Sharon Garofalow

Bash Conference: A Recap

Early in January I attended a brand new conference called Bash. It was held in Arizona at The Wigwam Resort (beautiful!) and it was two days of sessions, speakers, networking and fun. A fantastic party planner and blogger, that I met years ago at my very first Operation Shower, Michelle of Maddycakes Muse, decided to put on this conference for the party planner/blogger community to learn and grow and lift each other up. Yup, that was a total run on sentence. I’m sure it was no easy task to put on a conference of any size and THIS was awesome. She nailed it. I was super impressed with every aspect of it. I apologize for the iphone photos. Although I took my DSLR, it never left the hotel room. When you go to a conference full of party planners, you kind of just want to party. I wanted to do a Bash Conference recap in case any of you are wondering if you should attend next year. In short, the answer is yes.

I want to be super honest. I wasn’t expecting to get a ton out of it. When I started this blog I was strictly party focused and my first real blog friends are all from that world. I wanted the chance to spend time with these gals and at the last-minute was able to attend (side note: Tickets were about $400. BUT there were several opportunities leading up to the conference to win a free ticket. Also, they did a black Friday sale which is where I was able to buy my ticket for $200! Oh! And they offered a VIP option, for an extra $50, which got you preferred seating at the sessions, one on one time with the keynotes and speakers, transportation to and from the hotel to the resort plus some extra special goodies at check in. It was a great feature that I haven’t seen at any other conference.) And it was held in Arizona. I love Arizona. Any who. When the conference was initially announced, it seemed like the sessions were geared towards to party planners. But then they announced another track of sessions and those were more business focused. I wasn’t sure how they would bridge the gap between the attendees who wanted to learn about party planning as a business and building a business from a party blog. I strongly believe, however, that any time you attend a conference you learn somethings, especially if you keep yourself open to it.

I arrived on Thursday afternoon and had a little time to relax before the first evening’s party. It’s always nice to ease in to a conference. The first night they held a welcome party that included gaming tables (which I sucked at) and craft stations (which after a few glasses of wine, I sucked at). The volunteers for the conference were SO welcoming and made everyone feel right at home. Although I had a bunch of friends with me, I would have had a great time even if I had gone on my own.

Both mornings started off with “Party Rock Star” panels and breakfast where veterans of the party blogging world talked about their experiences and offered insight in to their success. I loved this! Day one’s party rock stars were Chris Nease, Jenn Sbranti and Kim Byers. Day two was Tori Tait (my roommate and an AMAZING business woman!), Kim Stoegbauer and Kelly Lyden. Michelle asked them questions and they were really candid with their answers. It was refreshing to have a speaker be so open about highs and lows and offer tips and insight.

And because most party bloggers are crafty, there were little activities at every turn. These blank mugs and paint pens were set out on the breakfast tables for you to be creative with during the panel.

I was THRILLED to get to spend time with old friends and finally meet people in person that I’ve admired forever. LOVE these gals!

From left to right: Chris, Jenn, Kim, Amy (with Operation Shower), me, Coryanne and Tori

THIS is Michelle Burt. The mind and heart behind the conference. She is truly an exceptional person. Although the stress of pulling off something of that magnitude must have been great, she never showed it. She is a great speaker and motivated the crowd. She was accessible and seemed to be legitimately enjoying the conference herself. Which leads me to her team. She put the most amazing team in place to help her make this happen. I didn’t end up with a photo but her right hand girl, Tonya Coleman was sensational. Since my trip was so last-minute I was missing from some table assignments. I would have been fine to eat in the hallway but without anyone asking her, she went out of her way to make sure that I could sit with my friends and was taken care of. A HUGE thank you to her!

I was so excited to get to spend some time with this doll face, Lindi. I adore her. She was part of Michelle’s team and helped keep things running smoothly. And always found time to chat with me in between sessions or any other task that kept her on her toes that weekend. She makes me smile.

And guess what? Michelle can SING. The party on night two was themed and you were supposed to come as your favorite Hollywood celebrity. Michelle came as Whitney Houston and sang one of her songs. Sang it like, we should all be worried that she could decide to quit putting on the Bash Conference and go on tour, good.

The keynote speakers that Michelle got to speak at this first time conference were crazy good. Amy Atlas spoke on night one and was really inspirational and had great tips to give those with small businesses. And she’s just plain adorable and friendly. She genuinely wanted to know about each person there and even danced with us at the dance party. And our room just happened to be next door to the 2nd night’s keynote speaker, Eddie Ross. He was charming and talked about style and sharing your personal vision in everything you do. He has a book coming out that I think you will all love and you can pre-order {affiliate link} Modern Mix: Curating Personal Style with Chic & Accessible Finds
here.

But I am so grateful for these girls. The conference was insanely good, but it also has a lot to do with the company you keep. The advice, support and laughs shared with these ladies is priceless.

Sometimes, it’s the personal gab sessions at the conferences amongst your peers where you learn the most. It is where you can talk shop and ask questions and brainstorm in a totally safe environment with people who understand exactly what you do and who you are. But I have to say, that I also learned SO much from the Bash Conference sessions. I missed sessions by great gals like Jenny Keller, Loralee Lewis and Rachel Hollis which was a bummer. But I learned fantastic, concrete information about monetizing my business from Mindy Cone (who is freaking adorable, btw). From Alison Faulkner I learned about the need to create your unique, authentic brand and then use it to kick ass in your work with brands (although she is a fantastic personality online she is a PHENOMENAL speaker and if you ever get the chance to hear her you should!). And from Coryanne Etienne, I was finally given the tools to create a more focused idea of what my business is, set business goals and not be afraid to go after them. I left her sessions with a draft of a mission statement (which has eluded me for YEARS!) and a set of goals to get to where I want to go.

I can’t say enough positive things about this conference. If you were on the fence about it this year, I say for sure, check out next year’s Bash Conference. The date is already set (and I think it will be held at the same location). Like their facebook page so you hear about when the tickets go on sale. And do yourself a favor and keep your eye on Michelle. She’s doing big things.

Share

The post Bash Conference: A Recap appeared first on Cupcakes and Cutlery.

  • Love
  • Save
    Add a blog to Bloglovin’
    Enter the full blog address (e.g. https://www.fashionsquad.com)
    We're working on your request. This will take just a minute...