Moments from the inaugural Entertainment New Media Network conference, Anaheim, CA

The group with Genevieve from Disney Channel - thanks to
@SoCAcouponmommy for the pic!

I joined the ENMN (Entertainment New Media Network) group on Facebook a few months ago, and the network has really started to blossom since then. It was started by Erica Pena-Vest last year, and already has an Alexa rating of about 60,000 and 10,000 in the U.S. (which is very impressive: my site is about 40,000 in the U.S. right now, and lower is better on Alexa).

When I heard they were doing their inaugural conference in Anaheim, I really wanted to go, but between the ticket and airfare I wasn't sure if I could swing it. I received a partial scholarship making the ticket only $99, though, so I decided to attend. The sunny, 80-degree weather had a lot to do with it had absolutely nothing to do with it.

I have been to two previous blogging conference before, BlogHer '12 and '13 (in NYC and Chicago), and that one was huge. I knew this one would be a lot smaller, but I didn't know how small until I got to Anaheim. The cap was at 150 bloggers, but because of East Coast weather issues (read: blizzards), only about 100 were able to escape the tundra make it out to the conference.

Moo.com gave us a conference discount and I got
some new business cards for my book blog! I was able to
pick them up at the conference.

ENMNCon was a whole other world compared to BlogHer. The sessions were more intimate, and because of that, you really got to network with everyone - I'd say I probably talked to at least 75% of the bloggers there, at least once. The sessions were geared towards entertainment blogging, with about a half-day devoted to travel blogging, which is definitely more my niche.

Hyatt Regency Orange County, the host hotel


I roomed with Alisha (CoilyLocks.com), Sondra (HealthyHappyHip.com), Jeanette (MyCouportiera.com), and Patricia (PatriciaAPatton.com) and although it was a bit crazy at times to have five women in a room with two queen beds and a rollaway, overall it was an awesome time. What's funny is that originally the room was supposed to include just Alisha, Sondra, and Jeanette, but my original roommate was unsure of her travel plans last-minute due to a family emergency, so I had to find new roommates; Alisha was supposed to be rooming with East Coast women and neither of them were able to make it to CA due to the weather. It was great to have "instant friends" once we all arrived at the room, too, and I'm so glad I got to meet all of them.

Hyatt Regency OC, lunch at Lemonade (LAX), Sean Astin
Sarah Drew + Andrea Nasfell, lunch, "Ruling Twitter"
Facebook napkin, lunch, new biz cards from Moo

Some highlights from the conference:

  • The celebrity guests: we got to meet and take pictures with Sarah Drew (Grey's Anatomy), Andrea Nasfell, and Kevin Downes - the actor, writer, and producer/actor, respectively, of Moms' Night Out, which we also screened. The next day we met with Sean Astin, also in the movie, as well.
  • The screenings: we screened the first two episodes of Dallas's new season, the first two of the new series Private Lives of Nashville Wives, and Moms' Night Out. I've never watched Dallas so that wasn't a huge draw for me, but Nashville Wives was great and so was the movie. 
  • The sessions: @stop (the Creative Director at Twitter) talked to us and even pulled some of our tweets from the #enmncon14 tag, which was pretty funny. I learned a lot about celebrity interviews - the do's and don'ts - how to pitch brands, and how to get more involved in blogging.
  • The people: finally got to meet some of the bloggers I had been talking with online, such as Erica Pena-Vest (CEO of ENMN), @socacouponmommy (Cassandra), my roommates, and others. 
  • The venue: the conference was held at the Hyatt Regency Orange County, which is a beautiful hotel. 
Sean Astin (LOTR, Goonies, etc.) and I

Next year's conference will be held in Nashville, and I've already bought my ticket! I'm excited to learn more about the industry and also explore a new city, as I've never been to Nashville before.

Check out more photos below:

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