AWBU 2012: Not (Just) About the Boots!


Affiliate links may be included for your convenience. View our privacy and affiliates policy for details.

I have mentioned before that I am attending the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged conference, which is coming up next weekend. I’m really excited to get to take some time to hang out with all these smart, sassy ladies, learn more about blogging, be reminded why I want to do it and spend some time in a pretty part of my state that I’ve never really explored before.

There are actually a lot of reasons I’m jazzed about this event, and I wanted to share a few in case you’re thinking about attending a blogger conference and aren’t sure you want to do it.

Women's Heritage Western R Toe Boot - Brown Oiled Rowdy by Ariat
Soon-to-be-mine Ariat boots. Thanks, Country Outfitter!
  1. Me time. I know it’s pathetic to call something that’s a business-related event “me time,” but for me, it will be. I will be in the car, alone, for six hours to get there and back. I will sleep in a building with no children in it for the first time in almost exactly three years. I will get to spend some time in my own head for a change. I may even get an audiobook from the library, since I won’t have to listen to that rendition of “Rub a Dub Dub” that sounds just like the Spice Girls one. more. time. At least for two days.
  2. Girl time. I have a fair number of local bloggy friends (or people I wish I knew enough to call friends) who I almost never see because we work and have kids and want to see our husbands now and then and all that. This event will be work, but it will also be fun to see people I wish I got to see more of, and hopefully to meet some new people to add to that list.
  3. Doing something scary. I already wrote about how I don’t like leaving my house, and how this event is likely to be overwhelming and send me running to the quiet corner and my knitting needles more than once, but I need to do it. In the end I’ll look back and it will have been good and worth it and the next time will be less scary. I hope.
  4. Getting back to the fun of it. You may have noticed I haven’t actually been writing about crafting much lately. It’s because I haven’t been crafting much lately. I have this looming deadline for a book and I want to get it so damn right that it’s taking every speck of “free” time I have. Even just a weekend of thinking a little less about that (though I’ll no doubt have book knitting with me) I hope will help me remember how important that part is to me, too, so I can work harder to carve out space for that in the near future.
  5. Awesome sponsors. People outside of Arkansas often don’t know about the awesomeness that resides here. Not just the bloggers, though we are made of awesome. But there are also great businesses and groups helping to make the world a better, or at least a happier place. Two I’ll mention here: Healthy Families is a must-read if you’re pregnant, thinking about getting pregnant or have a child. Their Happy Birthday Baby Book (with a second volume about bigger kids) is available online or you can order hard copies to sneak into all the diaper bags at the pediatrician’s office. And on the making the world a happier place side, I bring you Petit Jean Meats, who I hope is packing lots of bacon.
  6. And the boots! Speaking of awesome sponsors, there’s yet one more, and this is really the one you’ll most be interested in. Country Outfitter is an online shopping site that has all the gear you need for western adventures like the one we’re about to have in Mountain View. There will be jig dancing, in cowboy boots! They’re actually providing free boots for attendees, and, get this, giving us the opportunity to hook our readers up with some boots, too! So stay tuned for that after the conference.

Have you ever been to a blogger conference, big or small? What should I prepare for?

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing!

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

(Visited 138 times, 1 visits today)

You may also like

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.