I am the change: BlogPaws West Part 2

I just posted two really kind of depressing posts, didn’t I? Well, how about we lighten it up a little with a continuing recap of the BlogPaws event. The mood brightened considerably after the morning keynote.

After that experience, I slunk into the next session with notebook at the ready. First was “Building your Brand and Platform Through Blogging” with Michele Miller of WonderBranding and pet lifestyle expert Charlotte Reed.

They were great. I took notes about funneling and branding to women and all of that, but what I remember most is Charlotte’s incredible memory and ability to speak to a person, ascertain their needs, look across the room and say, “You need to hook up with Jennifer over there; she blogs for Richmond’s dog scene.” It was pretty awe-inspiring. I am terribly shy (I really am!) so I am always impressed with anyone who can walk in and own a room.

Then I sat in on Tracie Hotcher, author of the Cat Bible and the Dog Bible and Penny Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts for “Book Publishing in a Digital World.” Tracie begged, nay, implored all of us wide-eyed aspiring authors to for the love of all that is good in this world not pen a “I didn’t save my dog, my dog saved me” memoir which was of course the book I was going to write, since that is what dog lovers do. “Emmett and Me” was the working title, that or maybe “My Dog Emmett”.

After lunch, ready or not it was time for the Be the Change panel. We had a long discussion over whether to do it standing, or sitting at a long table, or sitting in chairs. I voted for chairs mostly because I thought it would kind of be like The View, except we all like each other, and because I had been waiting for over a year for a chance to wear my most favorite and impractical shoes ever and there was no way I was making it an hour on my feet.

This is the only picture I can find, because of course being a highly professional blogger and all the only camera I brought was my iPhone. I believe the credit for this one goes to BorisKitty over on Twitter; please correct me if I’m wrong!

The young lady speaking on the left is Miah Thornton, who started her own site Start the Change to encourage kids to get involved in making a difference. I think when I was her age my biggest concern was beating Super Mario Brothers. Kids like her warm my heart! Seated are Jane Harrell from Petfinder, Dorian Wagner from Your Daily Cute, Lynn Haigh of Pawpawty, and some other person whose name escapes me at the moment but if you could see her feet you would know her shoes were awesome.

We also got to debut the new Be the Change video, of which I am very proud. I can’t believe how many individuals out there are busting their rears to make a difference for animals. I am so inspired by every person on it!

It wouldn’t be a Be the Change panel without more challenges to announce- coming up next week is the official Blog Paws West Challenge, Adopt A Loss Adoptable Pet Week. I hope you all participate and help us make it a success! More on that later.

Oh, and it has been confirmed that the Pawcurious 24 Hour Blogathon 2010 is a go. Anyone nuts enough to want to participate alongside, it’ll be happening sometime the week of November 7-13th. Last time we raised $2500 for the San Diego SPCA; I can’t wait to tell you what I want to do this time. I think you all will like it.

So much to write about and I feel like I barely scratched the surface of the conference! I guess you had to be there to really get the full gist of it. The third and final recap will cover the Saturday Vet Track and the Petties!