Last weekend, I attended the mother of all blogging conferences: BlogHer 2017. Lucky for me, it was being held in Orlando, just a little over an hour away from me. I have always wanted to attend this conference, but plane tickets plus conference pass plus hotel was just not in the cards, so I was pumped when some of those things ended up being taken care of!
I arrived on Thursday to the beautiful Hilton Bonnet Creek. I LOVE this hotel yall. It was my 3rd time staying here, and it was just as beautiful as ever.
I had the opportunity to have snacks and drinks with some blogger friends and some of the marketing team at Bonnet Creek, and it was a great way to kick off the weekend!
Thursday afternoon was registration, and my roommates arrived just in time. We heard Chelsea Clinton speak, then got checked in. 
With 2500+ bloggers trying to check in, the line was super long so we waited awhile before doing so. I went to the expo by myself after this, and compare it to the first day of a runDisney expo–a little crazy!
Then it was time for the Princess Cruise event. They are rolling out new technology similar to a Disney Magic Band but way prettier and more advanced. You can tap a screen and it will tell you how to get to the pool with the fastest route considering traffic flow on the ship.
I was pretty wiped out after that since I still had my cold, so I went to bed. The next morning we were up bright and early for the 7:30 newbie breakfast we had registered for. Imagine our surprise when we got downstairs and the line was well over 100 people long. We waited a few minutes then were told the breakfast was full to capacity and we would have to go to regular breakfast. Huh? We REGISTERED for this…why were they not checking names?! I was really irritated by this and it sadly wouldn’t be the last time this happened to people over the weekend. We got breakfast and headed in to the breakfast keynote, which was WAY more political than I was anticipating at a blog conference.
We then had our first breakout session, then lunch, then another breakout session. But let me backup. I was eating lunch with a Disney friend of mine, and he asked me if I wanted to meet Serena…Well, duh! So I ran off after him to the backstage area where we hung out for a few minutes before she took the stage. It was amazing! I was slightly starstruck and on a high the rest of the afternoon.
I ran over to another special event with HP, and then back for the afternoon session. The session rooms were super crowded as they did not have enough chairs so I had to sit on the floor. Not a huge deal, but just thought planning would have been better for the amount of people there.
After this, we were on our own for dinner. There was an event that night my roommates and I decided to skip, and instead we ubered to Disney Springs for dinner and drinks and had a blast.
My food was very good and I will definitely be back again.
We had a happy hour I was invited to that we attended next, so we ubered to a different hotel for it and met some more great people, and had yummy drinks and snacks.
We were all tired after that so we got in our PJ’s, made some drinks and watched TV in bed. Adulting is hard.
The next morning we had to pack up all of our stuff since we were checking out of the hotel, so we brought it all to our cars before breakfast. We ate, had another keynote (Gabby Reece and Laurie Hernandez!) and then I had another special event called “speed dating”. I had 90 seconds to talk with 6 brands and see if they wanted to work with me. It was super nerve wracking but also fun.
I went back into the expo after that was over because I had some time before lunch. I grabbed a mashtini from Bob Evans (yum!) and met with a couple more brands.
After lunch I had a meeting with another brand, so I missed part of the keynote but came back to see Carla Hall and Cat Cora speak.
Then we went to our last session which was by far my favorite. I am implementing things I learned as we speak, and can’t wait to do more! I decided to not stay for the closing party so I could get back to Tampa and help my husband with Emma Kate, but I was also too worn out to stay up late then drive home.
I had a blast getting to know my roommates more and also meeting other bloggers and brands. That in itself was worth it to me.
So to recap BlogHer:
Things I loved: Meeting new bloggers, hanging out with my roommates, meeting with brands, a couple of the sessions and special events. The host hotel was amazing.
Things that were just OK: variety of food. At breakfast there was no protein which made me sad. Some of the sessions didn’t have space/seating and were more surface level teaching than I would have liked.
Things I didn’t like: Being turned away for an event I registered for. This happened again later in the weekend for a special movie screening some people attended as well. Way way way too much political talk. And it was very obviously one sided. Was not a fan. Teach me about blogging! teach me about networking!
Would I attend again. It depends. If it was in an easy to get to location and my friends were going as well as great brands/sponsors, I would go again. I would just skip some of the keynotes and things I know that I’m not going to be a fan of hearing.
If you have any questions let me know, I would be happy to try and answer.
You can also use your account on a PC if you don’t have a Droid or iPhone.
Dealing with Blog Negativity
Hi everyone! First of all a warm welcome to the new readers coming over after Healthy Living Summit posts, sent from other people’s recaps, etc. Welcome to RWS! Sit down, stay awhile! Check out the About Me section and my Top Posts section for starters!
One of the sessions I attended at HLS was on dealing with blog negativity. Imagine that, someone leaving mean and negative comments on a blog!
Who would EVER do a thing like that, hhhmmm? If you have a blog and have not yet had to deal with this, consider yourself lucky. I feel like I get a fair share here because I choose to be very real on my blog. Of course, I like to try to keep things positive and upbeat, but at the same time, I don’t gloss over real issues, problems I am dealing with, and the way I really feel about things.
life isn’t always rainbows and flowers. I am NOT perfect!
–Constructive criticism vs. mean comments
As much as I would love to give everyone the benefit of the doubt (and I REALLY try to) some people are just what I like to call “a bad egg.” They are going to find something mean to say, and then cover their backs by saying it was “constructive criticism.” This is one of the things the panel at HLS talked about…there is a difference in CONSTRUCTIVE (building up and helpful criticism) and just being mean , hurtful, and evil for no good reason.
I think the biggest problem is, we have these people hiding behind their mask that is the computer screen, and who feel like it gives them free reign to say whatever to whomever they choose. I mean really, is it something you would say in real life to a friend? Then why would you think it’s ok to say to a stranger? You don’t know what people are going through behind closed doors.
mommy says not to talk to strangers
–Creating your own reality
Another thing we talked about is creating your own reality. Hate to break it to the haters, but it’s my blog, my space, and I can write on it whatever I choose, and I can choose to hit the button labeled spam. Not to mention….I can track your IP address and see if you have ever commented before. If I don’t want mean comments on my blog, I can block them. If I want to share my opinion on a controversial topic, I can. If I KNOW there is a blog out there that is going to upset me, I can choose not to read it. (Why people waste their time reading and commenting on blogs that “annoy” them blows my mind. Time is so precious, friends!) I remember the first mean comment I ever got…I was devastated, and it upset me for days. It seemed to be all I could think about, until one day I realized by letting it disrupt my day, that person had WON! I refuse to give people the satisfaction, so now I just get over it and move on. Not everyone is going to like my blog and I am totally ok with that.
–Cool off before responding
This is where I have failed in the past and let my temper get the better of me. It is in my nature to immediately write out a snarky response, and have kind of a “take that”attitude, which isn’t very kind on my part, and won’t help the situation. I am human, I make mistakes (a LOT of them, trust me!) But this is an area where I feel I have really grown over the past years of blogging. If someone leaves a negative comment instead of responding right away, I get away from my computer, think about it for awhile, and 9 times out of 10, I end up responding differently (and more ladylike!) then I would have if I had answered right away. Let cooler heads prevail!
This cream colored puppy has TOTALLY taken the spotlight, I need to take a w-a-l-k and cool off before I deal with her.
Ultimately, how you choose to handle negativity on your blog is up to you, it’s YOUR blog! Yahoo!!! Some may ignore, some may delete, and some may confront. You have to choose what is right for you, your personality, and your blog. My main takeaway would be to not let a naysayer control your emotions. They aren’t worth it! For every negative comment, think of the dozens of comments you get telling you how much people love your blog, how inspiring you are, etc. THOSE are the ones you want to stick with you, and that is why I blog. To help, to give hope, and to inspire. If it ever becomes more hurtful than helpful to myself, my relationships, and my readers, then I know it is time to stop. Blog negativity is real, it’s rampant, and there is only so much we can do. I think it’s wise to have an action plan in place before it happens to you so that you don’t make a decision you will regret later. I am rooting for you and hope you don’t let blog negativity get you down!
QOTD: How do you deal with negativity on your blog? Do you get negative comments on your blog?