Why I Didn’t Want to Go to TBEX and Why I am Glad I Did.

Why I didn’t want to go to TBEX and why I am glad I did.

1000 fights, the female half has a confession; I didn’t want to go to TBEX. We had just gotten home from two week trip to Slovenia and Croatia, the house was a disaster, our children were complaining about being orphans, I was overloaded at work, and most importantly I was exhausted. Mike kept telling me how awesome it was going to be and I just rolled my eyes. I didn’t want to go. (Fight #1)

Why would I want to go to a giant conference of self important bloggers? I had a mental picture of debate tournaments from high school where nerds haul in their boxes of “evidence” just to show how smart they are but instead of evidence it was lexile numbers, tweets, twitter friends, and Facebook followers. Ick-it was going to be my worst nightmare. I pictured cocktail parties where people look past you to see who is better to talk too (like the ones I attend for my job). No thanks.

I just wanted to stay home, watch chick flicks, eat cookie dough, and complain about how I exercise and never lose weight. Mike wouldn’t have it. (Fight #2)

“You have to go,” Mike begged. “We are the fighters. I can’t fight by myself. Plus, you are the fun one.”
The fun one, eh. Okay, you got me. I’ll go. So after work on Friday, I caught a flight (Mike was on a different one of course) and caught up with Mike in Seattle.

On Saturday morning, we walked into the giant Vancouver Convention Center and I felt like the new kid at school. I didn’t know anyone. It was going to be a long weekend. And then I met Journeywoman. I’d followed Journeywoman and as a suffragette, I thought. She was literally the first person we met. She walked up to us and said, “Hi I’m Journeywoman.” Wow. Then she was the key note speaker. It set the tone for the conference. This wasn’t a competition. This was about finding your voice, your mandate, your passion and living it.

The weekend only got better. What I found was every conception I had was wrong. These bloggers were friendly, helpful, and most of all insightful! They introduced themselves, looked you in the eye when they spoke to you and didn’t look past you to find a better option. I had found my peeps. During the short weekend, Mike and I connected with people from all over the globe. I made new friends. I was inspired. I left Vancouver full of ideas, contacts and most of all purpose. I don’t think the cookie dough at home would have done the same thing.

Cant wait until next year!

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