BlogHer 2012 Recap & Giveaway

Traveling to New York for the first time was an exciting, and slightly terrifying experience. It’s the “Big Apple”, the “Empire State”, the town that defines hustle and bustle. The streets of Manhattan were crowded with tourists, street vendors, cabbies, and, on the weekend of August 2nd 2012, thousands of women bloggers.

BlogHer 2012:  The Conference

BlogHer 2012 took its way to New York this year. Around 5000 bloggers came from all over the country to share their stories and blogs to people just like them. It was a conference to meet new bloggers, a chance to work with companies, and a guide to better your blog. Professional bloggers lectured to all level of bloggers on SEO, vlogging, google analytics, and much more. From Mommy bloggers and political bloggers to crafty bloggers and food bloggers, the conference brought together people from different niches all willing to share their stories and to grow as bloggers.

BlogHer opened up with a live via satellite video of our president Barrack Obama. Obama addressed everyone on the importance of women in the family and in the world. He set the tone for the conference and sent us off to enjoy the lectures, the after parties, and, my favorite, the dog fashion show.

Beyond being a conference just for women, BlogHer was a tool to help bloggers. It was a place to network and meet people that had the same aspirations, and, more than that, it was a tool for inspiration. There were people there that didn’t even have blogs, but were thinking of starting one. They got the chance to sit down and meet the successful women of the internet and learn how they achieved such great heights, and how their words became the voice of an audience.

The most inspiring part of the conference was being able to hear Martha Stewart talk about her success and her insane schedule (I think she may be part machine). To quote Martha on her show “I wish we had more bloopers, but I’m just so perfect.” Martha lightened up the crowd with humor while still telling everyone to focus on everything they want to achieve. Martha went on to discuss all of her upcoming projects and told the bloggers to take every opportunity they have. And with those words of advice, I took the opportunity to see New York the way it was meant to be.

BlogHer 2012:  The New York Experience

I was lucky enough to stay in Times Square next to the theater district and have great food. It took a while to take in the entire city. Completely awe struck, it wasn’t until I saw the billboard for Ghost the Musical that I realized the uniqueness of New York City and thought, “I need to see this.”

New York is known for its gourmet food, but I was interested in something more unique to the city. I wanted something that screamed “New York”. I was interested in the food carts. Unlike Chicago, there are food carts on every street corner.  They have everything. You want a hot dog? There’s a vendor for that. You want pizza? There’s a vendor for that. You want roasted nuts? There’s a vendor for that too. I heard of the legendary street cart Nuts 4 Nuts and decided that I had to give them a try.

The next stop was at the infamous Halal Brothers food cart on 53rd. It was right across the street from the BlogHer convention. Some say that it was just good luck that it was across the street, I say it was destiny. Delicious, gyros destiny. There were lines down the street of people just waiting to order their food.  The other food stops included the Carnegie Delicatessen where I ate the enormous “Woody Allen” sandwich. Piled with slices of corned beef and Pastrami, one sandwich could feed a family of six, or in my case, one chubby 25 year old. And it wouldn’t be a true New York experience without New York style pizza. Thin, greasy, and cheesy, there’s nothing more you could ask for in slice of pie.

Not only did BlogHer gave me insight into the blogger world,but it also gave me the chance to have the unique New York experience that people talk about. New York was my kind of town.

BlogHer 2012: The Giveaway

It was great to go to BlogHer and meet such wonderful people. We collected a slew of free swag from the conference that we would love to share with you, the readers.

This special prize package contains free coupons, samples, and other goodies that we collected at BlogHer. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this blog post. That’s it. Leave a comment and you are automatically entered to win.  We hope that you enjoyed our little summary of BlogHer and leave a comment to enter the giveaway. Good luck!

Giveaway Rules:

• Contest open to US and Canada residents 18+
• One comment per person, please answer the question below.
• Contest closes Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 11:59p CST.
• Leave a comment on this blog post to enter.
• The winner will be posted on RecipeLionBlog.com and notified by email.

What is your favorite city to visit and eat your way through?

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