The power of the blog

SNAP

I went to Utah last weekend.  Salt Lake City to be exact.  

I could tell you that I was skiing the gorgeous mountains or hiking the wilderness terrain, but I wasn't.  I was attending my first blog conference.

I had no idea that blog conferences even existed until this past fall.  I had just started my Lapis&Moss as a blog after closing down my antique booth.  Desperate for a creative outlet I turned to writing.  My life just keeps coming back full circle.

A promotion came across my computer screen for a blog conference, located in Salt Lake City in April.  The conference focused heavily on design and DIY blogs.  The conference was called SNAP.

I'm going to admit this, freely, that at the time I signed up for this conference I had barely written two blog posts and I had no idea where I was going with it.  I had been doing DIY and design for 20 years out of necessity so I took the leap and signed up for the conference.  What did I have to lose?  If anything I would go out to Salt Lake City, spend the weekend in a nice hotel and enjoy a little R&R.

The SNAP conference was held last weekend. I flew out on Thursday and took the red-eye home Saturday night.  Three days full of jam packed informational sessions, talented speakers and hands-on activities.  I was completely beyond my comfort zone.

Beyond my comfort zone because it was all so new.  I walked into a new environment, I knew no one and to be perfectly honest I really didn't know what exactly I was doing.  Thursday was a whirlwind.  Totally exhausting from travel and the adrenaline rush of the first day.

At The Picket Fence

When I woke up Friday morning I went to the hotel lobby for a cup of coffee.  I sat and watched as talented bloggers walked by and I thought to myself "what am I doing here?"  I'm the new kid on the block.  Do I really think I have a chance at this blog stuff? 

At that moment a woman walked by.  She was on a mission to find caffeine.  Without hesitation she paused her momentum to find the perfect cup of coffee, looked my way, and walked in my direction.  She introduced herself as Vanessa.  She sat down to chat.

Vanessa sat down and had a demeanor that invited you in as if you'd known her forever.  I think she could see the look in my eyes as if I was attending the first day of school, in a new place, and needed a friend.  She selflessly prolonged her cup of coffee to inspire me for the rest of the weekend.  Little did I know at the moment that Vanessa was guest speaker at SNAP from the ever popular blog http://www.atthepicketfence.com/

Vanessa took me "under her wing", so to speak, for the duration of the conference.  Vanessa introduced me to her sister, Heather, later that evening.  They created their blog At The Picket Fence as a coordinated effort due to living apart long distance and a love for design and DIY.  Heather was equally as inviting and spoke of just recently launching her own health & wellness group called Heather Patterson Health Coach.

Vanessa and Heather, shown pictured above (sorry for the poor photo quality), have so much talent!  In addition they're just good, nice people.  In a world full of "it's all about me" and "what can you do for me" it was refreshing to meet them.  Fate was on my side that morning.

They introduced me, without hesitation, to their peers and I found them to be equally inviting and welcoming and the gap in my comfort zone was growing smaller.  I was introduced to Tauni the creator of SNAP,  KariAnne from Thistlewood Farms, Donna from Funky Junk Interiors and Miriam from Hometalk.  So many amazing women who are out there doing what they love.  When I met Laura from Finding Home she handed me her business card and I knew I wanted to visit her blog immediately.  I hadn't spoken with Laura in length but upon seeing her blog I knew we had a connection.  The power of the blog.

In addition to meeting these incredible bloggers, I was also able to connect with one of my personal idols, Jo Packham.  She's a publishing goddess in my eyes.  She's the Creator/Editor in Chief of The Where Women Create which she partners with Stampington & Company to publish.  Knowing Jo was going to be at this conference was a contributing factory to why I flew the many miles to attend SNAP.  It was worth it.  In person, Jo is about as inspirational as it gets and she's kind.  Really kind.  My expectations were exceeded by meeting in her in the flesh.  Another poor quality photo below, but who cares! I I had my picture taken with Jo Packham.

All in all SNAP was an incredible experience.  I could not believe the talent that surrounded me.  There were so many bloggers in one place with so much in common and my only regret is that I didn't get to meet more of them while I was there.

I am grateful to Vanessa for her instinctive kindness and excited about the new friends I met.  The blog really is a powerful thing.