Go Blog Social 2015: Day 1

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Go Blog Social 2015 conference here in Kansas City. If you guys remember I attended the GBS Workshop back in February and definitely had to attend the Conference! The conference was April 3rd and 4th at the beautiful Berg Event Space in downtown KC. This was my first time attending the Conference and I was beyond excited! I couldn't wait to hear all the speakers and meet some amazing ladies! So let's get into what I did and who I met! 
9am// Registration + Networking + Coffee

Flowers by Trapp and Company

I got checked in and me and my goodie bag (post coming on that stuff soon!) headed for some coffee. I had a concert the night before and was out late so coffee was much needed. I walked around, sipped on the hot goodness and mingled. I met Akram of Akram's Ideas, Jasmine of Thee Fashion Stories, Dasha of Windy City Wardrobe and Jenny. We got to chatting and sharing our stories. They're fabulous ladies so go give their blogs a read! They also had various vendor booths there where you could chat with them and see their products. I visited all the different booths and got to know the companies a bit better! I also met Katie of Bordeaux Blvd and Sawn, an upcoming blogger. We got to chatting and come to find out Katie lives like 5 minutes from SummerFest, this huge music festival that I may or may not be attending this July and Sawn lives near me! Needless to say we became besties from there on out. 
10am// Kickoff Speaker: Alissa Circle of Pollinate Media  

 Our kickoff speaker was Alissa Circle who's a blogger turned business lady who's totally killin it! She started off as a sewing/crafty blogger, then lifestyle blogger and now the founder of Pollinate Media Group. Talk about rebranding! Alissa talked about having it all with blogging, being a business owner and having a life. She was the perfect kickoff speaker and set the stage for the rest of the day! 

11:15am// Kelly and Andra of With Grace and Gold

Our next speakers were Kelly and Andra of With Grace and Gold. They're two best friends with a story that will make you smile and chuckle. They are business owners and bloggers who really know their stuff. Their topic was social media engagement and I came away with some great tips. They're awesome ladies so definitely check out their website, blog and Instagram! 
12:15pm// Lunch Break 
Katie, Sawn and I decided to head to Ingredient for lunch. I had been there once and loved it! We trekked into downtown enjoying the beautiful weather and seeing all the buildings and architecture. Katie and I got a salad and Sawn got a pizza, which looked delicious. All the food was soooo good and Ingredient is definitely a new found lunch place of mine. After we finished we walked back to the conference! 

We had some time to kill before the next speaker so we took outfit pictures in this adorable little room off the main space! It was styled to a T, perfect for all of us fashion/style bloggers. There we also met Jana of Jana Style, a fellow KC blogger! I had been following her blog and on Instagram for awhile now but was too nervous to say anything. But since today was about networking and stepping outside your comfort zone I went for it and introduced myself. She was so sweet and nice! I had no idea why I was so nervous! After taking some more outfit photos we headed back to our seats for our next speaker! 
1:30pm// Alea Lovely 

Our next speaker was Alea Lovely, a style blogger turned famed wedding photographer who you've probably seen/pinned her gorgeous wedding images on Pinterest. She spoke about how to get your name out there and get exposure with your blog/business. Her presentation was one of my favorites because she was hilarious! She had the entire room cracking up! I got the chance say hi and thank her and she's as sweet as can be! Go check out her website and blog and drool over the stunning wedding photos. Seriously they're amazing. 

Sawn, Katie, Alea and I! Love this picture! 

2:30// Kilee Nickel of Nickel and Suede

I forgot to snap a pic of Kilee! My bad! :/

Kilee is a mama, blogger and business lady who started her own business out of finding a particular niche. She talked about how to find your niche and how to expand your blog/business. She started off selling children's leather belts and realized that she was growing out of belts and into something else. And thus, Nickel and Suede was born! She was super sweet and gave a great talk. Her earrings are adorable and if I had my ears pierced I'd buy a pair (or two or three!) 

3:45pm// Laurie Davis of eFlirt

Our closing speaker of the day was Laurie Davis, the founder and CEO of eFlirt, the online dating experts. She started eFlirt with only a few bucks and a Twitter account and created her niche in the online dating world. Her presentation talked about Twitter and how to engage and connect with your followers. Laurie is so sweet, funny and very charming! If you're looking to start online dating definitely go give eFlirt a look! 

After Laurie the conference was over, but they were holding an event called Sip and Shop where you could sip on drinks and talk with various vendors that were set up. Sawn had to go home to take care of her husband who had surgery that day so we missed her! Katie and I decided to grab some much needed coffee and a bite to eat before heading back to the event. 

5pm// Dinner 

Playing tourist in my own city! How pretty is KC!?

Katie and I headed to Starbucks to get ourselves a little evening pick me up. Since it was a bit chilly outside and we were freezing after our lengthy walk lattes were the perfect choice. I got a vanilla bean latte and it was heavenly. We sipped on our lattes, slowly warming ourselves back up and chatting about our lives. After finishing our drinks up we headed out in search of a place to grab a bite to eat. Katie recommended Bar Louie. I had never been but it sounded like a cool place so that's where we went!

We weren't super hungry so we got an appetizer and split it. The spinach artichoke dip was holy so good! Definitely one to try if you're ever there! Their entire menu looked delicious and I kinda wanted to try all of it. But we'll save that for another day. 

Katie and I!

By the time we finished dinner and walked back to the event it was around 7ish. It was in full swing so  we decided to grab a drink and mingle. We stopped at all the different booths and chatted with the vendors. Muchana, Posh KC and Nickel and Suede were just a few! It was fun to get to talk with the owners and really get to know the company/products! Around 8:30ish I decided to head back home because boy was I exhausted! 

That was Day 1 of the GBS Conference! Overall Day 1 was so much fun and I met a lot of great ladies and came away super inspired and pumped for Day 2! :) Be looking for the recap of Day 2 on the blog here soon! 

Have you ever been to a blog conference before? How was your experience? Leave me a comment sharing or strike up a convo with me via social media, @samantha_goble! 



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