a.forte's blog of Spain Hill Farm: Haven 2014 Highlights

Monday, July 14, 2014

Haven 2014 Highlights

I attended Haven 2014, my first blogging conference, last week. I have to confess as the conference was approaching I was feeling pretty anxious about attending. Like I am an amateur. They are all pros. Like I was a poser and would be found out.

What should I wear?

What does one (who's trying to not look like a total dork) bring to a blogging conference??

Forget it!! I'm not going.

Wait, what?!?

Really. I felt like backing out. Why do we let doubts and fears paralyze us from doing what we really want to do?

source

I pushed aside those feelings and just went for it. I'm s-o-o-o glad I did. The other ladies (and few gents) there were incredibly friendly, welcoming, and helpful.

Here are some of the great things I would have missed had I given in to those fears:

Chip Wade, designer/builder/rock star of HGTV's Elbow Room, spoke to us the first morning. He said to always begin a design with "what if?" What if this could...? What if we could...? It obviously works. His designs are taking-it-to-the-next-level amazing. He also answered any questions we had...like "how can I get you to do a room at my house?!" Lol! Seriously, I have a laundry room/deck situation that could really use his help.

Ready for this next one?

Oh yeah, that's the one and only Mike Holmes. Mike talked to us about creating a safer and healthier home. Thanks 3M Filtrete for sponsoring!

There were so many great sessions to attend that I didn't make it to all of them. Just a sampling of the workshops I attended were hosted by these rockstars of the blogging world: Andy Marzka of Adthrive.com (thank you, thank you, thank you for explaining ad optimization to me!!), Laura Putnam of Finding Home, Dusty Rogers of All Things G&D, Jen Schmidt of Balancing Beauty & Bedlam, and Erin Spain of DIY on the Cheap (thank you ladies for explaining the basics of blogging and for encouraging us along!) I could go on and on because there were so many incredible speakers and workshops offered.

I can't talk about Haven without talking about the gracious sponsors that help make it happen. The sponsors were spreading the love when it came to swag. If you've ever read a post about Haven that says to pack an extra bag to haul your swag back on the plane...believe them.

It's a good thing we drove ;) These products were provided by: +MinwaxUSA, +FrogTape, +OnlineFabricStore.net, Thompson Water Seal, +PureBond, +Ballard Designs, +ProcterGamble, +The Home Depot, +Southern Living, +Gorilla Glue, Duct Tape, Rustoleum, Sizzix, and more! Thank you sponsors!!!

This post could go on at length about how great Haven 2014 was. I'm sure I'll be talking about it for some time but to sum it up, if you're considering going next year...DO IT! I promise you will not regret a minute of it.

So, I'm going to shut up now and just close with these: