Tracey Hilborn

What I Learned at SNAP 2014

• By traceyH
• May 10, 2014
• Comments Off on What I Learned at SNAP 2014

I just returned from five fun and informative days in COLD Salt Lake City.  I was there to attend this year’s SNAP Conference.

For those of you that are wondering – what the heck is SNAP 2014 – I’ll fill you in.

“There is something a bit different about being a creative blogger…Instead of dissecting life and examining the pieces like many online writers, we’re busy dreaming, sharing and building things up.  We inspire one another and when we connect in ways that comfort and sustain, it is something truly extraordinary.  That is why we launched SNAP – a community where imaginative bloggers can come together; learn from one another and walk away invigorated.  The hallmark of this community?   A three-day conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, targeting the best bloggers representing modern handmade, contemporary craft, mind-blowing events and DIY.”

I’m here to tell you that it was mind-blowing!  I attended the DIY Conference “Haven” last summer and everyone was talking about the SNAP conference that is held in the spring.  My buddy, Cindy Jackson, and I decided then and there that we had to go to the next SNAP conference.  Tickets sell out immediately so we were on line and waiting for the moment that tickets went on sale and we both snagged ours within minutes of availability.   This was last fall and we’d been counting the days since.

I could go on for days filling you in on all the cool stuff we not only did but learned but I’ll save all the info for small little posts over the next few weeks – I don’t want to bore some of you but I know some off you are very interested in what went on at SNAP.  Just wait – It’ll show up.

I did write up a little recap of the most important things I learned at SNAP and I thought I would share that with you now.

SNAP 2014 RECAP

When asked, “What is the one thing that you took away with you from the conference?”
My answer is:  “You can’t do this by yourself.”
As career women, moms, wives, sisters, daughters, friends, creative souls, home operations officers, and so much more – we all believe we can do one more thing.  We all believe we are Wonder Women.  And we are!  BUT I have now embraced the fact that I truly cannot do it all.  I don’t know about my SNAP Sisters but I kept hearing the same thing over and over – no matter who was speaking.  I heard it from our entertaining and enlightening guest speakers:  Alex Boye, Noelle Pikus-Pace (Olympic Silver Medalist) and Erica Domesek (PS I Made This)  I heard it in the classrooms as well.  We were being taught by successful women and they all said it – one way or another – they didn’t get where they were today by themselves.  It does take a village to raise a blog.

My parents raised me to believe that I could do or be anyone that I wanted to be. They just didn’t mean that I had to do it by myself.  It has taken me 50 years to truly embrace that fact.

We all know that to be successful in business you need to surround yourself with successful people.  Same goes for blogging.  You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room as long as you have the smartest people supporting you.  If you aren’t an accountant, make sure that you have a good accountant that you trust and that will teach you along the way.  If you stink at filing and organization, bring that student in that loves the details and she (or he) will keep you on track and not lost in the weeds.  If you don’t understand SEO, PHP, XYZ – bring in that consultant to get you set up and who comes in to give your site a tweak on a regular basis.   It does take that village.

Don’t be afraid to say, I don’t know or I don’t understand.  It takes a stronger person to admit and ask for help than that one that keeps being held back because they are afraid to ask for help.  I can speak to this from experience.

What else did I learn at SNAP 2014?  I learned that it doesn’t matter how old you are, how much you weight, how cute your clothes are, what religion you are, where you live or how long you have been blogging – this wonderful blogging community of ours welcomes you. You will get as much out of SNAP as you put into it.  Through yourself out there and trust me – those girls will catch you.  You will come back with so much more than you went with.

What inspired me the most?  The other women.  Listening and watching.  Reading blogs of the people I met.  Putting faces to lives and believing that if these younger women can get this done – I could too.  Yes, I’m behind the curve in all the social media stuff and yes, I’m far from being a spring chicken – but I still have a voice and it is a voice I want to share because I believe I can inspire others.  I just know that I have many fans out there – they just don’t know it because they haven’t found me – yet.

What have I done since I returned from SNAP?  Don’t faint – but I have actually written and published a few posts.  I have participated in my first Twitter Party and now have two under my belt.  I have used Facebook and was able to secure my ticket to Haven 2014 with the use of Facebook.  I am looking for someone to help me get my blog in tip top shape, I’m interviewing Virtual Assistants, and watching lots of on-line training to get up to speed on all this social media stuff.  I have even spoken with some vendors and asked for what I wanted and you know what – no one ate me and I didn’t fall over dead.

You’ll Never Know If You Don’t Ask

So in closing my recap of SNAP 2014, I can honestly say – although this recap is short – SNAP 2014 delivered more to me than Tauni could ever advertise.  It was monumental – a true turning point in this old hen’s life.  When Alex said, “A blogger saved my life.” I can say “A blogging conference started a new chapter in my life and I’m ready to start writing it.”