#BloggerConfessions: Week 3- Blog Conferences

Do you have a favorite blog? Of course you have several; and are perhaps even a blogger yourself. Have you ever wondered from time to time how they do it? Or does everything on your end of the screen seem so flawless your perspective on your own life gets a little fuzzy? Well I am here to tell you that blogging is not the perfection perceived- it is most often crazy hours, emails in the wee hours, and balancing on chairs in hallways to get the perfect light. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes before that URL can hit the internet, and myself and a group of bloggers are here to give you the down and dirty secrets of #BloggerConfessions in a new weekly blog hop that invites you to confess on a new topic each week.

Whether you're looking for a fun hop you can fill an organic content need with(yes, us bloggers worry about that), or are simply a reader looking for the juicy, and often hilarious, truth on blogging- you're invited. Bloggers, feel free to post your response to each week's topic any day of the week (Thursday is the feature day) and link up to the LINKY at the bottom of this post. Be sure to grab the button while you're here! Readers, sit back, relax, and prepare as we demystify blogging one dish at a time!

Week 3: Feeling A Little Shy? Conferences and More!

Prompt: Have you ever been to a blogger conference? With BlogHer 2014 just a few weeks passed, what better time to dish about the behind the scenes craziness that goes on at your favorite blogging conferences. Whether you have a story about your 'first time' to share or just a fond memory, let's hear it!

What happens at a blog conference stays at blog conference, right?

It's actually quite the opposite, right? If there is any conference where people are encouraged to dish every moment, including the down and dirty, it's at a conference designed entirely for social networking and amplification. Sure you go to COMIC Con or D23 and you take a million pictures and Facebook yourself next to R2D2 and Jack Sparrow, but at a blog conference you're not the only one sharing photos of you. There's the thrill of spotting a blogger you've been reading for several years and finally get to gush to in person, *cough Lena Burkut, Way 2 Goodlife* and there's the sponsors who stage elaborate events and activities designed to get your guard down while media and your peers snap away at sharing stations. If you expect to visit a blog conference and walk away without permanent evidence in the Cloud you are in for a surprise, my friend!

It took me 4 years, blogging every day, sometimes twice a day, to get my but to a blog conference. Why? Because I fall into that large margin of bloggers with social anxieties that enjoy being seen and heard from the other side of a computer screen. Let's face it, blogging is a controlled world- it's intended to be a glimpse into our lives, but at the end of the day we decide how raw that glimpse truly is. I can talk up storms in Google Chat or Facebook Groups, but I'm hesitant to own myself in public crowds. It's something blogging has actually helped me with tremendously.

I won't lie, however, when I won a scholarship to #SoFabCon14, in Arkansas, this past Spring I was more terrified than excited. The group of bloggers attending was much smaller than, say, BlogHer, but they seemed much more outgoing and active in general. People were grouping up to plan costumes for parties months in advance, and even sharing their suitcase wardrobes online. I half anticipated I'd die on the first day and never leave my hotel room. Luckily, Alyssa of Giveaway Overload, was my roommate and the perfect match for me anxious personality. While I don't have kids yet, we had a lot in common and spend the majority of the event awkwardly growing together.

Having recently just left #BlogHer14, in San Jose, I can't say I was any more comfortable walking into the 4k+ blogger/writer/entrepreneur event. It was much larger than SoFabCon, but thankfully spread out over more events and a larger space. Once again, having the right roomie saved the day- fearless Kangaroo Mama was the perfect clean and respectful roommate, that helped motivate me to stay active an partake in the conferences events. At one point I caught the above photos of her sitting on the toilet dishing all her #SheetHappens secreted to Angel Soft! You never know what you'll see at a blogger conference! As it turns out, I'm considering charging to be my roommate at the next event; Kangaroo Mama won a Dolce Gusto Espresso Maker prize bundle, and my SoFabCon roomie had also won a several thousand dollar prize pack!

Yes lots go on at blogger conferences, but, perhaps nothing as important as the lifelong connections that are made hugging and greeting between those badges. Super blogger Alicia Gonzalez, 24/7 Modern Mom, showed me what it was to be Mom and Roar when she was determined to attend the event with all 5 kids in tow. This woman is a rock star ya'll! And she even won a Ferrari (okay, that's not a Ferrari, and she didn't win it, but you never know what you'll find at a Blogger Con!) I suppose this blogger conference thing gets easier with each go- but, for me, it's the people you attend with that rally make the difference!

Link up your Blog Conferences #BloggerConfessions anytime between now and next Thursday!

Prompt for Week 4: (8/14) Blogging Nightmares- Okay, it's time to dish about that sponsored post, blog hop, complicated recipe, or just generally rocking post that almost didn't happen. We want to hear about computer mishaps, missed flights, Blogger mysteries and that time when your perfect post was much more of a quest to tackle than anyone could have ever known!
<center> <a href="http://www.mommatoldmeblog.com/"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlP7GyG3Pt8dyYP3Tn6JcUEasvr-U4ottlLXqoqgl4YCgtrlmAZQRZLsAHKJUgFKWyZeua7WEfqjHxDI-9Skea8VwuRzGrakfEuCKEJLL-or1H2fHqCPC1KpTqlDj6xhoAcn6ggxDyrVr7/s1600/Animated+Blogger+Confessions.gif" /></a></center>