BlogPaws Report, Part 2

Let’s continue our saga of my BlogPaws adventure with a general recap of the events I attended on day one.

Puppy Tweets Party

As I mentioned in my Sleepless at BlogPaws post over the weekend, I got to attend a special preview party for Puppy Tweets, a novelty product from Mattel (you know, the toy folks). It’s a technology product that dogs can wear on their collars that then monitors their activity and matches that to a database sort of thing for possible Tweets (140-character messages posted to Twitter). There is a USB element too that plugs into your computer. I guess that’s how the info from the collar piece gets to your digital world.

Lacy, the dog at the party, was wearing a prototype. The real ones will be available in early summer. I may test one out and report back then. My initial thoughts … the fob is bigger than I expected, and I’d really want to be able to write my own options for Lilly-specific Tweets because regular readers, I believe, would want to hear at least a bit of Lilly’s own voice.

First Night Fun

The first night, I met Anthony & Kate Holloway, the owners of  K9Cuisine.com that sponsors my new Dog Food Dish blog. That’s a real treat because in my biz, with clients all over the country, I often never meet editors/clients in person … only over the phone or via email.

I also met one of my blogging colleagues, Dr. Janet Tobiassen Crosby, who is famous for her About.com Veterinary Medicine site, as well as her own About Vet Med blog and her K9Cuisine.com blog called Vet Med Connect.

We had a pretty fun group at our table, including Dr. V from Pawcurious and Jenna Stregowski, RVT, who is the About.com guide to dogs. (I’ve actually interviewed Jenna in the past for some veterinary trade magazine articles. I had no idea she was attending BlogPaws, so that was a happy, happy surprise.)

It turns out that we became the Keystone Cops of beverage spillage. The poor banquet staff must have been cursing our contagious problem with drinks tumbling over. Maybe we created some kind of gravitational vortex from all the giggling we did.

I know I met WAY more people that first night, but it’s a bit of a blur, so let me just add that I’m pleased to tell you about Candy Blakeslee, who owns Best Friends General Store. Her site could very well become our new go-to place for the really good toys and stuff that people like us require for our pups. I love that she includes a selection of toys based on playing style. Very clever.

Silent Auction

Because BlogPaws is firmly founded on giving back, the event featured a silent auction of art items donated by fellow attendees. I was high bidder on this lovely amber-colored glass bead made by Dr. Crosby.

BlogPaws ultimately donated $2,800 to three separate animal charities, when the conference ended. That’s just wild! Congrats to those involved.

Exhibit Hall

I also spent some time cruising the exhibit hall, which included a former colleague of mine from the American Animal Hospital Association.

I signed up to be a part of the Blogger Black Book, which apparently will give PR and marketing types access to me for possible product reviews and content pitches. They had an iPad as a gimmick to attract attention, but it was not working when I stopped by to sign up, so I used their laptop instead.

I won’t be able to post more about the various schwag items sponsors and others gave me for a few days. Rather than risk more suitcase drama, I packed a box and sent it home with Anthony since he was traveling by car. He, then, shipped it to me.

Germs?

I’m still pretty tired, and I’m starting to feel like I may be sick, so I’ll conclude for today. Stay tuned for the ongoing story of my BlogPaws Adventure.