Category: ARWB Events

AWBU Conference Schedule

Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged
Conference Schedule & Details
Twitter Hashtag: #AWBU
Friday, June 10
5:00 – 7:00p Attendee arrival, registration, collection of medical forms, lodge check-in
7:00pish – Welcome, appetizers, drinks & getting to know one another around the campfire
Saturday, June 11
7:00a Optional Early Bird Hike
8:00a Breakfast (farm fresh eggs from Willow Tree Creek Farm & The Park Wife plus Petit Jean Meats)
8:30a Conference Kick-Off & Introduction to Collective Bias
9:00a Session 1
• Blogging 101 – Stephanie Buckley of The Park Wife
New to blogging or ready to launch your blog? A veteran will walk you through the basics – in layman’s terms.
• How Not To Be A Schmuck – Sarah Daigle Scott of For the Love of Geek
When/how to use your personal versus professional profile, becoming a “trust agent” and considering who you are online.
10:00a Session 2
• Pulling Blog Topics Out of Thin Air – LaTonya Richardson of LaRich Media
When your muse has left the building and you’re ready to purchase blog topics out of desperation.
• Generating Traffic – Jacqueline Wolven of Moxie Works and GoodWolve
Learn how to effectively drive traffic and interest for your blog and grow your readership.
11:00a Session 3
• Blogging with Purpose & Social Good – Fawn Rechkemmer of Instead of the Dishes and Momcation
Learn to help your blog find its higher calling and influence positive change.
• Generating Traffic– Jacqueline Wolven of Moxie Works and GoodWolve
Learn how to effectively drive traffic and interest for your blog and grow your readership.
12:00p Lunch & time to decompress
2:00p Session 4
• Maximizing Social Media – Beth Stephens of Ozark Natural Science Center and Carpe Diem Beth
Ensure your blog is connected to social media tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn and TweetDeck.
• Community Blogs – Amy/Collective Bias
Community blogs are big right now – could you launch one or improve your existing effort?
3:00p Session 5
• Food Fantastic – Julie Kohl of Willow Tree Creek Farm
Tips for food bloggers and writers, artistic styling, and guidance on posting food photos and recipes.
• Personal Branding – The Mamas of NWA Motherlode
How to balance a consistent image, sincerity, grammar, professionalism, approachability and your unique, fun personality!
4:00p Session 6
• Photography Tip Session – Melanie Poteat of Snaps by Poteat
Learn blog photography and styling tips from a self-taught photographer and improve the visual appeal of your blog!
*Special treat following the session: Melanie will take customized Snaps by Poteat headshots of attendees to use on blogs, Twitter, etc. Awesome!
6:00p Dinner
7:00p Inspiration Board Activity – Carrie Bigfeather from the Elmer’s Glue Crew!
8:00p Visiting around the campfire & optional guided night hike
Sunday, June 12
8:30a Final Session: The Social Fabric Community & More – Courtney Velasquez and Kim Janocko of Collective Bias (coffee & snacks)
10:00a Brunch, Blogger Panel & Downtown Brainstorming Session (followed by evaluations and lodge check-out)
12:00p Attendees depart by noon
There are still a few tickets left, call today if you want to be a part of this wonderful, inspiring blog weekend.

Blog Conference Just Exploded!

Have you heard about that little blog conference we have been working on that is set for June 10-12? Well, that little blog conference that was a yummy peanut butter and jelly kind of conference just became a big time birthday cake kind of conference! Because…….
The phenomenal social media company Collective Bias has signed on as presenting sponsor for the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged Conference. They manage brands such as Elmer’s Glue (& their trifold science project style display boards!), Truvia, ConAgra Foods and many others. Specifically, they have an invitation-only “exclusive community designed to connect influencers, brands and retailers” called Social Fabric and work with thousands of women and bloggers nationwide.
We will be announcing the lineup of workshops in the coming days, and ladies, you will most certainly want to attend. Let’s just say “ROCKIN'”. We even received a nod from SheBlogs about the event recently – read more here.

Here are all the delicious details:
The Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged (#AWBU) Conference will be held June 10 – 12 at the Ozark Natural Science Center in Huntsville, Arkansas! This mini-conference is a networking retreat and informal blogging conference all rolled into one. The cost is $199/person (a weekend getaway including two nights of lodging, meals, speakers, networking, relaxing and *ahem* beverages).

The ultimate goal for the weekend is to unplug. Feel free to bring those laptops, chi chi tablets and smartphones if you have separation anxiety, but don’t plan to spend any time with them. You won’t want to with the speakers, activities and old fashioned chatting you’ll cram into every spare minute.

So, all you Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Timbuktu or wherever you are from gals, sign up today before it is too late!!!! We can’t wait to meet you!

The registration deadline is May 31, 2011, and space is limited! Please sign up as soon as possible to reserve your spot.

For additional information, please feel free to contact Arkansas Women Bloggers Founder Stephanie Buckley at arkansasbloggers@gmail.com or ONSC Executive Director Beth Stephens (479-633-7619 or beth@onsc.us).

Look on the right bar to see the most up-to-date list of attendees! Now, go get your name added to that list.

Download registration form here!

Big Announcement Regarding Conference

We are excited to announce that Collective Bias will serve as presenting sponsor for the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged Conference. They are a phenomenal social media company, and manage brands such as Elmer’s Glue (& their trifold science project style display boards!), Truvia, ConAgra Foods and many others. Specifically, they have an invitation-only “exclusive community designed to connect influencers, brands and retailers” called Social Fabric and work with thousands of women and bloggers nationwide.

The conference just went from a yummy peanut butter and jelly conference to a big birthday cake kind of conference! If you have not registered, do it now as time is running out.

Do you want to know which of your bloggy friends or soon to be friends will be there? So far,
Stephanie Buckley (The Park Wife, @parkwife)
Julie Kohl (Willow Tree Creek Farm)
Fawn Rechkemmer (Instead of the Dishes, Momcation, @fawnrech)
Beth Stephens (Ozark Natural Science Center, Carpe Diem Beth, @bethanystephens)
Tomi Clark (Three Boys and an Old Lady, @3boys_OldLady)
LaTonya Richardson (LaTonya Richardson, @Latonyarich)
Jody Dilday (Mindless Wanderings, @jdilday)
Janie Clark (greenZine, @GreenZineAR)
Jennifer Janes (Jennifer A. Janes, @jenniferajanes)
Angie Albright (A Growing Season, @angiealbright)
Sarah Scott (For the Love of Geek, @techteachergirl)
Shannon Simons
Sandy Moss (Cedar Berry, @CedarBerryLLC)
Stephanie McCratic (Evolved Mommy, @evolvedmommy)
Courtney Velasquez (Detroit Mommies, @CourtneyDetroit)
Lauren Rodkin (Collective Bias, @LaurenRodkin)
Monica Johnson (Collective Bias, @MonicaJohnson)
Lyndi Fultz (NWA Foodie, @NWAFoodie)

We will be announcing the lineup of workshops in the coming days, and you will most certainly want to attend. We even received a nod from SheBlogs about the event recently – read more here.

DETAILS:
The Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged (#AWBU) Conference, June 10 – 12 at the Ozark Natural Science Center! This mini-conference is a networking retreat and informal blogging conference all rolled into one. The cost is $199/person (a weekend getaway including two nights of lodging, meals, speakers, networking, relaxing and *ahem* beverages).

Click here to register!

Conference Coming Soon!

The Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged Mini-conference is coming soon!  The deadline to register is just over a week away.  Trust me, you DO NOT want to miss out on this event.  Click the UNPLUGGED CONFERENCE link in the tool bar above to get all the details.  You can go here to print a registration form.  Also be sure to drop us an email at arkansasbloggers@gmail.com or leave a message on our facebook page to let us know you will be attending.  We can not wait to meet you!

Call for Proposals – AWB Unplugged Conference

The dates are set, and now we need your help!  The Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged mini-conference will be held June 10-12.  We KNOW you’re planning to be there anyway, so why not propose a presentation, workshop, or panel discussion?  We’re looking for bloggers who are willing to share their knowledge, trials and tribulations, and personality with us!  This is a great opportunity to get yourself and your blog in front of a prime target audience – your peers! Here’s what we’re thinking:

  •  Sessions will be about 50 minutes each
  • This is an unplugged conference, so we don’t want any coding tricks or design concepts.
  • What we do want is proposals for sessions in the areas of blog photography, making money with your blog, topic generation and writing tips, PR & marketing, personal branding, honing your message/goals, and whatever other non-techie topics you think your peers need to know about
  • Panels are encouraged, as long as panel members have diverse perspectives. (Panels may be given longer session time)

If you would like to present at Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged, please send a short description of your proposed session (one paragraph will do just fine) along with your name and blog address to arkansasbloggers@gmail.com.  Deadline for proposals is April 15th.

Women Blogger Conference Planned!

You work, you play, you cook, you clean, you blog. Time to shake it up. An extended gathering of Arkansas Women Bloggers is past due. We all dream of Blissdom, BlogHer, Blog Sugar and the like… but funds, family, time, location and reality get in the way. Here’s your chance to unplug for the weekend, network with other Arkansas women bloggers, pick up tips, gain inspiration and grow.
The Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged mini-conference is a networking retreat and informal blogging conference all rolled into one. Here’s the catch… we’ll literally unplug for the weekend. Feel free to bring those laptops, chi chi tablets and smartphones if you have separation anxiety, but don’t plan to spend any time with them. You won’t want to with the speakers, activities and old fashioned chatting you’ll cram into every spare minute.
So… plan now to just do it. Step away from the screen. You can do this. We’ll have an idyllic setting and real, live, face to face connections with other bloggers and inspiring speakers to fuel and refresh you to return home ready to face it all. You know, the work – the play – the cooking – the cleaning – the amazingly improved and refocused blogging.
Who: Women bloggers (and would-be bloggers) in Arkansas and beyond
When: Friday, June 10 (arrive between 5 & 7ish) – Sunday, June 12 (after brunch)
Where: The Ozark Natural Science Center in northwest Arkansas (read: rustic lodges, bunk beds, and feeling like you’re back at summer camp with your girlfriends)
Cost: $199/person (seriously, that’s cheap: a weekend getaway including two nights of lodging, meals, speakers, networking, relaxing and *ahem* beverages).
Limited scholarships are available. Go here for scholarship application information.
Directions to ONSC here.

Arkansas Women Bloggers @ MOD: A Recap

As an event planner, it’s always hard to come to grips with the idea that nothing is definite when you pull together a first-time event.  So, when Stephanie Buckley (aka The Park Wife) called and told me that we had been offered the opportunity to have a meetup for the Arkansas Women Bloggers at the Museum of Discovery, I was excited, a little nervous, and very curious about what the end result would be.
Luckily, putting the event together seemed to evolve fairly easily.  The Park Wife lead the charge, along with Katie McManners from Museum of Discovery and Julie Kohl from WillowTreeCreek Farm.
Our advertising spread via word of mouth and our Facebook page for the most part, but we also had the added bonuses of a nice preview article in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, and an excellent early morning appearance by the lovely LaTonya Richardsonon KATV channel 7. We ended up with 44 bloggers and bloggers-to-be in attendance at the meetup.

A Chatty Crowd

Stephanie was a champ at approaching businesses for support, but many of our sponsors came to us, which was very exciting. Misty Willbanks and Petit Jean Meats provided turkey, ham, and summer sausage for our lunch, plus a whole ham to give away.   Boulevard Bread provided 5 different kinds of bread, Kroger provided fruit and vegetable trays, and Cupcake Crazy provided 120 beautiful, yummy cupcakes. We also had a lot of great support from our member bloggers, who provided great door prizes including locally grown food, gourmet dog biscuits, eco-friendly candles and soaps, and a signed cookbook from The Pioneer Wife.

The meetup started off with blogger speed dating, lead by Julie.  This gave everyone a chance to get to know several people in the room.  It was so fun to watch everyone match faces with blogs.  Several times I introduced myself: “Hi, I’m Fawn.” The response was, “Oh! you’re Instead of the Dishes!” It was like attending a secret society meeting where everyone had code names.  It was also interesting to see different types of bloggers mixing.  The author-blogger chatting with the fitness blogger, the surgeon blogger with the mommy blogger, and the foodie blogger with the lifestyle blogger, all chatting it up.  Overall, it was an incredible group of women, many of whom were brave enough to come out to our meetup despite the fact that they didn’t know anyone else there!

Speed Dating Bloggers

Next on the docket was lunch.  While we munched, we were treated to two mini-talks by seasoned bloggers (see pictures in post below).  The first talk was from LaTonya Richardson on finding your blog niche. She made us all laugh as

she invited us all to work hard at just being ourselves, because no one else can do that better.  So, so true. Kyran Pittman finished out the “formal” part of our program with a chat about avoiding the numbers game for blogging.  Turns out Kyran speaks just as well as she writes, and certainly she is the poster child for making HUGE things happen as a result of a small blog. Huge Thanks to both of these ladies, who added so much value to our afternoon.

Finally, our elegant hostess, Katie McManners, let us all in on future plans for the Museum and touted MOD Voices guest blogger perks such as behind-the-scenes hard-hat tours of the upcoming expansion project.  Museum of Discovery will be completely re-doing their “You” over the next year, and I’m sure they’ll be paying attention to their numbers. That’s ok, though, because their enthusiasm for being an integral part of the community is outstanding, as is evidenced by their invitation to host our inaugural meetup.  Either that, or Katie didn’t realize what an unruly bunch us bloggers can be.

First Blogger Meet Up A Huge Success

A fabulous time was had by all the women bloggers who attended the first Arkansas Women Blogger’s Meetup hosted by the Museum of Discovery on Saturday, December 11. Over 45 of the leading bloggers from Arkansas were able to network, meet new friends, share information, and enjoy being inspired by speakers LaTonya Richardson and Kyran Pittman.  A wonderful meal was provided by Petit Jean Meats, Boulevard Bread Company and Kroger. Dessert was provided by our blogger friend Elaine Hodges of Cupcake Crazy, and let me tell you her cupcakes are DELICIOUS! Many of those in attendance are blogging about their experience, if you are one of these extraordinary ladies, link up your post with Mr. Linky below.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the first meetup an overwhelming success.
Stephanie, Fawn, Julie

Meetup attendees:
Addicted to Fries
Arkansas Research, Inc.
Arkansas Ties
Chasing My Bees
Cherie Elson
Christy Jackson
Cooking Up A Mess
Cupcake Crazy
Damn You Little Rock
Desperately Seeking GinaFancy Pants Foodie
40s- Reasons to Live, Love, and Laugh Outloud
Gerbera Daisy Diaries
Hillcrest Cottage Life
If You Ask Me
Instead of the Dishes
Kat & Karl – Team Hills
Kristal Boulden
Laurie Kramer
Losing It
Meenakshi Budhrata
Methodical Madness
Museum of Discovery- Katie McManners
My Loonyverse
NikkiMo Papercrafts
NoteWorthy
Planting Dandelions
Robin Richardson
Run Melissa Run
Southern Fired Dreams
Susan Robinson
Suture for A Living
The Bee Dot
The Dramatic
The Park Wife
The Davidson Den
Then There Were Three
The Willbanks Family
Willow Tree Creek Farm

 

It’s Almost Meetup Time!

LADIES! Just four, yes 4, days until the first Arkansas Women Bloggers Meetup hosted by the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock. As of now, we have 45 women bloggers that have RSVP’d for the event and hope for more bloggers to come out to make friends with other Arkansas Women Bloggers, share stories and experiences, and be inspired!

The event will be from 11:00 until 1:00 and we will even feed you thanks to Petit Jean Meats, Boulevard Bread Co. and Cupcake Crazy. We have some FABULOUS giveaways, check out our list of SWAG donors on the right side of the blog.

Everyone is invited! To RSVP, you can leave a comment on this post.  If you’re on Facebook, you can RSVP and invite friends at the event page. You can also RSVP by emailing us at arkansasbloggers@gmail.com.

We look forward to meeting you all this Saturday!
Stephanie, Fawn and Julie

Market to Your Peers – We need SWAG!

Attention all industrious, crafty, service-oriented, and/or otherwise bloggers-in-business! We are looking for SWAG for our upcoming AWB Meetup.  The meetup is December 11th at the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, and we have over 35 bloggers already RSVP’d to attend. That means this is a great opportunity for you to get your product or service in front of a group of women bloggers, and into the hands of a blogger who can spread the word.  If you’d like to provide a giveaway item, please email us at arkansasbloggers@gmail.com.

Oh, and don’t forget to RSVP for the event if you’re able to attend.!  We hope to see you all there so we can put faces with blogs.