Minnesota Blogger Meet-up

Last Saturday, I attended my first blogger "conference."

I have to admit that I was extremely nervous the night before. I felt like I couldn't take a deep enough breath the whole night. That, my friends, is my tell tale sign of nervousness.

I was about to drive for an hour to meet up with bloggers that I've never met. Sure, I'm in a group with them on Facebook. But have y'all seen my Facebook page? I am never on Facebook. Okay, I shouldn't say never. I am hardly ever on Facebook. I promise I read all of the posts that pop up in my g-mail in box. Or, if I'm on a computer, I will log in every now and again.

I woke up extra early because I really, really didn't want to be late. I showered as quietly as possible, kissed the hubs good-bye and got in my car a few minutes later than I had hoped (15 to be exact). The drive to Stillwater was peaceful. The traffic was light, the music was spot-on. I found the park and parking lot rather easily and made my way into the adorable building.

the park was full of giant teddy bears!

I was met with smiling faces, and invitations to sit down. I quickly made a plate of fruit and joined these two ladies for some light conversation. I always feel awkward joining conversations with people I don't know. Especially if they already know each other. But these gals were fabulous. Very welcoming and kind. My nerves started to subside.

And then, NellieBellie and Chrissy started talking about social media. I learned so much! First thing I learned: I had the smallest blog of all of the ladies (and gentlemen) in attendance. The hubs reminded me (because I sent him a text partway through about the size difference of my blog to everyone else's) that they were the best people to learn from. He's always so right.

But, in all honesty, I learned so much during the hour and a half that they presented. Presented sounds so formal. It was not formal (although, I feel like I should have dressed a little more nicely). It was small enough that it felt intimate, yet very productive.

Then, after hearing about social media, we were sent on out on our own to explore Stillwater and practice our new social media skills. Were these ladies teachers in former lives?! I was so pleased to have the chance to actually practice and use social media during the day. At the end of it all, we met at a park near the river (St. Croix) for a final picnic and send-off.

My nervousness was not needed, and I had a wonderful time. I can't wait for the next MN Blogger Meet-up in hopes to get to know even more Minnesota bloggers and learn some blogging tricks, too.

P.S. Can I just let you know how cool the blogging world is? These women set this all up to help fellow bloggers. If we were in the business world the "fellow bloggers" would be competitors and I doubt people would be as willing to help.

took a tour of downtown Stillwater on this bad boy!

and then we did a wine tasting!