BlogPaws 2012 Highlights!

I just returned from BlogPaws, which is a social media conference specifically for pet bloggers. It’s a wonderful combination of bloggers, vendors, dogs, cats and ferrets!

Here are some of the highlights:

The Flat Pet Flash Mob—A group of crazy people with cardboard representations of their pets spent months secretly practicing and planning a flash mob.  Organized by Bev Van Zant (or @PetCareBev as she’s known on Twitter), the mob went off without a hitch during Friday morning’s keynote lecture. I have to admit that I was part of the mob, and I had a great time! The flash mob can be seen on YouTube. Here’s the link.

Betsy Saul’s Keynote Address—Betsy Saul, the genius behind Petfinder, gave a keynote speech Friday morning that was full of great information about shelter animals. Her point of view and honesty about the best way to treat these lost souls was a real eye opener.

A major problem facing animals in shelters is boredom from being institutionalized. They can literally go stir crazy from lack of mental stimulation and become un-adoptable. Betsy started a pilot program to send people into shelters to engage the animals mentally and found that with as little as 10 minutes of training a day the dogs were left happier and more adoptable.

Nose to Nose Pet Blogging and Social Media Awards Ceremony—This was the first year of the Nose to Nose awards, and it was a huge success. Enthusiastic host Wendy Diamond and her pup Baby Hope Diamond set the energy level high.

Awards included Best Blog Design, Best Bark Blog, Best Facebook Design, Best Twitter Design and Best New Blog among others. Many of the winners were there to accept their trophies, and it was really nice recognition for those who represent their pets in social media circles.

 

The Modern Cat & Jackson Galaxy Catification Lounge—Simply put: this was a paradise that any cat would love. Modern Cat & Jackson Galaxy picked out an amazing array of cat products that had me drooling! It was an amazing opportunity to see all of the latest cat towers, beds, scratchers, toys and more. The best part is that on the last day of the conference they gave away everything in the Lounge! I received a cool sisal and wood scratcher for my kitties, Chloe & Moe.

The Educational Programming—There were 25 educational sessions devoted to enriching attendees’ knowledge of all aspects of social media. Sessions topics included Pinterest, Google+, monetization, live streaming, book publishing, and more.

My personal favorite seminar was SEO (Search Engine Optimization) 101 by Pets 365 UK’s Matt Beswick. Filled with fantastic takeaway information to help attendees increase their blogs visibility to search engines, Matt was funny, full of knowledge and willing to offer help in the future.

Does this sound like something you don’t want to miss out on? BlogPaws 2013 is scheduled for May 16-18 in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, right outside of Washington DC.  Check out the BlogPaws site (www.Blogpaws.com) for more information, and I hope to see you next year!

 

Pam Hoerauf created and maintains The Daily Oskar and Pet Blogs United. She is owned by Oskar, an excessively handsome Miniature Schnauzer and 2 cats, Chloe & Moe. She’ll be here every other week sharing with TAILS readers everything there is to know about pets and social media!

Tagged BlogPaws 2012, Pam Hoerauf, Pet Blogs United