Best laid plans of mice and men. I meant to write sooner than this. The idea of blogging every day about a big experience is smart. I just find that I need to decompress during a time when I'm on all the time. So the updates are a little delayed. I'm sure you've been on the edge of your seats waiting.
The eWomen Network Conference was amazing. I was part of the Publishing Pavilion (with my name and picture in the program and everything!) with a table at the writing station. I was pretty pleased with my table, especially since it all came together in about a week. I had a beautiful banner due to Sam at Signs of Progress and amazing printed materials thanks to Harold at Germantown Copy Center. These guys rock!
I met some great people and made life-changing connections. First, I got to connect with Jenifer Madson, the coolest money chick who will teach you the skills for the best "money talks" you've ever had. She, like me, had been a presenter at the Virtual Publishing Conference, and her presentation was one of the best. Now I know her! How cool is that! (I'll apologize now for all the exclamation points. They're all heartfully meant.)
Walking down the hall one evening, I ran into Erin Blaskie. I've seen her emerge as a serious player in the VA world, and I couldn't believe that I got see her in person, non-virtually. The dork that I am, I immediately called Stacy and left this blithering voice mail about meeting Erin and how cute she was and how amazing, and on and on and on.
I also got to have drinks with Alecia Huck, one of the keynote speakers for the conference. Not only is she an English major, but she used "dork" and "wonky" in the same conversation. I love her!
Then, walking down the hall who do I see but Kim Duke, the Sales Diva. God, was she gorgeous! Much bigger hair (appropriate for Texas) and an even bigger personality. I was hoping to make it to her breakout session the next day, but I was making those amazing connections and couldn't get to it in time.
One of those amazing connections came out of the blue. A woman came up to me and started talking about how she's been offered a publishing contract, but she doesn't know what she would write about. She goes on to say that she has a pretty successful blog and she's a musician. The light bulb goes off, and I ask her what her name is. She says, "Christine Kane." What does Dawn do? If you know me at all, you so know what's coming next. Yep. I cried. I've loved Christine's blog for years, and she's incredibly inspirational. And here she was talking to me!!! (Funny enough, the post I reference in the link to "dork" above talks about how Christine used "dork" in a post and how much I admired that. A fellow dork to boot!)
So, Thursday and Friday were these great days, and then Saturday started out a little slow. I thought it might just be that anyone who had wanted to visit the Publishing Pavilion would have already done it by Thursday or Friday and they had better things to do on Saturday. I was talking to people, but it just didn't have the energy that it had the other two days. Then, Kathleen Caldwell walked up and mentioned that she had been featured in Blueprint For Success, a book that a friend and former client, Rand Golletz, was also featured in. Kathleen is a fabulous woman, and we connected immediately. (And, yes, I cried again. Whatever.)
As I drove to the airport on Sunday (with a sore throat from all the talking), I heard a song on the radio, "A Groovy Kind of Love" by Phil Collins. I wondered if I had it on my iPod, and I made a mental note to check when I got home. The first song I heard on my iPod on the plane when we were allowed to turn on our electronic devices was "A Groovy Kind of Love."
To everyone I connected and reconnected with while I was in Dallas, I send you "A Groovy Kind of Love."
(In case you're not caught up, start with eWomen Network Conference - Part I.)
You are too cute Dawn! I love that you shared your story and I am glad you had such a great time.
It was a pleasure meeting you non-virtually too as I have read your blog before as well!
Let's connect in 2008 and beyond to make an impact in our businesses.
Thanks!
Erin Blaskie
www.bsetc.ca
Posted by: Erin Blaskie | July 16, 2008 at 12:31 AM