Minnesota bloggers rock. I know because I spent Saturday with 150 of the best, brightest and kindest people at the 2nd annual MN Blogger Conference.

Talk about a recharge! There is no way I can capture the energy in black and white print (Kate Hopper could, but not me) so I am going do the next best thing - introduce you to a few of the people I had the pleasure of talking with, learning from and being inspired by.

Among the people I met were Lee Svitak Dean, Food editor for the Star Tribune and author of Come One, Come All as well as Amy Peterson, writer of Green Your Plate blog. Do you see a trend here? 2 people - 1 topic . . . food. There is an amazing network of food bloogers in town and frankly, this sounds much more interesting than human resources, leadership and growth. I am a far cry from a foodie but that doesn't mean I can't add a few food blogs to my reader for inspiration, right?

Two non-foodies I met were Emma Wilhelm, an author of 8 Dimensions of Leadership, DiSC Strategies for Becoming a Better Leader and Christy Eichers, an old band leadership camp buddy of Charlie Judy, HRFishbowl. Go figure!

The inspiration continued in the sessions:

Lee Oden, Top Rank Marketing. With nothing more than a blog and some savvy community building techniques (think hub and spoke and meeting the needs of your customers) he created a globaly recognized online marketing business.

Paul DeBettignies, HireCast Consulting. After warming the crowd up he dished about networking, using the back of your business cards, being nice to others <karma always comes back to you> and the difference between lurking and stalking.

Communities may develop around a website or a blog, but they don't stop there. Led by Kate O'Reilly, Clever Kate, panel members Jen Emmert, Prior Fat Girl, Meghan Wilker, Summer of Dresses, Stephanie Meyer, Fresh Tart Steph, and Ian Schwartz, St. Paul Tweetup shared their commuity building tips: people will hate on you and you get to decide how to respond, invite people to participate in the community, and there is not best approach to community growth.

I'm a Squarespace girl. I've felt a little alone in the Wordpress world, but no more. Enter Josh Braaten, Big Picture Web. He's my very own Squarespace connection. If you use Squarespace, think about using it or want a side-by-side comparison of Squarespace and Wordpress, he's your guy.

I heart Kate Hopper. Have you ever written a blog post that felt flat? Um, yes. Kate shared ways to ground your stories in details and bring people to life by describing tastes, smells, sounds, textures and touches. Her first book, Use Your Words: A Writing Guide for Mothers will be out in Spring 2012.

The taco bar rocked, the location was superb and the parking was free. Wait, the entire event was free thanks our sponsors Top Rank Online Marketing, Allina Hospitals and Clinics and KARE11. Yes, free!

Not sure how Missy Berggran, Arik Hanson and the planning team will top this in 2012 but I can't wait to find out!

We went through the drill.

Retracing our footsteps from both Wednesday's Open House and our quiet Thursday night visit to the empty middle school, we talked through bus drop off, locker location, homeroom and the 3 classroom periods. The lunch routine will vary from elementary school but she had the basics down: hop in a food line, make healthy choices and remember your lunch code. Find your lunch buddy, grab a seat and sit down to eat.

Homeroom #801, Language Arts #818, Math #814, Art #675.

Two elementary schools converging onto 1 middle school and 350+ 5th graders walking alongside those from 6th through 8th. One common area with 4 classroom wings, separate but together, curious but not really all that interested in anything but finding friends from last year and <maybe> getting to homeroom on time.

What should I do if the teacher is not by the bus? Not by the lockers? Nowhere in site? Head for the homeroom kid, that's where she'll wind up. But, but, but . . . no worries, you'll be wonderful. A little nervousness is natural but there's nothing to fear.

I know you are ready for this. You are much better equipped for this than I was. Your goals are to make a new friend. My goal when I was your age was to not make eye contact with any one. Yes, really. What? Are you laughing at me? Does it make you feel better? Good. That's what I am going for.

Now, put on your confidence clothes, grab your back pack and let's hit the road. The first step you take onto the school bus this morning will be the biggest step you'll take today. You've got this one kid. It's all down hill from here.

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Confidence, The School Bus and Taking the First Step

Lisa Rosendahl