I'm back this week after spending an amazing 5 days last week at the IDEA Fitness Convention & BlogFest in L.A. This was my first year at IDEA Fitness Convention & BlogFest and I must say it did not disappoint.
In case you're not familiar, IDEA is the world's biggest fitness convention attracting upwards of 14,000 health and fitness professionals. It's a four day event (Thursday - Sunday) with classes ranging from fitness, health, nutrition and business. There's also a huge expo where you can connect with brands and other fitness professionals. BlogFest is a two day event (Thursday/Friday) for 160 selected bloggers.
Highlights from BlogFest
- Meeting Jenna Wolfe who's one of my biggest idols. She talked about what we "have" to do and "should" do and how our should do things are often related to health, but that we put them on the back burner. She also encouraged everyone to do things that scare them and get them out of their comfort zone. I kind of think I'm already doing that. 😉
- Listening to Ryan Lee talk about email marketing. This is something I've been working on so I was more than interested in the topic. He was not only a wealth of information but wildly entertaining. I would love to hear from him again.
- Learning Snapchat! I've been on Snapchat for awhile and finally Kelly showed me how to use this goofy app. We also had a session in BlogFest that showed us Snapchat tricks. It's not super user friendly, but once you get the gist it's a lot of fun. Search Skinny-Fit to follow my crazy life!
Highlight from IDEA Fitness Convention
- Hearing Amy Van Dyken, a former swim Olympian who was in an accident that caused her to lose function in her legs, speak at the IDEA opening ceremonies. She was incredibly inspiring and an excellent reminder of how powerful our minds are for overcoming perceived obstacles and that anything is achievable. She's also a fellow Arizonan!
- Triple Threat Power Cycling with Buddy Macuha was amazing! Of course anything with cycle is right up my alley, but the way Buddy presented his tips for programming our cycle classes was spot on. He was high energy and full of knowledge. I wished I could have hung out with him for more rides.
- Listening to Natalie Jill on growing social media. She was incredible! I felt like my story was very similar to hers. She gave me hope that I will make everything floating around in my head happen.
What I liked about IDEA Fitness Convention & BlogFest
- Connecting with new brands and hearing about all the cool things they are doing.
- Wearing workout clothes all day!
- Learning new tricks about blogging and social media. Hearing what's working for some people and comparing notes.
- Making new friends. Kelly & I definitely connected on this trip. I laughed more with her this weekend than I have in months, and I really needed that.
What IDEA Fitness Convention & BlogFest can improve
- Offering allergy friendly food. Although I did pack a few snacks, I wasn't prepared for the severe lack of gluten-free and dairy-free meals. I won't lie, every meal was a huge challenge, and I was not the only one.
- Brands being aware of what's in their foods. The owner of one brand told us her protein bar was DF, but upon inspection it was not. Another brand thought having something be gluten-free (vs. certified GF) was enough for me to eat it. It's disappointing when that person is an RD and doesn't know the difference. Yikes!
- Having an informal session where bloggers can share what's working for them and ask questions of one another. While the presenters are great, I found most of them to be geared towards new bloggers and for those of us who've been blogging awhile, having time to be able to share with one another would be more valuable. That way all the attendees are gaining information vs. a subset.
Overall, I had a great time at IDEA Fitness Convention & BlogFest!I felt rejuvenated after hearing others' inspiring stories. It re-established my WHY which lately, I've found myself forgetting. Why am I doing this? What am I trying to do? Sometimes you need those subtle reminders to reignite your fire and give you even bigger IDEA(s). Thanks to the SweatPink team for giving me the opportunity to attend!
Linking up with Amanada for Thinking Out Loud
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What's your why? Who struggles with food intolerances eating out?
Wow you had amazing days with a lot of interesting activities. I guess the seeing blogger friends was the happiest time, right? Wish I could be there. Thanks for sharing this.
Seeing my blog friends is always the best part of these trips.
I so LOVED seeing you this year,... I have to admit, one of the funnier memories for me was you ladies catching me red handed goofin' around during Saturday's workout...:)
LOL! I think we were all feeling like goofing off at that point.
I agree with the food comment! I was overall happy, but after the tough Gunnar Peterson workout, I scarfed down the meal only to learn it was soy... I am usually better at checking, but I was SO hungry, I likely would have eaten my own arm if push came to shove! But I am lucky to not have allergies, just a desire to be discerning. It would have been way worse if some foods weren't even an option!
That was the worst meal of all. I felt like they tricked us by not writing what it really was. Sometimes when you're that hungry, you'll just eat anything though.
This past month has been CRAZY for me or else I would have been there!! Makes me sad as I would have loved it! Great seeing all the photos 🙂 xo C
I'm sure you would have, but it's also good that you know your boundaries. Hope you can come next year!
I was at the convention as well! As always, I loved it too much and am finally feeling a bit more rested and recovered. I did take Natslie Jill's workout class and was not super impressed, but am happy to hear her other session was good!
Okay so this like the 15th time I've tried to comment some weird force of nature keeps trying to stop me! Had an amazing time hanging out with you we definitely have the same sense of humor! Enjoying watching your snaps you are a pro!!!
Is it my site? I hope not, it's acting weird this week. OMG...you and I probably had the most fun of anyone there. I haven't laughed that much in a long time and I really needed to. We need to do it again!
Oh, I'd LOVE to go to that conference. What a great trip!!!
You would have so much fun Blair!
I am bummed I could not get there.
I am bummed too. Really wanted to meet you!
Im so bummed I missed out on blogfest but I feel like all of the blogs I've been reading have been giving me great summaries of what happened and things to take away from it! I totally would have had an issue with a lack of GF & dairy free meals (celiac + vegan) which I do have at typical restaurants from time to time, but I can usually make things work. I prefer to eat at home because you really never know what you will get at a restaurant or how careful they will be about cross contamination (which can leave me sick & doubled over in pain- no fun)!
I had to miss it last year so I definitely know how you feel. Hopefully next year you can make it and eat safe too!
So great seeing you this past weekend! And yes, I agree with your ideas for improvements to Blogfest. The lack of GF options and the lack of product knowledge was a let-down. Other than that, it was an amazing weekend. I heard that over 30,000 health and fitness professionals were there in all.
It was great seeing you too! The food was a bummer, but yes such a fun weekend. I'm exhausted from it all!
Always so great to see you. I need to get back on the snapchat train, but it is just so not on my radar right now. Too much else going on!
I'm following you so when you do jump back on I will see you. Always good hanging out with you dear!
Yup depending on where you are the eating out thing can be a huge struggle. Kind of a downer when you have a worry about it for a few days. Looks like a great experience otherwise!
I was definitely stressed about it. Next time I just need to plan to go out for meals or bring more food.