I have the honor of being one of the “Haven Team” organizers and last weekend we wrapped up our 4th successful Haven Conference!
If you are unfamiliar with Haven, it is a blogging conference for bloggers who love “all things home” which takes place annually in Atlanta, GA. Haven is a dream realized for all of us on the Team and something very near and dear to my heart! You can read all about Haven’s backstory and how it ALL began here if you’d like. It’s a fun story, so I encourage you to check it out! We are so proud of our event, attendees, sponsors, and community!
The Haven Team consists of Rhoda, Chris, Kristin, Me, Traci, and Sarah. Unless you’ve planned a 3-day event for 500+ people, I’m not sure you can fully appreciate all the many, many hours of work that go into orchestrating this type of event! Our team has become very close over the years, and we’ve learned each other’s strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and gifts. We work really well together and I love these women dearly! Haven is truly a second job for all of us, and it’s an honor to serve our niche in this way.
The Team lives all over the country with only Rhoda & Kristin in Atlanta, so there is a lot of work to be done the day before the conference begins. One of the tasks that usually takes us the longest is filling the Haven swag bags.
Each attendee receives a bag-full of goodies from our sponsors and vendors valued at the price of a Haven ticket! We had amazing volunteers this year and had 450 swag bags filled in no time! Look at all that swag!
Our Team also decorates for the opening cocktail party which is always a highlight of Haven. Kristin, our events planner, did an amazing job of carrying out our vision for each themed party and prepared a lot of our decor beforehand, so our prep this year was minimal.
The first night we had an outdoor “Haven in the Garden” cocktail party. And yes, it was hot! They don’t call it Hotlanta for nothing! The hotel grounds at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead are gorgeous, and we wanted to take advantage of the double patio space.
To beat the heat, we served blueberry lemonade cocktails in complimentary glasses which looked so cute! The first night at Haven is always electric with so many blog friends meeting for the first time and others reuniting after a full year of separation. It’s a special night!
Below is a picture of the team pictured with Jon Acuff who popped in for a bit at our opening cocktail party. Jon was our Keynote speaker this year and did such a great job! He was funny, insightful, entertaining, and encouraging. Many of our attendees were unfamiliar with Jon, but I KNEW they would love him and that he’d be the perfect Keynote for our Haven Mavens. I started following Jon back when his blog was fairly unknown, and over the years have enjoyed watching him grow into a New York Times Bestselling author of 5 books. Go Jon!
Jon’s talk kicked off our Friday morning session and was based on his most recent book–that I just started reading and am loving–Do Over (affiliate link). The book is about not getting stuck in your career and propelling yourself through those difficult times at work. If you have a career, or are hoping to have one someday, then this book is for you! It will inspire you our of a rut and have you thinking differently about your work life.
If you’re wondering what in the world bloggers do while at a blog conference (besides take selfies) ;-), we network with brands, network with each other, and take classes that build our skills in blogging, decorating, social media, branding, and DIY. Our sponsors and vendors put a lot of effort into making their booths stand out, and this year did NOT disappoint!
This booth by Rheem really impressed me. How do you make HVAC supplies and water heaters sexy? Well you add gorgeous home decor, handsome gladiator models, an interactive “Goddess” quiz, and fun head jewelry swag, of course! Nicely done Rheem!
Rheem was new to Haven this year and they definitely brought their A-game!
Home Depot has been our Platinum sponsor since the beginning. We are forever grateful to them for taking a risk on us over 4 years ago and believing in DIY’ers everywhere! They sponsored a fun breakfast for our attendees complete with these fun retro-polaroid cameras. More selfies!
Home Depot also does a #DIYHallofFame hashtag on Instagram to feature fun projects by bloggers at the conference. You can go to the hashtag if you’re on Instagram to see the entries and winners. It’s fun to see what everyone has created over the year.
Rust-oleum has also been with Haven since our inception, and they truly get what DIY’ers are all about! They provided free massages, a device charging station, as well as lunch for our attendees. Thoughtful and pampering touches like these are what we really wanted to bring to Haven this year, so we were thrilled with all the special details provided for our bloggers.
We couldn’t do Haven without the generosity of our speakers and this year we had so many great classes that is was difficult choosing which ones to attend! I’ve been blogging for over 8 years. I read a lot about blogging and building my brand on the side, and I always learn something from the classes at Haven! The trick, I think, is to remain teachable and come ready to learn.
Lucy from Craftberry Bush taught a great class on Photo Styling.
Liz Marie and Jennifer taught an insightful class on growing your Instagram following and taking good pics for Instagram. It was a well-attended class both days!
And between classes bloggers can be found doing what bloggers do best!
Our Friday night cocktail party turned out so cute, so before I sign off I wanted to be sure to share the pictures with you. Our theme for this night was “Smile & Sparkle”.
When we serve champagne and cotton candy, how can you NOT smile and sparkle just a little? 🙂
We served champagne and berry cocktails with a blue sugar stir stick! The drinks were delicious and decadent.
My sister is Kim from Sand & Sisal and it’s always fun to see her at the conference!
At the root of Haven is community and relationships. Our blogging niche is truly a special one, and I will forever be grateful for the relationships, opportunities, and friendships blogging has afforded me over the years! Being able to do what I love every day is a privilege that I don’t take for granted!
I hope you’ve enjoyed a little peek into our conference and if you’re a home blogger I hope to see you at our next event!
erica elia says
I would love to attend this conference next time. Do you know what the next date will be for the South. I live in lower Alabama so this would location would be perfect! Do you know of any other blogger conferences in the South? Thank you so much, Erica
JOYCE BORNEMAN says
HELLO, I am new to blogging and would be very interested in joining you for your next HAVEN event. It looks like a wonderful experience. Do you have your next event date? Thank you very much.
Joyce
Beth says
Hi Joyce! We do not have a date set yet but it will most likely be in early August 2016. Hope to see you there!
Seng says
Wow!!! There’s a conference for this???!!!! I need to sign up next year…you guys had Acuff there? He is an amazing speaker and writer! I definitely want to come next year!!! To meet people who love making their home a home just as much as I do. Thanks so much for sharing your experience!!
Seng
Beth says
We’d love to see you there!
Holly says
Last night a friend and I, who both blog, did a “pinky swear” to attend Haven next year in Atlanta. We both had too much going on in our personal lives this year but we plan to be settled next summer to be able to attend Haven. I blog at downtoearhstyle.blogspot.com and I look forward to all of your posts. I know it must be many hours of work for you to accomplish the task of the Haven conference for bloggers. I, for one, always appreciate your updates and efforts to help me and fellow bloggers make more of what we are passionate about—-HOME! Thank you and i look forward to 2016! xo
Holly
Beth says
We hope to see you both there Holly!!
cassie {hi sugarplum} says
Beth!! You guys did such a great job…yet again! It was a fabulous weekend! xo
Beth says
Thank you so much Cassie!