The Singing Dogs spent the last couple of days at BlogPaws 2013 in Tysons Corner, Virginia. The crazy filled 3 days of BlogPaws was a lot of fun (but tiring) for all of us. We met new pet people, made great connections with other bloggers and writers, and got to learn a lot.
If you were to ask me what I learned most at BlogPaws it would be just how big the pet blogging industry is. I mean… Wow! There were over 500+ people that came to BlogPaws 2013 and the organizers oversold. It was quite a spectacle seeing all the people and pets that came out to this blog and social media conference. Some people traveled quite far to attend and god only knows that traveling with pets can be a real pain even with so many products out on the market. (A lot of those products were on display at BlogPaws.) The majority came without pets though as lets be honest that made attending the conference sessions a lot easier.
What surprised me at the conferences was that even some of the pro sessions seemed like they were geared toward people just getting started with blogging and running their own websites. I taught and told people about some cool sites and resouces they didn't know about which felt great. I realized the main value from these conferences is not learning but growing your connections and network. I got a lot more out of BlogPaws 2013 from meeting new people rather than learning new skills. That's fine with me though as taking away knowledge and giving it away is what it is all about.
I will be blogging more about BlogPaws over the next few days sharing experiences, tips, and my general thoughts about the whole event. Kudos to the entire BlogPaws and Pet360 Media team that helped make the conference a success for everyone that attended.
Next year's BlogPaws will be in Las Vegas and I will definitely try to go. Flights out there are inexpensive since Casinos subsidize the flights to get people out there to gamble your money away. Hopefully next year I will be meeting new people and seeing others I connected with this past BlogPaws. Without losing all my money of course.
I totally agree that most of the value this year (for me anyways) was in the networking opportunities and not as much in the learning sessions. I got a lot out of Matt Beswick’s SEO session and Dino’s session on the Future of Blogging, but I didn’t find many of the Pro Blogger sessions very “advanced”.
I’m definitely in for Vegas though! Like you said, it’s a cheap trip and I can’t wait to meet more greta bloggers and reconnect with old friends.
Hey Jodi,
The best value I got out of the BlogPaws was really just being there and meeting people I would not have otherwise. The fact you made the effort to come from Canada to BlogPaws is impressive by the way. For a lot of brands I am sure that showed how serious you are about your blog.
A lot of the “Pro” sessions were really not that advanced, at least not for me. I assumed the WordPress 201 session was going to go over things like running a WordPress MultiSite installation and maybe how to code your own plugins.
I can understand BlogPaws and Pet360 team wanting to cater to a wide audience… but paying for a ticket, airfare, and hotel is kind of expensive. For next year I seriously hope they have take some of the sessions to another level.
-Adam, Cody, and Sierra