Blissdom At Home and My Bliss Experience

Last October I bought a last minute ticket to Blissdom Canada. It was an experience to remember.

I still remember sitting in Shes Connected with a great bunch of friends and thinking how inspirational some of the speakers there were and that I really needed to be at the Blissdom Canada conference happening a couple of weeks later. It was sold out, as Blissdom often is, and I wasn’t sure we could afford it. Sponsorship wasn’t an option, because clearly it was too close to the event. And then there was my Mom, who had been really ill all summer. Could she manage without me? I was unsure. 

The thing about these conferences though is that they are incredibly productive. And, a wee bit addictive too.  They are great opportunities to network. Amazing chances to meet some people you have only met on line. And, as exciting as that is, it is also an amazing chance to connect with faces behind some of your favourite brands. So, as I sat there thinking how passionate I was about the on line writing part of blogging and Shes Connected, a tweet came across my screen. “Selling my ticket to Blissdom Canada. 🙁 ” And I tweeted back without missing a heartbeat that I would buy it.

While it was a little bit overwhelming, Blissdom Canada 2011 was also an outrageous opportunity that was too good to be missed. This afternoon at lunch when they released tickets for this October’s event, well I was one of the first on line, and I might have done the same for Nashville’s February Blissdom earlier this year if I’d been able. 

Let me explain why. Connecting with all the other brilliant personalities was invaluable. But more than that I gained some jobs and some campaigns and solidified others at Blissdom. I had fun, where I hadn’t done that in months. I had some time away. There was amazing food. Really amazing food. I had some strange skin treatment done on my face. I visited the CBC and attended a red carpet event and it was utter craziness, especially since I got to meet @anndouglas and @scarbiedoll and @aureliacotta, whose wit made me fast friends with them on twitter and who exceeded my expectations in real life. I met the lovely @LisLannin, my roomie for the two days and I grew as a writer and blogger again, and almost palpably became caught up in the entire experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I listened to @ambermac and disagreed with a few people and I was inspired and filled with ideas. I tweeted a lot, I charged and recharged my phone. I took pictures and yes, some swag. I was at different points, lost and then found, in awe and then in control, exhausted and energized, worried and then stress free, scared and then completely unafraid, filled with admiration for some incredible speakers and irate with others (mostly other bloggers). I danced, laughed until I almost cried and left with jobs on my plate. It helped me again to reframe my writing and blogginas a professional.

Immediately after the conference, a story I wrote called Detour, about finding Bliss, was nominated for a Canadian Family Reader’s Choice award. 

So when Nashville came up I didn’t go. My plate was full again and I was very much in charge of my writing and blogging. But I watched on twitter and facebook with envy. I wondered what I might be missing. Recently Blissdom sent me an email about the package of taped sessions from Nashville and I was giddy. The sessions are available to all for only $99. Trust me, having Blissdom at Home, is the next best thing to being there. And frankly its a great idea. Even when you are at these conferences sometimes ideas slip away when you leave the context of the setting. So I am ordering these. You can do the same. I became an affiliate so that I can share the great DVDs with you. Many of you may not be able to make it to any more conferences this year, but this is one way you can save time and airfare and still stay on top of blogging practices, business practices and other pertinent information. Just click on the button in this blog and you can have it all.

I am a Blissdom at Home affiliate and as such I receive a small percentage of each sale that occurs through my link. I plan to travel to a few more conferences this year to bring the information back to you. Please help me to do that, by purchasing your Blissdom at Home gift to yourself.