Her Conference 2016 Experience

This post is brought to you by Her Conference 2016 and Her Campus Media.

I attended Her Conference for the first time this past weekend and I have a lot to say about it. I mean, I always have a lot to say about everything but this next level. This conference was fun and empowering and the only drawback of the entire conference was that the lighting wasn’t optimal for photos and you can totally tell as you advance in the post, I’m not gonna lie. That’s a pretty good drawback if you ask me.

Without further ado, let’s get onto the meaty part of the post with all of the questions you’re dying to ask. Probably not dying to ask, in fact, you’re probably not asking at all but here I am telling.

The Event

After checking in we received a swag bag (more on that later) and an incredibly clever itinerary. The itinerary, a map and all sorts of info about the Her Campus staff, speakers and panelists were in the front of this cute, matte notebook. I love how they made the itinerary into something actually useful instead of just a piece of paper to be shoved into a purse.

There were various activations set up by sponsors to look at before the first speaker. Activation is a fancy, classy word for a booth or some interactive area.

The Tinder one was gorgeous and covered in actual, real orange roses. This activation included a few surveys, a popular photo opportunity and awesome gift bags. I’m not sure when a fanny pack emblazoned with the Tinder logo will ever be appropriate but I’m excited about it, regardless. One of the shirts I ended up getting is actually one I would wear because it’s subtle and it’s totally my color (aka dark gray). There’s also Tinder hair ties, which are kind of quirky.

The ULTA Beauty activation was also incredibly cool. you could get your hair and makeup done. I got my hair curled and I felt like a mermaid princess. I haven’t had my hair curled in years, mostly because I’m garbage at hairstyling. This booth was really popular and you could also get a head shot taken afterwords, which was really clever. This is a conference for ladies who are trying to make it in their industry–a head shot is always handy.

There was a red carpet-esque wall sponsored by Vera Bradley and while the lighting situation didn’t do anyone any justice, here’s what I wore to day two of the conference! There was another one outside of the activation area that had even more sponsors like Amtrak and Baked by Melissa.

There were a bunch of raffles with cool prizes, too. I love the eyelashes on this shirt. It reminded me of my blog logo and I had to snap a photo. Sadly, I didn’t win any raffles because I didn’t enter any raffles because I lack common sense sometimes.

As for lunch, it was catered by Shake Shack. Let me tell you, nothing is quite as empowering and impressive as a crowd of seeing dozens of well-dressed and manicured young collegiate women eating burgers. The burgers were so delicious.

Baked by Melissa had a really simple and pretty display of cupcakes which every person spent ten minutes taking cute pictures of, many of us debating on whether or not it was socially and aesthetically acceptable to take a cupcake–it wasn’t. They were quite literally too pretty to eat but on day two we got to chow down.

At the end of the first night Juicy Couture also sponsored a really cute #TrackIsBack networking hours where we got to have popsicles, take cute pictures with colorful pool floats and network. I was really happy to receive a Juicy Couture track hoodie as a member of the press team covering the event. It’s really cozy!

The Speakers & Panelists

The morning keynote speaker was designer Rebecca Minkoff. She shared a lot of great advice and a lot about her failures and one of my favorite things she said was: “No is just the beginning of yes.”

The next event were the panels and I chose to attend “Does the Devil Really Wear Prada? Life in an Entry Level Editorial Position.” This was one of my favorite panels because all of the girls shared a lot of genuinely useful advice and insider tips on the editorial industry.

The panel I chose to attend after this was “The Business of Blogging.” This had a lot of good tips about influencer marketing and how to work with brands. After this and lunch was the afternoon keynote speaker, Andi Dorfman. She had so many wise words and relatable tales of failure, confusion and heartbreak. I loved when she said: “Embrace change. It’ll lead to so many opportunities you didn’t even know existed.”

Another keynote speaker and my favorite speaker of the weekend was Joyce Chang, the Editor-in-Chief of SELF magazine. I took notes and notes of words of wisdom from Joyce, it’s insane. She was so candid to the point where she even says she thinks her time in grad school for journalism was a waste of time and money. That was so reassuring to me and I loved that she discussed her failures as much as she did her successes.

Day two of Her Conference 2016 featured the EIC of Essence magazine, Vanessa De Luca, as the morning keynote. I loved when she said: “Give credit more than you take credit but when you need to own a moment, own it.” Basically she told us to be humble but also know when to own your moment and achievements, which I loved.

The first panel I attended was “Social Media Superstars: How to Make Social Media Your Full-Time Job.” This panel was so interesting and it featured social media editors from some of my favorite publications like Bustle and Refinery29!

I attend “Climbing the Ladder: Journalism Jobs Later on” next and got to meet the managing editor of one of my favorite publications, Dan Koday. Dan is the Managing Editor at xoJane and if you guys have been reading my blog for a while, you’ll definitely have seen a few links to articles from xoJane! He was really cool and he gave some great tips on getting your foot in the door and moving up in journalism.

I’m not going to continue rambling about speakers and events but we also had Nasta Liukin, an author and Olympian, and Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. I’m not going to lie, the editorial and social media speakers and panelists definitely were my favorites but these other women were wonderful and empowering speakers as well!

The last workshop I attended was all about empowering yourself in the workplace and Tory Johnson, the speaker, gave so much honest advice and she made me feel like I could totally kick ass and get my dream job. She was so real, down-to-earth and willing to help us and answer any question, which I greatly appreciated.

The Swag Bag

Ah yes, free stuff–everyone’s favorite! The Swag Bags this year were colorful and designed by Vera Bradley. This bag was heavier than a small child by the end of the day.

There were a bunch of exclusive discounts and freebie offers from places like Shake Shack, Onepiece, Rebecca Minkoff, Ulta Beauty and even a free class at Soul Cycle. My favorite thing in the swag bag has to be the full size Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in the shade “Firebird.” It’s stunning. There’s also a mascara from essence cosmetics (which you guys know I love), an ULTA lip crayon and a pretty makeup bag.

We also got issues of SELF and Essence magazine, a gorgeous Camelbak insulated travel mug, cute Palmer’s cocoa butter flip balms, Shake Shack sunglasses, a KIND bar, The Diva Cup and potentially other things I’m missing. There was seriously a lot of stuff in there.

At the end of this I learned a three things:

1. Don’t let titles and seniority intimidate you.

After one of the Journalism panels I nervously approached an editor of one of my favorite publications. I was worried I’d seem annoying but he was so nice and gave a lot of wonderful advice. I don’t know why I was so nervous to talk to him, but I’m glad I did. I wish this confidence had kicked in sooner and I had spoken to more panelists after the panels! They were so friendly and helpful.

2. Heels aren’t always the greatest idea.

Day one I rocked a polka dot dress and caramel bootie heels and I felt cute but by the end of the day my feet were straight up bleeding. It’s no surprise that the next day of the conference I wore flat boots. It was a much better decision and my mood was brighter because of my comfy shoes. Also, I had to stand for a panel and that was not comfortable at all–if you decide to attend Her Conference, wear comfortable shoes for real.

3. I need to come to Her Conference next year.

This event was a genuinely great experience. Admittedly, I didn’t exactly network as much as I should have. I handed out less than ten business cards, met a few girls and whatnot but I did leave with a lot of helpful advice and inspiration. Seriously, I took at least fifteen pages of notes during this thing and it’s all helpful tips, advice, quotes and information.

 Did you attend Her Conference? What was your favorite part?