Arkansas Women Bloggers Conference 2013

This weekend I attended the 2013 Arkansas Women Bloggers Conference. It was the first time I had ever attended this conference and I am so glad I was able to go. I have to be honest, I was a little nervous about going because I didn’t know anyone and I’m not good at making friends. It takes time for me to get to know people and feel comfortable being around them so I assumed it would be a somewhat awkward weekend for me.

Partially, I felt this way because I’m a little different. I know, shocking to hear, but I am. I don’t always fit in well with groups and I usually feel very out of place. I am overweight, I don’t wear makeup, and I don’t usually dress up at all. The email we got that mentioned dress said to be comfortable but just wear a cute top since people would be taking photos. Comfortable and cute top are an oxymoron to me. I did wear some jewelry on Friday, but that is rare for me. I guess it was my small attempt to try and fit in a little bit.

What I found when I arrived and continued throughout the weekend, were warm welcomes and absolutely no judgment. No one cared what I was wearing, and nearly everyone I came in contact with spoke to me like they had known me for years. It was truly refreshing!

Multiple speakers throughout the weekend mentioned the fact that we were not competing with one another, but we were a community. We supported each other and helped each other grow. This was so true. People were openly willing to share what was working for them and what they were doing with their blog. The session speakers were wonderful and extremely helpful.

I will likely post more concerning this conference as my mind processes the things I learned, however, I want to give two shout out’s before I end this post.

The first is to The Park Wife. Not only did she do an amazing job coordinating and putting this amazing weekend together, she saved me from the BIGGEST horse fly I think I’ve ever seen. I got up to try and get it to fly away and it wouldn’t budge. The Park Wife saved the day (I’m not scared of bugs, I promise, it just wasn’t moving)!

The second shout out is to TEAM 7!!! Jacqueline Wolven, Sarea Clark, and Allyson Twiggs Dyer were amazing! So glad I got to meet them and work with them on the “Big Event”. Oh, and did I mention that 4 non-cooks won 2^nd Place!! Jackie’s secret ingredient was brilliant and taking risks and cooking with candy pays off!