I am a glorified conference junkie and I am proud to say it. But don't let this post fool you---I cannot in any way attend all the conferences that I want to go to.

I am not big on New Year Resolutions, but I do have a few as they pertain to my blog and website. For the past 2 years, I have started the year off with a list of goals that I wanted to achieve with my blog. I have hit many of those goals and benchmarks, but still struggle with some.

As some of you may have noticed, I am kinda sorta addicted to attending conferences and events, especially those of the social media and blogging persuasion. Blogging and social media have become my passion and I enjoy gatherings that celebrate the genres as well as encourage learning, networking, and growth.

A guest blog post is when you write a blog post of original material on someone else's blog. Simply put, you are working as a guest author for a site and bringing your voice and originality to its readers.

This year's WordCamp Chicago (this is the 3rd year) will take place Sat., July 30th and Sun., July 31st. The tracks I am most interested in attending are the ones that are geared to those of us who are using WordPress for our businesses, and of course getting better SEO results for the information on your blog.

But just like any new thing on the innerwebs, there are always those that simply don't get it---I mean, how many times did you have to explain to someone how to use Twitter before people finally caught on? Google+ has its advantages and I can see it being one of the most used social networks, especially since they learned from their unfortunate Wave debacle in 2009.

So if by chance you are following me on any of my various social networks, then you may have read that I am in the City of Angels for the Blogging While Brown conference. This conference celebrates bloggers of all races, spectrum, and colors in terms of social media and blogging.

Back in April, I was contacted by a writer from Conde Nast, the company that publishes Glamour, regarding my blog post, My Boss Takes Credit for My Work. The writer asked me to tell the story behind my post and the example I gave in the piece, and after a few emails back and forth, I was told I may or may not be included in an upcoming issue of the glossy magazine.

After attending many conferences over the last year or so, I consider myself to be a conference veteran. I have a boot camp type of ritual that I go through before every conference to make sure that I have everything I need, especially since most of the conferences I attend are in different cities, and I am not able to go back home and retrieve what I left.

I am hardly a veteran when it comes to blogging since I have only been blogging for less than two years. I have learned a great deal since I began blogging, and have surrounded myself with others who share their wealth of knowledge.

Blogging While Brown will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the first blogging/social media conference I attended and the networking and friendships I made that weekend last June are still in tact and growing.

Attending the conference is just one aspect of networking; once the conference is over and you go home, the real work begins.

Conferences are a good way to network, build morale, learn new and interesting techniques, and build your brand. Here are a few tips you can use to get the most our of your next social media/blogging conference:

Which is why I was so excited when I heard about Shecon, a new media expo for female bloggers and social media types. It's being held in Miami South Beach, and unlike 90% of conferences, it's FREE to attend. You just had to register in time for the free ticket and VOILA, you are on your way!

For weeks now, I noticed that when I received my Google Alerts in my inbox, they failed to show any of my blog posts. This has happened before for a few days, but usually they return.