Thursday, March 28, 2024
conference/meeting

Back From BlogPaws!

photo of foodbowls
Our Welcome Mat

Wow, I had no idea there would be so many people at this conference! I don’t think anyone else anticipated it, either, but it just goes to show that social media is here to stay.

BlogPaws meeting
Our opening meeting

And the neatest thing is that it wasn’t just a gathering of “geeks” who only know how to communicate by virtual means, as some people had speculated. The din of voices was so loud all the time that most people were walking around hoarse at the end of every day.

photo of dog's tail on chair
I sat behind a canine attendee.

Lots of animals were in attendance as well, especially dogs who attended meetings.

I photographed a few Cornish Rex cats as well, but I haven’t downloaded their photos yet. Their moms brought them in style—covered carriages!

The meetings were well-planned and informative, and since we’re all new to blogging and twittering and facebooking, we could all share notes with what works for us and listen to the advice of others who have spent a good bit of time experimenting and looking at statistics and refining what brings the most readership to what we have to offer.

It’s a little overwhelming, but we all agreed we felt we were adding to both what people could learn about caring for their pets, and we could also influence the welfare of millions of animals by raising awareness and donations in our blogs.

photo of pin-felted dog
Pin-felted dog by Sarah Williams
photo of my art display
All my art sold, half of the price went to benefit shelters

I know I’ve got several ideas for articles I’ll be writing from individuals and from vendors I met at the exhibits too. Not only that, but I’m going to start my new blog feature on The Creative Cat—interviews and reviews with other animal artists. I’ll be beginning with an artist I’ve known for years and one of the artists I met at Blogpaws who makes pin-felted animals of all species, and will even do a 3-D pin-felted portrait of your animal!

photo of cookie peaches and kelly
"You're leaving, arent' you?"

I admit it was difficult to leave the kids, especially Peaches knowing we’d been struggling with kidney failure in the past few weeks and her condition has taken a few quick swings twice. I got her all primed up before I left, though, and my pet sitters, a vet tech graduate and a long-time cat owner are experienced so I was confident everyone was in good hands. Just to be sure I confined Peaches, Cookie and Kelly to my bedroom in case the kids decided to get a little rambunctious while I was gone. Kelly was in paradise, but Cookie and Peaches didn’t want any parts of it, leaving me with some pretty unhappy expressions.

photo of Peaches on my desk
Peaches is back to work.

And I will admit that I was pulling for home by the end of Saturday, thinking of Peaches especially, and the last leg of my journey by Greyhound bus seemed interminable as i practically went past my house on the way to the bus station! But Peaches and I are back to work. Everyone was well and happy, no one turned their back on me when I got in, and everyone’s been enjoying their goodies brought back from the conference.

More on BlogPaws later, and I’m sure plenty of us will be writing about it!

Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

6 thoughts on “Back From BlogPaws!

  • Ihavecat

    Well done Bernadette – I feel bad for not having posted a thing about Blogpaws yet! Shame on me!
    I loved the picture you took of the canine attendee in front of you! tehe!
    Your cats are sooo sweet! Happy to finally see Peaches!

    Reply
  • I remember at the Cat Writer’s Conference walking past a group of members animatedly discussing how and where their cats pee as if they were discussing a sporting event or a good movie. It’s good to know you’re among friends.

    I’ll be catching up on BlogPaws now that I’ve caught up on work!

    Reply
  • I’m glad you had a good time at BlogPaws. Wish I could have been there – definitely next year! One thing I love about pet related conferences: nobody thinks you’re weird when you talk about missing your cats!

    I’m looking forward to hearing more about what you learned at BlogPaws!

    Reply
  • It sounds like a wonderful thing. Glad you got back safely and that Peaches was all right. Your reviews of animal artists should be really good. Can’t wait. Also can’t wait to hear some more about it. Wish I could have gone but it was not to be.
    Have a great week.

    Reply
  • Vicki Cook

    It was great to meet you the weekend. I had such a great time at BlogPaws and met so many wonderful people. Please stay in touch!

    Reply
  • Hi, Bernadette

    Welcome back home! Im glad you enjoyed the conference. I wish I were there with you all!

    🙂

    Reply

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