Here we are, a week later, and I am STILL recapping Texas Style Council from the weekend before last. It was THAT good! I'm dumping some pics from prom today, and I also wanted to note some of the great inspiration I took away from the conference. This will be the last post of its kind, I promise! ;)Can I just say, though, that TXSC was done so wonderfully this year - I was blown away left and right, especially by the incredible prom party, all the amazing brands represented there, and the super cool ladies I got to spend time with. It was a BLAST, it just was! Here's a little peek at the evening...
Also, I was nominated for a superlative award! And ended up winning! CRAZY! "Best Local Blog." WOOHOO! A couple of my good friends also won awards, like Shalyn for "Best Newcomer" and Amanda Marie for "Best Accessory." Definitely the first time I've ever won something... pretty darn cool! ;)
I also wanted to take just a moment to share some of the wisdom I gathered over the weekend. There were lots of incredible bloggers and business owners at the conference this year, like Elsie & Emma from A Beautiful Mess, Kendi, Katie from Skunkboy, and lots of other fabulous ladies, with blogs and businesses big and small.
+ I went to Katie from Skunkboy's talk about children on the blog and social media, even though I don't have kids yet. We definitely plan to have babies soon, so I was curious to hear how other bloggers handle privacy/safety issues, what with having their kids all over the WWW. I learned some really interesting things, some of which were kind of horrifying. For example, Katie brought up something that recently happened to her family - people were taking her Instagram photos of her kids, making fake accounts with the photos, and performing sexual role-play with them. Katie said they got the FBI involved, but the feds said nothing could be done since no crimes were actually committed. The children were clothed in the photos, and weren't actually being harmed. Crazy, right? You fear things like that could happen, but rarely actually hear of it. Makes me think of several people I know who have large followings online and often post nude photos of their young kids, because it's cute and funny to them. This type of thing should absolutely make bloggers think twice before posting photos of their children, especially nude. You never know who's out there lurking.
+ On another note, I felt super inspired by Elsie and Emma's keynote speech on what they've learned from blogging. Here's a few notes I jotted down that you might find inspirational too:
write a blog you want to read.
look beyond the blog world for inspiration
ten ways to stay inspired to blog: 10-Have a magazine day (old magazines too!), 9-Window shopping, 8-The great outdoors (go somewhere beautiful and inspiring!), 7-Flea markets, 6-Classic movies, 5-Travel, 4-Read more books, 3-UNPLUG and brainstorm, 2-Step inside someone else's world, 1-Make an obstacle and overcome it.
be as serious as your dreams are
allow your dreams to evolve over time - changing your mind isn't quitting!
learning new things keeps you humble
be like the best
be the voice you want to hear
create blog features and habits that make life better for your family (for example, if you post recipes on your blog, have a family dinner every sunday night, where you get to try all your new recipes you need for blog posts, and your family can benefit from your good cooking! ;)
make goals you might not reach - why not?! You'll still get farther than if you keep all your goals perfectly attainable
sponsors can add accountability to your blog (amen!)
insist on maintaining your own voice
don't be afraid to pitch your own opportunities
don't drink and blog ;)
strong brands are polarizing (people either love them or hate them). This is not a bad thing
don't take yourself too seriously
blogging is what you make it
I hope some of that inspires you like it inspired me. Have a wonderful new week!
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