About a week or so ago I was at Haven Conference, it’s a conference for DIY & Design Bloggers. Perfect for me! I first heard about Haven a couple years ago just by following bloggers who went… not knowing I would soon be starting a blog and going myself!

I’m fairly new to blogging but I really want to learn all I can to start out on the right foot! This year it happened to be in Charleston, SC and during my birthday week so I was able to convince my husband this is what I wanted for my birthday and guess what, he was on board! So I brought my husband with me with his understanding that I was going to be busy and not super available, he was surprisingly fine with it! I would get up early and start my day and he would sleep in and explore, then we would meet up for dinner and I could tell him all about what I had learned.

What did I learn? Well, a lot! There are so many seminars to choose from it was hard to decide which I wanted to go to. My mentor helped me narrow it down. (Thanks Aniko for your awesome suggestions!)

Speaking of mentors, one of my favorite things about the Haven Conference was my mentor group. You’re assigned a group of about 10-15 people and a mentor. Our first mentor group meeting was the very first night following the opening party. This was such a great way to get to know some people right away! After the first meeting for the rest of the conference I had familiar faces and every day we would meet and catch up. We got to know each other a little, talked about seminars we had been to and ones we were planning on going to. The last day we talked about all kinds of things, like blogging tips, and the other girls had great recommendations for newbies…. Like myself!

Everyday was busy busy busy!

Day 1:

Arrived to Charleston, checked into the hotel and went to registration. At registration they gave me my badge and swag bag stuffed with goodies from all the vendors. Before everything started I was so nervous… it felt like the first day of school! About an hour later there was a Newbie Meetup, where all the newbies to mingle, have snacks, and they gave information about the conference in general. Immediately after was the Welcome Reception. This was the kick off cocktail party, everyone dressed a little dressier for this party. They had appetizers and gave everyone 1 drink ticket. This was a really fun party, everyone was so nice and I met so many new girls. A lot of people reunited with people they knew. My highlight was getting to meet Elsie Larson from A Beautiful Mess, she was a speaker. Later we had our first Mentor Meet up. Like I said earlier this was one of my favorite parts. This meeting we all went around introducing ourselves. So that was day 1… my nerves were calmed a little and I was excited for the next couple days!

Day 2:

The day started early with breakfast at 7am followed by speakers Chris & Peyton Lambton from DIY Network/ HGTV/ The Bachelor/ The Bachelorette. They talked all about how they got to where they are today. Then the seminars began and later in the evening was the Friday Night In party. This was pretty fun…. you could decorate cupcakes, practice flat lays, burn etch wood spoons, meet with a publisher, and just mingle with other bloggers. Everyone wore pretty much what they had on earlier in the day. It was a great day!

Day 3:

The day started off early again with breakfast at 7 then moved straight into the seminars. At lunch they hosted the Orange Tank Pitch Session with Home Depot. This was pretty cool watch, there were 12 bloggers that were selected to pitch their projects to Home Depot for 3 different price categories. At the end of the day they had the closing ceremony with giveaways (be sure to put your business card in for these), talked about the next conference and the Shanty Sisters spoke as well.

Seminars:

This year I came to take everything in and learn as much as I could. It was so hard for me to decide which seminars to attend. There are so many that are hands on that I really wanted to do… maybe next year! But this year I took:

• “Taking your blog full time” with Ariel Garneau, she taught about business plans and the financial side of blogging. One major thing I learned from her was that “success is relative” not to compare yourself to anyone else/ or their blog. The way they started and how they do everything can’t be directly compared to you!
• “Attract Dream Sponsors” with Jenny Melrose, she taught about the process of connected with brands and building relationships with them. One thing I learned from her was to maintain authenticity, don’t just take anything you can get, you need to remain true to yourself, your blog and your own brand.
• “SEO” with Sabrina Snyder, she taught about how to play Google’s game. How to write your blog with the goal of being at the top of Google’s searches. SEO is very new to me…. Everything was new information!
• “Gorgeous Interior Photography” with Rachel Paxton, this was by far my favorite seminar! She started with the basics to photography and went into computer editing in Lightroom then also taught specifically about photographing interiors. This was great, I’ve taken photo classes but never one specially on interior photography.
• “Influencer & Brands” with Behr, Tarkett, and Sanus, this was a question and answer panel with brands. It was great to hear what brands had to say about working with influencers.
• “Hands on Photo Styling” with Jennifer Carroll, this seminar was ok. Was more hands on for half of the class.

Tips for attending Haven Conference:

1. Bring a notebook and pens
2. Wear comfortable cute shoes, I wore my most comfortable platform sandals.
3. Bring a tote bag- a lot of girls used their tote from the swag bag, I carried one of my tote purses.
4. Have business cards- 200 should be enough. Everyone exchanges business cards when they meet. They’re all sorts of sizes, shapes, and thicknesses. I really loved the ones with their pictures but you really just need the facts.
5. Bring your camera, there are photography classes and it’s helpful to have it in hand. Also, you’ll want it for when you’re exploring the city etc.
6. Read the schedule of seminars in advance so you have an idea which seminars you are interested in.
7. Make sure to walk around and visit with the vendors in your free time during meals etc.
8. Go to a lot of the events: Orange Tank, Friday Night In, Snack times, and some of the vendors will do special events at different times.
9. Relax! Everyone is so nice and it’s one place you’re surrounded by people with the same interests!
10. Plan to stay an extra day so you can explore the city! This picture is from the carriage ride we did on Sunday after the conference was over.

Check out some of the girls I met at Haven!

• Aniko Levai // Place of my Taste
• Sarah Phillips // She Holds Dearly
• Emily Flint // Semigloss Design
• Carol Lander // Bluesky at Home
• Abby Lawson // Just a Girl and Her Blog
• Lindsay Aratari // Aratari at Home
• Ashley Phipps // Simply Designing
• Thalita Murray // The Learner Observer
• Ariel Garneau // PMQ for Two

I’m so excited go again next year, social media and blogging is constantly changing… there’s always something to learn…. and new people to meet! If you’re thinking about going to Haven then you should just go, whether you have had blog for years, just started, or thinking about starting one. There’s something for everyone to learn!