Well I’ve finally had a chance to recover from Blogger Bash in NYC! What a fantastic time it was. I woke up at the crack of dawn and drove down to the city–about 4 hours with traffic. I listened to an entire book on tape on the way (which I borrowed for free from my local library).
After parking the car and dropping my bags at my lodging (the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen Club in Manhattan–$65 a night for a shared room, bathroom down the hall) I called an Uber car and headed over to the venue for the opening lunch (sponsored by Care Bears, which I missed. Boo!) and educational session by Blogging Concentrated. Luckily for me there was plenty of brunch left at the buffet so I didn’t go hungry.
Despite being a blogger and basically living online, I don’t like taking notes electronically. I really love an old fashioned notebook and pen. There is just something about drawing arrows and dashes and writing words that really get the thoughts into my brain. . . I guess it’s the way I’m wired (or maybe the note taking skills pounded into me at my college prep highschool).
Later that afternoon we headed over to the venue for the rest of the event. . . The Cornucopia Majesty yatch!
That’s right, it was a conference on a boat! How cool is that? Well, it’s pretty awesome, but it’s also a bit iffy at first when you realize that the water is a bit choppy and you get motion sick. Thank goodness the kind folks from Sea-Band donated a set of their acupressure bands for each attendee. I started out feeling a bit queasy, but after having the bands on for about 30 minutes it was completely gone. The same thing happened the second day. . . I’m a true believer in Sea-Bands now!
The first night was the Suite Sweet party–basically an awesome toy expo with music and tasty hors devours. The next day the main expo floor was open with tons of different brands and products represented–everything from homeopathics and aromatherapy to tuna fish and coffee. It was pretty amazing. There was also Babypalooza with baby products and a special showcase of products made in Ireland!
I was happy to see my sponsored JAKKS Pacific and finally be able to talk to everyone about the cute little Gift ’ems that I got to preview a few weeks ago, but that were officially unveiled at the conference.
Besides the various expos, there was a media mavens panel to learn from, a talk by the creators of Kate and Mim-Mim, a Peanuts lunch with the child voice actors who play the characters on the series reboot, and even a keynote Snooki and JWoww, two of the party girls on MTV’s Jersey Shore.
Then at the Texas Instruments booth I got to meet John Urschel, Baltimore Ravens Offensive Lineman and published mathematician. He was there promoting the STEM Behind Sports kicks off with “Field Goal for the Win!” a fun, free activity designed for the TI-84 Plus family of graphing calculators. How cool is that? I also learned that John is a super frugal guy, living each year on just a small fraction of his salary (reportedly $25,000) and drives a used car that he bought for $9,000. That’s a man and a message I can get behind here at Frugal Upstate.
Of course the best thing about a conference, besides the cool stuff, the good food and the business contacts is the nice people you meet. I wound up spending most of the second day with my new buddy Denise from Neicyisms and Nestlings. Aren’t we cute?
The ship left the pier where it had been docked for the entire conference and for the closing party we took a cruise out to the Statue of Liberty.
A DJ played some rock’in tunes and we all enjoyed the final event of Blogger Bash 2016! That’s me dancing in the front there, second one in on the left. (photo provided by Blogger Bash)
So the conference is over, but the fun isn’t–and this time you get to join in! This is a great giveaway being offered by JAKKS Pacific, VTech, Skylanders, some of the wonderful sponsors that sent me to the conference. There are 11 bloggers who are participating in this giveaway–we are all sharing the same widget you see below. THREE winners total will be chosen, 1 winner per prize pack.
This giveaway runs until August 10th and is open to US Residents 18 & over. So go ahead and enter–you could win a prize valued at anywhere between $75-$110!!
Blogger Bash 3 Prize Pack Sweet Suite Sweepstakes!
I am attending Blogger Bash 2016 as an Acorn Ambassador. Products from JAKKS were sent to me to use and test at no cost, my thoughts and opinions are my own.
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