The Blog Connect Conference is happening on April 23, 2017 in Center City, Philadelphia with a kick-off party the night before!  Its focus is to help mid-level bloggers learn how to "Blog It Better" through a series of speakers, workshops, networking and more!  You can learn more on our website.  If you've been considering buying a ticket, but are still on the fence, here are 10 reasons why you should buy your ticket today.

1. We Have A Great Speaker Lineup!
Sarah Morgan of XO Sarah is coming from San Diego to be our  keynote speaker. Haven’t heard of her? Well, now’s your chance. She’s been blogging since the early 2000s and offers half a dozen books and courses on doubling your blog traffic, the ultimate guide to passive income, growing your blog and email list, and tripling your Pinterest traffic. She will be speaking about 10 game changing ideas to grow your blog community and brand.
In addition to Sarah, we will be hearing from Sola Onitiri from Let’s Get Going about creating your own space in the blogosphere focusing on the importance of honest branding; Andy Shaw from InstaFather about finding your own voice about writing with confidence for crying out loud, and Jess Herbine from Broke Girls Go Out about the best SEO tips and tricks for bloggers.
In addition to the speakers, there will be an afternoon breakout session where you have the option of attending a smaller workshop where you will learn how to build the product of your choice: creating physical products with Jennifer Dziura from Get Bullish, podcasts with Angelica Yarde from Studio 404, video with Andrea Corson from This Is Video Pop, and monetizing your eBooks with Angela St. Cyril from Setting My Intention. This is your chance to get your questions answered about your blogging next steps.
We’ll be finishing off the speaker line-up with a panel on working with brands from the perspective of a few different types of bloggers. Erica Ligenza is the full-time blogger behind Coming Up Roses. Nicole Raudonis is the side-hustle blogger behind Simply Nicole. Amber Burns is the side-hustle blogger behind ember + march, but also brings along her Media Relations experience from working at Visit Philly as well as multiple marketing and PR gigs beforehand. And Jeff Belonger is the man behind MyPhillyAlive and Belonger Consulting, his own social media strategist consulting firm. The panel will be led by none other than the PHLbloggers founder, Chrystina Cappello from Chrystina Noel.
2. Every Attendee Will Receive A Planner Courtesy of Erin Condren!

The most amazing planners!

 We’re so excited to tell you about our partnership with Erin Condren for this conference. For those of you who don’t know, they make absolutely stunning LifePlanners styled organizers, TakeNote notebooks, note cards, stickers, and more. They made personalized planners for each attendee with The Blog Connect logo on them – and then decided to throw in stickers and a dual-tip pen for each attendee. When you see these planners you’ll have no choice but to take a million photos out of pure beauty. Speaking of photos…

3. There Will Be Lots Of Great Photo Opps!

Check out those awesome balloons!

 From the moment you arrive there will be lots of awesome photo opportunities. You will have the chance to sign up for headshots with Julia Dent from Philly with a Fjallraven during the registration and breakfast time slot on Sunday morning. There will definitely be the over-sized PHL gold balloons again. Our creative director, Sarah Moore from smoorelovin, has visions of streamers and balloons. And if exposed brick walls and gorgeously diffused natural light are your thing, Saxbys has you covered.

 4. There's A Party The Night Before!
Last year’s conference was awesome. That said, we wanted to make sure that people had even more time to get to know each other this year and we brought on our incredible party director, yours truly, to make it happen. We will be hosting our party at ellelauri boutique on S. 19th Street for all attendees. We will be bringing in food and drink vendors, giving you the opportunity to meet each other, and an awesome chance to learn how to create incredible flat lays with Ann Blake from Ann Blake Photography. There will be wine from Pinot Boutique , macarons from ICI macarons, beverages from Bai, sweet treats from Pure Fare, kombucha from Inspired Brews, and more. Oh, and there will be a braid bar thanks to Concichairge. What more could you ask for?

 5. And There Are Giveaways Lined Up As Well!
We have giveaways from plenty of local businesses including Philadelphia Independents, Vinocity Events, Heads and Tails Salon, More Than Old, and ICI Macarons – as well as more national brands including The Style Theory Collective and CorePower Yoga.

 6. You Can Get Your Business Questions Answered, Too!
You know all those questions you have about trademarking, copywriting, and accounting that are too specific to ask on the internet, but you’d really love to talk somebody about? Well, we’re giving you the opportunity to talk to two of our sponsors, Tamara L. Ali Bey from Creative Business Accounting & Tax Services and Anthony Verna from Anthony Verna Law  about whatever you’d like.

 7. The Food Will Be Delicious!
On last year’s conference survey, Chrystina’s pride and joy was the fact that nobody was hungry the entire day. If you buy a ticket to this conference, we promise to keep you fed all day. We will start off with breakfast courtesy of Schmear It (bagels with delicious spreads), transition into a delicious (and healthy!) meal from Grateful Plate, handcrafted cupcakes with assistance from Cupcakes by Ruth, ice cream sundae toppings courtesy of Williams-Sonoma, and many more opportunities to snack in-between.

 8. We Have Some Really Wonderful Swag Providers, Y'all!

last year's awesome swag!

 Our sponsorship team, Melissa Funtanilla from Skinny Affair and Sarah Ramirez from Shades of Sarah, have been working really hard to put together an incredible swag bag for everyone to take home with them. From the bag itself, printed by Press and Release Printing Company, to the awesome contents, there’s something for everyone.

 9. There's Only 100 Tickets Being Sold!
This is one of the coolest parts. It’s our second year of the conference. We’ve put together a line-up of speakers that we believe speaks straight to mid-level bloggers. These are speakers who have done awesome things in their industries and are coming all the way to Philadelphia to share their knowledge with you. And with only 100 people there, throughout the course of the day, you will definitely be running into them. Not only that, but it’s a manageable enough number that you could feasibly leave with a few people to do blogging collaborations with, a few more Twitter follows, and some new friends. Don’t forget to bring your business cards with you!

10. Did We Mention There's Free Coffee (And Tea) All Day!
Saxbys is really quite good to us. From the moment you arrive at 8:30am to the moment you leave at 6:30pm on Sunday, April 23, you can order whatever coffee & tea  beverages you’d like from behind the counter. Also, their headquarters space is gorgeous if you haven’t seen it yet. (So is their new logo. We’re super excited for them.)

And we haven't even touched on the fact that the conference takes place in the awesome City of Brotherly Love, the fact that the people in PHLbloggers are doing really cool stuff, there's a secret conference mascot that we can't wait to share with you all, or the fact that the total cost of your ticket will quite likely be covered by the products you receive throughout the day.  We hope to see you there!  Please reach out to our team at phlbloggers@gmail.com if you have any questions.

You can learn more about The Blog Connect on our website, and if you'd decided to go ahead and purchase, here's the link to buy your ticket today.