conferences — michellependergrass.com

October 14, 2011 By Michelle Pendergrass 7 Comments

wow

There are no words for the humbling this has placed upon my heart. I'm just in awe of God and how he's moved you to generosity (for me?) for me... I pray that you are as blessed as I am at this moment.  If you ordered a piece of art from me, I promise you that my love and prayers will be poured out over them like this.

Thank you all for making my soul sing. I can’t thank you enough.

1. I’m posting this, so that means that in LESS THAN 36 hours:

God put an yearning in my spirit. I said to my 2010 Roomie, Brooke, “I had no desire to go until today and I don’t know if I should ‘be still’ or move to action”
He moved tell my story to others (and I just don’t know how to thank you enough!)
He put the urge in others to give and they gave generously (my words of thanks will never be adequate)
He made a ticket available
a room available
He made it possible for my son to stay with my sister
He made it possible for me to change my Visual Prayer monthly workshop to the week before Relevant
He blessed me with a long time, dear friend who works at an airline
I’m sure there’s more—but really, what are the chances ALL this would just *happen* to fall into place in less than 36 hours with His divine hand?

so what my roomie(s) should know is that I don’t feel like I deserve this and I have no idea why and I always need to know why and just this once I’m going to praise and give Him glory and I’m going to try my best to just be. be still. and turn my analytical brain to “shut up” and I’m just going to be grateful and give thanks.

2. I still snore. Sorry. I hope I don’t keep you up. But if you push me I’ll roll over and it’ll be ok.

3. I’ve had an eventful (understatement!) couple of years Ok. so it’s over a decade now. I’ll try not overwhelm you. (the list stopped in 2009, since then my mom died, Phil’s step-dad died, Phil got fired for no reason at the end of July and since we lived on site as part of his compensation package, we had to move.)

4. My brain never stops hoarding information. So I do Visual Prayer to shut it up.

5. I’ve tossed pizza dough, made beef sandwiches, slathered paste on billboard posters, been a fine-dining waitress, a truck stop waitress, a quality control inspector, a bank teller, a retail cashier, a truck driver, a home-party guru, a women’s ministry leader, an author, and editor, and an artist.

6. I met my husband in a traffic jam (going on) 18 years ago!

7. I love coffee. And Starbucks Energy Drinks.

8. I’m allergic to MSG and have subsequently cut out all preservatives, additives, and unnatural ingredients in our diets. (and I’m still fat and happy because my thyroid is a wreck.)

9. I stand in awe of God daily. (I believe, help me in my unbelief.)

10. I want to hug EVERY single person I can when I get to Harrisburg!!!!!!

Wanna read my 2010 list?

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Filed Under: conferences

October 29, 2010 By Michelle Pendergrass 3 Comments

Part 1
Part 2

So. How did I know that God was telling me I needed to be pruned? For starters, apple season just ended and I’d been quite bombarded with the idea of pruning. We have a huge apple tree, an old one, that is just overgrown and scraggly and the apples are small, teeny-tiny, and they’re so high we’d never reach them. Wanting to not leave my property to pick apples, I Googled to find out how to restore this tree to a producer of good fruit. Pruning.

Apple trees need to be pruned in the winter, their branches need to be cut away so a large bird can fly through them and not clip its wings on branches. The buds of new branches pointing towards the trunk need to be pruned leaving only branches that reach away.

I paint and draw and take pictures of trees constantly.

At the end of The Relevant Conference, we worshiped with music. I pulled out my drawing markers and notebook and prayed as I drew a prayer, a tree. A verse came to mind as I was drawing and listening, “I am the vine” and I wrote that up the trunk of the tree.

“I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.

“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.

I’ve been a fruit-bearing vine. I’m sure of it. But it seems that God is showing me who he is. I’m a fruitful person, but I guess He thinks I need to be pruned to bear more fruit.

As I was drawing that tree and writing on it “I am the vine” I also drew some wind and wrote on it “and He whispers on the wind” I heard that small, still voice in my head telling me “Give this drawing to the first person who tells you it’s beautiful.” But no one did. So I put the drawing away and I chit-chatted with some girls at a nearby table.

Then, this special friend I met, Stepahie Bowman, sits down next to me and says something…

(sorry again) …to be continued.

Filed Under: conferences, God's Way

October 29, 2010 By Michelle Pendergrass 2 Comments

Part 1

Yes. I made a series of bad decisions. Get your calendars out. Mark them. I was wrong. (are you happy now?)

I decided once to post a giveaway instead of a “real” post. Then more companies offered me stuff and I took the stuff and I blogged reviews. I wasn’t dishonest in my reviews. I only posted giveaways for things that either held my interest or things I thought you, dear friends, would like. I was pretty intentional about the opportunities I’d take.

In my blog redesign, I was also intentional. Quiet. No blinking, flashing ads, one sidebar and that sidebar was not to be filled with ads. Because you know what I hate? Ads. Commercials. Advertising. I hate it on my TV. I hate it at Walmart where you can’t frickin’ get away from it. I hate it on the back of my receipts. I hate it on my radio. Advertising bothers me. (almost all of it, almost all of the time.) And yes, Mrs. Humongo Hypocrite was doing what? Advertising.

I have a quiet home and I wanted a quiet blog.

Confession: If I don’t read your blog, it might be because of some of these things, and I’m sorry. I try to subscribe to you in Google Reader so I don’t have to see everything else. I do try, I promise.

I designed a logo that represented my life. There are quadrants, because I feel like I am broken into sections, yet simultaneously, a whole being.

Spiritual, Mental, Physical, Intellectual.

Daughter of the King, Wife and Mother, Friend and Supporter, Teacher and Mentor .

Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall.

My roots grow deep into the fertile soil (the dirt) of Christ (the roots.) He is the living water (the water.) He gives life (the plant.) He is in charge of changing me (the leafless tree.) The sun, the Son, the giver of life.

The colors are all taken from earth tones I love. Think of a sunflower on a cool, autumn, sunny day. There. Those are my colors.

There would be little disorder or chaos in the design. No music would start. No ad would blink and flash.

Peace.

That was my intention.

I think I succeeded. At least in design.

But in content?

I have failed.

But I didn’t realize until this past weekend. I was sponsored to attend The Relevant Conference. I don’t want to make light of the fact that the sponsorship was a blessing (in disguise, I think.) I’m grateful beyond words to my sponsor. And I might even be a little afraid to say what comes next.

I don’t think I can continue on like this.

I’m not in writing or publishing or blogging for the money, I have never been. Getting the stuff seemed more like bartering, so I guess I was ok with it.

So I go to this conference, this Christian Women’s Blogging Conference. First of all, I don’t typically mesh with most Christian women. Second, I don’t typically mesh with Bloggers. Third (do I mesh with anyone?) (a few. and you know who you are.) I’ve had a long year and I wasn’t really looking forward to the conference, but I’d made a commitment to my sponsor and I wanted to follow through. From not originally having a roommate to not packing until the very last minute, everything in me wanted to stay home. At the last minute, I had a change of heart (thank God) and Brooke McGlothin was rooming with me.

The people at Relevant were amazing, to say the least. Others enjoyed themselves. Others like to cry, they find it cleansing. I find it annoying. I don’t want to be negative, so I’m going to skip over some things that aren’t really important. I had a good time, I really did. Maybe I’d have had a better time if I’d have been in a different place in my life. But maybe God knew what I needed.

God was sending me messages:

“You’re mean.”

“I’m going to prune now. Be aware.”

I knew He was telling me I was mean because I kept getting things (gifts, swag, etc…) with verses about kindness or the word “kindness.” Yes, God is not so big that he won’t stoop to use even swag to get His message across to the bull-headed ones who may or may not think they have nothing to learn. I made a joke of God telling me I was mean, but I knew what it meant. I was in big trouble.

The prune message was a little softer. Well. Kinda.

I’m reminded how this turned into this. (pictures, go ahead and click) so I don’t wanna be pruned. But I also know that if you prune an apple tree to almost nothing in January, it will produce the biggest, juiciest apples. So. Ok. I guess I kinda need to be pruned. But I still don’t wanna.

How exactly did I know God was telling me I needed to be pruned?

(sorry) …to be continued.

Filed Under: conferences, God's Way

October 27, 2010 By Michelle Pendergrass 1 Comment

There are two major story-lines here. (I think)

I could go all the way back to my childhood, which I will, but to tell a tiny portion, instead of a complete memoir. Most of it happens in present day. Or at least in the last few years leading up to the here and now.

This story probably started years ago on this very blog. At least the part where I was honest and open (and crazy!) So now, after unexpected detours, traffic jams, minor accidents, flat tires, snow storms, hurricanes, engine failures, and running out of gas…here we are.

So. Here goes nothing. God called me to write. (But this isn’t really about writing.) (Well, maybe a little.) (But mostly about holding things in.) I of course argued that I couldn’t and He told me I could. The reason I was reminded of His calling on my life is because this morning I read chapters 1-10 of Jeremiah. A few verses resonated with me (I’ll share those in a bit) which made me feel like if I should share this odd journey of mine.

That is the first story-line.

The second is with Relief Journal and The Midnight Diner also known as ccPublishing. The brief history is I submitted to a contest for Relief, was told the story was too genre–submit it to The Diner instead. I did. Told the story was too literary submit it to Relief. sigh. Shortly after, I was asked on as an editor for The Diner then the next year, asked on as Editor-in-Chief and the next year, asked to accept nomination of President of the Board of Directors of ccPublishing. I took over operations in January. Got the “office” delivered to my house around March. Had our first conference appearance with me leading the charge in April, the very same weekend my mom was admitted. I was with her almost every day until she died in June. While I was with her in her hospital room, I tried to keep up with the demands. Learning to run a company coupled with learning to be editor-in-chief of a publication all while your mom is dying and you’re trying to homeschool and be a mom and a wife–

Not fun.

Not at all.

No college education, no formal training in writing or publishing, not even a single published piece of work, yet here I stand, at the helm of one publication and overseer of both. The titles make me cringe because I don’t think I’m qualified for these jobs (I know I’m not!!) Though I was entrusted with their care.

I have neglected not only the business of ccPublishing, but the people. Not totally by choice. But a little by choice. Mainly because I was overwhelmed with everything piling up. Partially because I thought maybe after praying for a month about accepting the position of president, maybe I’d made the wrong choice and God was showing me the way out. A teeny bit because the things I had to do flat-out were not fun.

And I was tired of being stressed out.

I did turn to God when it came to my mom, her illness, and her death. Like several times in the past, He saw fit to make me a pillar of stone, not to be toppled by grief. He blessed me, allowing me to sing mom into eternity. I was grateful. I was peaceful. I was His.

For the (Christian!) publishing company though, I, for whatever reason, didn’t turn to Him (aside from praying in the beginning as to whether or not that was in His will for me.)

I turned to blogging. Weird, huh? I also started painting. I had already been doing Visual Prayer, messing with painting here and there but this unexplainable deluge of urgency poured over me, forcing my hands to create. Plus photography. My grief was coming out in all of these creative outlets.

I’d paint, take a photo, create, and blog it. It was very satisfying. (Still is, to be honest) Not because I want or need to be told people like me, I could care less who likes me. But in the creation itself. In the gift of creating given solely by the Creator. That He would allow me time to do these things and He would use them to fill the awful emptiness of my soul. He didn’t punish me for not asking Him to fill me. He let me grieve.

I also started taking on more and more sponsors and opportunities for this blog. Some companies (see the Buick post) treat you like royalty–and y’know what? Being wined and dined and given free stuff for a little review is FUN!

It was probably about this time I made some bad choices. (I didn’t know they were bad.) (I truly didn’t) (They seemed all right.)

…to be continued.

Filed Under: Amazing Grace, Art, conferences, Creativity, death, God's Way, grace, Mom

October 25, 2010 By Michelle Pendergrass 21 Comments

Alternately titled: Almost Always God’s Plans Are Not My Plans.

There’s this new blogging conference, Relevant, that I thought would be a cool place to be. Turns out I was wrong. Yes, it was fun and I met women too amazing to compare myself to, my brilliantly wise roomie included.

But all of it wasn’t awesome.

The day before I left, someone I respect immensely, took a kind of big risk and told me something I might have reacted badly to. (I didn’t, but could’ve) I lugged the burden of my iniquity around not realizing the weight or impact.

In hindsight…pun totally intended…there may be cause to believe that God timed this person’s comments in such a way as to cause a complete emotional breakdown. The comment wasn’t intended to send me tailspin.

But.

It did.

A wonderfully wise woman named Brooke McGlothlin kinda put me in my place. She told of a child riding a bike in a time and place without permission. The gravel was thick and deep. The bicycle tires didn’t stand a chance. The child had no way to keep the bicycle upright. Bloody, scarred and wounded, the child left the place hiding her wounds, afraid of getting caught in forbidden territory. Scared and alone the child covered the wounds, though even in her innocence, the child knew the wound need to be attended to, but the child was embarrassed. She covered and hid the painful marks that soon became infected. People unknowingly bumped into and irritated the wounds. Unimaginable pain ensued. Yet, fear kept the child from admitting what she knew to be true.

The infection will eventually poison her entire being.

This girl.

This wounded girl hiding her pain

is of course

me.

I’ve been bumped one too many times at the source of the pain.

And

though I almost can’t bring myself to admit it

It’s too much for me to bear

alone.

Filed Under: conferences, God's Way

October 24, 2010 By Michelle Pendergrass 3 Comments

Part 1–The Before

Part 2–The During

You made it!!! It all happened so fast–there’s no way the whole thing is over already. You’re still riding the high of your emotions and you’re full to the rim and pouring over with excitement and ideas and you’re going to change things for sure!

You get home. You’re anxious. You’re ready to run like a wild horse.And there’s laundry and bills and phone calls and — Life. The excitement dies little by little. A sort of depression kind of sets in. Things get put off. Before you know it months have flown by.

Is there a way to change it? Honestly, I don’t know. My best attempt at preventing post-conference let-down comes with making lots of lists.

First though, I try my best not to schedule anything out of the ordinary and mundane for the day and the day after I get back home. The day I come home is for my family. The next day is for me. Sometimes I take two or three days off from major tasks.

Generally, I walk away from each conference with one message that outshines the others. This is the one thing I talk with my husband about. I’ll tell him about three or four bullet points of the conference and that’s it. His head would explode all over me if I tried to insert by osmosis allllllll of the things I’d like to spew. I take no offense in that. He loves me, he knows my passions, he supports me, he’s my best friend…but…he can’t handle me when I’m in Idea High Gear. So he gets my love-energy and I save my idea-energy for my Me Time. And of course, my son really has no use for hearing why I’ve been gone. He just wants to be with me.

I give them what they need. It’s that simple.

Then…I write my lists.

Spend some serious time with your main walk-away message. Write down you goals, what you want to change, what you’d like to reinforce, eliminate, transform, and manipulate. Be very specific. Spend a little less time with other ideas, but get them in writing. (This is very important. Get them in writing AS SOON as you can.)

Over the coming weeks and months, work on developing a plan to implement the changes.

(You can’t and shouldn’t do it all at once even though you think you’re superhuman and can certainly change it ALL today.)

(You can’t.)

The sooner you understand this, the more you’ll get done. Because when you think you can do it all NOW you get overwhelmed in the first day and then you pretend it’s not there so you don’t get all down about not doing what you really want to do. If you just accept the fact that it’s going to take a little bit of work every day over many days, you’ll certainly make the transformation your heart is desiring after such an exciting time.

Make a plan. Set goals. Follow Through.

Go back to all those business cards and separate them. Break them down into little chunks. Visit two or three at a time and don’t feel guilty for spreading them out. It’ll be better to focus on a few rather than trying to cram everything in at once.

You’ve made new friends…enjoy them.

You’ve made new goals…work hard.

And–you’re no longer a conference newbie! Share the love!

Thanks to Feld Entertainment, my sponsor for Relevant10!

Filed Under: conferences

September 24, 2010 By Michelle Pendergrass 1 Comment

Please hop back in time to read part 1–The Before.

I’m not going to lie to you. If you’re looking for some nice candy-coated nonsense, move along! You won’t find it here.

The truth is: You will be overwhelmed.

Better you know it now and at least can shove your mind in the direction of crazy. So much is crammed into conferences, by the end you feel like you’ve lived a month’s time in just a weekend.

But really, it’s ok. You’ll find out that you’ve never been so inspired in all your life. (Yes. At every conference, you feel like you’ve never been quite that inspired.) The objective is to harness that feeling. Grab the reigns and take control of the wild, flailing beast before it overtakes you.

You’ll be happy to hear I’ve got this conference-thing down to a science. What I hope is that I can help you have a more relaxed experience which will then pan out to be super productive in The After days and weeks and months.

1. The Information Overload

The best way I’ve found to overcome the overload is my handy-dandy notebook. Do not (I repeat!) Do NOT try to process ANY information while you’re there. You’ll hurt yourself. In your notebook (Go. Get it now.) Jot down these titles on separate pages:

People
Websites
Books
Ideas

Remember, don’t process this stuff while you’re there. That’s what The After is all about. Write down everything you want to explore in your notebook. When that brilliant idea strikes you at two in the morning, write it down. It will never come again if you don’t. (Trust me. I know.)

2. Have Fun

I can’t stress this point enough. Go into this knowing that you’ll learn a lot, but also know that more important than the learning are the connections that you’ll make. They’re invaluable. So get a business card, Twitter, Facebook, email, or blog address from everyone. Get some kind of information. Make notes about people–”Michelle has a dog with the same name as ours.” Make notes to help you remember these connections. You’ll be glad you did.

Once you put your nervousness behind you (and it belongs behind you!) Go with the flow, join conversations, mingle, ask questions, get to know the people.

Because the people are the heart of event. As they should be.

3. Be Flexible

Like I said last time, know what which sessions you want to attend, but if you get the chance to sit down for lunch with the Key Note then do not (do NOT!) forgo that opportunity for a session. Unless, of course, you’re on the panel. Then you kind of have to be there. Otherwise, take advantage of spontaneous adventures.

4. Don’t Be Afraid To Nap

There. I said it. If you stayed up too late and can.not. make it another minute…go take a powernap.

5. Don’t Forget To Call Home

You laugh. But wait. You’ll see how easy it is for time to slip right through your fingertips.

6. Do NOT Process Information

This is most important and bears repeating. Write everything down. Make notes. At the end of the day, go through the notes and make sure you’ve got things in order. But don’t start to process the information. If ideas are banging to get out, jot them down on the idea page. After the conference, you can unpack your notes. After you unpack your suitcase.

That’s it for today. Tune in next time for Part 3–The After.

Thanks to Feld Entertainment, my sponsor for Relevant10!

Filed Under: conferences

September 23, 2010 By Michelle Pendergrass 19 Comments

Don’t forget my Conference Survival Guide!

Confession: I don’t like having a roommate unless I know them beforehand.

Confession: I have a Relevant Roomie. I don’t really know her. What I know is one of my good friends Re-tweeted her request for a Relevant Roomie and I thought they knew each other. Turns out, it was random. My friend just re-tweeted without knowing Brooke. However, by the time I’d found out they didn’t know each other, Brooke and I had bonded over country music.

Go ahead. Laugh. We did.

We’ve been having fun on Twitter describing our current mood with country music lyrics. Like, today, this is how I feel:

And I was listenin’ to the Opry
When all of my friends
were diggin’ Rock ‘n Roll and Rhythm & Blues
I was Country, when Country wasn’t cool

And if you’re so inclined, here’s the whole song:

Then God decided to throw a curve ball. I wasn’t having the best of days and the lyrics I posted were from a song played at my mom’s funeral in June.

@brookelmcg When I get where I’m going & I see my Maker’s face-I’ll stand forever in the light of His amazing grace.http://bit.ly/aX0AD6

The link is to the post Amazing Grace. It’s the hardest post I’ve ever had to write. And guess who God put in my life at that moment in time? Yep. My Relevant Roomie. She tweeted back:

@michpendergrass “And I’ll leave my heart wide open. I will love & have no fear…” I understand sister. http://bit.ly/c7E5rZ

God constantly speaks to me in numbers and dates. Here’s one example, my post 12:26. I know God was up there giggling like a schoolgirl when I found out my Relevant Roomie and share the same birthday.

THE SAME BIRTHDAY!

What are the odds?

God’s odds are so much different.

Brooke and I have decided that God’s up to something. We don’t know what. We can’t wait to find out. He’s got our full attention. And we know He’s bigger than we can imagine and we’re willing to bet that He’s got something in store for you, too. So we wanted everyone to post their own lists!

10 Things My Relevant Rommie Should Know About Me.

1. I snore. Especially when I need to see the chiropractor. I stop snoring after I see her. Chiropractor? Pedicure? Chiropractor? Pedicure?

2. I might be pure Yankee and bleed blue, but my heart belongs to the south. God misplaced me near Chicago but made it up to me by giving me a country boy with a southern drawl (and southern charm!)

3. I’m exactly 50% left brain and 50% right brain. That means I know it all.

4. I write and read horror, Stephen King is my favorite author and no one will convince me that I can’t combine my love of Jesus with my ability to write horror.

5. I can’t remember how old I am unless I do the math. 2010 minus 1972…I’m 38. And I’m a grandma. Don’t judge.

6. One of our kids is married with our beautiful grandson, one of the kids is a senior in college, and the other is in sixth grade and homeshooled by yours truly.

7. I love Jesus but I drink a little. (If you’ve never heard that, try Google.)

8. I’m also exactly 50% introvert and 50% extrovert. I can turn it on and be extrovert, but when the conference is done and over, I hide in my house for days on end and I don’t leave.

9. I love my life. I love my husband. I love my kids and grandkids. I don’t know anyone quite as content and happy as we are.

10. I was thin, then my thyroid went kaput. Now I’m fat and happy. I’m grateful that I’m no longer sleeping 19 of 24 hours a day and will choose this fat body over losing my ability to function any day.

Bonus: 11. I wanted to be Barbara Mandrell when I was little and there was nothing more exciting for me than waiting for the next Mandrell Sisters show to come on. (Ok, maybe waiting for the next Quincy, M.E. show.)

* * *

Your turn! Link up!

Edit to add this great news!! Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy is giving away a gorgeous covered notebook to one of you just for linking up!

the pleated poppy blog

Thanks to Feld Entertainment, my sponsor for Relevant10!

Filed Under: 12:26, Amazing Grace, conferences, God's Way, Grandma, Mom, Old Country Songs

September 17, 2010 By Michelle Pendergrass 7 Comments

Confession: I’m a conference junkie.

There’s a definite love-hate relationship I have going on with them. I love them because of the learning, the mingling, the meeting, and the connections. I hate them because they’re so terribly draining when they’re over.

I’m writing this for you because I remember how exciting the first conference is and how you need to soak up everything and prepare and pack and re-pack and make lists and…and…your mind is SO full! You’ll laugh to know I just barely get packed a couple hours before bed the night before, or worse, sometimes the morning of. You’re having an anxiety attack just thinking about it now, aren’t you?

1. Breathe.

You’re not the only one attending this conference who has never, ever been to a conference before. I promise you that. And no one will make fun of you for your first time. The great thing about conferences (any of them) is that they’re a gathering of like-minded people which means conversation is super-duper easy. Don’t be afraid to talk to people.

2. The Prep Work

It sets my mind at ease to visit the websites of (at the very least) the keynote speakers and I glance at the other speakers and panelists. I don’t study them, I don’t stalk them (ok, maybe a few of them I do) but not many. It makes me feel better to at least have an inkling of an idea of who will be leading the weekend. If they’re stalker material, I make sure to plan my weekend around when they’re speaking.

Otherwise, be flexible. The sessions at conferences are for a purpose, but they’re not written on the stone tables carried down from Mt. Sinai. If there’s one you think is that important, by all means, get to it! But if a chance to sit down to lunch with the Keynote presents itself, please, I beg you, do not rush off to a panel. Sit down, have lunch, make connections and have fun!

So. Print off the conference schedule. Pull out your pretty highlighter, and I know you have one because you’re reading this post, and highlight everything that you think you need to be at. And let it be a guide, but not a dictator.

3. The Packing

If you’re a fasionista you can just skippity-skip-skip right over this because you’re not going to listen anyway. Everyone else, there’s just one word you need to hear: COMFORT.

You go to bed late, you wake up early, you go like the Energizer bunny has never gone. This is NOT the time to wear brand new shoes (can you spell blisters?) nor is it the time to wear a bunch of fancy clothes you’ve never donned more than an hour or two at any given time. Trust me on this one, ok?

You want at least two pair of your most comfortable shoes. If you bring just one, you’ll never want to wear them again after the weekend. Two to three is perfect. Your feet will thank you.

Pack your comfy jeans and your favorite shirts. You won’t be sorry.

If you can’t stand it, bring just one new outfit. But also, bring a back-up in its place.

Sometimes, I’ll bring two shirts for every pair of pants because heading back to my room mid-day to freshen up makes me feel like I’ve had a nap and I’m energized just by changing tops and freshening up my make up and hair.

Most conferences provide attendees with a bag for toting around swag and whatnots, but I like to make sure I have a comfortable purse big enough to hold a notebook, pen, my phone, camera, breath mints (see Optionals section below,) and a bottle of water.

4. The Family

Sing with me: “All the single ladies…” pass right on by. You won’t need this info. Married gals and Mamas, though, get comfy and take notes. Prepare your husband and kids for the fact that you will not be able to answer your phone the minute they call. It’s rude to have your phone on during sessions and (in my opinion) even more rude to text while in the midst of a session. Let them know you’ll check messages between sessions and call them back during breaks.

If you’re like me (a tightwad,) you can also whip up some make-ahead meals and freeze them in disposable pans so the budget isn’t stretched too tight with senseless take-out meals.

5. The Optionals

Business cards. Can you live without them? Yep. No one will make fun of you for not having them, either. You can still connect with all the people you meet. The easiest way? Either use your mobile device to keep notes, or (if you’re old, like me) carry a little notebook in your purse. Social Media makes it really easy to connect. Jot down a website or Twitter address and forget about it until you get home (more about that in the last post for this series, The After.)

And if you want them and have the money–great! Bonus! But they’re not going to make or break your conference experience.

Energy Drinks. Another confession: I love Starbucks Energy Drinks. I don’t drink them too often, but I do pack them for conferences. I bring one for every day I’ll be there.

Breath Mints. Ok. Totally NOT optional. Bring some and use them. Thankyouverymuch.

Bottled Water. If you’re flying, pack an empty bottle in your suitcase to refill for the weekend. If you’re driving, bring a case. Now you might think I’m crazy, but with all the walking and excitement and talking, you don’t want to be dehydrated and sickly. Most conferences provide water, but usually in cups and they’re hard to tote around. I like to throw mine in my purse and have it with me when I want it.

Airborne and/or other Immune Defense Boosters plus Hand Sanitizer. This is your warning: I’m a germaphobe. All those people bringing all their germs from their respective places. Ack!! I am prepared. I don’t like being sick and for many years I couldn’t figure out why I got sick after every.single.conference. Yeah. Con-crud. Enough said.

6. The Resources

I found some things you might like.

This is from ListPlanIt: Conference ePlanner

Easy Freezer Meals. Here. Here. and Here.

That’s it for today. Tune in next time for Part 2–The During and Part 3–The After.

Thanks to Feld Entertainment, my sponsor for Relevant10!

Filed Under: conferences

September 8, 2010 By Michelle Pendergrass

Congrats to Melissa at The Cutest Chaos!!

Tiny Prints is generously offering a $50 gift certificate for business cards to one lucky Relevant conference-goer!

Tiny Prints quality and customer service is impeccable. With 100% satisfaction guarantee and a customer satisfaction rate in the 95% percentile of among U.S. companies, you can bet you’re going to be happy with the product and the company.

And the designs! They’re gorgeous.

Many thanks to Tiny Prints for sponsoring this giveaway!

Required To Enter: visit Tiny Prints and tell me which style business card you’ll choose if you win.

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8. Tweet this (may Tweet daily for additional entries)

#Relevant10 attendees: Win a $50 @TinyPrints gift certificate for business cards from @michpendergrass ends 9/13 http://bit.ly/aMifMu

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Hurry, this giveaway ends Saturday September 11 at 9pm central time! Good luck! **Extended to September 13th at 9pm**

Winner will be chosen using Random.org. To increase your chances of winning-follow the rules. There aren’t many of them. This contest is open to attendees of the Relevant Conference. Winner will be contacted via email, so please make sure you leave a valid one. This is only open to the US. ANY comments not following the rules such as completing the FIRST required entry will be deleted without notice. Tiny Prints is a sponsor of my blog. All views and opinions with regard to the product or company itself are the blogger’s and were not influenced nor reviewed by the company prior to posting. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.

Filed Under: conferences, giveaways