Life Lately: My Unforgettable First Mom 2.0 Blogger Conference Experience

Mom 2.0 was exactly the blogger conference I needed as the boost to get through the rest of the year as strong as possible. Read all about my experience.

Mom 2.0 is the conference of all conferences. Nothing beats a couple of days with inspiring mamas, content creators and amazing brands. At first, I wasn’t going to go. I was supposed to be at Mom 2.0 with Tristan. After he died, I didn’t want to do anything. Barely a month had passed after his death and I was still weak. I still wasn’t ready to go out and face the public but I did. My husband and I decided that it would be best if I went for at least the first day. I was glad that I did. Mom 2.0 was the gentle push that I needed to slowly get back to life.

My First Mom 2.0 Blogger Conference Experience

On my first day, I was hugged and loved on by so many new people. Women who I had never met before in my life were eager to hear my story. They wanted to listen to tales of my sweet baby boy. I spoke for hours with women in the blogging community who have had similar baby loss and NICU experiences and who wanted to offer comforting advice. The moms at Mom 2.0 gave me a comforting reassurance in people within the blogging and social media community. There are still people in this world who care about others and want to see fellow moms succeed.

Memorable Moment #1

There were two women at Mom 2.0 who touched me the most. The first, a blogger and wonderful mom of 12, really touched my soul. When we began talking we immediately clicked and began opening up to each other. She told me her story and I told her mine. She doesn’t know this but her story will be one that I always remember. I will think of her on my weakest days. Not only was she a NICU mom but she has also struggled with baby loss. What are the odds that I would meet someone face to face at a blogger conference who’s story is similar to mine and instantly connect with them?

Memorable Moment #2

The second is an entrepreneur and founder of a blogger network that I am proud to be a part of. I met her at the hotel bar. And if you know me, you know that I am not a drinker. Like I literally have maybe a sip of a drink every year or so. I just so happened to be sitting at the bar that night. Let’s be honest, I was being cheap. I didn’t want to pay the astronomical valet parking price so I bought a drink instead to get my parking validated. I don’t know if it was God’s way of working mysteriously to tell me to follow my gut or what. This person sat down next to me and we started talking. Our conversation couldn’t have been longer than 10 minutes. In those 10 short minutes she gave me advice that I needed. I knew all along that what she was telling me was always the right thing to do. For some reason I needed it to be validated by someone. It sounds weird that I would take advice from someone who barely knows me but that is exactly the reason it means so much more. This woman knows nothing about the ins and outs of my daily life and the struggles that we dealt with in the NICU but after listening for just a few minutes, she gave her opinion on the right thing to do in our situation.

The Brands

Everyone knows that blogger conferences are notorious for the big brands that are there. Best Buy, Kia, Dove but what about the little guys? One thing that I always try to do at every conference is hit every booth. The most memorable booth for me was Domain.me. Not because of their booth setup or because they had good “stuff” at their booth. It was because they helped me fine tune my elevator pitch. They were invested in every blogger that walked up to their booth and interested in learning more about them. They had something to offer other than just themselves and free stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved all of the other booths and brands there too. Dove was memorable to say the least. I got the chance to go to a self-esteem workshop with Dove. It was great because no one that I knew at the conference was going to the workshop too. The introvert in me was cringing on the inside but once the workshop started I was glad that I pushed myself to go. We had the opportunity to partner with another blogger and record “our beauty story” on an iPad. This activity was more powerful than I think anyone even realized it would be. My partner talked about her fear of everything having to be perfect and I about my “mom confidence.” After Tristan died, I struggled. I still struggle with knowing that I, as his mom, made the right decisions for him every step of the way. Who am I kidding, even when we get his autopsy results back I’ll probably still struggle with it because let’s face it, I wish he was still here and that I could’ve saved him. That day I shared my story and felt a weird sense of relief to hear that I am not the only mom who questions whether or not she makes the right decisions for her kids.

Overall, going to the Mom 2.0  blogger conference was the best decision that I’ve made thus far. It was what I needed but didn’t know I needed.

Have you ever been to a blogger conference before?