I was one of the first ones to buy my ticket for The Declare Conference. I was excited to go and wanted to make sure and get the early bird price. I live only 20-25 minutes from the conference and didn’t know of any close friends that were going so I just decided to drive each day instead of paying extra for the hotel.
As I drove to the conference I prayed that the Lord would direct me to whoever he wanted me to meet. Blogging is partly a business for me, but I don’t ever want meeting people to be about what I can gain, you know? I don’t want to be one of those people that is only searching out key influencers to side up next to for a leg up. And so I sought to get to know, even just a little, every person I came in contact with. It was such a blessing!
Lauren from Enjoying the Journey is one of the first people I met. I loved hearing about her travels and work. We ended up browsing the sponsor tables together!
Then we met Sarah who is writing a devotional for dancers. The three of us had so much fun eating together every meal of the conference. Others joined us, but the three of us always came back to talk, laugh, and compare notes. I met many wonderful ladies throughout the conference, but these two became friends!
I enjoyed and learned lots from all the speakers. This was my favorite and most helpful of the conferences I’ve been to. If you’re a blogger I’d consider it for next year!
This was my third blogging conference. Besides conferences, I’ve also been to several events. But this was the first time that I ran into people who knew who I was! That was such an exciting surprise! I had a few people tell me they read my blog, and love it. They totally caught me off guard. In fact one time I started to tell someone, who I just met, a story, and they stopped me and told me that they had already read about that on my site! Don’t worry though, I’m not getting a big head. To balance things out the Lord also sent several people that I had met before and loved…who had no idea who I was nor did they have any recollection of meeting me! Ha ha! Life is so fun. Let’s enjoy it!
Find more about my experience at the conference: Hand Raising, What I learned from Jeff Goins
Esther! Thanks so much for your sweet comment on my blog and mentioning my blog on your site. I love your post about the Declare Conference, and I am just so thankful to have found you and Lauren at the dinner table! I feel so blessed to have gotten to know you both and spend that time together!
Yay! Love it!! So happy you had so much fun Esther!!
I love how blogging is opening up a whole new world for many women. Giving them a new way to connect and share with each other and the rest of the world. 🙂 I’m so glad that you were able to connect with other likeminded women. I enjoy hearing about your “adventures” Esther. You are a very talented, funny lady. Keep up the good work. I don’t know how you find the energy to do it all so well. ‘