Yesterday, Holli and I arrived in Nashville for Blissdom, a blogging conference. It is larger than FitBloggin, and that's the only other blogging conference I've been to. As we walked into the massively gigantic Opryland hotel and quickly refreshed and went down to registration, I started to get overwhelmed.
Unlike Fitbloggin', there are bloggers here from every genre. There are 750 registrants, so you're walking in a sea of the bloggy unknown! There was a Blissdom Newcomers meetup, and in the crowded room, I stood on the perimeter with anxiety coming over me. I don't know these people and they don't know me. Yet, I need to go up and introduce myself and start conversations – that's the whole point of connecting at a conference.
I'm not a shy person, but I'm cautious and like to scope things out before diving in. This social anxiety was a little out-of-body for me.
Last night, there was a kickoff party where Holli and I did meet some great people, and some of the social anxiety stuff went away. Sessions are about to begin this morning, and I think it will be much easier to talk to people.
If you're at Blissdom, please say hi! This is me today:
If in doubt, I'm wearing a massive foot boot and sort of hobbling around. To see some things I write about, check out this page for the highlights.
Now, where's the coffee?!
