On behalf of Great Day Farms, Keynote Speaker Sponsor of #AWBU 2014,  I would like to announce that this years keynote speaker is Alli Worthington.

Alli is a digital strategist, business coach, author and speaker. She is the founder of Blissfully Domestic online magazine, and the co-founder of Blissdom Conference. She’s a wife, a mom to five sons, and a stepmom to an awesome daughter. Some of her interests: social good, startups, photography, transmedia, tech, photography, gardening, and ice cream. You can learn more about her on her website, Alli Worthington. Also, follow her fabulousness on Twitter at @alli.

#AWBU 2014 will be held at Embassy Suites NWA (479-254-8400) (47 in Rogers September 5 – 7. There is a conference room rate of $89/night via this special Arkansas Women Bloggers booking link for registered attendees only or you may call the hotel and reference group code BL2.  There are two queen beds and a pull out couch in each suite so you can fit three blogger gals comfortably in each room (just do not bring too many shoes). We HIGHLY recommend booking early as we only have a certain number of rooms booked (it is a Razorback home game weekend) and you will not want to miss out! Also, for you gals that live in Northwest Arkansas, do not miss out by trying to travel home each evening (you will get caught up doing laundry and miss out on all the fun, oh, and again, it is a Razorback game weekend, the traffic will be horrendous).  So many of the connections and camaraderie happens when not in the sessions! Did I mention that Embassy Suites has an amazing spa?

We will again hold the ever popular Foodie Friday add-on starting at Noon on Friday, September 5. Debbie is planning another information packed agenda. 

Early Bird Registration opens RIGHT NOW and ends May 1!  Do not put it off, you will not want to miss out on another AMAZING #AWBU conference. Register on Eventbrite and then make your hotel reservation today! 

Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged 2013

At AWBU 2013 I learned that:

• Eilleen Jennings and Jacquelin Wolven are hilarious and I want to sit with them whenever I get a chance because I’m always so flipping intense and I need women like them in my life to help me lighten up!
• Angie Albright has a delightful laugh that I could listen to all the time
• Terra is super creative and sweet, and I could take her home, squeeze her, pet her, and call her George.
• Sarah Daigle is smart in a way that I aspire to be (coding rocks)
• everybody should have at least one good wig, thank you Kelly Jo
• Debbie is fantastic.  Cheerful, supportive, on the mission.  I love her!
• Shannon and Gwen inspire me.
• Stephanie McCratic has a famous picture taking pose and I need to master this
• I need a tutu and a tractor, because that’s the kind of girl I am, thank you Ashley
• I definitely live in the land of deep fried meat.  I don’t think I ever heard so many praises on behalf of bacon.  We even saw pictures of stalagtites and stalagmites caused by excessive meat cooking, and these were taken by Janeal, a meat science Ph.D.  Nope, not even kidding.
• Bloggers are, for the most part Introverts.  Throw them all together for a weekend at camp and you get a 100 women who will hang out for a little while, but just can’t wait to get back to their own head space.
• I want to be able to speak as easily and comfortably as Boomama.  She made us all feel like we were together like family.
• There are real live women making money as writers and mothers, and doing it well.  Robin’s Chicks, Boomama, and Tricia Goyer are amazing.  I’m inspired.
• Jodi Dilday exudes confidence and beauty.  She makes me want to stand up straight.
• Donnie Ferneau may bake absolutely everything at 500 degrees (raw foodists like myself try not to let our food get up above 119 degrees) and call it cooking like a chef, but he definitely is singing my song with the fresh local foods and his lack of tolerance for grown up Mac N Cheese.  Amen.
• It’s very difficult to talk about healthy eating when we all have such emotional attachments to our food.  GastroMom is not very popular among beef farmers, but her data is staggering.  Sheer information.  I have challenges ahead of me if I’m going to blog about Raw Food Health in the land of Deep Fried Meat.
• Stephanie Buckley is a woman of vision to be able to put this event together, harnessing the power of such amazing, creative, beautiful, funny, and powerful women.
• Travel blogging is an option.  Don’t know why I didn’t think about that before.  Thanks to Ally for that insight.

Looking forward to all that I have to learn about blogging.  Thank you for the introduction #awbu

By Shannon Magsam of nwaMotherlode

Boo Mama.

No, that’s not a Halloween phrase. Notice I didn’t add any punctuation in there: Boo, mama! Rather, Boo Mama is a person. Specifically, a hilarious blogger/author/storyteller who loves God and making people laugh.

She really brought the funny to the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged Conference and now – a few days after getting home from the conference weekend – I’m reading her book (thanks for the free copy, sponsor Petit Jean Meats!) The book, A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet, has already inspired me, just a few sentences into chapter one.

Boo Mama (a.k.a. Sophie Hudson) has this theory about how we remember people: that we typically have one particular “fallback” memory that becomes our mental go-to image when we think about somebody.

I immediately agreed with her theory and a multitude of people marched through my mind – along with all their corresponding go-to images:

* My paternal grandmother, “Nanny” – Waving and smiling at us as we drive away from her house after Sunday dinner. (Alternately, in her rooster print apron pulling a cast iron pot out of the oven.)

* My maternal grandmother “Grandma Kelley” – Frying egg after egg after egg on the stove and artistically stacking them on a huge platter for any of her 11 kids and their families who happened to come by for breakfast.

* My mother – Building, cooking, sanding, mowing, weeding, planting, creating — with her own two hands. I always see her hands. And her face is usually a little red from the exertion.

* My father – Working on a vehicle, tanned and just a little smudge of motor oil on his face and under his fingernails. He’s either under the hood, under the truck or in the driver’s seat.

* My husband – Laughing. Teasing me with a joke. Or laughing at one of mine. (Alternately: The yep-she’s-mine expression on his face in my favorite picture from our wedding day.)

* My daughter – She’s about 2 years old, wearing a little denim skirt, sleeveless top and white sandals — carrying the book Goodnight, Gorilla around the Little Rock Zoo.

There are so many more people I love and would like to mention, but that’s just a few for now. I think the longer you know someone it’s possible that the go-to image could change, but it does seem to ring true that one strong memory will be the most enduring.

Thanks for the theory, Boo Mama Sophie. I enjoyed that trip down memory lane.

And I have to add that I LOVED your keynote speech at the AWBU conference. I’m impressed by anyone who can quote Bruno Mars and scripture all in one speech.

Treasure indeed.

OK, Arkansas Women Bloggers, what’s your go-to image for certain people in your life? We’d love to read your list!

Shannon Magsam is a tween mom, married to a newspaperman and the love of her life, and co-founder of nwaMotherlode.com 

What an amazing  weekend we had at the beautiful, serene  Ferncliff Camp & Conference Center (go LIKE them on Facebook) at the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged 2013 conference!  We couldn’t possibly capture all of the awesome that occurred in one post here and I have already seen so many today that have pulled at my heart strings, encouraged me, and after a couple of more good nights sleep, motivated me to get going on #awbu 2014!  So, would y’all be so kind as to place your AWBU blog posts here?  That way, we can all peek in on one another’s memories with ease, and it will be that much simpler for us to help convince everybody not to miss AWBU 2014!

Thank you for all that you shared and for all the ways you jumped into AWBU with total FABULOUSNESS!

Share your AWBU post below – be sure to link directly to the post rather than your homepage!  (You can put your blog name in parentheses after your name)

by Angie Albright
A Growing Season
@AngieAlbright @AGrowingSeason

Am I the only one who, when I find out that company is coming, rushes around my house to make things presentable? I try to keep things in order around my house (mostly unsuccessfully), but when I know I’m about to have visitors, I tend to see things a little differently. Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged is just days away, and for those of you attending, you’re about to get lots of visitors to your online house. Some of those visitors may even be representatives of the brands sponsoring AWBU or interacting with participants during the conference. Are you company-ready?

What follows are a few suggestions to help you polish up your online presence as well as help you prepare for all these new visitors.

Your Blog

•  What is the post any visitor will see first when she lands on your website? Is it a favorite? Is it a really solid one? You’ll have the opportunity to make lots of good first impressions in just a few days, so make sure your top post is one that shines and that you’re proud of (and if that means re-posting a favorite that really represents who you are, then do it!).
• This will sound a little nuts, but listen anyway. Look around your blog. Where is your name? I read lots of great blogs but often have to dig around to find whose words I am reading. Do us a favor and make sure your name is right up front on the home page. We want to connect with you!
• Are any of your ads or sidebar images outdated? Freshen up any information or images on your homepage. Consider adding a picture of you toward the top of the sidebar so any new visitor will immediately connect the blog to the person she’s just met.
• Make sure the link to your blog is on the ARWB website and that you are a registered member!

Social Media

• You will probably end up with a number of new Facebook friend requests. If your profile pic isn’t a picture of a clearly recognizable you, consider swapping it out for one that is, at least for the duration of the conference. If someone wants to engage with you but doesn’t see your face, she may not remember who is making the friend request! Also make sure that a link to your blog is included in the “About” section of your profile. Same goes for Twitter. Put a picture of yourself in your profile and make sure you have a link to your blog as well.
• If you have a Facebook fan page, does your cover photo make a good first impression or represent your professional identity and blog well? As with checking your blog posts, check to see what your last few status updates are. Is it your best stuff? Would a quick glance at your latest postings there tell a visitor who you are and what kind of work you do?
• Twitter is the social media channel that dominates conferences and professional events. I am at my limit of those I can follow (2,000) until I have closer to 2,000 followers myself. You will want to follow lots of folks you’re meeting, so clear out the junk so you have the capacity to do all the following you want! JustUnfollow.com is a great website and smart phone app for helping you manage your Twitter contacts. You can quickly identify who you can stop following based on any number of criteria.
• Hashtags: Most of the third-party social media tools like HootSuite or Tweetdeck allow you to add “streams” to your profile. Add a stream for #AWBU so you can watch the action from the get-go. For the Instagram lovers among us, the “Explore” tab also offers a search for hashtags. Facebook is using hashtags now, but as with Instagram, you have to put the hashtagged phrase into the search field to pull up the feed.
• Use the hashtag in your posts about the conference! It does a couple of important things: it shows our sponsors and others that we are indeed influencers and know how to generate a good buzz around an idea, product, or event. It will also help you find other attendees to follow. You’ll have fun scrolling through the #AWBU stream on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram after the conference is over.

Once you’ve done these things, forget about all that and just have fun connecting with new and old friends, learning from each other, and enjoying the weekend getaway!

Are you ready to run a 5K? How about walk it?  Or, you could hit the course and cheer on your fellow social media sistahs? New Balance Arkansas (go like them on Facebook) will sponsor the first #AWBU 5k Race on  Sunday morning of the conference at 6:30 a.m.

There will be some fun along the way, of course, we are ARWB! So, be prepared.

New Balance Arkansas is providing some incredible awards for the top 3  race time winners and the top 3 social media superstar winners. Yes, awards for Tweeting and Instagraming, what a wonderful world!

In addition, they will be on hand during the Handmade Marketplace to do fittings for anyone who would like to find the best fit and best shoe for you.

In preparation, I need some info. Remember, if you do not want to head out on the course, we could always use volunteers, that is how this stuff happens!

Special thanks to Lisa Mullis and Ashley Ederington for being race directors and making it all happen!

It’s your life, run with it!

New Balance of Arkansas 30 Second Ad from Bryan Stafford on Vimeo.

I know, I know….seriously, how can #AWBU get any more awesome? Easy, AWBU attendees have the opportunity to purchase P. Allen Smith’s Seasonal Recipes from the Garden from us at ARWB, and he will sign it at the Kick-Off Reception Friday night.  Um…yes, it’s true, it’s true!

You can go here and find out more about the contents of the book. I own it and use it often. And, as someone who has mostly been a grower of food, this book has helped me along the way in becoming a preparer of food too. If you do not garden, head out to the Farmer’s Market, grab some Arkansas Grown produce, and try some new recipes.  It is also a beautiful book, the photographs are gorgeous. A great Christmas present idea.

There is even more incentive to purchase it, the proceeds from book sales will be for ARWB members in need to attend the conference through an #AWBU Scholarship.

You can preorder it (we only have 45) and we will have it ready for Allen to sign Friday evening at #AWBU Kick-Off Reception. The cost for this wonderful book with proceeds to help your fellow blogger gals is only $30.  When they are sold out, we will not be able to get any more.  So, do it now!

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.