Mela Kamin – What I Say in between Songs

Coming from a PR background, I wasn’t intimidated about attending a conference. I had done a lot of that in my day. And, I was comfortable meeting new people, talking about my brand and trying to “represent well.” What I was not prepared for was the fun, community and incredible sharing that went on. Frankly, I usually find conferences rather stale.

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Women at all blogging levels were quick to help, offer tips, recommendations and suggestions. They were excellent listeners too and never seemed put-off by the number of questions. It was refreshing and I liked the accessibility offered to us. No one was off limits, too big to be bothered or too full of ego to stop for a picture or compliment.
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• One of the personal highlights of the conference was sharing it with my friend, Chris Ann of LoveFeastTable. She & I met a couple years ago through mutual friends. Our oldest daughters both attended the same school at the time, though two grades apart. We ended up going on a women’s Bible study retreat with one of those mutual friends. Even though both our stories are very different from what they were then, we’ve kept appearing in each other’s lives these past couple years.
• Chris Ann is funny, bubbly and puts others at ease. She’s smart, incredibly creative and loves to laugh. She has a heart for service and an almost child-like inquisitiveness that I find absolutely darling. I could not have asked for a better roommate.

  

• Right off the bat, on Thursday night, we met some superstars – Kris & Kim from YouCanMakeThis and newly-launched TheDIYDish, who were absolutely the most darling and most humble pair. They offered a ton of helpful advice to Chris Ann and I. Not being shy, Chris Ann was firing questions as quickly as they could field them. She was jotting them down like crazy, until the Sharpie pen I loaned her exploded! Yes, it did – right in front of the superstars. Oh. My. Word.
• Then, we went over to the CleverGirl party and mingled. There are turquoise boas to wear, giveaways to enter, fun music, fondue & drinks. Immediately, we noticed there were products on all of the cocktail tables. Being newbies, she & I both looked at each other with a questioning glance: “Are these for us to take, you think?” We looked around, hoping for someone else to tell us it was ok. Hey – I didn’t want to be the Christian artist who is seen lifting goods at Blissdom. But, alas, that was swag (who knew?!) and we were able to take compacts and lip glosses for our daughters. Yippee!

See the rest of the story on Friday’s play-by-play here, including some really embarrassing moments.