ProBlogger – OMG Awesome Let Me Tell You….
No I did not attend the Pro-Blogger Convention, but I’ve read enough about it to pretend:
The Lead Up:
It is ALL about the wardrobe and I am totally following all the fashion blogger advice so that I don’t look like a sartorial dunderhead.
I have made up my own totally spesh business cards, and I WISH so hard I was ubercool and cashed up enough to have personalised pens, notebooks and iPad case so that everyone else would be jealous of ME.
I’m OMG nervous about meeting people IRL (IN REAL LIFE!) and if I get to touch Mrs Woog I will JUST DIE!
The Event:
Oh my God! The hotel was soooo funky and quirky and just a design bloggers DREAM. Instagram Instagram Instagram.
I met so many of my fave bloggers IRL and now we are besties, check out this blurry drunken photo with a python that proves it.
Donuts. Burgers. Coffee. The food was amazing and I was a bit of a piggy.
The speakers were fabulous and so inspiring. Trey made me cry.
The Aftermath:
I missed my kids like crazy, but it was really important for me to have some ME time and recharge so that I can love them all more.
I am FACING MY FEARS because they are actually totally opportunities or some shit like that.
Soooo much information and things to put on my to-do list that I just don’t know where to start before I run out of time and energy and forget everything.
What do you reckon? I totes think I could fool you if I wanted to.
But just to clarify, I’m not actually narky snarky about Problogger. It looks like everyone who went had a truly fabulous time, and from making connections to learning new things, that is what these events are about. I have the same experience when I attend conferences for work. Or even just training days. It is so great to connect with like-minded people, or people passionate about the same industry as myself, and to hear new points of view and glean an amazing amount of information about a huge array of topics.
And I very much appreciate the frustration of coming home from a conference totally motivated and energised and with a huge list of things to do, and quickly running out of time, and then energy, to implement them. I’ve learned that it really is a case of strike while the irons hot, and if it starts to cool, go back to your notes and reconnect with fellow attendees.
Sometimes it is important to make peace with the fact that you won’t get all of those fab ideas implemented and done, but that you can rest assured that some of the really big and important ideas and lessons from the conference WILL stick with you and WILL influence your behaviour and decisions moving forward.
I had a little mini Professional Development day last week where I learned a stack about LinkedIn, and already I am starting to forget some of the stuff that I went Hell Yeah Got to Do That to. One of the things that I did that has helped was to write a little blog post about it for my work’s professional development and whether or not it had any benefit for my colleagues, it was nice for me to reflect a little bit. I am still nagging everyone else at work to get on board with sharing PD experiences through the blog. I will persevere.
I’m also exited to announce that I will be attending a big conference at the end of the year, and that I will be presenting not one but TWO times about programs that I manage. Haven’t got around to drafting more than the initial abstract, but I am certain that I am going to be FABULOUS! Right? A little self-belief goes a long way…..
36 comments on “ProBlogger – OMG Awesome Let Me Tell You….”
Leave a reply to Renee at Mummy, Wife, Me Cancel reply
The Opinionated Manager 
So I just died, I not only touched Mrs Woog but she messed up my pineapple handbag – I was told to get over it. See was lovely though, and wow does she have some groupies
And yes you are right, I haven’t had time to plunge into mad blogger hell but I am going to go back and listen to sessions during my ‘spare’ time – yeah right. It’ll happen when it happens or I make it happen.
Can’t wait to here more about your DEBUT at a conference 🙂
OK. I am jealous – I love The Woog – I feel like we must be best friends she just hasn’t met me yet. Isn’t that just the pinnacle of great blogging!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is hilarious. Hilarious!
It’s always nice to make people laugh! And I imagine you with a sort of wild raucous laugh! If I ever meet you (IRL) and it turns out you just have a squeaky breathy giggle I’m going to have to end this friendship
Don’t worry. She doesn’t. (Have a squeaky breathy giggle). It’s just as you imagine.
So hilarious. And now I’m going to hide – BECAUSE YOU’RE TOTALLY TALKING ABOUT MEEEE!! I was all over the drunken duckface selfies with Woog & BabyMac. And don’t even mention Trey *tears up* Shit. I’m so predictable.
PS You totally could have pulled it off. In fact, didn’t we meet?
I can’t believe you don’t remember that we met! We compared shoes and told each other that we totally LOVED each others writing.
Don’t forget the duckfaces you did with MOI! They totally tore up the instagram feed with their awesomeness!
Been waiting for your comment, dude! My fave blogger keeps me hanging. And totally after The Woog, YOU ARE IT!
Just perfect! Thank you. I don’t think I’ll be able to seriously read another Problogger post after this one. You have covered it all, almost… I would totally believe you if you weaves the dream theme in there somewhere… remember that session!? From the man himself?
Thanks for the laugh.
Oh, the dreams thing goes without saying. I mean, dream big, work on that dream. Start anywhere. Just start.
Thanks to your courage, you have identified the questions that are bubbling beneath all these posts about ProBlogger.
Is ProBlogger a cult?
Are we all brainwashed fanatics who are too willing to throw our money at, and do, whatever the Church of PB says?
If Darren Rowse asked all the women in the room to marry him, would they say yes? (He has a background in religion, just like David Koresh!)
If you say “yes” to any of these questions, will your blog suddenly “disappear”?
Come on, call yourself opinionated? We need answers!!!
This post made me laugh! By all accounts, PB is pretty awesome. And I hear they offer Kool-Aid ;o)
I’m pretty sure the kool aid was mixed in with some serious cocktails. Just to help it go down smooth!
Prob stole the recipe from the DPCON koolaid, hey Robo ;)?
Now see the problem with you satire writers is that every now and again I think “is that bit true or is it ALL bullshit?”
Will I embarrass myself if I ask if The Problogger Man Himself really was one of those religious spruikers, because I can totally see that.
Good satire, like a good cult, should have a grain of truth in it. Nice post, by the way!
Lol. I totes think you could fool anyone too 🙂
Mwah ha ha ha!
LOL – it was a great experience but would I go to another one – I’m not sure about that. Part of the reason I went was because I live on the GC as there is no way I will be paying for flights / accommodation to go to another city for it !!!!
I am sure that you will actually rock both presentations that you give – you are The Opinionated Manager – how could you not rock them ?????
Have the best week !
Me
It’s good to have these experiences, even if its not something you would repeat. Sounds like you challenged yourself to go beyond your comfort zone, and that’s usually a positive thing
It was SO much to take in over the two days. So many people, so many horrid arse numbing chairs (especially if you are a short arse like me and your feet don’t actually touch the ground). I haven’t sat down yet and gone through everything I wrote in my notebook hence no event wrap ups, and I’m also wary of getting caught up in the OMG this is awesome trap. I need time to sit back, analyse and work out what I learned.
Would I go to another one? You bet your arse I will, the atmosphere and being surrounded by people who know what the hell you are talking about was great. Maybe if I didn’t live in hicksville and had the chance to meet up with bloggers more regularly I would be more hesitant about going to a major event again.
It certainly does sound like there was a lot to learn, and I hope that it leads to bigger and better things with your blog. I always get the sense that when you write about mental health in particular it really means a great deal to a lot of people.
I think I was there too. Did we meet? I think we did! Mrs Woog is my bestie, she just hasn’t met me yet. I totes held that snake and that eagle thing and yep I stomped on grapes, instagrammed the feathered ladies and OMG information overload!! I think all my chakras are wide open now – ahhh!! Still processing it all. Soooo exhausting Dahling! All that following it all on IG and Twitter … It was exhausting!! 😉
I may have stalked a few profiles over the weekend. mainly the ones that actually looked they were having a great time and not working too hard. Good luck at your conference!
What a great post! You really covered everything!
I didn’t go either but will next year. I love the ‘face your fears’ thing – I am paranoid I will return from ProBlogger in 2014 WITH fears – I currently have none – Is that bad for a blogger?
On the Woog thing, I really just know nothing about her. Some kind of blogger celebrity?
Thanks for the laugh!
AHHahahahah this is hilarious. Virtual attendance is the best. My claim to faim? Trey now follows me on Twitter. I’m SO in, baby. All because of one little #PBevent hashtag. Fake it, fake it baby. My favourite post of yours yet. x
Thanks Kim! I certainly will keep faking it!
Bloody hilarious! I love a good piece of satire. You had better come next year so we can squee together x
OMG, that is just gorgeous, you just put into words exactly how I felt, I just didn’t consume all the calories, and oh boy I would have! xx Nikki @ Wonderfully Women
That’s right! I will think of it not that I missed out on awesomeness, but that I am one weekend closer to a bikini body than those that went.
Of course you will be fabulous!
And you totally fooled me 🙂
I missed the opening sentence where it said you HAD NOT attended, so I read on, and thought to myself “What is this woman on?” But you managed to sum up so many tweets/stories I have read over the past week, so perfectly! You certainly made me smile!
Interestingly enough, many people ask the question “What is this woman on?” quite frequently
Katyberry, I am flattered indeed! What I love about this post (and many of your others) is that you have a completely original spin on things. You take conversations and events from the world around you, and use them to make an interesting business point. The professional side of me loves these insights. But you also have the humour to take the piss without being snarky. Now getting that balance right all in the one post takes some truly skillful writing!
PS Did not mean to leave you hanging. Work is in warp-speed mode at the moment and I am juggling like a crazy woman 😉
Haha that was a very efficient summary 🙂 I think for my next conference, I’m going to attempt to stay in the same place/room a full day after just to implement things – hopefully that will keep me in the same frame of mind to get it all going.