I joined iFabbo in June 2011 but I had been pretty quiet with them. They recently revamped their SHOP and I'm waiting for some awesome nail polish to possibly hit because PolishGalore is all about polish ^_^ (and well, sometimes I'll review something else but it has to be pretty special for that to happen). When they announced the 2nd Annual Social Media Conference this summer to be held in San Francisco, I wavered on going. What was I going to learn? How could this benefit me? After some brief inner dialog (and a small push from co-founder Sinead Norenius, whom I adore), I bought my conference ticket, booked my hotel and booked a flight to SFO!
The conference was held at the Merchants Exchange Club in the Financial District so I took an UberX car (affiliate link where you and I both earn $10 off our next Uber ride) down there (which was only $55 with my $20 iFabbo Credit woo!) and arrived JUST as the conference started. I actually ran into Sinead right away and it was like no time had passed between our last visit (which was summer 2012!). I missed the Welcome/Opening Remarks but I was able to grab a seat before the PR Panel started, which was fab.
I tried to live tweet and Instagram for the bulk of the conference. Highlights for me included meeting Laurie Mueller, Product Manager at Facebook & Lifestyle blogger at Eye for Elegance; Jen Mathews, President of Top Tier Media & Founder of My Beauty Bunny; Serge Jespers, Evangelist at Adobe, and the one I squee'd about the most, Sarah Price from Google Glass who was sitting behind me during half the conference.
I won't tell you EVERYTHING about the conference because thanks to the wireless sponsor/PPV sponsor Spreecast, you can watch the entire conference via PPV! Check this blog posting by iFabbo to purchase the all access pass or just watch a few panels.
I also got this fantastic press bag that had SO many goodies in it that the handle broke before I even left the conference. But even better, PolishGalore will be giving away some of the amazing goodies to readers! Stay tuned as I review the product and then give you a chance to win it for yourself. (How cool is that?)
Finally, I wanted to just share a few of the awesome fellow bloggers I met while out there. I was awake for 21 straight hours and I can tell I was on cloud 9 to begin with, but I was so impressed with the caliber and professionalism of each person I met at the conference.
First up is Linda from Beautzyblog [Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram] - we just randomly said hi to each other and gushed about nails. Oddly enough, we are both members of the Beauty Blog Coalition and I didn't even realize it at the time! She has a great beauty blog, so be sure to check her out!
Next was Lisa from The Makeup Social [Website | Facebook | Twitter]. This girl is a go-getter. She is all about pro-self esteem for all people and is looking at hosting a conference next year in the midwest. I'm really excited to watch her grow and I gave her a few nail contacts to help her hopefully get started.
At one of the breaks, I got to talking to Claire who works with Vitabath. Vitabath [Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest] was one of the Goodie Bag Sponsors (so look for a giveaway soon!). Their tagline is luxury in a bottle, so I'm pretty stoked to try out the goodies I received.
Our keynote speaker, Jacqueline Wales of The Fearless Factor, told us to turn to our right and ask the person next to us who they are and what they need. I was sitting next to Brandy from Will Bake For Shoes. Okay for starters, let's talk about that name. HOW cute is it?! Brandy is a fashion blogger and cake decorator in California and she was just so super cute. I hope she gets a chance to update her blog soon because I really enjoyed it. You can follow her social media here - bloglovin', Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, Twitter.
During the cocktail hour, I bumped in to Elba from Live Colorful. She is a designer and big lover of color! She was a bubbly person too so it was neat to run into her. You can follow her on various social media channels as well - Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+.
One of the things I was looking forward to the most was getting to finally meet my nametwin Krystal from Beauty by Krystal. She is SO fantastic. I could have spent hours with her, just chatting about makeup and our kids. Follow her social media already! Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, & Pinterest. I'd love to do a collaboration with her in the future - Twin Power!
With Krystal was the online clothing and accessory boutique IndulgEra. If you're looking for a cute new look, check out her site!
While iFabbo was full of amazing bloggers, there were also some great brands there too. Crown Brush is a professional private label makeup brushes, brush sets, cosmetics and more. They are currently looking to revamp their online presence so be looking for some great things very soon. Their social media is as follows: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram and Flickr.
Finally, I wanted to say thanks to Jen Mathews for letting me take an Uber to her hotel before I headed back to my own hotel. Jen was rooming with Cheryl of Unite Socially & The Skinny on Beauty who was very nice and helped me down to my Uber back home.
Sorry for such the wall of text - want to see my nails?!
I wore a gradient of Zoya Sunshine and Carter from the Pixie Dust collection.
I ended up wearing this manicure for 5 days before it finally chipped on my index finger of my Cinderella hand so I took it all off to let my nails breathe. I wore a base coat of Cult Nails Get It On, put a full coat of Zoya Sunshine and let it dry, then dabbed on Zoya Carter from the cuticle up. I used an e.l.f. Concealer Brush for my clean up (my favorite - and only $1!) and off I went!
The iFabbo conference really helped me recenter myself. PolishGalore had gotten away from the polish and I'm not willing or able to turn this into a beauty blog. My passion is in the polish! I also was really glad to make new contacts, see Sinead, and just get out of town for a bit. I was barely in San Francisco for 24 hours but it was so worth it. Be looking for new great things!
