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This past weekend I was lucky enough to get to attend Megaphone Summit in Fayetteville Arkansas. Yesterday I talked about my trip up to Fayetteville and what I did, ate, and saw around town. Today I will be covering some highlights from the conference itself.
First of all Megaphone Summit is an influencer conference that covers all things community and social media. It is for bloggers, PR people, and really just anyone wanting to learn more about branding, photography, writing, growing your business, and everything in between! It was the sixth year the conference had been held and my first time to go!! Before Megaphone I hadn’t been to a blog conference since Bloggy Boot Camp in Dallas a few years ago. To say this is something I needed to do is an understatement.
I started the conference on Friday afternoon by attending The Shoot Shop, a photography class, at Pratt Place Inn and Barn in Fayetteville.
This was an add on to the conference and was much needed. I have had my “fancy camera”, a Nikon D3300, since August 2014 and have only used it twice since then. I am ashamed, I know!!!
We learned some camera basics and then headed out to shoot! It was really fun and I am so ready to use my camera now!! I also have a few new camera accessories to add to me “want” list. HA!!
These are my Shoot Shop classmates and our fabulous teacher, Ruthanne! Photo is curtesy of Ruthanne’s Instagram!!
After learning all about my fancy camera I headed to The Chancellor Hotel for the start of the conference! The conference was held at The Chancellor but I didn’t get to stay there because they were all booked up when I tried to reserve my room…boooooo!!
The conference kicked off with Sister Shubert speaking and can I just say that she is one truly amazing woman?? Listening to her speak made me really believe that anything is possible if I just work hard enough for it, and the word of mouth is a really big deal. Thank you Sister Shubert!!
After listening to Sister Shubert we went to a reception and ate food provided by local restaurants and drank some yummy cocktails!! I was completely wiped out after that and am proud to say I was in bed and asleep by 10pm…HA! #OldLadyStatus #NotAshamed
Saturday morning we kicked off Day Two of Megaphone with these yummy #ArizonaEnergyShots and listening to Peg Fitzpatrick speak. If you ever need any inspiration about your social media biz then Peg is the woman to listen to. She knows her stuff and she is insanely funny.
After hearing Peg speak we broke into sessions and on Day Two I went to the Business Entities for Bloggers, Improving your SEO Ninja Skills, Growing Your Email List, Creating an Authentic Voice for Your Sponsored Content, and How to Make Your Images Stand Out on Instagram. It was a lot of amazing information and I can’t wait to implement some of these amazing tips and tricks and see where they take me!
In between sessions I got a fabulous blowout by some ladies from a fabulous local salon using the new Remington tools (blow dryers, curling irons, and curling wands). These tools really were fantastic and my hair stayed put all day long. I am seriously looking to purchase the curling wand that was used on my hair!! #RemReady
Our lunch that day was provided by Riceland, the world’s largest miller and marketer of rice and one of the Mid-South’s major soybean processors. We had fried chicken and tons of fabulous sides. YUM!!!!
As much as I loved learning how to take over the world in the sessions I loved the time in between sessions because it gave me time to connect with my friends, both old and new, and relax and recharge in the lounge provided by Soapbox Influence. There were plenty of places to sit and tons of chargers, outlets, chocolate, and #ArizonaEnergyShots Plus it was just really pretty!
Sunday was Day Three of the conference and sadly, the last day. I went to a few amazing sessions…Brand Best Practices, Writing and Editorial Calendar and Brainstorming Topics, and Charting Your Course as a Blogger. After that there were some closing remarks, including the fact that the conference would return to Fayetteville next year (!!!!!) and then it was over.
Here is my day three mirror selfie, I apologize for the crazy hair but the ned to sleep in was greater than the need to actually do anything with my curly/wavy mop that morning. Right before conference I was stressing about how to carry my camera, laptop, and everything else so I splurged and purchased a Kelly Moore bag. I got the Libby and was amazing at how much stuff it held without being completely bulky and heavy. I need to do a complete review of this thing so you can see how amazing it is. I should probably also tell you that I didn’t pay full price for this bad boy, I found it on Poshmark for about a third of the price of a brand new one. I am Poshmark obsessed!!!
Overall I would shave to say that my experience at Megaphone was a fantastic one and I am already looking forward to next year!! I can’t wait to implement some of the things I learned on my blog and I can’t wait for next year!!
Did you attend Megaphone Summit??
Have you ever been to a blog conference??
Megaphone sounds like such a great conference! I have to admit that I’ve never been to a blogging conference and would really like to attend one.
That sounds like it was an amazing conference. I’ll tell you, there’s nothing better than a good conference!
I am hoping that one of these years I can go to a conference like this. I know there’s so much to learn there and there’s so many different people to talk to.
This sounds like such a fun event. It’s great that you were able to learn all about your new camera. I definitely need to learn more about my camera.
Sounds like it was a great event. I could definitely use some social media maintenance helpd, tips and ideas. Especially with the camera component.
This sounds like an amazing conference. I am glad that I finally heard about it. I am bookmarking it so I can try to attend next year.
It sounds like the Megaphone conference was a great opportunity for learning and networking. I really need to make sure to attend some conferences in the future–there is always something new to learn!
It sounds like you had an amazing experience at the Megaphone Summit. I would love to go to this some day and I have never been to a blog conference before. The Arizona Energy Shots sounds like something I will have to look into along with the Kelly Moore Bag the Libby too. Thanks for sharing your experiences and these items.
wow, I’m sure that was a great gathering of social influencers. At first i was shocked by the title of the conference :)
Wow! There’s plenty of things to learn and try in this event. It would be awesome to go there especially if you’re a blogger! I’m glad you had a great time.
I am always hearing about these conferences but I have never made it to one. I would love to attend and get to know other bloggers as well as brands to work with in the future. Sounds like Fun!
This sounds like such a fun conference! I love blogging-related conferences because you get to learn so much and meet new people! (and use your fancy camera ;) I am the same with mine…I’ve used it a handful of times but am definitely going to use it more going forward!)
I’ve never heard of the Megaphone Summit before. It sounds like an amazing conference, I need to get my act together and attend a conference of some kind!
Sounds like such an amazing conference, and your outfits are adorable! Oh, and that scenery too!
The Megaphone Summit looks like it was an awesome event! I haven’t been to any blog conference lately but I will try to attend the next available one. There is so much to learn in these conferences, and meeting new friends sharing the same interest is tops!
What a great conference and I’m sure a memorable one at that. I’m loving all of your photos .
It was a fabulous conference! I wish I had gone to the Shoot Shop!
Sounds like a great trip! The food looks amazing too!
Wow, that looks like it was a really fun experience! I’ve never had the pleasure of attending a MegaPhone Summit but I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes out for next time! Thank you for sharing! :)
This sounds like a great conference. You had a fun time and learned new and helpful things. Can’t beat it!
Great pics! What a cute blog you have. <3
Thank you!!