My Midlife Roadtrip!
In August, I was fortunate enough to receive a ticket to attend the ConnectHer Media Conference in Las Vegas. ConnectHer Media, a Collaborative Agency, is the brainchild of Laura Filipowicz and Carolyn West. Laura & Carolyn work with brands and marketing firms to connect them with influencers and other entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses. ConnectHer now holds annual conferences in a boutique style format. This conference isn’t as large as BlogHer but follows a similar format.
When the ticket fell into my lap, I knew I HAD to attend. I was stressed at work and home and needed a BREAK!!! So I decided “Why not make a weekend of it?”. I made my hotel reservation and requested the day off work. As the day to depart drew near, I became more and more excited that I was going to have my “solo trip.” I live less than (with no traffic) 4 hours from Las Vegas, and I decided to rent a sports car and make the drive. Since this is MY vacay, I wanted to go all in! I rented a Mustang. After an error on the rental agencies part, I got a convertible for less than $115.00 for the weekend!
The SLS hotel hosted the conference, but I stayed across the street at the Hilton Grand Vacation on the Boulevard. I know you may think I’m crazy, but I’m NOT a Vegas person! The casinos and shows don’t interest me! It was refreshing to stay at a hotel and not have to deal with the crowds.
The conference began on Saturday morning. Of course the “introvert” in me freaked out as I checked in. I didn’t know anyone who would be attending, and I’m not the best at striking up random conversations (contrary to popular belief). The morning started off with breakfast and a speech by the morning Keynote Heidi Nazarudin. After a break, we were able to attend the roundtable sessions given by experts and their chosen topics. We were able to sit with the speakers face to face and interact with them. For the AM session, I decided on a roundtable that discussed creating killer content with Jessie Butner. Jesse works for a digital marketing firm and gave us a great outline to use for our blogs. After a delicious buffet lunch, we enjoyed the afternoon Keynote Ruby Fremon.
Ruby’s speech was amazing
Yes, she dropped the F-bomb a few times, ok, maybe a lot of times, but her message about finding your inner strength, and loving yourself was inspiring. Her words brought some of the attendees to tears. Including myself.
For the afternoon session, I chose a roundtable to learn how to develop my inner superpower with Melissa Reyes. Melissa is a fellow blogger, published author, and life coach. We made vision boards and discussed our creations.
The best part about ConnectHer conference was the fact there were less than 300 attendees, which is a far cry from 2000 people who attended BlogHer17 (click here for my recap). Keeping the conference small, gave it more of an intimate feel. I felt energized and was on a creative high when the day ended. Remembering that this was a mini vacay; I went back to my room, ordered a pizza and watched 8 hours of mindless Lifetime movies.
It was HEAVEN
I made great connections, spent a day with empowering and inspiring women and learned about myself in the process. The drive gave me time to live in the moment, enjoy the silence and clear my head. I achieved a sense of calm and relaxation that I so desperately needed. All in all, the weekend was a success.
