ProBlogger and Text Link Ads Meetup – The ReCap!

Okay, I’m back and well enough rested to be able to write up something and share some photos from the ProBlogger and Text Link Ads meetup last night at Connolly’s in Manhattan. What a blast!

Dad and I on the train from Poughkeepsie down to the city. I’m dragging him, kicking and screaming (okay, so smiling, too) into the world of blogging!

We left the house around 12:30pm and drove down to Poughkeepsie, hopped on a train, and arrived in Manhattan around 5pm. We meandered a bit, and then found our way over to Connolly’s.

We were a little early, so we had to find our way to where they were hosting our party. Apparently they had 5 parties going on last night, one of which was a man’s 50th birthday, another was some sort of HBO party. Too cool that we were smack dab in the middle of such a neat place! They eventually put out a chalkboard to direct people where to go… it was packed in there!

As people arrived, I got to take a bunch of pics with some of the greatest people! Let me first say that Darren and his wife, “V” are absolutely the nicest people I’ve met in a long time. V and I were chatting together for a good part of the night, and she shared her feelings with me on what Darren’s doing. (Of course, I shared mine as well, and no, Stephanie, I didn’t forget to say that you think Darren’s a ROCKSTAR! )

She was floored at the sight of all these people there to see him – and I explained to her that there are 20,000+ people who are super sad that they weren’t able to be there. She’s extremely proud of him, and rightfully so! And we both have the same affinity for “Wicked” now – which is too cool! (I’m holding off on posting a pic until I get permission – these other guys are expecting it, but I’m not sure if V would expect it, so I want to ask first.)

Lara stopped chatting a locomotive into Darren’s ear to stop for a quick photo.

Darren, V, Dad, and I all got a few minutes to sit together and chat about some ideas for getting Dad deeper into blogging. It was great – because I think Dad walked away from the whole event getting a better idea of the fact that blogging truly is for just about anyone. If you have something you’re passionate about, you can have a blog. It doesn’t matter if you’re a huge conversationalist or not – you just have to be able to expand your thinking to cover all possible areas of the topic you’ve chosen, and you’re guaranteed to find something to talk about. Even if your passion is American muscle cars.

One of the first people to arrive, actually before Darren made his entrance was Aaron Brazell (technosailor and b5media). Aaron is super cool – we talked about everything from blogging for b5 to Alexa to WordPress – you name it!

And last, but certainly not least, I met Patrick Gavin from Text Link Ads. I can’t say enough good about all these people – I just loved this event so much!

(What a cutie he is! Yes girls, he’s taken. LOL)

Patrick was telling me about his move to NYC from Iowa – I can’t imagine the culture shock in terms of lifestyle and living! For those of you who don’t know, I’m a HUGE fan of TLA for both advertising for business/blogs and income for bloggers. H.U.G.E. fan, and now, I’m an even bigger fan of Patrick’s. He’s super easy to talk to, and just one of those people you’re happy to know.

All in all, I’ve got to say that the meetup was a success. Darren, Patrick, Aaron, and others were so much more accessible than you’d think, and it was great meeting and talking to every single person I did. The thing about these guys is that meeting them actually makes you proud of them. Proud to know them, and just thrilled that they’re doing the things they are, not for the benefit of yourself, but for the benefit of the industry. I love these guys!!

Here are some more pics of the crowd – click on the thumbnail to get a better peek.

And one other shot of the view down the street, just because I thought it was pretty: