Last updated on October 5, 2018 by Liza Hawkins
Bloggy Boot Camp by SITS.
To those not in the blog-o-sphere, you might be wondering, “Is this the latest exercise class offered at The Y?”
Not even close, unless you count strengthening your writer’s mind while networking your butt off, as exercises.
(YES.)
Boston. Me. Friends. Writers. Bloggers. Speakers. SITS.
Here are my ten takeaways from a wonderful weekend away with a group of one hundred twenty-five creative writers and several awesomely engaged sponsors:
1. It’s wonderful to reunite with old college friends.
Especially old college friends you haven’t seen in over thirteen years, only to realize that your interests are even more closely knit than they were when you hung out daily on campus.
It’s even MORE fun to reunite when you get to pose on the SITS Girls‘ red carpet and awesome photog Lindsey is snapping away—her camera works some serious magic!
2. Maybe be both comfy and fashionable.
Despite what what was said during the #BBCBos Twitter Feed (“It doesn’t matter what you wear!” and “I’ll be super casual—don’t worry.”), attendees DID put lots of thought into what they wore.
I’m not trying to say everyone dressed like prom night, but there were definite thought-out outfits on people that included dresses, skirts and rockin’ shoes, many of which I saw contained more than a little heel!
Jeans?
They were fine, but they better be paired with a cute top and some fab heels.
3. SMILE.
Smile because other attendees will actually want to talk to you, and smile because your picture will be snapped constantly and thrown up on the web faster than you can blink.
(See number 2—this is why putting thought into your outfits is critical.)
Point in case?
Modchik Lindsey (who took the photograph below) and mom-awesome Amanda (photographer, blogger and former What Not To Wear profile), were in attendance … and snapping away, cataloging what everyone wore, and capturing lots of smiles.
If you were smiling, that is.
4. Find the good food.
Had I not attended, I would never have realized my new favorite food flavor combination: Lemon and Pizza.
I blame this on Roo, one of my new blogger friends who shared dinner with me and a few others last Friday.
Sounds odd, I know, but you must try it the next time you order pizza!
5. Some hotels actually provide black towels for makeup removal.
(No, really.) They work especially well if you notice them before you use the white towels to remove makeup.
6. Make sure to step outside the conference venue.
Despite not being in the heart of downtown Boston, the Seaport Hotel still offered some amazing views, as well as several restaurants within walking distance.
Our choice on Saturday night?
The Barking Crab – where you can pay $289 and get a ten pound lobster platter.
Seriously.
By the way, if I had a dollar for every time someone has told me, “Hey. Crabs don’t bark,” I’d be rich. Filthy rich.
7. Don’t forget the drinks.
Speaking of The Barking Crab, they didn’t just serve ten pound lobsters.
They also served ten gallon margaritas and other frou-frou drinks.
Being the “I’ll just have a glass of wine” lightweight drinker that I am these days, I was completely impressed by a fellow blogger (who shall not be named—you shoulda been there), when she downed this goblet as though it were fruit punch.
Seriously. Maybe it was just fruit punch.
Yeah. Maybe.
Mirassou sponsors the entire Bloggy Boot Camp tour. Yes, they do.
You know what that means?
Wine with dinner. Wine at the cocktail reception. Wine with lunch. Wine during the afternoon sessions.
It’s a wonder we were all sober!
Ahhh, but they were smart.
Wine tastings are what we had, and half glasses of wine are far easier to tolerate for those of us with lower libation tolerance levels.
9. Thank goodness I flew Southwest since I left with lots of swag.
Swag that included included eight tubes of sponsor Arm & Hammer’s toothpaste.
Why Southwest? Because I was able to check my bag for free and keep all my toothpaste loot!
Food for thought people.
10. Despite being a foodie blogger, I fit right in.
Not because the room was filled with other food bloggers (there were a few!), but more so because the content of writing really wasn’t discussed.
At ALL. In a good way.
This actually just occurred to me last night, which brings me to perhaps the best revelation!
11. The main focuses of Bloggy Boot Camp included helping us figure a few things out.
How to be different by standing out in a sea of common themes.
How to be found in a vast sea of online content.
How to remain true to yourself.
And that, my friends, is my first round of BBC wrap-up.
Cheers!
I too was very impressed by those black make-up towels and umbrella fishbowl drinks 🙂
Great meeting you doll and hope I won’t have to wait too long to see you again. Until then…
Love your takeaways! And love that I’m in the candid photo from the wine party 🙂
I was sooo happy to meet you!! And loved getting that tip about moo business cards- yours is still my favorite card collected- it’s like a piece of art!! 🙂
This was an amazing event- my brain is still trying to wrap around all the fantastic info!!
That little black towel made me giddy. I could not WAIT to take off my mascara with it! Woot! Woot!
Great takeaway….and oh, how I wish I got there earlier on Friday so I could have partaken in those margaritas….
@Jill – It doesn’t take much to impress me. 🙂 I also fell in love with the shampoo/conditioner dispensers. 😛
@Mama – We looked like we were in an intense convo…about coupons?
@KPug – So happy to meet you too! Wish we had more time than just breakfast to chat!
@Kim – The margaritas were SATURDAY night at dinner. Just wine on Friday. 🙂 Both nights were super fun!
Great meeting all of you!
it was great to meet you and i loved your biz cards, too! and the black makeup towel. gotta get one for me at home 🙂
Miss you Liza! So great to meet you! Great wrap-up! Wish I had more time to connect and have fun outside of the conference….next time!!! Good luck with all your endeavors!
So glad to have met you, Liza!! You’re a real sweetheart. It’s my goal to come to the DC area this summer… you better brace yourself.
I LOVED that little black towel and commented on it the minute I saw it!
I actually had that pizza, but somehow missed those cocktails…
Thanks so much for coming!!!
Tiffany
Want my own little black towel – hope to get to a blogger conference someday!
Was SO great to meet you! And I’m thrilled that you liked the lemon on pizza. It would have been embarrassing if you hadn’t, haha.
@Anna Thanks so much for the great business card feedback! It was my first attempt – love them too!
@Annie Until next time – great connecting too! I’m sure I’ll see you around the Twitterverse!
@Desiree I’ll be on the lookout!
@Tiffany Those cocktails were outrageous – but both were completely downed! We were at the Barking Crab a few blocks from the hotel on Saturday night.
@Vanilla BBC is one to try – one day, inexpensive, AWESOME!
@Roo LOL – yes, I suppose it’s good that it was…good. 🙂
It was wonderful meeting you and I cannot wait to learn more FOODIE stuff, since I stink at it. Great wrap-up post!
Great takeaways… hope I get to attend BBC at some point!
I’m a Bostonian who has never been to the Barking Crab… and now I want to go for the drinks… I mean, seafood!
@Lynn Hoping to gleen some coupon savvyness from you!
@Carrie I love how BBC tours several cities in a year – makes finding one that’s fairly close a breeze!
@Cindy Barking Crab was definitely a scene – I was told it was very “Boston with no frills” if that’s what you’re looking for. 🙂