Good morning! How’s your weekend treatin’ ya?
So continuing on with some more HLS talk…we last left off with the CrossFit workout. Shortly after that and a small break, it was time to get going on the sessions for the day.
The first session I attended was “Just Say No… To On-Camera Flash: An Introduction to Blog Photog Basics” hosted by Gretchen of Honey I Shrunk the Gretchen.
Gretchen talked about tons of great, essential photography basics that will help improve your photos. Since I’m still trying to learn everything that my DSLR has to offer, it was great to listen in on her tips.
Me & Melanie after the session (who is SO super sweet, by the way!).
After Gretchen’s session, I headed to the other ballroom for the next panel which was lead by my gal, Lauren.
This session, called “Blogging with Brands” was put together so, so well. On one side, we were able to hear the bloggers perspectives, thanks to Ashley, Anne, and Theodora. On the other side, we also go to hear some really great insights from those on the brand side of things, thanks to Kelly from FitFluential, Valerie from Porter Novelli (who actually manages SOYJOY, who I’m an ambassador for), and Laura from Dancing Deer.
It was really interesting to hear, especially from the brands, how they look at bloggers and choose various campaigns, etc. I think a few general takeaways I had from this session…
- Don’t sell yourself short. Brands look at blogs at all stages, no matter how big or small. In the end, it all comes down to how good of a fit you are as a blogger.
- Brands like to see a sense of community on your blog – they look for active communication, not just numbers.
- Stay true to yourself. You don’t have to take every opportunity that comes your way if it isn’t something you truly enjoy.
Overall, it was definitely an awesome panel discussion.
After that panel, it was time for lunch…and holy cow, was it delicious!
I got salad, some pita wedges, a tomato and avocado salad (to die for!), and some chicken that was so much more tender and flavorful than I would have ever imagined.
After lunch, we had our keynote for the day, which had some really great information. I’ll save that for another post though, because this is already getting long. 
Once the keynote was over, it was tiiiime…
And I’m happy to say that I have now survived my second year of speaking at HLS!
I’ll fill ya all in on the details soon, since I know many of you are eager to hear what we talked about…but for now, it’s about time for me to hit the road and head back home to New York.
Talk about a fun weekend absolutely flying by!
Stay tuned for more…
Comments