BlissDom Canada

So this weekend I was in Toronto at BlissDom Canada . Although not the first time I attended the conference it was the first time that I hosted a round table and the first time I was not the official conference photographer. Like all other years I had a great time. However hosting the round table I was so frigin nervous. What if no one sat at my table, worse yet what if someone did sit down and tell me I was a hack and full of shit! The pressure was crazy so crazy that I hardly even drank or ate.

Need to send a huge shout out to my roommates for the weekend Dee and Annie- you guys rocked and I’d share a room with you anytime! Whether we’re a wolf pack or wingman I’m just so glad we’re friends.

Backing up now……

I attended and photographed a lunch that Impressions PR and Wee Welcome hosted in honour of Sh*tty Mom’s. The food was fab the company even better. Everywhere you looked there were woman smiling, laughing and chatting. It was my kind of afternoon for sure. After this is was off to an afternoon spent with my favourite Deeva of walking and patioing. The one thing that happens when you are out an about with Dee is that the party automatically grows and this time was no different! From here it was back to the hotel for the Road Rally where once again I was working with Impressions PR and Wee Welcome (if you don’t follow these woman on twitter you’re missing out) I was stationed at The Mutaulife Building at Indigo with the Sh*tty Moms where teams that had clues needed to find us and get their photo taken. Let me just say there was plenty of laughs!

Now it was off to the official kickoff party of BlissDom Canada. The room was loud with excitement and cocktails were flowing It was like old times and so great to see so many friends. It is here that I started spreading the word of my up coming move and any nerves that had presented themselves about that slowly disappeared. There is always a favourite conference night for me and this year the Friday night was mine. After a very entertaining ride back to the hotel with The Alpers it was off to the hotel bar where the party quickly grew. There was great conversation with old and new friends and food. My recommendation – have the burger at the Sheraton hotel. It’s so very yummy.

Saturday the nerves started more because this was the day! Heading into the conference area is always fun as it’s the first look to see what the setup is. Again this year the organizers did not disappoint. It was also at this time that pacts were made that if nobody showed up at round tables what tables we would all head to for which session. See- true friends these people are. No woman was going to be left to fend for themselves.

BlissDom Canada was once again kicked off by a video made by yours truly and if you are interested in watching it again………

 

Well the fear slowly went away as I did indeed have people who sat down to discuss better blog photography. The discussion that happened was great and I really hope that everybody went away learning new things. I was going to do a presentation ahead of time but decided to wait until afterwards as I figured instead of guessing what everyone wanted I would let them tell me. So here is what I came up with and like I said if you have any questions please email me.

 

I had also mentioned an application that I use in my bookmark bar to check to see if my images are used on-line. The one I use is SRC-IMG

Also don’t forget if you were at my table to head over to the Lighting contest because you get extra entries. – Better Blog Photography Contest

Also like other years there was no holding back with costumes – So much fun. This year I planned early and new what I wanted and got my stuff together and then still spent some time that afternoon finishing up my costume. Although some thought I was in the shower I was intact the Barbie makeup and hair styling head!

Sunday seen me head off to Evergreen Brick Works for a photo tour of some great ladies. I had no idea this space even existed inside of the city. Without doubt I will be back.

The things that I learnt this year is

1. I really liked presenting
2. helping others really is the most amazing feeling
3. it’s ok to not like everybody,
4. it’s ok to speak up when you are not happy and the most important thing –
5. It’s ok to like swag but there is no need to be a whore about it. Taking 10 pillows or 10 Maple Leaf bags or 10 Chevy water bottles just because they are available to you does not make you look good in anybody’s eyes. Most woman I know would be horrified if their kids did this so why is it ok for you.