It’s Saturday night and I have a date..with my computer. My husband is home patiently taking care of the (pet) family, I am exhausted after three days of exercise classes, sessions, parties (yes, we had those), and just the general feeling of go, go, go that happens during a fitness conference. And a blogging conference too, now that I have experienced one of those.
It’s hard to decide where to begin! Between the Blogfest conference, which was loaded with informative blogging information, then IDEAWorld, which of course is the ultimate of fitness conventions, I have had so much fun, learning, and social experiences that it’s really hard to choose where to start.
I think, because I left off last week with who I wanted to meet at the conference, I will start with the people that I did meet. Honestly, this was the best part of the whole experience for me! Plus, since this was a blogging conference there will be tons of recap posts to choose from, so this one will be more personal to my experience.
First of all, from my list of Six Women (and One Man):
Carla! Yay! I finally got to meet Carla, if only briefly, at our Team Eleven by Venus meet up at the Expo. My first thought (aside from “wow, that’s a beautiful outfit she’s wearing!”) was, “wow, she’s so little!” As an aside, I noticed a lot of the bloggers that I met for the first time were tiny. Not sure why that is, but all 5’8″ of me seemed to tower above most of them.
Anyway, Carla. She’s beautiful, fun, and I’m just sorry we didn’t have time to spend chatting. I know we’ll have a second chance at it and I can’t wait.
Kelly. Another brief, how do you do kind of meeting. Kelly was a presenter at Blogfest, so when she was finished with her presentation I dashed up, introduced myself, and managed to get a selfie with her. My eyes look a little crazy in this picture, but, since it’s the only one, I guess I have to post it.
Katy. Since she is also a member of Team Eleven, I had a little more time with Katy, but she was busy because she presented two sessions at Blogfest, so we didn’t have much chance to chat. Still, I was happy to have a chance to meet her.
Rita. I almost missed getting a chance to talk to Rita! She also presented, but when she was done, I had to dash off for another meeting, so I didn’t get to meet her. Fortunately, she was at the opening party later in the evening and we had the chance to chat.
Pavement Runner. As the only man on my “want to meet” list, Pavement Runner occupied a special place. I’m happy to say that I did get to meet him, spend a little time both at Blogfest, and at a group dinner on Friday evening. Still haven’t had a chance to run with him though.
There were only two women on my list that I didn’t get to meet. Jody did not make it to the event. She lives fairly close, though, in Southern California, so I know we’ll have a chance someday. And sadly, I never caught up with Gigi, who was at the expo while I was there! I tried for over a half hour, but then I had to go to a session, so we never did hook up. But, she too lives in So. Cal, so hopefully someday…
Now for the women that I wanted to meet again.
I had met a few fabulous women bloggers already, both at the 2013 IDEA World Conference, Ragnar, and other events that I wanted to meet again. And I did!
There was Carrie, Jamie, Jill, and Melissa from my Ragnar team.
And there were my Sweat Pink friends Jamie, Alyse and Becky.
And my fellow Inspired Advisors Tiffany, Kasey, Jamie (she’s on all my lists), and Gina. Oddly enough, even though I spent the most time with Tiffany (she’s my IDEA buddy), I apparently didn’t get a picture of the two of us together. She left me a really nice note though.
Tiffany was also the first person I saw when I arrived at the Blogfest conference (along with Melissa, Jill, and soon-to-be new friend, Pam). They look like fierce warriors, don’t they?
And, of course, Kelli, who is responsible for putting most of this together.
And one half of the Williams sisters, Alexandra (I did see Kymberly, but somehow didn’t get a photo #bloggerfail).
And finally, there were the women whose blogs that I have followed, who I have felt were my friends, but who I didn’t meet until this weekend.
Pamela. We really hit it off. She was my partner at our boot camp class, and since we both had the same attitude about boot camp, we spent more time taking pictures of each other than actually working out (that’s an exaggeration. Pamela worked hard. I’m the lazy bones).
I also got to meet Jill, who runs really long distances, writes beautifully, is really tiny, and is not a 20-something, which is somewhat unusual for a blogger.
I went out to dinner on Saturday night with Pam, Jill, and Sarah, who I was also happy to meet at Blogfest.
I also got to meet Shannon (I love this candid profile shot of her..she’s so pretty).
I met Monica at the Sweat Pink Welcome Party.
A group of us went out to dinner on Friday night with Pavement Runner, Tiffany, Alicia, Christiana, Lindsay, Elyse, and Kayla.
Then there are the people that I didn’t really “meet,” but managed to get a photo of.
Monica, along with Julie and Gina, did a presentation at Blogfest.
I met Jarrod (of Subway fame) at the Sweat Pink party.
I finally got to meet Lorna Jane and get a photo with her at the expo.
Jillian Michaels was the keynote speaker. More on this later, but I’ll tell you that prior to seeing her speak, I was not a fan. My opinion has undergone a 180 degree change. She was pretty amazing (and she didn’t yell at us!).
I also got to see a friend, Coach Jason, who I met years ago at IHRSA and haven’t seen for a while. He taught a session on running drills (which was very helpful). Coach Jason is actually Jason Karp, PhD., who was the Idea Personal Trainer of the Year a few years ago, and a really knowledgeable and interesting speaker.
Blogfest was great. The sessions were informative and fun, the classes were challenging, and Jillian was amazing, but I still have to say that the best part of the whole experience was meeting so many of the people that I’ve been reading and communicating with for so long. Thanks to IDEA for adding Blogfest to the program and for inviting me to participate. I’m already looking forward to next year.
In the coming days I’ll be reporting on more of the events that took place during IDEA World and Blogfest and sharing some of the inspiring lessons that I learned.
Were you at Blogfest? If so, what was your favorite part? Did I get a chance to meet you? Is there a blogger that you would really like to meet?
YAY! Yes yes yes! Why didn’t we get a photo together?! Weird! 🙂
I know! Crazy!
How fun!! Ahh I hope to go next year!
Hope you can make it! It was worth every second!
I am so glad you had such a good time. I guess that means you’ll be back. I love going to IDEA and seeing people from around the world who have been friends for over 30 years (in some cases). Fitness Rules. People are what make it rule!
Absolutely! To everything you said. Fitness rules and I will be back! (I love conventions that are held in California!)
I am loving reading & seeing all the pics!! I am so sorry I did not make it – had a more work interview & these days, that comes first unfortunately… I thought I was going to come but then this interview was confirmed Thursday late….
Hope to see you on one of your visits to HB! 🙂
I knew you were busy, just sad we couldn’t meet. Someday soon, I hope.
Sounds like an amazing time!! Looks like I need to make it next year 🙂
Yes, you do!
I AM 100000% BUMMED! 🙁 We were so close, yet so far! But it looks like you had one ACTION PACKED weekend, perhaps the universe did not want you to meet me this go-around because I would have just pushed you over the edge! ha ha! 😉
Haha! I would have risked it though. Next time!
The people! The people were definitely my favorite part.
I was so happy we got a chance to meet and hang out a bit.
Whoa! So many awesome bloggers in one place. I’m very jealous!
Maybe you should think about coming next year, hmmm?
holy cow! it’s like one big inspirational fit fest! so wish i could have been there to meet you and EVERYONE!!!
Maybe next year!!??? 😉
I’d love to meet all of those people (or see some of them again) – including you!
Aw, thanks! I’d love to meet you too. Maybe next year!!???
You were not lazy, that was hard! I will be your bootcamp partner anytime! I can’t wait till we can meet up again.
Same here. (I just didn’t want to “out” you to your clients 🙂 )
LOVE THIS! So many awesome people in one post! Really wish I could have been there…I’m already dreaming about next year! Hopefully I can make it… And hopefully we can meet!
I hope you can make it too! I’d love to meet you!
It always starts with others!! 🙂 What a fun time. I loved insta-stalking everyone who was there!
There were some really great pictures posted! I loved seeing them too. With so many people doing fun things, I’d see a picture and think, how did I miss that?
So awesome! So many wonderful people it just makes me smile. I got to meet Tiffany at a social media conference in San Diego. Such a sweet lady. So glad you were able to do this event!
I met so many wonderful people, yet I’m still amazed at how many I didn’t meet. There were 150 of us, so I missed out on a whole bunch of new friends. Guess I’ll have to go back! Maybe you can come next year too!
Wow! You got to meet so many amazing people!!!
I completely agree- the people really make the conference. So glad you could go and have such a great time! I would have loved to go if I wasn’t expecting a baby at the same time… hopefully next year!
It was an epic weekend and I’m glad we got to meet, be dinner pals, and sit next to each other. I’m hoping we see each other again AND get to run.
I love this post so much! I keep reading it….and am loving all the photos! You picked some great people to meet, I’m sure they also were looking forward to meeting you.
I have two words: french fries! 😉
Ha! Something else we have in common besides being young, gorgeous, and fast. Wait. Well, it’s one thing we have in common 🙂
Sounds like you had an amazing time! My favourite part of blogging conferences is getting to meet online friends too.
Can’t wait to read your Jillian post. I’m an anti-fan so am curious to hear what she said to make you do a 180!
What I find most amazing is that we were a small group–attendance was capped at 150–and there are so many people I didn’t meet. (Part of my feedback is pretty please, don’t let it get huge.)
I loved getting to meet you Debbie! Meeting everyone in person was the best part of this conference 🙂 And I completely agree about Jillian! I have never been a fan, but I was pleasantly surprised, I would love to hear her speak again!
Funny, because I didn’t get a picture with my roomie either even though we kept talking about it! Glad I’m not the only one. I’m glad I got to meet you, but bummed because I feel like I still have so many people I need to meet. It’s hard to say hi to 140 people!
It was so much fun! I’m still remembering how awesome those bikes were. I want one. So fun to hang out with you – your dinner gang from Thursday looks like it was so much fun!
It was so great to meet you! Thanks again for being the photographer for Katy and I in our silly and fun handstand pictures. You are a GEM! Look forward to another Team EleVen event soon! xox
If you think your eyes are crazed in the pic with Kelly O, take a look at Tiffany (Hutch). Mwah ha ahaa Love seeing pics of all “our” blogging community pals! Go DW!