ShiftCon 2019 Recap

A few months ago, I shared some Amazing Reasons That Will Make You Want to Attend ShiftCon 2019. I’m sharing my weekend in the hopes it will give you even more reasons to buy your ticket for next year! My semi-apologies for a super wordy post. The crazy thing is that this post could have easily been twice as long.

This year’s ShiftCon Eco-Wellness Influencer Conference was held at the sophisticated Grand Hyatt Buckhead in Atlanta. The Hyatt was perfectly situated to allow us to park in the garage and walk everywhere we wanted with close proximity to a grocery store, drug store and restaurants.

My First Impressions

I know you aren’t here to read about the hotel, so what were my impressions of ShiftCon 2019?

Firstly, our name badges were printed on eco-friendly seed paper. How cool is it to know that a piece of ShiftCon 2019 can live on once it’s planted!

Secondly, instead of traditional schedules, attendees were invited to download the Attendify app. The app listed the conference schedule, integrated social media posts, and allowed attendees to communicate on the activity stream. Let’s keep it real as Bloggers! Our phones are always in our hands, so this was a huge convenience.

As rumored from previous years, the food was spectacular! I didn’t get to meet my ice cream hero from the previous posts, but there’s always next year! Some of the outstanding meals we ate and the corresponding sponsors:

• Thursday evening’s Welcome Reception hosted by Perdue Farms in the hotel’s luscious Japanese Zen Garden
• Friday’s Keynote Breakfast sponsored by Stonyfield with co-founder and Chief Organic Optimist Gary Hirshberg speaking
• Saturday’s Keynote Lunch sponsored by the National Bison Association
• Saturday night’s Keynote Dinner with Alysia Reiner sponsored by Numi Organic Tea & Dr. Jonny Bowden

Lastly, these sponsors weren’t playing when it came to swag! Their generosity was unmatched and I’m still going through my goodies! The exciting part of being a VIP attendee was the second bag of swag. We even received room drops of more full size products!

I started my blogging journey as a deal blogger. So I have to say that the coupons in our swag bag were a nice surprise. I love having the option to purchase these items when it works for my family.

Classes, Workshops, & Panels @ ShiftCon 2019

Where do I even start with describing the classes and workshops? One thing I know is that there were some highly, educated speakers with more knowledge than I possess. My fingers cramped up with furiously taking notes because there were so many new ideas exchanged. I only wish there’d been a way to see video of the classes I wasn’t able to attend.

I’m listing just a few of the sessions I attended and one or two nuggets they shared.

• Discourses, Disclaimers and Defamation: Protecting Yourself as a Content Creator by Jamie Lieberman of Hashtag Legal — As a blogger talking about controversial topics can be scary from a legal standpoint. Jamie outlined three things that I can do as a blogger to protect myself.
• Keynote Breakfast by Stonyfield: Embracing Organic, A Breakfast with Gary Hirshberg — The key point that stuck with me from Gary’s time at the microphone surprised me. Gary stated that the parenting kids receive also shapes their buying habits. As adults we often cite the negative traits we learn from past generations, but here was my wakeup call. Now while my children are still in the family home, I have the opportunity to teach them a healthier way of eating.
• Being a Budget Activist: How to Make Change With Limited Time and Resources panel by Leah Segedie of Mamavation, Carissa Bonham of Creative Green Living, and Paige Wolf — Paige Wolf, author of Spit That Out, dropped the little nugget that I’ve shared multiple times since the conference: “Just because you can’t do everything doesn’t mean you should do nothing.”

My Takeaways From ShiftCon 2019

I was hesitant going into ShiftCon 2019 that as an eco-wellness newbie or light green blogger, I might feel out of place. I mean, I’m among these pioneers in the green movement. However, I discovered an acceptance and sisterhood unlike any I’d ever experienced at a Blog Conference.

I’d been trying to process the wealth of information delivered that weekend and couldn’t quite put it into words. Then it struck me that all these human beings on every spectrum of the Eco-Wellness journey were trying to convey this simple message. Above all, our goal and aim should be progress – not perfection in the movement for better health.

There’s no way for me to accurately convey the wealth of knowledge I gained from the classes I attended or more importantly the spirited conversations with the people I met. ShiftCon has to be experienced to full understand its rich impact on the Eco-Wellness Community.

This was CEO Ari Adams inaugural year at the helm of ShiftCon Media and I see a bright future ahead! While staying true to the mission of its founder Leah Segedie, Ari infused the conference with inspired touches that made this year truly unique. With big things on the horizon and some pretty sweet sponsors signing on, I’d suggest you get your ticket now! This is sure to be a sold out event next year and you don’t want to miss it.

ShiftCon 2019 Sponsor Spotlight