Last weekend I headed to Atlanta for my first ever Type-A Parent Conference. I had known that I wanted to go to one of the bigger social media conferences out there and heard that Type-A was one of the best. I bought my ticket shortly after they went on sale, hoping that I’d actually end up going and knowing that I had to start preparing my pitch for my husband. Making the choice to attend Type-A was a big deal on many levels. First off, it was a big financial investment. Because I’d only recently started learning about working with brands and businesses in the realm of social media, I didn’t yet know that much about seeking conference sponsorship. I knew that heading to Type-A would be a hefty out-of-pocket business expense and that I would need a laundry list of reasons to present to my husband in order to justify the investment. Gratefully, as he has been since I began my work with MickeyTravels and In the Mouse House, Jon was incredibly supportive, and sent me off to Atlanta agreeing that you’ve got to put something in before you can get something out. Secondly, heading to Type-A was a big time investment. I would be away for four days, not a short time when there are 3 kids to feed, get off to school, and care for in my absence. Fortunately for us, good friends and a fantastic grandpa stepped in to help pick up the slack and made the weekend go as smoothly as possible.
Now that I am home, I can whole-heartedly say that these investments were about a billion percent worth it as I’m confident the returns that I will gain from having attended Type-A are going to be, and have already proven to be, enormous. Each day’s sessions left me absolutely swimming in incredible content that I was ready and raring to apply to my work. I had trouble falling to sleep each night with all of the thoughts and ideas that were whirling through my brain. The speakers were amazing–inspiring, motivating, energizing. The other participants were also amazing, generating thought-provoking questions at every session, pushing one another to have the courage to take risks and attain goals, and challenging the industry to strive toward both best practice as well as kindness and integrity as a community. And while I left feeling super-jazzed to start implementing everything I learned, I was also overwhelmed. Thankfully, the words of another blogger stayed with me from the moment she spoke them and are now pasted on the wall above my desk.
I wish I could remember who it was who said it because it truly resonated within me and is now basically my motto for life. So if the brilliant blogger who shared with me these wise, wise words is in the room, please, stand up.
With these words in mind, here are 5 fabulous lessons I learned at Type-A Con.
Lesson #1 – Find a Mentor or two (or three!)
As I said, I’m relatively new to taking my blog and brand to the next level in terms of social media. Given that during the weekend of Type-A there were between 15-20 different sessions offered each day, there was an incredible amount of content being shared and discussed both live and on various social media channels. This was a LOT to navigate and was a challenge to absorb. I have been fortunate to meet some wonderful veteran bloggers at other conferences during the past year with whom I have forged relationships, several of whom also attended Type-A. These friendships have been invaluable to both my confidence and forward movement with my blog and my brand. In every field, mentors are essential. In the world of social media, a mentor can help you to avoid making some pretty big beginners errors and help to steer you in directions you might not have thought to head. We all need someone with whom we can brainstorm and ask lots of questions, or sit with at lunch and lament over our frustrations. Bloggers are an amazingly generous bunch. Ask and ye shall receive.
Lesson #2 – Find Your Tribe
This leads me to the next thing I learned at Type-A–put yourself out there. If you need help or have a question, plop yourself down at a table at lunchtime and introduce yourself. It may be way outside of your comfort level to do so, but as I said, bloggers are a warm and generous bunch. So find your tribe! I still cannot believe all of the fabulous folks I either met for the first time, finally met after connecting on Twitter for many months, or reconnected with from other conferences. And it was this notion of friendship that carried throughout the entire weekend. I heard time and time again, “I found my true peeps at Type-A!” or “This is where I know people really GET me.” I had an absolute ball with everyone I met–by the end of the weekend it felt like I’d known some of these girls forever–and I know that they are people with whom I will stay in touch and nurture friendships for years to come.
Lesson #3 – Own it, Baby!
We heard it time and again at Type-A Con–take risks, head down the path that scares you, trust your value–then own it. Own your successes. Own your failures. Own your craft. Own your strengths. Something that really resonated from one session was the idea that you should never undermine what you’re doing. Never define yourself by the word ‘just,’ as in, “I’m just a blogger, a mother, a runner, a wife, a whatever.” None of us is ‘just’ anything. We have awesomeness to offer. Believe in that, hone it, share it, revel in it, own it and let it shine. If you do, amazing things will start to happen. As Walt Disney is famous for having said, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Lesson #4 – Swag Helps Ease Re-Entry
It was hard to be away from my girls for four days. On Thursday evening I received this text from my 11-year old:
That was fun.
I had to laugh several times throughout the weekend because they kept texting me to ask or tell me things. “Where’s the sore throat tea?” “What time is Lucia’s birthday party.” “Did you wash my blue sweatshirt?” “Mae Mae is wearing my yellow shirt. Can you please call her to tell her to give it back to me?” I finally did call and said, “Daddy IS in the house with you guys, right?” Yes, Daddy was there and I’m quite certain he was available to run interference on all of the aforementioned issues, but for some reason they thought that I would be the better person to ask even though I was several hundred miles away. It was nice to be missed, though, since I knew that they’d be abusing me again as soon as I got home. In an effort to dodge some of the Mommy’s-been-away-for-four-days fallout, I teased them by texting pictures of the goodies I was bringing home and set up a swag display that rivaled Christmas morning for them to find when they woke up in the morning after my late arrival home. I think it had the desired effect.
Lesson #5 – Eat the Elephant One Bite at a Time
And this all leads me to the final and most important lesson I learned at Type-A Con offered to me by the wise woman whose name and face escapes me now. SEO makes me want to hang myself. I have no freaking clue what to do with Google+. Where in the world do I begin when joining affiliate networks? How can I start focusing more on writing great stuff as I was so inspired to do by the We Still Blog finalists? I could go on and on and on. But I won’t. Because I’m doing it. Slowly. I’m not diving in headfirst, attempting to implement every single thing I learned at Type-A in one fell swoop and then falling to the floor in a cosmic crash-and-burn situation. I might have, however, if it hadn’t been for the elephant comment. There was something very visual and tangible about this concept of eating the elephant one bite at a time and I am delighted by the aptness of the metaphor. Go slowly. Triage. I am so grateful for this advice because I have a tendency to bite off far, far more than I can chew, as do many of us. So if you want one take-away from Type-A it’s this. Don’t choke yourself on that damned elephant. Little bites. It’ll happen.
Oh, and the honorable mention of things I learned at Type-A Con? Don’t be afraid to wear the sequined pants!
Gotta love a #disbroad in sequin pants. @lovethatmouse #typeacon pic.twitter.com/ULaLMM8qjZ
— Patty (@longhorns2) September 28, 2013
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