This summer I attended my second blogging conference,
Adventure Con 2014. Adventure Con 2014
is a conference for bloggers in Texas hosted by Sea World San Antonio. One of the reasons why I love this conference
so much it that it is limited to the top Texas blogger which cultivates an intimate
setting for optimal learning. The other reason why I love this conference is
that it is at Sea World and the whole family can attend. Attending Adventure Con 2104 was one of those
opportunities a blogger like me just cannot pass up.
1. Marriott Hotel
We arrived at the Marriott Hotel in San Antonio Friday
evening. The courtyard at San Antonio is
the official hotel of Sea World. After
we check into our room and we settled into our room we, went swimming in their
amazing pool. (to read more about the
hotel review click here).
The first night we had a meet and greet with other bloggers
and their family. The bloggers were so
friendly and shared a wealth of information about their blogs. My kids and I were even able to meet with
some of the Sea World team members and even took our photo with Shamu.
Saturday morning my family slept in while I attended the
conference in the Alamo room at the Hotel. It was fun to see bloggers I had met last year
and to met new blogger too. This conference
is jam packed full of great information for seasoned bloggers as well as
newbies. I am a newbie when it comes
to social media so I decided to takeaway one statement from each of the
presentation and share it with my readers as well as use it myself.
3. "How to think
like a reporter"
From Randy Escamilla @RandyEscamilla I learned "How to
think like a reporter". I learned
that emotion is the common thread to all stories. The best stories are the ones that are authentic
and real. Anyone can ask questions, but it’s
best to use a follow up question, for example , “what do you mean,” to gain a deeper understand.
4. “How to be a Great
Media Source”
The panel consisted of top blogger; Sue Patterson as
@socialnewsara, John Pacini as @superjohn, and Carrie Pacini as @carriepacini. The
best tip I learned was the media loves original content and they want you to be
loyal to them and available when they need you.
5. Aquatica
Around noon we all headed to Sea World, Aquatica to be
exact. In Aquatica we ate lunch at
Waterstone Grill. The sausage wrap and potato salad was really good. My daughter enjoyed eating watermelon. Her favorite part was when the shamu and the
penguin mascots came out and hugged her.
While our lunch settled we headed over to Roa's Aviary, in
Loggerhear Beach of Aquatica. There were more birds then I was able to count.
As you can see by the pictures the scenery is breath taking not to mention you
can either walk among the tropical birds or wade through the waterfall. Some of the birds in the aviary are
considered threatened or endangered. We were
even able to feed the birds and see how amazing they are up-close. Sea World educations are also there to answer
any question we had about the birds.
Animal Ambassadors. As you are walking around the park keep
your eye open for SeaWorld Animal Ambassadors. They walk the park at different
time with animals from the park. My family and I were able to meet some
animals. We were able to see an American
bald Eagle, she was young so he was still brown, but soon she lose those brown feathers. We also met a few Lemurs.
7. Sea World
Before we watch One Ocean We sat down with the Killer Whale (Orcinus Orca) trainers
for a special Question and answer session. We were able to ask any questions
we had about Sea World. There were many
questions asked by all the blogger, the trainer was very informative and
answered all of the questions. The trainer spoke of her love for these orcas
and what a privileges it was to be able to work with them. She spoke of the positive reinforcement they
use with them and how if they don’t want to do something for a show, they don’t
have to do it. She also assured us they
are feed whether they perform or not. I could tell how much she really loved working
with these mammals.
On Sunday we met at Sea World in the Seaside landing for more
information on Blogging.
8. Community
Storytelling
Fran Stephenson from Step in Communication (@FranSteps)
spoke on telling a great story. The best
tip I learned was the power of a good story invokes imagination, it is part of
our history and tradition. I learn to
tell not just everyday stories but stories that will define a generation by
creating empathy and action.
9. Flip the Pin
Stacy Teet of Kids Stuff World (@stacyofksw) spoke on Pinterest
and Flipboard . I learned that you must
give credit where credit is due (just like I am doing in this blog post). She
also gave great ideas for sharing on Printrest by keeping your boards to about
40-60 and changing your board cover often.
10.Secrets of Google
plus
Jamie Dorobek of C.R.A.F.T. (Creating Really Awesome FreeThings) who is a Google+ expert helped me to realize a profile is better than a
page and to use a picture in link to blog post.
When Adventrure Con
2014 was over I took some time to take some photos with some of the
bloggers I met. I also wanted to thank Kami (@kamiChat) for her hard work
and dedication to organizing his amazing event for us blogger.
If you have not experienced SeaWorld or Aquatic and are a blogger you will want to join us next year for another amazing adventure.
If you have not experienced SeaWorld or Aquatic and are a blogger you will want to join us next year for another amazing adventure.
Disclosure: I recieved discounted ticket to SeaWorld and Aquatic as well as queue passes and meal vouchers as part of Adventure Con 2014 Blogging Conference.
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