Monday, April 12, 2010

The Thank You

     I am sure many of you now know I was lucky enough to rub elbows and paws with some awesome people and their pets this last weekend. I hope I gave you a peek into some of the greatness of the whole idea of Blogpaws but we cannot as a group of unique people forget how this wonderful conference came to be so make sure you go back and thank these people either with an email or a comment on their blog.

     First I think we need to make sure that the founders are never forgotten because if it hadn’t been for that first spark of inspiration Blogpaws™ would have never come to be.

     This was the brainchild of Caroline Golon, Yvonne Divita, and Tom Collins. Writers for Romeo the Cat, Scratching and Sniffings, and Books Blogs and Beyond, who had an idea of getting a few pet people who wanted to learn how to improve their blogging skills and connect with other like minded people.

     At first it was set up as a pod cast which would have maxed out sixty people. These founders were overwhelmed with the response they got when they put the idea out on their blogs and twitter. Sixty people swelled into a mass of over two hundred fifty people and their pets that wanted to attend.

     They might have been overwhelmed but like all good pet owners they grabbed hold of a great opportunity and changed the format into a one day conference. With that I give you the Standing Ferret Paw Award especially created because of this wonderful event.

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     Columbus Ohio is a beautiful place to visit. Like someone said it reminded them of New York City without the prices of New York. The Westin ™ hotel out did themselves with welcoming us, pets and all. The rooms were spacious and the beds, not that many of us slept in them, were soft.

     The room service was fantastic as was the food from the High Street Grill. I’ll never forget that piece of cake. Friday night’s opening exquisitely dressed wait staff milled around us with ease and grace offering us appetizers that were simple and tasty or as our pets at a pawty would say NOMMY. My only suggestion for next year is to make sure us coffee drinkers are able to have a cup on opening night.

     The morning spread was beautiful and tasty. The fruit was sweet and the choices of breads, Danishes, and muffins were outstanding.

     Lunch was nice. Coming in to a room with tables ready for people was nice. Salads were placed as people were coming in the door and the huge piece of cheesecake was waiting to tempt you into eating it before you had your lunch. It was nice to hear the wait staff ask if any of us were vegetarians so they didn’t get a place of chicken placed in front of them.

     The chicken was surprisingly good and so was the rice. Green beans that crunch are good but they almost had a plastic consistency but that cheese cake made up for that it was wonderful.

     Thank you Westin Hotel for putting up with pet bloggers and their animals along with having a huge wedding the same weekend. You did a spectacular job.

     None of this would have been possible without the great sponsors who provided for this conference. Being able to see and meet representatives of these great brands was a wonderful opportunity to network and get information that might of seemed impersonal any other way.

Thank you goes to:

Del Monte Pet Foods markers of Meow Mix and Kibbles ‘n Bits

Purina Care® Pet Health Insurance

Pet Smart®

Dogtime Media

Wellness® Natural Food and Treats for Pets

Bissell®

Puppy Tweets

Cats Against Clay

Kodak®

AAHA™ The Standard of Veterinary Excellence

I Love Dogs® Premium Canine Vitamins and supplements

Bamboo®

 Fat Cat®

TPPC.tv®

Destinations Design LLC

Centipede Graphics

FURminator®

West & Co. Diamonds and Jewelry

Bella's

Blogger Black Book

The Pet Bus

Purrfect Play

Embrace Pet Insurance®

     The after party at the A&R Music Hall was nice. Although for my tastes the live music could have been a little lower than at the volume it was at. It was hard to hear what people were saying and many people drifted from the front of the bar to the back and still couldn’t hear what was being said. But it was a nice change from the feeling rushed I am sure many of us had when we were at the hotel.

     For me the after party was an amazing event because of the opportunity to met one person I had no clue was even attending the conference. More on that as the details get worked out. Lets just say being the only Ferret person there had its advantages, that and the lime green tee shirt.

     We mustn’t forget the photographer. He was seen taking pictures at every opportunity and you could tell he was having a blast. I hope this opens up a new avenue for him. Thank you Brad Smith of Brad Smith Photography in Columbus, Ohio.

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     Be sure to visit all of these fine folks and leave them thank you notes/comments because without them we would have never had this wonderful conference.

Jo

7 comments:

Ellen B. said...

Good summary! One different viewpoint...some of us didn't wait until after lunch to start of that awesome cheesecake! And, it was nice to meet you.

Jo said...

I know I was sitting next to someone that started on it before the chicken got there *LOL* and it was nice to meet you too.

Shauna (Fido & Wino) said...

I didn't get a chance to make it to the conference this year but I heard it was FABULOUS! Glad you guys had such a great time!

Jo said...

I hope you get a chance to come next year Shauna. So many oppertunities and wonderful people and pets.

Your Daily Cute said...

It was great meeting you and everyone else! Can't wait to do it again! :)

M Dawson said...

DashKitten and I say thank you for following his blog. We are glad to have found you and are going to read back some of your posts as neither of us know enough about Ferrets.

Dash & Marjorie

Jo said...

Whskr n Dash I like his blogging style and I hope you learn more about ferrets. I am still learning and I don't think we will ever know the full extent of ferrets.