Ohhhh Haven. You did it to me again. Left me feeling overwhelmed, inspired, educated, full of emotions and with a bunch of new friends and arms full of free swag. Needless to say, Haven Conference 2013 was a huge success. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, Haven Conference is a Home & DIY blog conference here in Atlanta where bloggers can attend sessions to learn all sorts of things about decorating, DIY and the business side of blogging, plus network with each other and connect with brands. Oh, and there is swag. So…much….swag. (Excuse the grainy Instagram photos throughout this post.)
First of all, I want to thank the entire Haven team for their hard work putting this conference together. They did a fabulous job. I also want to give a big shout-out to the sponsors, especially my buddies at RYOBI for hosting an amazing party, (Sidenote: stay tuned for a fun RYOBI review and giveaway tomorrow!), and Rust-Oleum for putting together an awesome cocktail party. Also huge thanks to Home Depot for being the main sponsor and just being awesome in general.
I decided to stay in a nearby hotel with my friend Erica from Spoonful of Imagination rather than commuting across town this year. I’m so glad we did! We were so exhausted after each day, I don’t think we would have had the energy to fight Atlanta traffic. As you can see, by the second day, we were pretty tired. (Truth be told, I’m still hardly coherent as I write this.) Here’s me, Lisa (and her baby bump) and Erica in one of the sessions.
As for sessions, I attended a woodworking session all about casing doors and installing crown moulding which was awesome. I also went to the “Designing Out of the Box” session, and “Advanced Advertising” where I learned a ton. The second day, I attended classes about Google/SEO, Brand & Blogger Relationships, and Magazine Publishing. I’m still processing everything I learned, and it will take me a while to really start implementing everything. I feel like I still haven’t even gotten through my “to do” list from last year as far as the behind-the-scenes blog stuff goes!
It was so great to see so many familiar faces and to meet so many new people too. It’s such an amazing thing to connect with so many people who are passionate about the same things you are. We all love creating, sharing, attempting to inspire people, making our houses feel like home, and DIY.
Erica and I had lots of fun in the Porch.com photo booth!
Oh, and the closing ceremony. Oh gosh. It was so moving and brought tears to my eyes. A handful of my fellow bloggers partnered with GMC and Habitat for Humanity to travel the World’s Longest Yard Sale picking out items to revamp and repurpose, and decorated a home to surprise a family in need. This year, the family was from Atlanta and their lives were forever changed on Sunday. A mother of 4 who could hardly afford to get by despite working all the time, whose children didn’t even own beds (they shared mattresses on the floor) and who had never even owned a dining room table, received a brand new home which she now owns. Her children received their own beds for the first time ever. In the closing speech we were given the challenge as bloggers to use our influence to do good on a grand scale. I would absolutely love to accept this challenge, and somehow use my blogging reach and “influence” to give back and do something good. This family was given such a blessing and a gift and I would love to find a way to bless others in this way. I think every single person in that room was inspired, and hopefully together we can do something huge to really impact lives the way that Habitat and GMC are doing with the help of bloggers. (You can catch up with the GMC home reveal by following #GMCHTA on social media.)
So, we all left Haven full of all sorts of emotions and goals and inspiration.
But I have to say, as much fun as Haven was, it was really nice to come home and wake up to this. (I know it’s super grainy. It was dark in the room!) I totally got teary-eyed seeing my babies’ faces even though I had only been gone for 2 1/2 days! (It felt like much longer.)
I could go on and on forever about what a wonderful experience Haven was, but I’ll stop here. Suffice it to say that this little blog/business would not be what it is today (and what it will hopefully be in the future) without all I’ve learned the past two years at Haven.
You can read my Haven recaps from last year here and here.
If you were at Haven and we didn’t meet, please let me know so I can follow you! I hate that there were so many people I didn’t have the chance to talk to.
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Erin, how did I miss meeting you!? Haven was amazing, what a great re-cap post. Hopefully I will get the chance to meet you next year! ~Sarah
I know Sarah!! I’m so sad! Next year, for sure!
Erin, it was great to see you again if only for a little chat! I’m like you, I still havent conquered last year’s Haven list in it’s entirety, but I’m leaving feeling inspired and much more knowledgable about this business of blogging that most of us simply fell into! Hoping to stay in touch, and best wishes for another successful year!
So great to see you Kerri! Hope to connect next year and chat longer!
Great to see you and hang with you, Erin! More fun to come!
xo Heidi
Yes, so good to see you Heidi! See you soon! 🙂
Hi Erin,
I know I saw you somewhere at Haven but a, sorry we didn’t get to talk more! Glad you had so much fun!
Hi Jessica! Yes we will definitely have to hang out next year!
I still feel like I’m recovering too! But it’s SO worth it. I’m so so glad I got to see you and hang out a bit! Wish we could’ve spent more time together. And oh yes, I totally got sappy and emotional about seeing my kids again. I swear they’ve both gotten older in just a couple days! 🙂
It was so great to see you Kelly! Hope to see you at an Atlanta meetup soon!
Looks like a lot of fun! I hope to make it to Haven one year!
It was so much fun! I hope you can make it to one too! The next one is going to be July 2014, so mark your calendar. 🙂
Erin, I hope to meet you next year. Until then, I’m going to get to know you through your blog.
Sounds great, Geralin! Hope you can make it next year!
This was a great round-up, Erin! I’m so glad we got to meet, but next year we need more time with each other! We need to sit down for hours and chat! 🙂 Thank you for such a positive write-up! Haven sure is awesome, eh? 🙂
Thanks Chris! Yes, I totally agree! We’ll have to hang out next year for sure.
I think the GMC and Habitat for Humanity was the best! I can’t wait to get started on a local project here in Florida.
I agree! It was so inspiring!
Great recap!! Missing you roomy!
Same here! We need to get together asap and I need to come check out your new house. Can’t believe I haven’t been there yet! What the heck! 🙂
SO great seeing you! I’m already looking forward to Haven 2014. 😉
Great to see you too Carrie! Me too, can’t wait!
Erin, great recap! Can’t believe I didn’t get to meet you — hopefully, we can meet at one of the Atlanta group meetups soon!
Thanks Katie! Yes, hope we can meet soon! I feel like I only met 10% of the people I was hoping to meet! It was a whirlwind.
It was such a blast hanging with you at Haven! We had our share of good giggles at the parties and tears at the closing ceremony. What a great recap, Erin! Hugs, sweet friend!
So good to see you Angie! It was so much fun. Hope to see you again soon!
It was great meeting you a Haven, Erin. You have a beautiful blog!
Thank you Mary! It was so great to meet you too!
Erin, I love your blog, but I missed you at Haven! I should have looked harder. 😉 It was such an amazing experience though, so I’ll be going back next year…maybe we’ll meet then!
-Sarah
Hi Sarah! So sad! I feel like there are so many people I didn’t get to meet. We’ll have to connect next year for sure!
Hi Erin! I’m glad we were able to spend time together at Haven! I had a fantastic time. I’m marking my calendar for next year. Gotta make it three in a row!
It was great to see you as always, Donna! Hope to see you again soon!
Great seeing you again this year! I too am exhausted, overwhelmed, and at the same time motivated to get to doing more!
Great to see you too Katie! I definitely feel motivated and inspired too. There aren’t enough hours in the day! At least when my kids start school I can hopefully get some stuff done!
Really enjoyed your post. I’m a newbie blogger who hopes to meet you in person next year, if not sooner. BTW, I have NO idea why this font seemed to choose itself, but it did.
Hi Dianne! I’d love to meet you! I plan on attending next year for sure.
Hey Erin! So glad you had learned a lot at the Haven Conference! Homes.com & ForRent.com enjoyed sponsoring the event and happy to hear you had a great experience. Feel free to take a look at all the photos from the event on Facebook, tag yourself & share with family/friends! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151682489139086.1073741827.280285049085&type=3 Hope to chat with you soon!
Thanks so much for sponsoring! I had a great time. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to stop by your booth! There were so many that I didn’t have a chance to stop at that I wish I’d been able to. It was such a whirlwind! Can’t wait to check out the pics on your FB page. Thanks again!
You’re right, it was a whirlwind! Thank you so much for attending & hope to see you next year!:)