Top 4 Reasons I Loved The Moms Meet WOW Summit
DISCLAIMER: I received a free pass to this conference as a member of the Orange County Moms Blog team. But I enjoyed it so much I wanted to write about it here. As always, all opinions are my own!
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the WOW Summit, an annual conference for bloggers and moms. It’s run by Moms Meet, which is an organization that connects mommy influencer types with sustainability-focused brands. Their brand partners range from eco-friendly products to organic, non-GMO, unprocessed foods, and anything else you can think of that’s better for you and the planet.
This year’s WOW Summit took place in Southern California. It was easy for me to drive to so I was able to attend both days and still be home to see the kids for a bit each day. I was hoping to broaden my sustainability knowledge base and make some good connections while I was there. What I experienced though far exceeded my expectations!
Here are the top 4 reasons I Loved the Moms Meet WOW Summit:
#1: Super Informative Panels And Workshops
The first day of the conference was for bloggers only and so all the panels and workshops were geared towards blogging life. We learned about a wide variety of blog-related topics such as Pinterest, website design, pitching to brands, and growing your blogging community. I can’t possibly write about each of them so will just touch on some of the highlights below. If you’d like to see the complete list, click here.
Saarah Samadani, the founder of New Bloom Media, gave a tutorial on Mastering The Media Kit. Being on the agency side, she has seen plenty of them and has really keen insights into what to do to make yours stand out and look professional.
The first panel after lunch was Balancing Romance & Motherhood, which featured 4 eco bloggers: Marci Zaroff (marcizaroff.com), Aaronica Cole (thecrunchymommy.com), Tammy Greene (married-and-naked.com), and Lucy Riles (lifeofmom.com).
Juggling parenthood and blogging is a big challenge, to put it mildly. Being a mom is always my number one priority. I also love blogging, so I want to spend every free minute of my time doing it. But sometimes that comes at the expense of sleep, or quality time with my husband. So I really appreciated hearing these panelists share their insight into life/work balance and tips for prioritizing your relationship with your partner.
After lunch, we broke into smaller groups for more specific workshops. I picked the one on SEO since that is something I am super nerdy about and always want to be better at. As it turns out, I had been sitting next to the speaker, Nicky Omohundro from littlefamilyadventure.com, at lunch!
Wise words from Nicky:
“You can’t control the social media algorithms, but you can control your post’s SEO.”
Day 2:
The second day of the conference was open to anyone interested in learning more about sustainability and natural products. So while the panels weren’t focused on blogging, they were still really interesting and informative!
Jessica Handy from eco advocacy group kisstheground.com presented a very clear picture on the connections between climate change and degenerative farming practices. The bright side of this scary reality is that we still have the power to affect positive change if we prioritize sustainable and regenerative farming practices. Even something as small as planting grass in a dirt patch in your backyard can have a positive affect on global warming!
I had the chance to speak with Jessica later in the day, and was really blown away by her intelligence and passion for the earth. I highly recommend checking out her website, kisstheground.com for more info!
The keynote speaker for the event was pediatrician extraordinaire Dr. Bill Sears! A friend gave us his classic Baby Book that is filled with wise advice for every stage of life from birth to toddlerhood. It was literally our bible in the dark early years of parenthood.
So it was a thrill to hear him speak! He is just as funny, clever, and helpful as he comes across in his books. This speech was about the connection between what and how we eat and our mental and physical health. I learned so much about maintaining good gut health and how it all connects to our immune system in warding off illness. Every attendee also all got a free signed copy of his related book, Dr. Poo: The Scoop On Comfortable Poop.
Workshops:
Later in the afternoon, there were two more workshop sessions. I chose to attend one that featured Melanie Hohman, the owner of Sensitive Sweets, a gluten-free nut-free bakery. I’ve had their cupcakes many times and find them to be truly delicious.
She taught us how to make no-cook nut-free granola bars with Solgar vegan protein powder. I’ve never used vegan protein powder before, but am trying to eat a more plant-based diet so was interested in learning how to use it at home. She demonstrated the recipe so we saw how easy it was to make. We also got to try a yummy sample afterwards and I am now completely sold on using vegan protein powder!
I also did the DIY products workshop, led by Carolina King from mamainstincts.com. Carolina is an eco blogger I’ve been following for a while on social media, who always gives great advice on greenifying your lifestyle.
We made a DIY Now essential oils roller for headaches, flouride-free toothpaste, and natural make-up remover. It was super fun and easy to do. You can see the recipe for the roller in the photo above. She’s got more recipes and ideas on her website, which I’m definitely going to check out. And that roller really came in handy later that night when I developed a headache!
#2: Discover New Eco-Friendly Products
Aside of the panels and workshops, another really great aspect of the conference was the Exhibition Hall. Here we got to meet and learn about a wide variety of eco-friendly products and organic/natural foods.
Here’s the list of all the brands featured at the conference!
Though I can be shy around strangers and in new social situations, I really enjoyed going from booth to booth and meeting all these brand reps. I was able to ask them detailed questions about their products, and let them know if I was already a customer what I enjoyed about them.
There were way too many interesting products for me to name check right now, but here are just a few highlights:
- The stain stick made from felted wool and goat’s milk soap by B & N Laundry.
- If You Care kitchen and household products. I’ve written about them before in my Reusable Sandwich Bag post, but it was cool to see the entire range of eco-friendly products they offer!
- Seriously craveable chocolate-covered coconut pre+probiotic nutrition bars from Truth Bar.
I also bought a copy of Mamavation founder Leah Segedie’s book Green Enough, and she signed it for me right there! It has so many recipes and tips for green living at home, like which furniture companies sell non-flame retardant sofas and which children’s shampoos don’t contain formaldehyde. I expect I’ll be using it as a reference guide for years to come.
#3: The Samples!
If I learned nothing else at this conference, it’s this: moms love free stuff. And eco-friendly moms are no different, though we do care about what’s in the products and the packaging and how it impacts the earth.
An overall highlight of the conference was getting to sample so many of the products in the Exhibition Hall. It’s a great way to test out a product to see if you actually like it and would use it at home.
One of my favorite samples was of the vegan “tuna” from Good Catch. It’s made from 5 different types of legumes and was super tasty! It had the consistency of tuna without the overly fishy taste of tuna. Also, they served the samples in compostable cups with wooden spoons, so get extra brownie points for that.
Another favorite was the organic OCHO chocolate candy! These bite-size minis would’ve been good to hand out at Halloween. Missed it by just a few days!
Every attendee got to take home this swag bag filled to the brim with product samples and coupons. There were even items in there from brands that didn’t have booths in the Exhibition Hall. I had a great time laying it all out on the living room carpet and taking inventory, just like I used to with my Halloween candy as a child!
#4: Make New Blogging Friends
This was an unexpected bonus of attending the Moms Meet WOW Summit. I went with some of my colleagues from the Orange County Moms Blog and got to bond with them, which was super fun. But I also met new blogging mamas, some of whom I already followed on social media but had never met in real life. Opportunities to make new friends with common interests as a mom are few and far between. So it was really awesome to connect with these wonderful women who share my love for writing and the planet!
Friends new and old: Joanne Martinez – askessentialmoms.com, Brittany Charnley – thecoolhipmom.com, me, Viv Jones – Orange County Moms Blog & Corona Moms Blog, and Aaronica C0le – thecrunchymommy.com.
Friday night ended with a cocktail party featuring the musical comedy duo Mommy Tonk. They were brash and R-rated and really fun!
Though it was sad to say goodbye to these new friends at the end of the conference, I hope to see them again soon. The 2019 Moms Meet WOW Summit has been set for September 27-28 in Arlington, Texas. Maybe I’ll see them – and you – there!
