You know, oftentimes you will hear xxx was the best ever, or xxx changed my life, and are quick to brush it off as that person being dramatic. However, there are truly times when something or someone impacts you, moves you, or reignites your drive.

The latter is what happened to me while attending my very first Blogalicious Conference.  Blogalicious, if you do not know is a blog conference for multicultural bloggers of all niches! I could be hitting myself for dragging my feet or for not attending more of these, but I am a firm believer of everything happening JUST the way it is supposed to- for whatever reason. For me to attend Blogalicious when I did with where I am in my life? Could not have come at such a pivotal place for me.

Where do I begin? Where do I start? It literally took me four days to sit back and marinate in the experience. So, I will start from the beginning and share with you my greatest highlights.

1. The Attendees:  Such positivity going around it was infectious!  Everyone I met was happy, giving hugs, cards, and truly networking! Catching up with Brotha Tech, RaiJean, Kitty Bradshaw, Monica from Blueprint for Style, Gigi Biggins, , FINALLY meeting Justice Fergie, Jazzy, and Xina, and to all the NEW homies I met? YES.
2. My Roommates: I have to give a special shout out to Sharelle from Classy Black Girl for kicking my tail to attend and for being a roommate. Her hustle and grind is quite admirable and I like how she is repping the Bay Area (I miss the Bay). Telisha from Goddess Intellect and Amber from Digital Runway made the whole experience as roommates and colleagues such a joy! Scandal and the night on the strip? EPIC!
3. MARIO ARMSTRONG. I got on the phone with my sister soooo motivated by this man and his wife that I was almost in tears. Seriously. HE turned it out, giving each of us a renewed perspective eon blogging. When he opened with: You are NOT A BLOGGER, YOU ARE a MEDIA COMPANY, and I was already done. On top of that, he left us with a digestible 21 day plan that I plan on attacking next week.  
4. The Keynote Speakers: Yes, I just gave a huge shoutout to Mario, but I would be remiss not to mention a few others whose words and side conversations left such an imprint on my heart. Harriette Cole brought NICE back to blogging and writing, Judene, EVP from Moguldom Media gave us the biz with niche, advertising, and attracting readers; and Corynne Corbett and Miss Lori made it personal and spoke to the Me in Media. These women? Definitely power players who I have to thank for taking the time out to speak with me, have a drink with me, and truly cared about what I was doing. SHUT IT DOWN!
5. 6 Minutes, 6 Minutes, 6 minutes Dougie Fresh You’re On, uh uh on! Um, so Gain? Gain Fresh threw an AMAZING party for Blogalicious in which DOUGIE FRESH came out and hosted! I mean, I do not know the last time I dropped it like it was hot and picked it up like it was cold. I don’t know. Gain Fresh tapped roomie, Amber from Digital Runway to host, and this night was epic!!!!!
6. The McDonald’s Pool Party: So, McDonald’s? sooo not the boring type. When it came down to party on the first night? THEY HELD NOTHING BACK! Handsome gentlemen to greet us, a seriously hyped DJ, massages, manicures, disco lighted glasses, photobooths, and of course some of our faves from Mickey D’s… there were no holds barred and proved to be a great night for all of us to get to know each other better!
7. The TECHNOLOGY. I am a baby tech nerd. I was soooo impressed with Brotha Tech’s introduction of the QR codes with Vizibility. These QR codes were on our business cards and this could not have been cooler! Ran out of cards? Forgot them? No worries, you have your phone and voila! Scan your new friends badge and you have it all! Asides from this, I learned about Social Cam, in which I posted my first video of Dougie Fresh! THENNNNN!!! I won the contest Brotha Tech had for the person who scanned the most people during the conference! HA! Serendipitous!

I literally could go on and on, but the best takeaway for me was clarity and vision. I am not going to lie and say that swag wasn’t cool, cause it was and my MOM died over the Grace doll I brought her back (her name is Grace, so…). But most importantly I feel I have a milestone that I will be able to look back on and say, this moment here, was my turning point.

You can learn more about Blogalicious here, listen to what people are saying and still talking about on twitter @beblogalicious and the hashtag #blogalicious12. In the meantime, I have work to do!!! Pardon the lack pf photos… I was busy… and most are on my phones!!!! Thanks to Jyl of Mom it forward for hooking that up!

Will I see you next year, because I will be there!

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