This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Bloggy Conference at Cedar Point.  I was very excited to be able to take my family with me and make it mini-vacation as well.

However, about fours before we were supposed to leave, we decided that it would be better for my husband to stay home to deal with work obligations and write his 7 & 2 page papers for his MBA class.  Thankfully, my wonderful mom stepped in and took his place.  And it all worked out, especially when you hear how the weekend wrapped up. . . 

Here are some of the highlights and takeaways from the Bloggy Conference 2013:

* Amy Latta from One Artsy Mama spoke on building and engaging your community.  She shared lots of great tips and ideas on how to engage our readers.  “Community means more than what happens on our blogs.”  (<<Click to Tweet)

* Blogging conferences are a great place to network and meet other bloggers.  Not only do you hear from successful bloggers speaking and teaching at the conference, but the time you spend at meals or before a session chatting with other people is invaluable!  I met some great bloggers that I hope to connect with more.

* I learned that even 20 minutes with Dan Morris talking SEO would have been worth the price of admission.  I seriously left this session both invigorated to tackle the world of SEO and a little like my head was going to explode!  You can find Dan at Blogging Concentrated and Common Sense Revenue.

* Taking time to getaway, even if you’re learning and ‘working’ through part of it can still be a great opportunity to be refreshed and renewed for your week ahead.  I came back with more energy to tackle my list.

* Thrilling your kids is always fun!  This was my children’s first trip to Cedar Point.  There are a ton of kiddie rides and my kids loved it.  But I have to say some of my favorite moments were taking my son on a couple of the bigger roller coasters for the first time.

On Saturday night, we returned for a second ride on the Iron Dragon . . . in the dark, mind you.  (My son is as tall as most 7 year olds but only 5 years old, so I was a bit nervous that he would be scared.)  Though he was intent on doing it.  The best fun was seeing his face when we were about to exit through the gate after the ride.  I called for him and we did a quick u-turn right back into the queue to ride again.  Hugs and kisses for mama!  . . . and we sat in the front seat.

The Bloggy Conference 2013 had wonderful sponsors!  Special thanks to:

• Cedar Point
• Honda
• Skyo
• Udderly Smooth
• Lake Erie Shores and Islands
• Zone Perfect
• Expressionary.com
• Laura Kelly Designs
• Rit

And by the way:  The new Honda Odyssey has a built-in vacuum in the back of the van!  No kidding!  Do you know how much my car needs this?  I tried it and loved it!  Honda also presented 10 awesome tips for the perfect pitch to brands.

* A huge thank you to Tiffany Noth of Bloggy Moms for organizing such a great conference!

It was a fun weekend until about 10 minutes after we got on the highway and heard this awful loud noise that stopped only when I braked.  Then came the horrible smell.  Well, more to come on Wednesday about that.  But for the time being, you can check out the picture I posted on Twitter (with my little Honda bear that may win me some fun prizes).

 >The rest of the story . . . 

Have you been to a blogging conference?  What did you enjoy most?