Monthly Archives: July 2016

Conferences, Photo-A-Day, Travel, Vlog

Blogger Bash 2016: The Final Voyage

The Intrepid
Photo-A-Day #4110

You never get any sleep at conferences. I was up last night trying to post my video and then maybe write up the blog post, but that did not happen. I was right up at 5am because I got selected to be a volunteer to help set up the New Products Expo. I walked around the expo asking people if they needed any help. Not many people took me up on it until I got to the Soleurs booth. Soleurs makes these amazing sunglasses. I helped them set up their entire booth and then did trash take out for other companies. The four hours of volunteer time went by quickly.

After volunteering I then got to go through the expo and meet with a bunch of companies before the Peanuts Lunch. I went through one of the floors visiting all the companies on that floor.

The Peanuts lunch was nice. I found a table and connected with a couple of Rhode Island bloggers who told me about a Rhode Island blogging group. I’d love to connect with that group because I’ve been looking for more local bloggers to do events with.

The luncheon was good but once it was over I was back up in the expo talking to more brands. There were quite a few booths in the expo and so many companies to see. I had a great time meeting with everyone.

I was loaded down with a ton of great swag and it was a warm day. I went and headed back to the hotel room so that I could drop off my bag of swag. I didn’t want to carry it with me through the rest of the day.

Once I returned from the hotel room I enjoyed the boat ride up the Hudson. It was fun hanging out with my friends and chatting about all sorts of things. I met some great people from a YouTube network. I wish I had met these people about three years ago when I made the mistake to join another network that doesn’t help me at all.

Once the boat was back, Tim and I walked back to the hotel and then caught a cab to see Stomp. I had won tickets to see the show and it was a great. We had an awesome time there. Before we caught a cab back to the hotel we stopped and got a slice of pizza. It was a great New York thing to do. Another late night so no time to write anything, but I did get the video out.

Conferences, Photo-A-Day, Skylanders, Toys, Travel, Video Game, Vlog

Blogger Bash 2016 Day 2 – A Sweet Suite Day

At Blogger Bash
Photo-A-Day #4109

Last night was an appetizer to the fun that would be had today. I was up early with Tim because we were headed over to the boat first to do speed pitching with brands. Only I wasn’t on the list. So, instead I walked over to the next event or rather the event that was happening simultaneously over at the espace. That event was the Care Bears breakfast. This was a very nice event and I ran in to me friend Tim Jones and his family. Tim and his family are great people and they run Jones Family Travels. And they also run Destinations in Florida, a travel business that we have used many times in the past to head to Florida. We have not seen each other in years and it was so great to catch up with Tim over this trip.

The Care Bears event was fun. I had a nice time and they gave out some nice gifts at the event. There was even a very special Golden Funshine Bear that each attendee received. A cute keepsake and there are only 500 around. Then Jessica who founded We Care Bears came and spoke about her program. She is a pretty amazing kid.

After the Care Bears Brunch I met up with some of the other guys and then we went and took a ride on The Ride. The Ride is an amazing bus ride around New York City where there is interaction on the bus but also along the route. The seats on the bus are turned toward one side of the bus which is covered in windows so you can see people as you drive along. It was a fun time and I captured part of the fun in the vlog today.

After The Ride I took my bag and Tim’s back to the hotel and got ready for Sweet Suite. The weather was hot but not terrible. Luckily our hotel room was close enough to walk back and forth or else being weighed down by bags of great stuff would have been unbearable.

Sweet Suite was three floors of great sponsors showing off the latest fun toys. This took place from 4:30 to 9pm and I think it was the perfect amount of time to get around and see most everything. I was able to connect with a bunch of the fun people that I have had the privilege of working with year after year on toys. I love getting a chance to meet up with even more people and discover new things.

I did get to all my favorites, though and Skylanders Imaginators was something I had to hit. I cannot wait for this newest game to come out. With the ability to create some incredible new Skylanders characters you will have unlimited possibilities in gameplay. I even got to try my hand at character creation and also some gameplay. The game looks awesome! I did not win the create your own Skylanders contest but my roommate won the grand prize! I’m happy for him.

After Sweet Suite we headed back to the hotel after a quick bite to eat along the pier in the shadow of the Intrpid.