Bloggy Boot Camp Boston

By Drew Bennett

About two weeks ago I attended Bloggy Boot Camp Boston. I was provided a pass to the event through Collective Bias. I had a fun time overall. That is, considering that I had been up for 24 hours prior to the event, I missed the Friday night fun and was sort of running on empty. However, the Bloggy Boot Camp did help to revive me for a while and I immediately so saw friends from past events and got into the conference mode.

What is conference mode? For me it means forgoing any thoughts of sleep and trying to absorb and observe everything happening. Meeting as many people as I can and trying to make some real connections. Bloggy Boot Camp was great for this.

When you go to Bloggy Boot Camp you get your name tag and on it there are a bunch of numbers on the bottom of the tag. These numbers correspond to your seat numbers as you sit and watch the different speakers. The reason for the assigned seating is to force you to meet as many people as possible rather than always sit with those people that you already know. I loved this aspect of the the conference. To me this was something that I think should be a part of other conferences.

The lineup of speakers was impressive and the points that they made were excellent. I learned so much about branding, seeking deals with potential sponsors, clients and partners. One of my favorite sessions was the one with Collective Bias’ own Katja Presnal. I’m not just saying this because she was from Collective Bias and I was sent to the conference because of Collective Bias or that I know Katja and have worked with her before. I was so impressed because I had never before heard her story of her success. She told us so much about what it takes to work hard and put tremendous effort into something that you are passionate about. Her session was the highlight of the event for me. It was a real eye opener that I needed.

So, if a Bloggy Boot Camp comes to a city near you, GO. They are fun, informative and you will come home with so much more than a bunch of business cards. You’d come away making meaningful connections with very intelligent people.

Andrew “Drew” Bennett aka “BenSpark” became a blogger in 2003. It wasn’t until 2005 that he hit upon his calling, a Photo-A-Day blog capturing his daily life in photos and blog posts. Drew has taken and posted over 2000 consecutive photos over 6 straight years and shows no signs of stopping. After the success of BenSpark.com Drew learned that he was going to be a father, so he created Read To Me, Dad, a blog where he reviews products for kids as well as video based children’s book reviews with his daughter, Eva. While at IZEAFest ’08 moderating the Big Money Bloggers Panel Drew hit upon another part of his brand, “I’m Not A Famous Blogger” was born and became a rallying cry for a community of everyday bloggers. Drew is also a Blog and Social Media consultant. In addition to his own blogs also writes for the Blog World Expo blog, Dad-O-Matic, BloggingTips.com and has worked with major brands such as Sears, Philips Norelco, Philips Sonicare, Kodak and Seagate. He can also be heard as one of the co-hosts of Geek Dads Weekly and his weight loss site/podcast Road To Thin.

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