One of the sessions I was looking forward to attending at BlogPaws conference was, “Overworked & Overwhelmed? The Four-Step Process for Reinventing Your Writing” by Robbi Hess. After a rough start with a flight delay, I was concerned I’d miss the session, but luckily for me, we made it with time to spare.

I got a lot out of Robbi’s session, so when I saw her Friday, just before lunch, I stopped her to let her know how much I appreciated what she had shared. She kindly asked me to sit with her at lunch, so we plopped our stuff down and headed to the buffet table. When we returned to the table, two lovely ladies had joined us. As we ate, we talked. (Duh…like you’d expect anything less!) And at one point, one of the women said something that alerted me to the fact that she would be speaking later. Naturally, I asked her what session she was hosting and the response was, she was the Keynote Speaker! I think my exact words were, “Oh Shit, I’m having lunch with the Keynote Speaker!”

During her speech, Kathleen asked if any of us were up for a challenge, I raised my hand. Well, let’s face it, I’m at this conference to learn how to be a more effective blogger.

The challenge was this: post at least one community related post from BlogPaws, once a week for twelve weeks, and make sure to tag BlogPaws in the post. I was already thinking of posts that I would be sharing, so this seemed an easy task.

My plan is to have my usual Sunday post, a post on Tuesday that is my personal post, and a post on Thursday that is somehow related to BlogPaws and the community. Of course, there could always be more, because I have a LOT to tell you.

So here we are post one.

If you’ve never attended a BlogPaws conference, one of the first things you’ll note, is how much money BlogPaws gives out. Not only do the Nose-to-Nose winners get a donation to the 501c3 charity of their choosing, this year more than one blogger received checks to their favorite charities.

And every year (at least those years I’ve attended) a K-9 Officer in the area receives a protective vest. This year it was Daisy, from the Myrtle Beach police department.

Also, every year the local Humane Society has a booth in the exhibitor hall. And every year, the Humane Society gets a donation. As many of us immersed in the animal welfare field know, medical expenses can be quite large. This year, besides the $2,000 check for the shelter, an anonymous donor gave a $20,000 donation to the veterinary clinic that serves the Humane Society of North Myrtle Beach. Just imagine the medical services they can get with $20,000.00!

Of course, there is always swag at BlogPaws.  LOTS OF SWAG. Sometimes you get items in your bag that you can’t use. There’s always a Swag Exchange table located in one of the common areas of the conference, where people can exchange their swag for something they want, or just leave it. When the exhibition hall closes, any items left on the Swag Exchange table is donated to local shelters. It’s nice to note that many of the exhibitors also donate product they have left. The shelters can then use the items for the benefit of their animals. Whether it is something like a treat or food, that they can absolutely use, or it’s a product they can use as a giveaway to help raise money for their shelter.

I admit, I did not keep track of everything that BlogPaws gave away this year, but I know for sure it was in excess of $60,000.00. Talk about giving back to the community!

This is just the beginning. I have SO much more to tell you and I was only gone for four days!