Haven Blogger Conference 2016: What We Learned

​​by Vicki      ​Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

Steph and I just returned from our very first blogging conference. The conference is called Haven in Atlanta, GA. It's a three day conference for DIY bloggers offering blogging business classes, hand-on workshop to try new tools, techniques, and products, opportunity to connect with other bloggers, and time to interact with 20+ brands in attendance.

I had three goals, two of which were met in the first 30 mins!

1. Bring home swag (free stuff to try or giveaway)
2. Participate in a hands-on workshop
3. Meet other bloggers

Upon check in we were given a tool bag crammed full of products and tools including a Dremel complete with attachments! My favorite item in the bag was the Rockler silicone gluing brush and Steph’s was the HANDy paint pail. Not expensive by any means but things we both love.

In the hotel registration line, I met a blogger I had been looking forward to meeting in person. First thing the next day, I checked off my third item when we sat down to a hands-on demonstration of Amy Howard paints. Amy Howard is, by the way, a real person and was at the event!

The thing that really surprised us was our interaction with brands. We had printed and taken with us five media kits to give to the five brands we wanted to connect with, but those kits did not make it into the hands of those pre-selected brands, but into the hands of five others! Meeting the people behind the brands made us want to work with some and take a step back from those we thought were our favorites. We made some connections that we will pursue—only time will tell where those will lead.

Meeting other bloggers, especially those from Florida was a highlight. Both Steph and I are introverts by nature, so we had to work hard and fearlessly to put ourselves out there to meet new people. I am a little more willing to talk to pretty much everyone, Steph is a little more reluctant.

When I saw an opportunity to talk to John from Young House Love, I took it and had a lovely conversation. Steph quickly made her way over too and was thrilled to have a real conversation with a blogging team we look up to and respect.

​The conference ended Sunday afternoon but we stayed the night to drive home Monday morning. We deciding to have dinner on Sunday evening in the hotel lobby cafe, which resulted in the meeting of Karen from Cooper Dot Interiors, a New England based blogger who might turn out to be Steph’s blogger BFF! They have so much in common- down to tattoos and mini coopers!

Classes were one of three types, blogging business (boring but necessary), hand-on products (like getting to try out Miss Mustard Seed’s milk paints, making concrete projects with Quikrete or using Ryobi’s line of battery operated tools) and the third type really kind of defies characterizing like the photo styling class I attended. Not really business or hands-on, but lots of pretty pictures.

​Since this was our first conference, here are some takeaways that anyone attending this conference might want to know.

1. Take more business cards then you think you will need and figure out an easily way to access them. Be ready to hand them out to everyone. Practice handing them out face up, right side up. Our favorite cards that we received had a picture of the blogger, her/his name, city/state, and blog name clearly identified.
2. Plan on staying in the same hotel where the conference is being held. We made numerous trips to our room during the day to drop off swag. Consider self-parking so you can easily take things to your car as your stash of swag builds up.
3. Don’t be afraid to sit with strangers. They won’t be strangers for long! Ask about his/her blog. People like to talk about themselves. It’s a great icebreaker!
4. Arrive early for breakfast. On the last day, Kuikset had early bird gifts at the tables. We missed out, but a couple dozen early birds did not.
5. Talk to the brand representatives at each booth—not just the ones you think you want to work with. We loved talking to Moen, Crate & Pallet, and Simpson Strong-tie and others. These folks were not on our blogging radar, but they are now after talking with the real people behind the brands!
6. ​Take the opportunity to try out new products, tools, and techniques. Steph has been wanting us to try out battery operated tools, but I’ve been reluctant as years ago the first gen of these types of tools were bad. I had an opportunity to try out the Ryobi AirStrike twice and was sold. Because we had used a nail gun/compressor combo in our floating desk build I was able to compare the two. What struck me was that every single nail entered the wood precisely and fully (something that did not happen with our nail gun/compressor combo). Actually getting to try out something helps you to understand whether it would work for you or if it’s something you really don’t need. 

We met so many cool bloggers!

Moen had a caricature artist at their booth!

So glad we drove- we had a SUV trunk full!

Overall we are so happy we attended this conference and are ready to attend next year! It’s a significant investment to attended, but what we gained in experience and contacts is priceless. If we only attend one conference a year, this will be the one!

What are some of your favorite brands? What brand you would like to see us work with/ products to try out? As always, if we receive product from a brand or have a sponsored post, we will clearly identify it as such. 

Please note: This is not a sponsored post. The products we show and talk about were given to us free for attending the conference. If/when we use the products in a future post we will disclose that we got them a Haven and will share our real opinions on them.

FYI: Affiliate links are being used on this page. Purchasing via these links help support MDP!

---

Related Projects

Smart Lights for Homeowners

Metallic Garage Floor Coating Video

What I learned from making 365 videos