can’t say what the weather will be exactly. But I do find that no matter what time of year conference rooms can be chilly. It doesn’t hurt to throw in a sweater or wrap that you can throw in your bag and pull out when needed, there is nothing worse than being cold all day. Trust me I live in Ottawa and it is winter right now.

A few Don’ts for you that are also Do’s:

• Don’t forget your business cards, if you don’t have any right now don’t despair you can have some made up and printed very quickly at your local Staples or Kinko’s. Put your info on them, Blog name and link, Twitter handle, Facebook Page and if you can a photo of you (I need to add this to my next round of social media business cards myself).
• Don’t forget your camera. You don’t have to have a big fancy camera, bring your point and shoot or your cell phone, but make sure you have room to take pics, there is always so much to see and capture and you never know when you might run into someone you have been dying to meet, get that photo of the two of you together.
• Don’t forget extra batteries for your camera!
• Don’t forget to tip your bartender at the parties! This is my biggest don’t. Even if you get a free drink ticket, don’t forget that the bartenders are still making your drink, throw down a single or some change, it will make their night and they will remember you if you need some water or something else that night.
• Don’t forget to tip the maid service and bellman. This is usually done on your last day, as you leave right your maid service a little Thank you note with your tip and leave it on the dresser. Let them know you appreciated all those fresh towels and extra coffee they dropped off for you. And the bellman, scrambling to get you a cab, be sure to thank him as well.

Whew! I think that is all for now.  At least all that I can think of at this moment…. except one thing. Be sure to have lots of fun!! If you are being brave and coming alone, don’t despair you will meet someone at breakfast the first morning, so don’t stay in your room, head down and join the group.

And since that photo of me up there is a little hard to see what I look like, here is another one. Yes, I am not that tanned right now, it is winter after all, but I still look pretty much the same. Stop by, say hi, join in the discussions. I look forward to meeting you all in Nashville!