We are beyond thrilled to announce that award-winning designer, gardening and lifestyle expert P. Allen Smith will kick off Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged 2013 on Friday, September 6 at Ferncliff Conference Center. Many of you know P. Allen Smith from watching his public television programs, P. Allen Smith ‘s Garden Home and P. Allen Smith’s Garden to Table, and the syndicated 30-minute show P. Allen Smith Gardens. There are also some of us lucky gals that have been able to hang out with him at his home, Moss Mountain Farm, for the day during Bean2Blog.

My mission at ARWB has always been to create community and to help you be better bloggers/social media superstars which I hope has helped to better your lives.  Allen is the perfect person to kick off this extraordinary social media conference weekend because he is also in the business of helping people live better lives.  And, his vision is quiet beautiful and always rooted in Arkansas.

He also understands social media and our impact: According to P. Allen Smith,  “Social media has caused a huge paradigm shift in how business is conducted on our planet. The social web has created a new era of instantaneous business where bloggers are today’s up-to-the-minute voice. Businesses want to tap these bloggers to spread positive word-of-mouth about their products.” Smith continued “Bloggers are very influential because they become product evangelists or influencers giving marketers instantaneous feedback on exclusive previews, product testing, marketing plans, customer services audits, etc. The blogger’s opinions become actionable items that businesses can employ immediately thus better serving consumers. In this scenario, everybody wins.”

If you have not registered for the conference, go now! There are only a few more days left before registration ends!

For more information, contact The Park Wife and yes, I am jumping up and down with excitement that Allen will be there. In celebration, I am going to make a dish from P. Allen Smith’s Seasonal Recipes From the Garden book while wearing my Heritage Poultry Conservancy t-shirt.