Bloggy Boot Camp – Dallas, y’all!

This past weekend I was lucky enough to snag a ticket to Bloggy Boot Camp Dallas! Geeking out at blogging conferences is always fun for me – but bonus points if I don’t have to travel {although I was lucky enough to room with the lovely Neely from A Complete Waste of Makeup … what can I say, there was a wine tasting afterwards and I wanted to sleep in a comfy bed, lol}. I hadn’t ever attended a Bloggy Boot Camp before, but at $99 for a ticket – I was psyched to head on over to the Big D and see what all the fuss was about.

Remember, that going in to this, my only blogging conference experience was BlogHer12 – which was GIGANTIC. There were over 5,000 attendees for BlogHer, and only about 150 for BBC. Bloggy Boot Camp was only one day, whereas BlogHer was three. So obviously, this was a much more intimate, low-key event. For the most part it was held in one room {although we split up for about 2 hours in the afternoon for people to hear about the ‘business’ end of blogging, versus the ‘writing’ aspect of it}. Breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack were provided, along with a wine tasting cocktail party that evening.

So, let’s cut to the chase – what did I like?

1. I liked the small scale – it was nice to not be overwhelmed and I liked that it felt personal because it was hosted by people I knew {because I’ve been following them on Twitter forEVER … and that counts as ‘knowing someone’ these days, right?}
2. I liked the speakers – they were all amazing, and yet all brought completely different attributes to the table. Holly Homer is already one of my favorite people, and can I just say that Elizabeth Liu is my new favorite blogger? I mean, I dare you to read this and not laugh {from her most recent post}: “I cheated a lot in high school. I feel comfortable admitting this to you because even if the school takes my diploma away, I’ve been setting aside a Just In Case I Need To Pay For A GED fund. There’s almost three dollars in there, so fuck those bitches, I’m going to be legitimate either way.” … I KNOW! She’s hilarious.
3. The food was amazing – and yes, this is important. The food was mediocre at best at BlogHer. Granted, they were cooking for 5,000 – but still. Everything was yummy at BBC … and the Mirrasou wine during the cocktail party was delish!
4. Assigned seating – at first, I was kinda against this. My first thought was, ‘Really? I’m 31 years old – assigned seating?’ But honestly, it was really great to be FORCED out of my comfort zone and pretty much made to mingle with other bloggers I wasn’t familiar with.

Things that were ‘meh’?

1. Content – I found myself nodding along with pretty much 90% of everything that was talked about … because I already knew it. That isn’t to say it’s great to be reminded of the basics, but I really wish we had been able to get into more specifics. I felt at times major topics were brushed over and I was left with several questions.
2. Time – this goes along with #1 … I wish this had been a two day conference. I wish there had been more mingling time, more time for questions, and more specific and detailed content. The first speaker of the day was Laurie from Tip Junkie {I know, right?!} – she delivered SUCH great tips, but was forced to completely rush through a lot of them because there just wasn’t enough time for her.

On the whole? I had a GREAT time. I loved getting to meet more bloggers {most of who were living in my general area}, and I loved getting back into a room full of people who ‘get’ what I’m passionate about. Will I go again? Probably not to this type of BBC … although I would be interested in going to their Brand Edition conference {which is in Chicago this year} since it seems to be a little bit more focused on the ‘next step’ of blogging.

Has anyone else been to a Bloggy Boot Camp in other cities? What did you think about it?