Last week I attended the Blog Life University Conference. The conference was held here in Atlanta and attracted bloggers from different parts of the country. Melissa from the blog Serendipity and Spice started the conference two years ago as a food bloggers conference but has transitioned it into conference aimed at bloggers from all blogging niches.
When asked why Melissa started BLU here’s what she had to say…
“I began this journey of Blog Life University as another venue for bloggers and social media influencers to connect, learn, and prosper with each other. Besides writing epic content, the BEST thing to do for your blog is to get out from behind the screen and connect in real life! It’s the relationships that I make when attending conferences that have helped me the most in growing my blog.”
And after attending BLU, I must say that I couldn’t agree with Melissa more.
I’ve attended several larger blog conferences and they all provided a great networking and learning opportunity but there are some things that set BLU apart from the others.
FOUR REASONS TO ATTEND THE BLOG LIFE UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE
- The Connections Are Real. Melissa planned BLU to be a boutique blog conference and limits the number of people who attend. Since there were a smaller group of bloggers at the event, it was so easy to mix and mingle and meet other bloggers.
- BLU fostered an environment of sharing. All of the speakers were open about sharing the good, the bad and the ugly with us and were transparent with their successes and failures. It was good to hear so many bloggers speak the truth about how much work goes into blogging and what rewards can come from it.
- The presentations were educational & relatable. Sometimes conference presentations can be delivered in a way that not everyone benefits. At BLU , all of the information shared is something that any blogger, in any area of blogging could benefit from. I really enjoyed the presentation by Becky Mansfield on Ebooks for Passive Income and Melissa’s presentation on Growing Passive Income from Affiliate Links.
- No one was wearing their super woman cape. BLU attracted bloggers at all levels, some just starting their blog and others with very successful blogs. Despite the level of achievement (or not) everyone was friendly and open which created a great atmosphere for building friendships and relationships.
photo via BLU
In addition to all the learning that was going on, there was fun to be had too!
Chateau Elan was a sponsor and treated us to a wine tasting!
photo via BLU
Dixie Crystals was another sponsor and they treated us to sweet treats and gave us the opportunity to make our own sugar scrubs.
They also sponsored a dessert recipe contest and here are all the winners including my friend Marsha (third from the right).
On Thursday evening a group of about 25 of us went to dinner at Pappasito’s. It’s one of my favorite restaurants and they treated the entire group to delicious appetizers.
And we had a fun outing when we took Lisa from Clutter Cafe to Chick-fil-a because she’d never been before.
I’m so glad I had the opportunity to attend Blog Life University and I’m already looking forward to next year.
photo via BLU
To learn more about Blog Life University Conference head here. And you can enter to win tickets to the 2017 conference here.
I hope to see you there.