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In one month I’ll be in Las Vegas for Blogalicious, the multicultural social media conference. This is my third year as an attendee and I’m as excited as ever about the weekend, the people and the content.

Last night I started preparing, because there are many opportunities to learn and connect at Blogalicious and it helps to have your goals in mind before you get there.

Here are a few things I’m doing to get ready. I’d love to hear other Blogalicious attendees’ (including past events) suggestions for how to make the most of the weekend.

1. Travel partner – I took care of this early in the year, actually. Blogalicious is lots of fun and it’s even more fun with friends and, in my case, a family travel partner. In addition to having some true catch up time, having a conference partner is helpful when there are two sessions going on but you can only be in one place at a time. And for me, it really helps to have someone to bounce ideas off of in real time.

2. Other attendees – I’m starting to check to see who is attending and thinking about who I would like to talk to about projects I’m working on, including the book project I’m launching. Social media is fantastic and even just a 15 minute face-to-face conversation at Blogalicious can accelerate those relationships.

3. Speakers – There are speakers on the list who I’ve read and followed since before “social media” (for example, Harriette Cole) and others who I’m just excited to hear speak (Miss Lori, Mario Armstrong, Dr. Rosemarie Ingleton, just to name a few).

4. Fun – I don’t think you can really prepare for fun, but I am very much looking forward to having it and letting my hair down (so to speak!) in Las Vegas. This is my first trip to Vegas and I’m curious to see what the fuss is about. I’m learning this year how much I still need laughs, light moments and late night convos for stress relief.

5. Presence – As I mentioned above, I know there are already people I want to talk to about projects I’m working on. I need to also ensure my web presence is ready so I can confidently send them to a site for the project while we’re at Blogalicious. That’s the real work I need to do in the next four weeks. It’s a big part of being ready for “yes” and I don’t want to miss opportunities because something isn’t in place.