BlogPaws Nashville 2015 Recap

A few weeks ago we attended the 2015 BlogPaws conference in Nashville, TN. This was my second BlogPaws conference, but Delia and Chewy’s first. Flat Delia went to the 2013 conference, but it was much more fun with the real Delia!

This trip was Delia’s and Chewy’s first long road trip and hotel stay. They did great! They mastered the elevators and knew how to find our room by the first night.

Our room had a balcony and they enjoyed watching all of the other pets and bloggers arrive.

I had originally planned on taking Delia to the educational sessions with me, but she was a little too excited by all of the people and pets, so she stayed in our room with my mom while I was at the sessions the first two days. While Delia and her Nannie relaxed in our room, Chewy played in the small dogs Pet Park sponsored by PetSafe. He had a blast and made lots of new friends.

The PetSafe Pet Parks were indoor areas designated for safe play, with a big dog room and a small dog room. The attendants were great with the dogs and Chewy was excited each time he saw Robby, who took great care of him. Delia spent the day with Chewy at the Pet Park on Saturday. She was a little bit of a….ummm….”flight risk” because of her ability to jump the fences, and I was prepared to take her back to our room, but Robby was kind enough to make a few arrangements in the room so Delia could stay and play. She had so much fun!

I took them both separately to network and meet with the many incredible brand representatives who were on site. I was so proud of them both. Delia was thrilled to meet each and every person she met and made sure they knew it by sharing kisses and hugs.

Chewy was a charmer. One of the brand reps had taken such a liking to Chewy on the first day that he had been talking about him to other reps, and by the second day, I had people approaching me asking if he was Chewy and if I was “Chewy’s mom.” It was a lot of fun. My little guy was a champ and on his best behavior throughout the entire conference. Well, there was that one instance when he was afraid of an empty bag and pulled away so hard he came out of his collar and ran through the exhibitors and out into dining room, but for 10 month old pup who had never been exposed to this type of event, he was pretty darn good.

We got to meet Kate and Sara from The Honest Kitchen! We love their food, so it was great to finally meet them in person.

My mom had a pass for Saturday, so she went to the sessions with me and joined everyone for lunch. After lunch we met the adorable Instagram stars Priscilla and Poppleton. She is a huge fan of these cute little pigs, and thanks to the amazing Carol Bryant, we were able to spend some time one-on-one with Prissy, Pop, and their mom Melissa for an exclusive interview.

Saturday night was the Nose to Nose Pet Blogger Awards dinner and awards ceremony. The pups and I walked the red carpet. Delia was so excited she pulled me down the red carpet. She had no idea where we were going or what we were about to do, but she couldn’t wait to get there!

I wasn’t sure how they would behave at a formal dinner and awards ceremony. The people, lights, sounds, pets…didn’t phase them. The curled up by my feet under the table during dinner and didn’t beg for a bite once. When the lights went down Chewy crawled onto my lap and Delia crawled onto my mom’s lap. They sat nicely throughout the entire ceremony. Once again, they made me proud.

After the awards ceremony they made more friends…

Delia absolutely adored author Deborah Barnes, who writes The Chronicles of Zee and Zoey. They played for several minutes. It was so sweet.

The 2015 BlogPaws Conference was an incredible experience. The knowledge gained, connections made, wisdom and support shared were invaluable. I have a clearer vision of what I want to do with this blog and BlogPaws have given me the tools and knowledge to put it into action.

I have to give special “shout outs” to Carol Bryant, Robbi Hess, Steve Dale, Jessica Williams, and Felissa Elfenbein. Carol’s support and inspiration means more than I can say. Robbi and Steve helped me to find my voice and vision again and the courage to continue on this blogging journey and go for it. Felissa and Jessica both provided knowledge and tools to implement to improve my skills. They are all pet blogging rock stars and I’m so grateful to have had the one-on-one time with them!

I’m excited about this blogging journey and I hope you’ll join us!