Connecting Bloggers and Brands Conference

Last week I went to a free info event for bloggers about how to market and brand themselves. It was organized by Connecting Bloggers and Brands. For me there are always 3 big takeaways from these kinds of events.

1) Learning. They had bright people from successful bloggers to public relation experts at corporations like Telus and Microsoft there to educate people about marketing and developing a brand. I certainly learned a lot from their presentations and panel discussions. Thanks to Telus, Canada Beef Inc, and other sponsors for making this event free to the public blogging community 🙂

2) Networking. Thanks to the dividend ninja who tweeted about this conference last month. Otherwise I wouldn’t have known about it. Met some other cool local bloggers there as well like @mashedthoughts, @seapotato, and @Vancouvervogue.

3) Swag. This event had some awesome free goodies. I felt like a kid going trick or treating again. Almost couldn’t fit everything into one bag. Telus’ brand is using critters in their ads so they were giving away red panda and cheetah plushes 🙂 Other loot I acquired include a 3 month free subscription to the Globe and Mail, a “#loveCDNbeef” t-shirt, a notebook, a porcelain mug with silicone lid, a double wall iced tumbler with a straw, a BACONISTA t-shirt, an insulated cooler basket, and many more. There was also a free lunch 🙂 They even had macrons! And since there were plenty of left over food I decided to take some home for dinner.

The Bloggers Brands team is traveling across Canada and holding similar events in Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, and other cities this year. Maybe they’re coming to a location near you 🙂

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Random Useless Fact: If you ever need to rush somewhere, carry a fire extinguisher with you. No one will try to stop someone running with a fire extinguisher.