This past Saturday I had the opportunity to gather with a group of 140 bloggers for a one day Minnesota Blogger Conference. It was held at the funky and modern location of, CoCo Co-working and Collaborative Space in St. Paul, MN, who opened their doors to host this event.
One of things that I am discovering about blogging events, meet-ups and conferences is the experience of gathering together IRL (In Real Life) with other bloggers. When Kristin and I first launched off in this blogging world we didn’t even know what we were getting ourselves into. We didn’t know that people we would meet online would transcend into real relationships! We… dare I say it? mocked the time we sat on twitter with our “twitter friends”-never realizing they would turn into true friends in real life. As we continued down the blogging path we started to realize that the path we were on was allowing us to have a quick launch into meeting a community of amazing, creative and curious people! There was more to be a part of then we realized.
One group of veteran Minnesota bloggers at the conference was asked to share, “why they blog?” I loved some of their answers and found many of them resonated with me. James Lileks, of The Bleat, cracked us all up by explaining to us that blogging is just “unbridled narcissism”. He also talked about the curiosity of blogging and blogging to “see what happens”. Nancy Lyons, of Geek Girls Guide talked also about, “being curious and connecting with people”. Teresa Boardmen, the St. Paul Real Estate Blog, talked about her surprise of discovering that what she didn’t know how to do, could become a passion. And, Patrick Rhone talked about online-writers being artists and craftspeople.
Wow! Together they summed up many of my feelings. Kristin and I started on this blogging journey with a couple of creative ideas. We had a need to create- because of a curiosity of what if? We had a desire to follow our dreams and a sense of seeking adventure. We are finding out that we can learn the technology that goes along with this and we are growing. We have discovered that the relationships we make along the way are valuable and meaningful. And, just down right…fun! It’s too good to walk away from!!
Some of the bloggers I have started to get to know are bloggers such as Heather of, Extraordinary Ordinary. She was one of the speakers at the conference, speaking on “finding your authentic voice”. Others of my IRL budding Minnesota bloggy friendships (that were at this conference) are Allison of O My Family, Molly of The Snyder 5, Trish of Off Camera with Trish Van Pilsum, Kate from Kate In the Kitchen, Steph from Fresh Tart and Maggie from Gussy, has a lot to say (and sew). They are all creative and interesting.
After the conference, as I walked back to my parking garage with Molly, she asked me the simplest of questions, “So what does the rest of your weekend look like?” And, this is where I identify blogging (behind your desk in your empty house in your jammies with your coffee and dog) stops off and we go from blogger and twitter friends finding common connections to eventually becoming friends IRL…friends that are sincerely interested. And, this to me is the treasure in the journey of blogging!
I blog to create and out of curiosity. Curiosity to see what I will discover and become. Curiosity to see what amazing people I will meet. And, I blog to connect, to connect to myself, my best friend and my growing community just beyond my screen.
The day ended on a touching note on how close the blogging community can become. Matt Logelin, shared his heart wrenching story of how the blogging community gathered around and touched his life, after the death of his wife.
Thanks to Arik Hanson of Communications Conversations, Suzi Magille of Pink Vanilla Cupcakes, Katie Schutrop of Katie In Mpls, Lindsey Verbeten and to Missy of Minnesota Marketing Mama for putting on an educational and meaningful conference where we got to feel connected to each other and to something that is truly creative and inspirational ~ In Real Life!
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