Monday, May 20, 2013

A Bit About BlogPaws


Sweet Odilia at breakfast.

Our mom had a great time at BlogPaws.  Without a doubt, the best part was meeting all the wonderful kitties, dogs, other critters and their parents who are behind the blogs.  What a truly amazing and friendly set of people and animals.  The days are long and hard, and there wasn't a melt down from the tiniest kitten or largest dog.


Teri and her kitties were the best!  Here Brighton is punked out.  For the red carpet, Teri looked like a movie star.  Too bad the mom's photography was what we expected and the photos didn't come out (it was too dark).
So good!  Only the slightest meow of protest.


All the speakers were fantastic, but many subjects were a little over the mom's head, especially the technical ones like SEO.  She probably should have paid attention to the level of knowledge it was aimed at, but a little brain stretching once in a while doesn't hurt and she's glad she attended.  She would have liked to see fewer sessions geared towards monetizing blogs and more dealing with the day to day problems, like developing your voice, finding inspiration and basics of interesting writing.



Triscuit wakes up from a nap.   We can't believe how well behaved she was!  She makes all of us look bad.
Triscuit loves to sit on her mom's shoulder.
That's Wally's, Ernie's & Zoey's mom in the background.
She's another sweetheart!
They better watch what they say about her in front of us.


Dogs were the dominant animal there, and cats seemed more like an afterthought.  The swag bags were stuffed with canine swag, and if there was anything that applied to cats, it was only because it could be used for dogs too.  That was really disappointing.  There were so many cat people there, we filled tables and tables.  Maybe we weren't 50%, but we were more than 35% I believe.


Icon of Kitty Bloggers, Brian's dad!
You can see the Flat, the Hat, Flat Cody
and our Flat Carl.
(The mom is sorry, she isn't sure who the plush kitty is.)


They had The Cat Lounge, which was a confusing place.  Products were on tables, but there were no representatives to talk to, and no one was sure if the items on display were free samples.  Some of the companies with canine products also had feline products, but not all, and the feline samples were much fewer.


Maus and mom were a hit too!


That said, would the mom do it again?  Absolutely!  It was a great experience!  She loved meeting all the wonderful people, and the sessions were thought provoking.  She can't wait for next year to see all her new friends and meet even more, not to mention the people she looked for but never met.



Charles the Monarch, the lion dog.  He is world famous, and has been mistaken for a lion on the loose.  The mom talked with his dad to get his story.  His daughter attended Old Dominion, whose mascot is a lion.  The dad had a brain storm, and rest is hisstory!
Very well behaved, and not too scary for a lion.


So what advice would she give to new attendees?  First, don't be intimidated by the thought of being by yourself and alone.  There are plenty of others who are alone too.  Look around, do you see someone by themselves?  Say hello!  You have something you both love in common, your pets and your blogs.  Talk about them and ask questions about theirs.  That's what the mom did, she made new friends and wasn't alone for a minute.


Teri's Pink Catillac.
True to the mom's photography, you can't see the cat!


Secondly, stay at the hotel.  7:30 am to 9 or 10 pm is a REALLY long day, and you are going to do a couple of them.  The mom stayed at her dad's, which was on the other side of the river, about 15 or 20 minutes away.  Sometimes she wished she had a room to rest in for an hour or so.  Because of the long days, it was hard getting up in the morning.


Fluffy Odilia again.


Next year its being held in Las Vegas.  Hope to see you there!  Stay tuned cause we are going to do a giveaway!



***********



 The mom had forgotten how beautiful the drive down MacArthur Blvd is.  It runs along the C&O Canal and the Potomac River on the Maryland side.

These pictures don't do it justice.  Its a lovely drive into Georgetown, or over to Tyson's Corner where BlogPaws was held.
Ha, ha!  That's our mom!

25 comments:

Summer at sparklecat.com said...

My human is SO bummed she did not get to meet your human - but she is glad she is planning on making it to Vegas because she has already signed up!

Personally, I think we cats were royally gypped on the swag - and, um, didn't we cats pretty much clean up on the awards?

The Furries of Whisppy said...

If Mommy went, she would have a tough time hauling herself out of bed before 7am. MOL.
We just can't get enough of Odilia and Triscuit!

The Furries of Whisppy said...

We were just at CK's blog and the kittie plushie that Brian's dad is holding is CK! ;)

Cats Herd You said...

We're so glad your mom had a good time! It looks like a lot of fun. We hope our head peep can make it out next year.

The Island Cats said...

The mom sure did enjoy meeting your mom, Oui Oui! We hear they talked and talked about all us cats!

The mom agrees totally with your mom's assessment of BlogPaws. It was wonderful meeting all the other humans.

We're gonna try to post some pictures today if our innernets ever get working...btw, your photos are GREAT compared to the mom's.

Hannah and Lucy said...

We are delighted your Mom had a good time and met other Mums and Dads who are the secretaries for their cats.
Hope she brought you some goodies home with her.
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

The Florida Furkids said...

We're glad your Mom enjoyed BlogPaws.


The Florida Furkids

Pat Hatt said...

Looks like tons of fun, although the cat would never be caught dead in that wig thingy haha

da tabbies o trout towne said...

oui...glad yur mom hada grate time N getted ta meet all her pals in purrson !!! way kewl !!!

Layla Morgan Wilde ( Cat Wisdom 101) said...

Great roundup! Hope to see you next year :-)

Memories of Eric and Flynn said...

I am glad your mum had a good time. The kittens are adorable, and Brighton looked cute in his punk wig.

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

Oh we loved all the pictures and sure am glad you had such a good time.

Cat and DOG Chat With Caren said...

It was sooooooooo great to finally meet you and your assessment was spot on!
You took some great photos, do you know I did not get even ONE cat photo? Nope, sure didn't!

Cathy Keisha said...

TW loved meeting your Mom and we were just on our way to visit you. Glad you had fun but TW doesn't see herself going to Vegas. Maybe next time it's on the East Coast she can go again.

meowmeowmans said...

We are pretty sure that plushy in the picture of Brian's Dad is Plush Cathy Keisha. :)

It was SO awesome meeting your mom at BlogPaws. She is the bestest! We are definitely hoping to go again next year!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad your mom had a good time. The photographs are lovely, so many cute anipals, but Odilia has to be one of the cutest kitties I've ever seen!

Brian's Home Blog said...

My Dad had such a grand time meeting you at BlogPaws! It was such a fun time, so many friends, so little time!!!!!

Annie Bear said...

Thanks so much for all the pictures and such a great detail report on what goes on at the conference! I am so glad you had such a great time!

The Musings Of A Crazy Cat Lady said...

Thank you for telling us about Blog Paws. We wanted some news. Thank you also for posting such great photos.

Avalon's Garden and Mewsings of Garden Cottage Cats said...

WHOA! Your mom waz furry bizzy ^..^ we thinkz dat a protest iz in order, don't dey KNOW dat us catz Rule da world !?! Dey shoulda had more treatz & stuffz fur da kittiez! Other than dat ..... meeting all da kittiez & pawrentz up close and purrsonal musta bin really Cool! Guess we haz to wait and see if dey gonna haz one in New York...... ^..^

pee ess..... ^..^ your mom hasn't found da barf in her shoez yet , haz she ??????? ^..^ Wait till she hearz about what Julie & gman haz been up to......:O ( she's suppose to be wurkin on da post, right now mom!) Bye ^..^ ♥♥♥ xoxoxox

Avalon's Garden and Mewsings of Garden Cottage Cats said...

pee pee ess, da mom wantz to know if it'z ok if she borrowz a couple ov picturez ov Beautiful Julie ??? ^..^ Ana~ ox

Team Tabby said...

So glad to hear your mom had a great time at Blog Paws!

A Tonk's Tail said...

Our mom had a blast - and was so glad to have met you! (she didn't embarrass us or anything did she? Just checking...!)

She didn't get many good photos - darn it. She kept forgetting to take them (and she calls herself a BLOGGER. Seriously.Pfft!)

Deb Barnes said...

What a wonderful write up! I agree with you that it would be nice to have seminars that talk about the creative process and I also like your advice about introducing yourself to get to know other bloggers. Thank you for stooping by my blog and telling me about Charles!

Deb Barnes said...

What a wonderful write up! I agree with you that it would be nice to have seminars that talk about the creative process and I also like your advice about introducing yourself to get to know other bloggers. Thank you for stooping by my blog and telling me about Charles!