Conference Archives - JDaniel4s Mom

The Type A Conference: It was truly amazing!

June 26, 2011 By Deirdre

I mentioned on Wednesday that I was headed to Asheville, NC for the business portion of the Type A Parent Conference and that my guys would be left to fend for themselves. They did so well. My husband had all the dishes clean and JDaniel is still talking about the fun they had together.

If you have been following the conference on Twitter, you have heard people raving about the speakers during the business section as well as the conference sessions. I left with pages of notes and a head swimming with new ideas and things to work on after just one day. I am not sure what would have happened with I had stayed longer.

Feeling Welcomed

As soon as I arrived ran into Blue Violet and her roommate walking across the parking lot. She truly is amazing. She can make you feel like you just saw her even if it has been months.

In the lobby I ran into Liz of a belle, a bean, and a Chicago dog, KLZ of Taming Insanity, and Shell of Things She Can’t Say. I love these ladies blogs and they are amazing in person. It was great to chat with them and hear about their trips to Asheville. By the time I got up to my room to call my husband, I felt like I had seen almost every blogging friend I had hoped to see. I told Jdaniel3 is was like God had placed them in my path to help me feel like I belonged at the conference.

My exciting Wednesday night wasn’t over yet though. I called Audrey Rose of In the Kitchen with Audrey to see about meeting up and found she was staying in the room right next to mine. We sat up for several hours and chatting about our families and our blogs.

Thursday started off by meeting Varunner 7 of Two Bears Farm met me for breakfast. We have been blogging buddies for long time, but have never met. She is so kind and just plain wonderful.

What I Learned

Oh! I did go to amazing sessions too. I started out in a session on Facebook lead by Melanie Nelson and quickly realized that my Facebook page is not set up a fan page. When I reach 2,000 fans I will not be able to add more. I am not close to that number yet, but I may have to do something about that. We were also walked through using a website called shortstack.com that can help you add wonderful features to your Facebook page. The presenter also pointed out the need for a Facebook page to educate, entertain, or solve problems. It shouldn’t just be a place to add links to your post. I also learned you should never have a giveaway entry that asks your readers to follow or like you on Facebook. Facebook has rule against doing it.

The second session was called Traffic Bootcamp. Heather Solas was the presented and she was awesome. She pointed out the need for bloggers to know their value, be professional, provide access and ways to communicate and disclose. She also talked about the need to have a call of action for your readers. It is important she told us to engage your readers and provide ways for them to engage with you and your blog.

The last session I went to was called Clueless is not an Excuse: Numbers Matter lead by Shelly Kramer. She really hit home the need to know your stats and what they are telling you about your blog.I will be look at getclicky.com and tynt.com to see what they will teach me about my blog.

The final event I attended was a “speed dating” session with the sponsors. I was able to talk to amazing reps that love their products and shared wonderful samples with me. JDaniel loved a motorized toy truck I picked up. There are a number of other wonderful things I gathered and you will be seeing them in upcoming posts.

I truly loved attending this conference. I learned tons. The bloggers I met were friendly and welcoming. I so hope I will be able to so again.

Just Guys at Home (Mom is away!)

June 22, 2011 By Deirdre

Mama’s going to a conference called Type A!

While she is gone, we will do things the guy way!

The dishes will go in the sink after meals and there they will stay.

We will spread out all the toys and leave them out instead of putting them away.

Mom left turkey sandwiches for lunch but, I think we should go to Chick Fil-A.

Skipping nap time will be good. It can’t hurt to ask and see what Dad will say.

Mom likes routine, but dad may let the schedule sway.

Guys need variety in their lives. We really like it that way.

Have fun Mom while you are away!

Today is Guy’s Day!

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday!

Disclaimer: I am only going to a small part of the Type A Parent Conference in Asheville. I will be leaving tonight and be back tomorrow night. The section I am going to will have hands on workshops! I am so excited about learning new things about blogging and spending time with amazing bloggers.

Muffin Tin Monday- Dipping Into Lunch

May 23, 2011 By Deirdre

JDaniel loves dipping foods into sauces and dips. I was contacted by the makers of Beanfields Bean and Rice Chips to do a review of two of their products and thought that they would be perfect for dipping.

The Beanfields chips are corn and gluten free. I have a friend who is gluten free in her diet right now and she has been searching high and low for gluten free products that taste great. The sea salt and Pico de Gallo chips do taste great. JDaniel wasn’t really into the Pico de Gallo (Yes, it looks like he wants more in the picture.) and asked if he could trade them in for more of the sea salt chips.

JDaniel has been skipping the proteins I put in his lunch. These chips offer him protein in a form that he doesn’t know is protein. The navy beans and black beans are disguised as a treat.

It is wonderful that they are made in the United States too.

The chips were served with three different dips made of things I found in my fridge. There was a traditional sour cream and onion dip. The second dip was plain yogurt with salsa. The final dip was plain yogurt with Italian salad dressing mixed in.

Carrots were added to round out the meal. Actually JDaniel requested cheese be added to his tin too. It isn’t lunch without cheese.

Disclaimer: I was sent the bags of Beanfields to review. We really liked them and will ordering them online. They are not in our local store yet. Click here to see if they have a store near you.

This post is linked to Muffin Tin Monday!

What is your favorite dip?

Why I Should Win The Type A Celebrity Contest!

March 9, 2011 By Deirdre

I decided that I would love to attend the Type A Conference in Asheville again this year. Last year I convinced my husband the Type A Conference was a couples getaway weekend where we will spend a weekend living like celebrities. We would get stay in a luxury hotel with cable television. We don’t have cable at our house. We would get to sleep in past a six a.m. call inquiring whether it was morning. In fact one of us could sleep all day if he liked without any interruptions just like a star. There would be meals consumed without a small wandering hand trying to retrieve the last piece of food on our plates. A world class nanny would watch our angel and keep him entertained. My sister came with her two sons from Atlanta to watch him.

I didn’t want to pay for the conference again if I could find another way. The other way arrived a few weeks ago via e-mail. The e-mail invited me to apply for the Type A Celebrity Contest. The e-mail warned that I would have to work hard to win this celebrity challenge. Every up and coming star has to work hard to arrive at their pinnacle of success. I was going to need to work hard to reach the foot of the Appalachians in Asheville.

The first task is to convince masses that I am celebrity material. I am really not sure that I can do that. Celebrities always seem to have sleek new cars and my car is seven years old. Celebrities seem to get manicures and pedicures. The last time my fingers received even a coat of nail polish on them was before JDaniel was born. Celebrities seem to stay ahead of the fashion trends. I got stuck in the preppy trend of the early eighties and never left there. Celebrities jet off to fantastic exotic islands in the Pacific to get a break from the world on small private planes. I did jet off to Paducah, Kentucky in a small prop plane to do technology trainings once. The Drury Inn in Paducah did have great hot chocolate that I consumed while relaxing in a recliner in my hotel room after a meal from the Jimmy Dean restaurant next door but, I am not sure it is the same.

The second part of the first task is to convince you I am most like a certain celebrity. I sat beside for a long time and tried to think of a celebrity that had a lifestyle that mirrored mine and I couldn’t think of one. I am sure there are some out there. The only celebrities I have even heard of recently were on the covers of the gossip magazines at the grocery store. My life doesn’t seem to mirror theirs so, I guess I am going to have to hope the 32 other contestants don’t have brilliant answers for the second part of this task.

The third part of the first task is to tell you what I would do if I were a celebrity for a day. The answer is super simple. I would want to be able to sleep in without an early morning wake up call. I would want to eat food I didn’t have to prepare and that is slyly removed from my plate by a toddler hand. I would receive a swag bag filled with marvelous treats that would make me feel special. Oh! I would go on a mountain retreat to hang out with blogging world celebrities that would be totally paid for.

I know this post doesn’t prove that I am meant to win this contest. I hope that it proves that I am stay at blogging mom that would love a pampered weekend away from home. While I believe that every blogging mom needs a pampered weekend away to learn amongst the stars, I hope I will get to be the one.

Don’t you think I should win?