Ready to get my Bliss on

surprise package
Originally uploaded by Julep67

For the third year in a row, I'm getting ready to head off to Blissdom Canada this week. The organizers put in an incredible amount of work for us, securing terrific speakers and wonderful sponsors.

The first time I attended this amazing social media conference, I was very nervous about attending. I had never been to a “blogging” conference before. While I have had this blog for a long time (since around 2000, in various formats), I don’t have much of an audience. Most of the time I know that I’m writing for myself and I’ve always been fine with that. I soon realized that while some of the folks attending were very popular bloggers, most of the folks there would be a lot like me. The time we spend in front of our computers is time spent alone (for the most part). This was an opportunity for me to step out from behind the computer and meet the real people from my online community.

I threw myself into my first Blissdom Canada experience with two feet. I went to breakfast that first morning and introduced myself to anyone who I could make eye contact with and met some wonderful people. When I had a chance to meet Gail Vaz-Oxlade, I got very emotional and tears welled up in my eyes. She took one look at me and said, “What’s going on? There is to be no fucking crying in this room!” and followed that up by giving me a big hug. Toward the end of the weekend, I remember tweeting something along the lines of, “I came to Blissdom Canada wanting to become a better writer and am leaving wanting to be a better person.” To say that I was inspired by the weekend was a huge understatement.

Getting ready for Blissdom Canada in 2012, I was nervous again but really excited. This time I had a better idea of what to expect and had made connections with some people I was looking forward to seeing again. The nerves were still there though. I knew that a lot of the attendees knew each other pretty well and were attending in small groups. I was attending on my own, traveling solo, not part of a posse.

The first night of the conference, I saw a tweet go out from someone who was looking for a dinner buddy. I tweeted back and before I knew it, I was in the hotel lobby getting ready to go for dinner with @AureliaCotta, @5minutesformom and @dorisdays88. After we finished our meal, our small group merged with another group and before I knew it, I was part of a mass of people walking to a party a few blocks away. Definitely not something that I would I have thought I would ever do on my own but Blissdom Canada brings together amazing people and I got swept up in it.

In less than 48 hours, I’ll be traveling to Mississauga to attend my third Blissdom Canada and I can say that the nerves are totally gone and I’m just really excited about going. Instead of traveling by train as I have the past two years, I’m hitching a ride with Sarah of http://www.journeysofthezoo.com/ who kindly offered a seat in her car. As I have in other years, I know that I’ll come away from this weekend feeling emotionally exhausted but inspired and happy.

I would say that’s worth getting excited about!

back from the Bliss

Once again this year, I was fortunate enough to attend the Blissdom Canada conference in Toronto.  Last year was my first time attending and I think I had already planned to sign up for 2012 before I'd left Blissdom Canada 2011.

I got home yesterday afternoon, exhausted but very happy.  My brain and my heart are full from everything I experienced and absorbed during Blissdom.  It may take a few days to process it all.  I felt like an emotional mush ball for most of the day yesterday.  A weird but very good way to feel.


The format of the conference had changed significantly this year.  Last year, I think we had almost 2 full days of sessions, round tables, panels, speakers.  This year, we had "micro sessions" in the morning (which were like the roundtables from last year) and there were "TED Style" speakers in the afternoon.  It was a lot of information to absorb in one day.


If I had to chose, I would pick last year's format over this year for one reason.  The two-day format gave us a fair amount of time between sessions to process and reflect upon the information you received, at least that is how I saw it.  I know that this format changed to allow the conference participants to have an excursion/experience on Sunday morning.  From what I saw on twitter yesterday, the excursions were a wonderful success.  I opted out of those and spent the time with friends and family and headed home in the early afternoon.

Again, the "Bliss Chicks" outdid themselves with securing amazing sponsors who I felt treated us all like royalty.  As a person who has a lot of experience in event delivery, I know how much work goes into something like this and I felt that there is a lot of heart and soul involved as well.  I feel like the Bliss Chicks really care about everyone who participates in the conference, whether you are a speaker, sponsor, community leader or just a sponge, like me absorbing all of the awesomeness.  They are working to ensure that Blissdom is a rewarding experience for everyone.

During the Blissdom Canada conferences that I have attended, I have challenged myself to step outside my comfort zone and participate in things I normally wouldn't do. These small risks have big personal payoffs and I can't say enough about how much fun I had. On that note, I'd like to thank Annie and Dee for inviting me into their picture on Friday night.  Honestly, I feel a bit like I photobombed them but they were very sweet and lovely to include me.

Thanks to them and all of the other amazing ladies I had the great good luck to speak with over the weekend.  You're all beautiful and wonderful and so inspiring.

faking it?

A few months ago, I either got an email or saw something via twitter about a blogger conference in Toronto. Now, I hear about blogger conferences all the time, the big ones in the states that some of the writers of my favourite blogs go to. I never considered going to one because, over the past few years anyway, I've not exactly been "blogging it up” and thought I’d feel out of place around actual, real bloggers.

Something about the Toronto conference intrigued me though so I looked into it. The location was certainly handy to me, the price was something I could actually afford and it was for women so it held a lot of appeal. When I attempted to register (only a couple of days after tickets went on sale), I found out that it was sold out. I decided to register for the waiting list. Figuring that I would never be offered a spot, I promptly forgot about it.

Fast forward to yesterday. I get an email from the conference letting me know that a spot has opened up and they will hold it for me for 48 hours. Panic quickly hit me. Could I still afford it? Would I be able to get away from work? Should I even go considering I’ve written maybe 3 posts this year? After discussing it with Mark, I thought I’d just jump in with both feet and sign up. So I did. This morning. Yikes!! It’s called Blissdom Canada 2011 and this is the 2nd year that they have held it.

If I’m honest, I miss writing here. I did pretty regularly for a long time and then just sort of stopped. I blame twitter and facebook. Once I found facebook (I think in 2006) and twitter (again, I think 2007 so a while ago), short status updates became so easy that I got lazy and ignored my blog.

Since that time, I moved it onto blogspot for my own sanity and ease of use. I thought it was easier, I’d be more inclined to write. This has not been the case so far. I’ve been doing this, or something like it, under this banner (if not this URL) since around 2000 (I think, it may have been 2001). My hope for the conference is that it’ll inspire me to get back at it. Maybe it’s working already, after all, I’m writing today. Yay, go me!