Should You Go To The Haven Conference?
As a Haven Conference newbie, I’m giving the scoop on the Haven Bloggers Conference, what I’m glad I did, some things I wish I had done, and more!
If you’ve been around the home decor blogging space for even a handful of seconds, there is a pretty good chance you’ve heard of the Haven Conference. On the off chance you have not, it’s a conference specifically designed for DIY and home decor bloggers in mind. There’s sessions, meetups, panels, and most importantly – food. Okay maybe that’s not the most important but it’s also kinda the most important.
I thought I would share my “Haven conference newbie” experience with you and the value I got from it. I mean, is it even a blogger’s conference if you don’t blog about it afterwards?
What I’m Glad I Did
Brought my entire box of business cards
I ended up getting a cute business card holder to have in my purse, but I seriously lost count of how many times I had to refill it. It only held 20 and since my husband came with me, I had to have some for him to hand out too. After all, he’s the life of the dang party. Speaking of that guy, I’m glad …
I brought my husband
Yes, because he’s WAY more extroverted than me, but also we were able to divide and conquer. I was able to go to classes I wanted to and he was able to go to others that I couldn’t make because of timing or other obligations.
Registered the day it opened
Yes. The first day. I got early bird pricing which was my goal, but also it sold out! I’m not surprised.
Dressed Comfortably
I’m all about comfort, ya feel me? So, even my “cute” stuff was comfy. I scored a pants romper on Amazon Prime Day which 1, was way out of my comfort zone and 2, felt like wearing jammies all day which was INCREDIBLE.
TALKED TO PEOPLE!!!
I know this may seem like a no brainer but I am NOT GOOD with small talk. I’m all, “Sup, why is rainbows good?” And I honestly thought this was going to be SO HARD, but it was NOT! And you know what talking to people did? Introduced me to not only people I looked up to, but made me realize they are NORMAL LIKE ME, just way further ahead in their careers.
Oh, just to be a fly on the wall of some of the conversations I got to have with Danielle and Sarah. These girls were A PARTY wrapped up in really cute clothes and hairdos.
When they featured our Little Tikes Playhouse makeover on their Instagram a couple weeks before Haven, I nearly cried and threw up simultaneously. I have loved them a LONG TIME and to meet them in person, I realized how down to earth and just REALLY FUN they are.
What I wish I would have done
Not brought my big girl fancy camera
I kinda knew this going into it, but that dang thing stayed in our room the entire time and never even saw the light of day.
Had a “Haven Bag”
In all fairness, they gave us a bag. A huge bag. FULL OF STUFF. And like, GOOD STUFF too. AND walking around talking to people and vendors, they gave you even more stuff.
While I didn’t need necessarily have my laptop out and about, it would have been nice to have it around to help my friends answer questions or get a question answered for myself. But I would have wanted like a super cute bag that had a laptop part in it and I thought about it like 2.5 hours before it was time to leave and so of course I didn’t have time to do a bunch of searching. Next year though. Next year. Look for the girl with the bag! Ha. One of the other hundreds.
Had More Time
I’m conflicted about this because I truly don’t think my brain could handle more time, BUT I specifically mean more time to cultivate the friendships I started. But that’s what phone numbers and slidin’ into ya DMs is for, right? Lemme tell you – I’ve slid into so many DMs since Haven, you’d think I was in a college fraternity doing some kind of weird dare to be initiated. But alas, it’s just because I found some REAL connections here. WHO KNEW?
If you guys have been around, you know I’m friends with Lauren in real life. And I feel like I’ve been friends with Rachel since about November of last year when I got her photography class as an early Christmas present last year. And she’s changed the dang game for me. And then I met her. And now I love her. And she apparently even kinda likes me even though I had so much stress sweat when I met her.
This dinner was an ABSOLUTE JOY of mine and in the presence nonetheless of some of my favorite faces I finally got to meet in real life. Plus a couple ones I already knew and loved.
I had met Sonya a couple months prior at a networking event in my old hometown, but we actually go to the same church even though it’s in a different city! She is a DOLL BABY and such a joy of a human.
Ugh. What can I say about these girls. Here again, you know how much I love Lauren, but Jen and Jordan! I had been following Jordan for a while and thought she was just the cutest and meeting her in person proved the point. But Jen. Oh, my Jen. This girl crawled up in my life and immediately found a place in my heart. We have SO MUCH IN COMMON. Our husbands have SO MUCH IN COMMON. And they’re some of the most genuine people I know. Don’t worry, I’ve already been looking at flights to see how soon we can go see them and get some sweet hang time.
So, Should you go to Haven 2020?
I don’t know how else to say this other than to say it.
Abso.Freakin.Lutely dude.
I’ve only been back home a couple weeks and it has already proven to be the best thing I could have done for my blogging career and my sanity. Even though I was a Haven conference newbie this year and I’m even newer to this whole blogging thing, it confirmed a lot for me that what I’ve been doing is right and yet I learned SO MUCH on how to make it work more efficiently, smoothly and bring me even more joy.
So, suck it up internet, I’m here to stay.
If you’re new to my blog, I’d love to have you join the fam and stay a while so sign up to stay in the know!!
