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Blogger Conference Survival Tips: The MUST LIST

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Sparklecorn Cake

I’ve been to a bunch of conferences for work, and I started diving into the world of blogger conferences two years ago, with BlogHer’12. As I’m rolling into this year’s rather packed itinerary of BlogHer’15 and Blogger Bash running simultaneously in New York City, I figured I’d pass along some basic tips that I have for surviving any conference–but especially those with bloggers. (Yes, bloggers are a different breed from your standard conference-goer.)

 

Apps at the eppa Sangria Soiree

Tasty treats prepared by Whole Foods for the eppa Sangria Soiree on opening night of BlogHer’14

Tip #1: Eat and hydrate.

This may seem like it’s pretty obvious, but it’s easy to get distracted. And when the free booze starts flowing, another glass of wine may sound like an awesome idea. Even so, when you find the coveted bottle of water, hang onto that puppy like it’s the stuff of life. You can always refill it from a water cooler or the tap in your hotel room. I can’t count the number of conferences where booze and sodas are readily available but water is not. Dehydration, especially during the summer, is a BAD THING.

Also, make sure that you eat when the opportunities present themselves. It’s easy to eat bad food while traveling, but more and more conferences are attempting to offer healthier options at the buffet. Take advantage of that while you can, because your options when you roam may be more like the dude selling gyros from the cart across the street from the hotel. (Which, by the way, are supposed to be fabulous. Just saying.)

 

Tip #2: Get a backup battery for your phone.

I’m partial to the Mophie Juice Pack Air that I was turned on to by my friend Lori of My Kinda Rain; she suggested I buy a Mophie before BlogHer’12, and that was a genius purchase. When I get down to 20% on my iPhone, I just flip on my Mophie and it recharges me right back up to 100% in short order. Better still, I can charge the Mophie and phone overnight (simultaneously) using the Mophie’s cable. The downsides are that the battery heats up a bit while it’s charging your phone and the Mophie case is somewhat bulkier than a usual case (although par for the course if you’re used to a large case, like an OtterBox).

When these conferences consist of everyone being on their phone ALL DAY LONG, tweeting, texting, and otherwise connecting with the social media world, your Mophie makes you far less likely to be the sad panda blogger roaming around looking for a wall outlet.

 

Tip #3: Pack in a bigger bag than you need.

Blogger conferences are notorious for their swag, and some of it just isn’t that easy to carry home without extra luggage space. Sure enough, you can avoid this by heading to the shipping center at the hotel and paying to send the stuff home, but if you just pack in a larger bag than you need for what you’re bringing with you to the conference, there’s built-in space for bringing some (or all) of that swag back. If you anticipate bringing home a lot of stuff, even packing a duffle bag in your primary bag will work; if you don’t need it, you just bring it home. And if you do need it, then hey: you have a duffle bag to carry your stuff.

 

Tip #4: Use the swag exchange!

For those heading to BlogHer, in particular, there’s often (or always?) a Swag Exchange room set up as a room-sized swag equivalent of the “give a penny, take a penny” cup. Simply report to the Swag Exchange with the items you picked up/were given that you don’t want or need, and drop them off wherever it’s appropriate. (Bins are sometimes organized in categories.)

Looking for something specific? Check the Swag Exchange periodically to see if someone dropped off that item. And don’t be afraid to offer to swap with friends and fellow bloggers. These events can often be one big swag bazaar, and while it may be that you really wanted two of a particular toy to bring home to your kids, you may have something another blogger really wants to bring home to their clan that you can exchange for your own “must-have” item.

 

And this brings me to the biggest tip of all:

 

Sadie+me

<3

Tip 5: SAY HI TO PEOPLE!

We did an experiment last year, at BlogHer’14, hanging out in front of the Convention Center and saying “Hi!” to fellow bloggers as they walked out onto the street. Some said “Hi” back and others looked at us as though we had the plague. Consider this: even if you’re the most introverted person ever, you’re at a conference. You’re among people who, on some level, are like-minded, and you may just find someone that you truly connect with (like Sadie of SlapDashMom, above left, whom I clicked with instantly). But you’ll never know that if you don’t say HI to people. So get out there and make some friends. Or at least one. You won’t regret it. I know I didn’t.

Art and the week of awfulness

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artheader

 

This week has sucked. There are just no two ways about it. It’s sucked.

First, there was Robin Williams’ untimely death. It seemed like a sucker-punch to the country’s collective gut, losing such a gifted and talented person. Images and sounds of some of his roles are seared on my brain, like the scene in “Moscow on the Hudson”, when his character – a defector from Soviet Russia – collapses in tears in the coffee aisle of the grocery store, overwhelmed by too much choice. He made me laugh SO MANY TIMES, and he made me cry SO MANY TIMES, and always he was this brilliant gorgeous creature. We were so lucky to have him. As so many other people, he had his share of demons to battle – depression among them – and now news that he was also in the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. I know what it’s like to have a family member commit suicide rather than lose themselves to PD and, whether that was his particular motivation or not, it’s always sad to lose someone who meant so much to you.

We were all so sad at the beginning of the week (soon to hear of Lauren Bacall’s passing, as well as Charles Keating and others…), and it seemed like this week would be measured solely in its body count.

At the same time, I managed to get a free app from the App Store – the featured app of the week – Autodesk’s Sketchbook. Ever since seeing JC Little speak at BlogHer about the use of visuals in storytelling, even when those visuals are rudimentary, I wanted to find a way to draw. So, I grabbed a stylus pen I’d gotten from some conference or another (OH THAT’S WHAT THAT RUBBERY THINGIE IS ON THE END OF THAT PEN) and started drawing.

Day 1, I made this:

elephant butt

Day 2 wasn’t going much better, so I wanted to try to cheer people up. I’m still getting the hang of the app (more detailed Help files would really make me squee in delight), so I couldn’t make a rose, like I’d originally intended. But a tulip is one of my favorite flowers, and I think it works:

a tulip

Day 3 and I’m just done with this week. I stayed up way too late last night seeing tweets and photos from reporters being illegally arrested by militarized police in Ferguson, Missouri. I saw a picture of a man picking up a tear gas canister and throwing it back at the police to get it away from people who’d been standing stock still, arms linked. I heard the deafening, unbearable silence from Martha’s Vineyard as President Obama partied rather than making calls to diffuse the boiled-over situation. I read the account from the editor of my hometown newspaper, The Washington Post, as he explained how one of his reporters was physically assaulted and then arrested by a police officer who wanted to keep him from recording, photographing or otherwise telling others what was taking place. And then today I read way too many posts of how the “thugs” who inhabit Ferguson are the cause of all of this mess. They’re no longer Americans or humans, to some; they’re just thugs. Dehumanizing these people doesn’t help and it doesn’t solve a damn thing.

And so today, this is what I drew.

tears

There’s a part of me that wants to curl up in a ball and make it all go away, but I have to bear witness because my white skin doesn’t exempt me from feeling sorrow at a trampling of human rights. This week has reminded me of days when my depression hounded me, though never so much as the days when I considered driving off the road to end my pain. If I lived in Ferguson or if I lived somewhere that wasn’t as nice as where I am now – where I can smile and wave to the police without fear – my depression might be all-consuming.

I am lucky, and still I cry.

This week has been awful, and I’m lucky that I can shut it out by turning off Twitter and Facebook. Not everyone is so lucky.

This art is becoming a channel of sorts, and I suspect I’ll get better at it the more I do it, though I never expect I’ll be as good as my artist friends. But if it helps me channel my rage and fear and sadness, I’ll keep doing it.

So many thanks to whoever made that app free this week – and thank you SO MUCH to JC Little, because without her I never might have downloaded that little app and started making art of my very own.

Express yourself.

Even your sadness.

 

Weight Loss & Travel: How I Stayed on Track, Even at BlogHer!

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Me, with my Happy Meal dinner at the BlogHer closing party

I’m lovin’ it: in moderation!

BlogHer’14 was the third of four conferences on my calendar for this year – all out-of-town jaunts that had the potential to put my weight loss goals in jeopardy. For each conference, I set a very simple goal: net neutral. What that means is that I wanted to come home and have my weekly weigh-in be no worse than where I was at the prior weigh-in. I weigh myself weekly, first thing in the morning every Sunday, and I track my progress in MyFitnessPal, so I have a way to see how I’m doing week over week. Little things, like the usual monthly hormonal fluctuations, have played havoc here and there; but, for the most part, I’ve been moving in the right direction.

Conferences can screw with all of that.

First off, my regular schedule is completely disrupted. I’m not sleeping nearly as well, and my usual level of activity often turns into the sloth-like drudging from salon to ballroom and elevator to hotel room.

Second, the food is often far saltier and fattier than what I cook at home, and the quantity is so large that it’s hard to track calories. There’s food everywhere and snacks tend to be abundant, so it’s tricky trying not to eat all day long.

For the first two conferences I attended this year, I either lost weight or came back net neutral. When I came home from BlogHer’14, I had actually lost weight. It seems improbable – or maybe even impossible – but it definitely happened. It’s not HUGE weight loss, but that’s not the point. In general, weight loss of 1-2 lbs per week is safest, and I kept pace with that.

Want to know how I managed to do it? It’s a simple formula:

How to Lose Weight While Traveling

Really, all you have to do is Eat, Drink, and Move. Seem a bit crazy? Here’s how it works:

Eat:

Travel presents some seriously bad food options. You eat when you can, and the choices aren’t always the healthiest things out there. That doesn’t mean you should only ever eat salads – but don’t mainline bacon cheeseburgers and chili-cheese fries, either. Balance out your protein and carbs and try to eat at least one healthy meal per day. Most importantly, listen to your body: if you feel sick, like you’ve eaten too much, PUT DOWN THE FOOD AND BACK AWAY SLOWLY. I know, I know, sometimes it’s just so good that you don’t want to leave anything behind. But really, if you find yourself consistently feeling ill from the amount of food you ate, you’re probably overdoing it. I still sampled local delicacies while in San Jose – such as the Kouign Amann at Philz Coffee (DIVINE PASTRY OF THE GODS) – but I didn’t have one every day and at every meal. Pacing and moderation really saved me from feeling like I was going overboard.

My breakfast at Philz: coffee and pastry

The ultimate Philz breakfast: an XL iced coffee + a chocolate Kouign Amann

 

Drink:

One of the funny things about BlogHer’14 was the distinct scarcity of water. Having IBS, I don’t drink a ton of alcohol or caffeine – dehydration can trigger illness and caffeine is definitely one of my triggers – so I rely heavily on water as my go-to drink. If you’re hydrated, you tend to overeat less; I’ve seen this during my regular day, too, that I may feel hungry when in fact I’m just thirsty. That’s not to say that I didn’t have any alcohol; I had several glasses of tasty eppa Sangria at various parties, as well as a mimosa at the opening night Expo party that had only a passing flirtation with orange juice. At one point, I had a water bottle stashed in my conference tote and just walked around with it, so even if I never found a water cooler, I had a way to keep myself covered. Whenever water was offered, I took some; and when it was only for sale, I bought a bottle and drank it right down.

Move:

Knowing that my conference days would be jam-packed with meetings, where the majority of my exercise would be going from floor to floor on escalators and elevators, I had to find some way to counteract the slothitude. For the longer of my two New York-based conferences, as well as for BlogHer’14, I brought workout clothes and my sneakers, and I got myself up at the crack of dawn on two mornings to hit the hotel gym’s treadmill. Even if it was a small workout (say, 45 mins), it was better than nothing at all. I really had no idea how much movement I would get on any given day, so making time to move was crucial. Whenever anyone else was up for a walk around town, I went for it and was willing to walk for miles.

On the last night of BlogHer’14, McDonalds sponsored an EPIC closing party that featured more of that free-flowing eppa Sangria, a selection of McDonalds Happy Meals, and music provided first by DJ Rashida and later by Rev Run of Run-DMC. I don’t remember exactly what song DJ Rashida put on that got me to drop my Happy Meal mid-chew, but once I got to the dance floor, I didn’t leave it until Rev Run left the stage a good 90 minutes later. I DANCED MY BUTT OFF. Rev Run had us partying so hard to such an amazing selection of tunes that if I gained any calories from my cheeseburger and fries, they all sweated right off in his hour-long set. Take your chances to move when you can, really. I did.

Apps at the eppa Sangria Soiree

Tasty treats prepared by Whole Foods for the eppa Sangria Soiree on opening night

 

So, what’s the ultimate lesson?

These tips I’m suggesting, things that worked for me, aren’t so dramatic that they require that you starve, abstain, or run a marathon every time you travel. And none of these are things that you shouldn’t be doing any other day of the week if you’re in the same boat I’m in as far as weight loss goes. What they do show, however, is that you can still have an insanely good time – eating Happy Meals, drinking sangria, eating pastries – and still lose weight. Moderation, Hydration, and Movement are the keys to having a fun trip where you can bring home the memories but not the extra pounds. I know for me, that’s yet another highlight of my time at BlogHer that I won’t soon forget.