Assertagirl

It has been about a year and a half since I posted anything here.

I’ve just returned from the Blissdom Canada conference and I have been inspired to return to this space to do a little writing.  I never took the plunge to take this site down because I always thought there might be the possibility that I would return to it, for some unforeseen reason.

I think of this space as a place where I can write about almost anything.  I am not confined to any category or style the way I feel at my new site, where I do the majority of my blogging lately.  This place is much more freestyle.  There is a history here which I hope to rediscover.

My thoughts on Blissdom Canada 2011:

The venue was much improved over last year. The food was exceptionally good and the space was laid out in a very easy-to-navigate way. I especially enjoyed the Philips Spa Café where I had a relaxation chair massage and had my nails done as well as the Chevrolet Charging Station.

The lovely ladies who organize the conference need to place less emphasis on their policies regarding cursing during conference sessions.  Seeing as they have sponsorship agreements which likely affect the language in which speakers communicate, at the very least, they should tell their session leaders not to inform the audience that they’ve been required to monitor or eliminate cursing from the discussion.  Placing this much emphasis on the policy brings more attention to it than would simply allowing it to occur and dealing with it in the editing of the video footage which will follow.  We are all adults; I find it a bit silly that there is some assumption out there that I might be offended by the odd salty word.

The session on finding your inspiration was fabulous.  Tanis, Bonnie and Elan each contributed valuable pieces of advice and insight from their own storied histories in the blogosphere, and Elan found herself choked up when she talked passionately about how each of us is “bigger” than any issue we may write about.  She also made a point that struck a note with me, which is that (and I’m paraphrasing here) we all have the ability to somewhat control who we interact with online.  So take control.  For example, if there is someone who negatively influences your personal energy on Twitter, then you have the ability to remove that person from your daily vision, and you should do so.

The session on branding on Saturday was terrific, too, and not just due to the fact that Gail Vaz-Oxlade chose not to adhere to the policy I discussed above.  Hearing the personal and professional backgrounds of the women whose personal brands were clearly very dear to them was fascinating.  Julie Cole asked some really pointed questions about how professional and professional branding/identity intersect.

And, as is usual when it comes to blogging and social media conferences, I had the privilege of spending time with some of the women I have grown to love online and in person.  I especially enjoyed getting to know Maureen, who posts as Aurelia Cotta, Karen, also known as Agent Ninety 9 and spending time gabbing and shopping with Sam, our very own Tempting Mama.

Unfortunately I missed the Saturday night party, which was fine with me until I learned that I missed out on a surprise appearance by none other than Jordan Knight, my girlhood crush.

I look forward to continuing to post here at Assertagirl.  I guess there is still some of her left inside of me, after all.