Knockers Up
This weekend I went to camp.
At 7,000 feet in San Bernardino National Forest, I slept in a cabin, shared a bunk bed, drank mountain spring water, made s’mores over a crackling fire, supped with fellow campers in the lodge, and enjoyed one of the best personal and professional experiences so far in my life. While I can, and will, wax poetic about my time at Camp Blogaway, one phrase captures the atmospere of the weekend perfectly: “Knockers up!”
Catchy, don’t you think?
Patti Londre, our Fearless Leader at Camp Blogaway, put together an amazing event that engaged me at every turn. From the panel discussions, to the hands-on demonstrations, to the food and drink, Patti nailed every detail. Perhaps the most compelling evidence of her skill can be found in the way she handled the group photo.
Imagine a slender, petite blonde herding roughly one hundred noisy bloggers, PR reps, resident experts and staffers down a rocky mountain path to a flagpole encircled by elevated benches. Then picture the scene as she organizes the boisterous bunch into neat looking rows–”Rachael, sit on your knees; Gwen and Adrienne switch places.” She carves out a space for herself up front, sets the timer on the camera and right before the shutter captures the chaos, Patti yells, “Knockers up, people!”
And you know what happened? All one hundred of us threw our shoulders back and straightened our spines while the most uncontrollable laughter spread from cheek to cheek, from camper to camper. Patti got the shot she was looking for.
That is how the learning was served up at Camp Blogaway. All weekend, both in personal interactions with Patti and in the content she delivered to us, we were treated to straight talk laced with plenty of humor and wisdom. There was no playing favorites, no watering down the subject matter and no hesitation on her part to stop the program and address any disconnect she sensed among the campers. Nothing but a clear example of professionalism, even in the most casual of settings.
She treated us all to hard-driving content from seasoned industry professionals aimed at elevating each blogger’s presence in and impact on the world around them (much of which I will go on to share with you in subsequent posts). And she did it without calling out discrepancies in the attendees’ levels of experience and without micro-managing the learning process. Quite the opposite, she encouraged all of us to think of ourselves and our blogs in terms of legitimate businesses and brands, and to carry ourselves as such. Shoulders back, back straight, chin set, smile genuine.
Stay tuned for the recap of my weekend at camp. While I was there I never stopped thinking about how to bring what I’ve learned back to benefit you, my friends and readers. There will be inspired photography and styling tips, simple advice for connecting with PR professionals, and specific tools for increasing your blog’s traffic and visibility. I also have a cross-promotional blogging event series in the pipeline to give you a chance to put all of this invaluable information to work for you.
But if you do one thing today to bring a little Camp Blogaway (and Patti) into your life, I highly recommend taking whatever your next step is, knockers up.
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Patti Londre can be found, among other places, at Worth the Whisk.
Also, there are so many great articles being written by fellow campers, I want to make sure you read them all. If you visit the Camp Blogaway Testimonials page, the comments on that post have links to other bloggers write-ups. Enjoy!
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Cannot WAIT to read the rest!!! JEALOUS!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Julie Deily and Julie Deily, tastestopping. tastestopping said: Knockers Up http://bit.ly/bofMom Here you go, @thelittlekitchn @RJFlamingo @eatlivtravwrite @VinoLuci I just know you want to RT THAT title! [...]
What Mardi said!
.-= RJ Flamingo´s last blog ..One-Ingredient Ice "Cream" =-.
Bravo!!! It was great to meet you at Campblogaway and thanks to you and Regional Best for the great S’mores!!!
Casey, you captured the spirit of the weekend perfectly! I’m so glad we finally got to connect in person. Can’t wait for our girls’ day out in New York in August (and yes I’m holding you to it!).
.-= Erika – In Erika’s Kitchen´s last blog ..Rice pudding recipe with loquats and coconut milk =-.
This was the perfect cross-section of the weekend. No pretension. No puffy analysis. Just some well received honesty followed by belly laughs. No one does belly laughter better than food bloggers.
Great story—-at the time I didn’t think of “Knockers Up” as a rallying cry, but it fits perfectly!
The weekend was a wonderful experience.
Here’s my story on Examiner.com: http://bit.ly/aadE8n
– Caroline
.-= Caroline – Doing the Outdoors´s last blog ..A very Salty Rat =-.
Can’t wait to read more about it! Only wish I could have been there.
.-= Lana @ Never Enough Thyme´s last blog ..Garden Update – “How Does Your Garden Grow?” =-.
Casey – a terrific post, perfectly capturing the weekend. Great meeting you (and everyone else!) – look forward to our progressive dinner. OX
Fantastic time and a thrill to meet you there to. The mountains never looked so beautiful as when inundated with so many gorgeous food bloggers. GREG
You have perfect pitch about our weekend! I loved seeing all the Tastestopping photos, eating your homemade marshmallows, and spending time with other food bloggers.
I wish I was there…well, I guess my ‘head’ was right? I hope to meet you in person soon.
I was a last-minute registrant (is that a word?), but I’m SO GLAD I went. It was so wonderful to meet everyone – I actually thought the trip was a little short, and would have loved a few extra hours to spend even more time with some bloggers I didn’t get a chance to really talk to.
Wonderful recap – looking forward to the rest.
Cheers!
Kim
.-= Kim at Rustic Garden Bistro´s last blog ..Painkiller to the Rescue =-.
Perfectly said! I can’t wait for your other posts. It was so wonderful to finally meet you in person!
.-= Fuji Mama´s last blog ..Chocolate Truffle Tart =-.
It was so great to finally meet you in person. What a fantastic post to summarize the Camp Blogaway experience! Camp inspired me in so many ways, but you’re fantastic marshmallows inspired me as well (http://bit.ly/ddSeSp).
Agreed- you recapped the weekend perfectly and eloquently. It was a wonderful time, and you were a delightful addition to it.
Best,
Gisele@smallpleasurescatering.com
Knockers Up!!! LOL! I had the best time! So nice to meet you and enjoyed our chats. Hope your children/hubby survived. Mine did
But so glad for me to be home!
Melissa
StockpilingMoms.com
It was so much fun and so great to meet you! I just got home tonight (Tues.). Lots to put together for a recap! I look forward to yours!
Nice intro to your recap. It was very nice to meet you at camp. Thank you for the delicious “first-time” smores. What a treat! =)
Dittos on all of the above. Great weekend… a little short (especially for me with all of my airline travails) but most incredible to meet so many others in the blogosphere. I am new to all of this and was just overwhelmed at how friendly everyone was. Can’t wait for my next blogging event! Dawn
Wish I was there! Next year for sure, meanwhile I’m enjoying reading yours, and Marla’s and FujiMama’s posts about what I missed!
.-= Priscilla -She’s Cookin’´s last blog ..Love a Loaf of Tillamook =-.
[...] a week now I’ve been racking my brain to write a suitable follow-up to my first post about Camp Blogaway. The challenge is by no means a lack of material but rather how to organize and [...]