The Good, the Meh, and the Pretty
*Yes, this is formatted weird and No, I can't figure out how to make it better. I apologize. But, pretty pictures at the end, so soldier on.*
It seems that every Mom 2.0 attendee has
blogged about the conference. Seemingly a recap would be over saturation at this point. But, then I remembered that most of my lovely readers may not read the other Mom 2.0 bloggers (because I am your favorite, right?!). Besides, when has over saturation ever stopped me before?! Last year I went to Mom 2.0 at the encouragement of
Karen (if it gets her seal of approval, then I generally will heed her advice). I got a party pass and had a wonderful time meeting the bloggers I read for years. It was a no-brainer for me to attend Mom 2.0 again this year, it was relatively close and I reasoned that it was the equivalent of a really fun & fabulous girls weekend. I'm not at all upset that I attended, but, for various reasons, likely won't attend again for some time.
The Good
Mom 2.0 does a really great job of attracting the right people to its conference. The attendees are overwhelmingly smart, creative people who have concrete ideas for making blogging their business. Likewise, they have great ideas on how to change their communities for the better. I like to be surrounded by smart, goal oriented people (especially women), so my fellow participants were a huge draw for me. I also really appreciate that the conference is limited to a manageable 500. I have gone through sorority rush, I don't need to go through that again. Anything over 500 people would be too much for me. The relatively small number of attendees allowed me to interact with people and form friendships.
The conference does an excellent job of selecting the right women to give its opening and closing remarks. I
already mentioned how wonderful Abigail Disney's discussion was, the closing keynoters were likewise extremely accomplished women with exciting ideas and different worldviews.
I think Mom 2.0 also does a great job of encouraging interesting discussions. I attended sessions that have little to do with my blogging world, such as dad blogging and the new family. I was really happy I selected those session since both were really interesting.
The Meh
I can't quite figure out the Mom 2.0 brand. In one sense, it is absolutely THE preeminent conference for women (primarily mom) bloggers to connect on a professional level with marketers. On the other hand, the conference does not always act professionally. By that I mean, that Mom 2 chose not to release agendas or speakers until the tickets were full price. I suspect this was their way of creating excitement. I just found it frustrating. I really wanted to know what the conference would offer. As a professional, I would never attend a legal conference that refused to release its agenda or speakers until a few weeks before the conference. I was also disappointed in the lapses in communication on the Mom 2 website for most of the year and then daily updates with the newest greatest addition in the couple weeks before the event. Just release an agenda with a full roster of speakers, why is that so hard? There were plenty of little surprises at the conference that did not require the furtive PR campaign.
The other two large issues that I couldn't figure out, but are easily corrected for next year, were the food and the lack of internet connectivity. The conference organizers kept boasting about great food. Yea! I thought, it's the Ritz, in New Orleans, I am going to EAT. Um...no. The conference selections were meager and not very good. Maybe I am a foodie snob, but I expected more. Much more. The lack of internet connectivity meant that most of the attendees (like me) weren't able to connect to the internet to blog, tweet, or even email for most of the conference. As a result, Mom 2 missed out on opportunities for real time social media excitement. I have high hopes that Laura and her team will continue to improve.
The Pretty
The people. The end.
Me & Mir-Courtesy SarahThe women who attend this conference are AMAZING.
Me & Georgia (BOSSY) courtesy of SarahMake you so glad you know them great.
Me & Susan Come up with amazing ideas amazing.
These are women that I would be (and am) friends with in real life. These are women that I could hang out with for weeks and not get tired of seeing their lovely faces. These women are the reason I attended the conference. I was inspired, I learned, I laughed-oh, how I laughed. I got to meet tons of my twitter folks like Regan (BEST shoes ever), Britt and Rachel, and reconnect with amazing women like Laurie and Sarah. Not to mention my amazing roomies- Pam, Sarah, and Jennifer. In fact, many of my best times at the conference were the times I was just hanging out with awesome women. I really loved doing things that were not scheduled sessions like running with the group below on Saturday morning, walking around the French Quarter, and just chilling in my room while Mir made carpet angels (as soon as I can figure out how to make a video, that goes up here). That was well worth it. 
Run 2.0 (or 3.5!) courtesy of Rookie Moms
I laughed, I met new friends and reconnected with old friends. I came thisclose to meeting a fairy- I DARE you to listen and watch Erin Loechner and not think she is a real life fairy (an extremely savvy fairy). I was complimented by Gabby, Allison (who I desperately needed more time to hang out with!), and Susan, so pretty much I am complete. I learned that blogging as a business is not for me. I also learned that when you get a group of educated women in a room for any amount of time, the talk will inevitably lead to boobs, poop, or shoes. And, possibly I may be wearing the wrong bra (That was for you, you know whos).
There's my recap. And, as a thank you for reading that, I have a special Birthday present for you tomorrow, so come on back!
Combine flour, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper in a shallow dish; beat egg in a separate bowl. In a third dish, combine coconut, almond meal, and panko. Dredge shrimp in the flour mixture, shake each one off, then dredge in the egg, then dredge in the coconut mixture. Place each shrimp on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Repeat with each shrimp. Refrigerate for an hour. Preheat skillet (we've used both a fryer and a skillet and find a skillet with a small amount of oil works just as well as a fryer without so much waste). Lightly fry, turning once. Serve and enjoy.
Christmas through the house
