Whenever fellow bloggers ask about which conferences I am or am not going to, or when asked if I’ll be at Blogher I joke that I’m allergic to those kind of conferences. The truth is I won’t break out into hives at one of the big blogger conferences, but at this moment in time for me as a person, a mother, and a blogger I just don’t think I am ready to participate fully.  Last week I went to Blogger Bash which integrated speakers, brands, philanthropy and bloggers into a jam-packed two day event in NYC.

Although I’m still terrible at the networking and schmoozing part, I managed to do a little and get a lot out of the event.  Blogger Bash was divided into several parts.  There was the VIP experience, followed by Sweet Suite and an Angry Birds Stella after party on the first day.  On day two, there was Lego Batman Breakfast, a media panel, speed dating with brands, Blonganthropy awards, Mommy Tech, Baby Palooza, EA Social Suite, and the Kidz Vuz Back to School event.

The event took place at Location 05 in NYC.  It was a great setting, albeit perhaps a little loud for some of the events such as the speed dating, but no venue is ever perfect.  Location 05 was set up beautifully and was easy to get to.  Blogger Bash also had Uber codes so that attendees could get discounted rides, which made getting to and fro even easier.  Although most attendees were mom bloggers, there were a few dad bloggers and kid bloggers as well.  Press was also present throughout. What worked for me at Blogger Bash was that it was mid-sized.  It was not so small that I felt I wasn’t connecting enough with other bloggers and brands, but not so big that I was hiding in the bathroom having a panic attack.  There was a great range of toy, parent gear, and lifestyle brands, including Activision and Disney Infinity.  I have always been afraid of any video game beyond Tetris.  All the children I used to babysit gave up trying to teach me any of the games on their brand new Atari game systems.  Blogger Bash was a place for me to step out of the babysitter me persona and into the “ready to learn mommy” me persona especially since I have a son who is really interested and knowledgeable about all the new games such as Disney Infinity, Skylanders and Minecraft. It was great to have the time and space to connect with the various brands and people behind them at each of the booths that made sense for me and for my blog.  Click through to learn more about each portion of Blogger Bash and stay tuned to learn more about what’s what for your toybox. Last, but certainly not least, this was the inaugural Blogger Bash and yet it felt like a well established event.  That is the sign of definite behind the scenes super heroes.  Blogger Bash’s magic was created by none other than The Big Toy Book‘s Joey Fortman, Charlene Deloach, Laurie Schacht, Ali Mierzejewski, Marissa Dibartolo, and Stephanie Glover.