My Experience at the Haven Conference 2013
Hey y’all! In case you missed me, I just returned from the Haven Conference held last weekend in Atlanta. Oh. MY. STARS! Can I just say that I have never been so inspired by such an energetic group of talented women in my whole life! It was Haven Heaven for bloggers and do-it-yourselfers!!
I learned so much that I am truly excited to share with you, and the number of projects swirling around in my head are making me dizzy!! I am really looking forward to blogging about all the cool things I learned in the coming days…
Today, though, I want to share some of the blessings I received at the conference.
Met some amazing bloggers…
These Haven conference folks know what they’re doing! It was an absolute treat to meet so many talented people. All in varying stages of ‘blog-olution’. Experts and novices, veterans and newbies… all thrown into the same mix. And what emerged was this powerfully energetic force!
with a great friend, Myra from MyBlessedLife
with my roomie and new friend, Tamyra from Positively Southern
The ladies from Southern Color.
Made some awesome contacts…
Some of the vendors who sponsored the Haven Conference were:
- Home Depot
- Rust-Oleum
- Ryobi Nation Power Tools
- Kreg tools
- Moen
- Homeright Painting Tools
- and many more
at the Ryobi booth with Denise of DeniseDesigned! 
hammin’ it up with the Moen rubber ducky!
Attended some super seminars…
- Google Tips– helped me know more about the mechanics of running my blog
- New Kids on the Block– for new bloggers. This session was packed with great info to help me make my blog more interesting for YOU, my reader!
- Advertising- to help me know when, and if, to begin seeking sponsorship for Sondra Lyn at Home.
- Photography– helping me take better photos in order to make my blog pages more attractive.
- Chalk Paint session– this was so much fun! We got hands-on with Annie Sloan chalk paint. This really ‘whet my appetite’ for some upcoming projects!
- Spice Things Up!- The Shanty2Chic ladies did a demo of how to build a large, hanging spice rack! Whitney and Ashley raffled off the rack after the class and guess who came home with it?! Yep, yours truly!! Yay!! I still want to make one myself, though!
Brought home some cool Swag…
Bringing back so many fun supplies really helps to get started on the many new ideas I also came back with!
Inspired to work hard and do good…
The sessions I attended were excellent in every way. They were educational, of course, but also inspirational and uplifting! I learned some techie stuff to help my blog on the computer side, and I got some hands-on practice with some great skills that will help on the project side of the blog. The painting session with Annie Sloan Unfolded was especially fun, as was the ‘Spice-Things-Up’ session I mentioned earlier. The emphasis in the closing session was on going back to our communities and giving back… making a difference in lives outside of our own. Haven partners with GMC and Habitat for Humanity to make the world a better place. Check out Pretty Handy Girl’s recap of last year’s Habitat home here.
painting up a storm in the Annie Sloan session!
As you can see, last weekend was action-packed! I have started to implement many of the technical things I learned and am beginning some new projects this week. What an enriching experience it was!
Bring on Haven Conference 2014!!
Y’all have a great day!
Great post! And fabulous pics!! I am saving that pic because I don’t have a copy of it! Look forward to seeing you again soon!
Hey Denise!
I went back and linked to your blog in the caption under the photo! Sorry… it’s taking me a while to know just what to to when it comes to linking, etc! I loved your post too!!
It was so nice to meet you at Haven this year Sondra Lyn. What an amazing time we had.
Mary, it was wonderful to meet you, too. Yes, Haven was AMAZING!! Let’s keep in touch!
Hey, Sondra! Enjoyed reading your post! I can feel your enthusiasm! Haven WAS super! So glad Kara & I got to meet you.
Oh, my goodness… I’m so glad I got to meet you, too! I had built Haven up so much in my head, and had HUGE expectations, and it lived up to them all! I’ll be trying to implement everything I learned until the NEXT Haven conference!! Keep in touch, ok?
Hello Sondra! Homes.com & ForRent.com enjoyed sponsoring the event and are happy to hear you had a great time at the Haven Conference! 🙂 Feel free to browse 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 Looking forward to chatting with you soon!
Hi Sondra Lyn,
I wanted to congratulate you on your spice rack win. You may not remember me but I had encouraged you to turn in your name just before they were to pull names. You threw yours in and wahla! That is the one they picked! If you do make another one, you will have the opportunity to ‘ bless it forward’.
Happy blogging,
Carmen
Yes!! Thank you for that encouragement! 😉 Haven’t had a chance to make another one yet… but I’m always looking for ways to ‘bless it forward’! And I’m so glad you stopped by for a visit… so great to hear from you!!