Blogjam 2017 – Post-Jam Scoop

Well, I think I’ve recovered from an awesome weekend at Blogjam in Halifax.  My head is filled with ideas and my heart is filled to overflowing, too.

See, here’s the thing.  Blogjam is amazing.  Yes, there’s so much information to glean. Like so much information.  But!! Guys….it’s the people that make it for me.  I’m a people person and I like to connect. So Blogjam is like a big reunion for me with a bunch of my online friends.  So many of the people I enjoy interacting with online come to Blogjam.  And these are mostly people that I wouldn’t know now if I hadn’t stepped outside of my comfort zone 2 years ago and went to speak at a conference I knew nothing about, where I knew not a soul.

I could write about 30 or so people but I’m going to introduce you to the ones that impacted me the most this past weekend.  And I’ll apologize for all the pictures of me and that they are all iPhone pictures!!  I did take my camera but came home with blurry pictures of people!

I’m going to start off with Jennifer of Simple Local Life for a few reasons.  First off, we roomed together this year at Blogjam and it’s kind of a full circle moment because we were complete strangers 2 years ago! She came up to me at the end of Blogjam 2015 and told me she wanted to start a blog.  And well, did she ever!  She is rocking it on the South Shore, she has created such a name for herself.  Occasionally we’ll meet up in the city for a meal or coffee when it works into our scheduling so to have time to sit and chat with her this past weekend was such a treat.  She offers a great perspective on all things life and blogging and for that I’m so thankful. Plus, she tells me when to get back on the elevator when I’ve gotten off on the wrong floor…. #countrycomestotown

Saturday night at the social, I had the chance to sit down and chat with Jenna of There’s a Shoe for That.  Her family just recently purchased a house and I can’t wait to follow along as they make it their own. I’m not even sure what all topics we covered but it was so nice to just connect! Her re-cap of Blogjam is awesome, you can read it HERE.  It’s perfectly Jenna and I was happy to hand off my Blunnies for her to capture, too.

Of course, I was thrilled when Colleen walked in.  Colleen has been so good to me, letting me bounce ideas and So.Many.Questions. off her with the patience of Job.  I love Colleen’s sense of humour, her writing style and I can relate to her on so many levels.  Plus, she wears red Blundstones, too, so what’s not to love. You can find her tales over at Curtains Are Open, I highly recommend grabbing a cup of tea or coffee and settling in for a bit, she’s awesome.

Now, this next blogger is kind of a big deal.  She’s the first non-local blogger I’ve met and she is Julie, aka Sober Julie and her blog is Life Straight Up!  I have to admit I was a little star struck but she was so down to earth and welcoming.  Besides, she’s great friends with Colleen, so I knew she had to be awesome.  All weekend long she was handing out these tiny little bottles of essential oil samples from DoTERRA and I haven’t gotten into using oils before but I did follow her advice and put some of the orange one in my water on Sunday.  I had a few chances to sit and chat with her so that was a real treat!

My other major online encourager is none other than Peady!  You may know her as Laureen from Tempered with Kindness.  She is a ray of sunshine and so positive, with a side of funny.  Go follow her wherever you can find her, especially HERE, though.  Tell her I sent you.  She makes my heart happy.  I’ll bet she does the same for you.

I mentioned before that I was doing my presentation with Heather of Heather’s Handmade Life, you can read my mention it HERE.  You need to read her Blogjam post HERE, guys, I wasn’t sure if I was going to end up alone on stage!  She did manage to make it on Sunday and we talked about Creativity and used lots of potty humour….because poop is funny even in your 40’s.  Honestly, I think we offered up lots of great tips on keeping that creativity flowing, even when you aren’t feeling it.  Heather loves to do power point which is great for someone like me who doesn’t enjoy the techy stuff, plus she has great hair and an even better sense of humour so I would highly recommend doing a presentation with her! Plus, our planning session at the new Truro Library made us feel like kinda a big deal with our own private conference room.

The crew that dreamed { dreamt? } up Blogjam deserves an award.  They started out as strangers and now are a pretty tight bunch.  And they are all so lovely, like seriously, they are the best.  Kerra, Renee and Krista make the day so wonderful and are so welcoming themselves, you couldn’t ask for better. And Michelle Doucette could be found all day snapping pictures of the presenters and guests { plus she presented in a special food photography workshop on Saturday night which was AMAZING! }  They make a great team and gathered together some fabulous speakers and sponsors for the event.  The location was incredible, too, I really enjoyed the Prince George with all the lush finishes and rich textures, my only issue was the elevators and that was completely on me….

I need to be clear here, up until to this point, I could’ve gone home and been thrilled with how the weekend went.  I saw lots of my friends, learned some new things and really enjoyed myself.  But…..there’s more.  Are you sitting down? One of the generous sponsors, Sunwing, had donated a week all-inclusive for two to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  Guys, I won.  When Kerra announced my name, I couldn’t believe it.  And you know me, I cried.  Here’s a picture of Candace of Life In Pleasantville and I after I pulled myself together…

Yes, she’s tiny and I’m looming over her…  I have a whole post brewing about this trip and all the information I need to know about going south!

All in all, another fabulous weekend at Blogjam.  If you are a blogger or thinking about blogging or starting a YouTube channel or anything along those lines, I highly recommend attending Blogjam!

To be continued,

Lori