On July 14th I went down to the Los Angeles Convention Center for the BlogFest Conference and IdeaWorld Health & Fitness Expo. I attended the event last year and had a great time. It is so nice to have an event that brings a lot of the health and fitness bloggers together under one roof to learn, collaborate, and share ideas. Here are my top 5 Favorite Things About BlogFest 2016.
My 5 Favorite Things About BlogFest 2016
The Sessions
I was really impressed with the quality of the sessions this year. There was a session on Food Photography that I thought was really great and helpful. I know photography is a weak spot for me and it was nice to learn some techniques that might be able to help me spice things up a bit. Biggest takeaway from the food photography session? Invest in props. That is on my to do list for the coming weeks! I also really enjoyed the sessions from Ryan Lee and Amanda Tress. Great stuff.
Blogger Roundtable with Coach Debbie Runs
Debbie from Coach Debbie Runs is someone who I have been interacting with online for years but never met in person. It was so nice to meet her in person and discuss ideas about blog design with her, Chris from What I Run Into, Liz Wilson Yoga, and Pamela from Thrive Fitness. I really enjoyed our conversation!
The IdeaWorld Health & Fitness Expo happens in tandem with BlogFest. I had a great time with Chris from What I run Into roaming the Expo Hall. We discovered a new obsession – Daiya gluten free dairy free quesadillas – and had fun checking out all the different workouts and new products on the show floor. A highlight for me was checking out Indo Board. I had one many, many years ago and it was fun to get back on one and try it out. You can check out more of our Expo experience in the below Snapchat story I created for the day and uploaded to YouTube.
The People
When I started Fit & Awesome in 2012 I had no idea about the community I would build and the amazing people I would connect with because of it. I love the health and fitness blogging community and it’s such a treat to get to see everyone in real life after following their blog posts and social media updates all year long. You really get to know people, what they’re about, and what they do. I love it. Special shout outs here to some of the very special bloggers from my fitness tribe:
- Chris from What I Run Into
- Melissa from The Valentine RD
- Teresa from Eat Drink Be Skinny
- Natalie from Nat Runs Far
- Alexandra from Fun and Fit
- Whitney from Live & Diet
- Gigi from Gigi Eats Celebrities
- Carleeh from Mamarazza
- Sarah from Sweet Blonde’s Fit Life
- Tobias and Christel from The Fit Blog
- Tam from Tamarathoner
Another highlight for me was getting to meet Lea from Running with Ollie. Lea won one of my Fitbit giveaways with United Healthcare last year. She was actually wearing the Fitbit she won from Fit & Awesome when I met her. I mean, how cool is that? So much fun.
Snapping with Melissa Hartwig from Whole 30
This was by far my highlight of BlogFest this year. I attended a talk with Melissa Hartwig of Whole 30 on social media that was sponsored by Vital Proteins. After her talk I was introduced to Melissa and asked if she would do something with me for my Snapchat. Fit & Awesome was essentially born out of my experience doing Whole 30 so to do a Snapchat with Melissa was so awesome for me. It was a total fan girl moment! You can check out my Whole 30 Snapchat with Melissa Hartwig here (and see what whole 30 product she carries in her purse with her):
What about you? Have you ever been to Idea World or BlogFest? What did you think? Post in the comments and let us know!
I wish I could have gone! Looks like you had fun. 🙂
Blogfest was such a blast the last two years. I wish I could have been there this time!
I had so much fun this year! Did we really not meet last year? We must have! I loved that they listened to our feedback and made Blogfest even better!
I feel like I would have remembered meeting you last year in person but I’m glad we got to spend some time together this year! I really think they did a fabulous job with the conference this year. I was very happy I went!
I’ve never been though I’d love to go *someday*. Looks like you had a blast and met so many bloggers! Can’t wait to check out your list!
I had such FOMO for blogfest! Looks like fun time was had by all!
It was a great time. Can’t wait until next year
I’ve heard so many good things about Blogfest! I’d love to go in the future. Sounds like you came away with a lot of good ideas.
Sounds like such a great time! It must be great to see the peeps you’re so close to online! I need to look into going next year.
All I can say is Blogfest in on my bucket list!! Gosh, it looks like a fab time with lots of wonderful people!!!
I have loved going to BLogfest and seeing it row and evolve. I wish we had connected while we were there!
My favorite thing about blog conferences = SEEING ALL THE BLOGGERS I READ in person!!! <3
I was there! There were so many people there that I didn’t get a chance to meet you. I heard you live in my hometown of Redondo Beach!! I’m a Whole30 alumna too so having Melissa there was awesome. Just watched your snap video and I really need some Wilde bars for my purse and that pair of pineapple socks. Didn’t see those on the expo floor. I feel like I missed so much.
I would love to go one year- looks like you had a great time! That food photography class sounds awesome!
Sounds like you had a great experience. I’d love to be able to attend BlogFest one year.
I had such a blast!!! Thanks for the shout out, friend! It was so great to connect with you 🙂 LOVE the snap chat with Melissa!!!
Ahhh, I’m so glad you came – it was such an awesome weekend – and seriously, the best part is the people…by far!
It was so great talking blog design with you! Your top 5 makes me happy! 😉
My favorite is also meeting other bloggers–it’s like “oh! you exist outside my screen!”–but I also REALLY love the Expo. There’s nothing quite like it for catching up on the latest trends in fitness, getting hands-on equipment demos, and tasting all the yummy foods. I’m surprised more people don’t go, since you can get a free Expo pass online even if you’re not attending IDEA.
Just ran into your site from the Blogher FB page and thought I would check you out! How did you like Blogher vs. Blogfest? I really liked Blogher but didn’t meet any fitness bloggers…so will probably check out Blogfest next year.