Last week I went to Atlanta to attend a conference. While I was there I wanted to connect with a friend of mine from Up With People and with some personal finance bloggers who live in Atlanta. I had never met them before and quite honestly they are pretty well known in the personal finance community and I am not. I’m a big believer in meeting new people but introducing yourself to new people can be tricky. You don’t want to come across as a creeper.
When I made my initial overture to the bloggers in Atlanta I really wasn’t sure what their response would be. I love meeting new people but I live in a town that is pretty easy to navigate. If people contact me it’s easy for me to meet them downtown, show them around, and get them back to our initial meeting place. Atlanta is huge, spread out and I had no idea where I was staying. Or, where I was in general. My thought was I had nothing to lose and they would either say “yes” or “no”. Fortunately for me, they said “yes!”
I hung out with Lauren from Lbee and the Money Tree, Paula from Afford Anything, and Kyle from Amateur Asset Allocator. They were welcoming, funny, and genuine. We hung out for several hours and I discovered that Lauren is HILARIOUS! Kyle is charming, and Paula is a real estate genius. I am really happy that I took the risk to met with them and am looking forward to meeting them again in the fall at FinCon13 (pf bloggers conference). In the 3 hours that we hung out I learned about the following: real estate-Paula changed the whole way I was thinking about investment properties, our time hanging out also reinforced my belief that pf bloggers rock and that it’s perfectly normal to pepper conversation with thoughts about assets, stats, and writing. Meeting with Lauren, Kyle, and Paula also reinforced my belief that there are great people out there wanting to make a connection and all it take is an email, tweet, call, or letter to get that connection started.
A couple of things to consider before you get started connecting with new people. First, I have been reading Lauren’s blog for quite awhile and she was who I contacted first. I also comment on her blog quite often so it wasn’t as random as you would think that I would ask to meet up. Second, I was also comfortable with the possibility of them saying “no”. They may have been busy or just uncomfortable meeting me. Finally, I didn’t send too many emails. That should be a no brainer. Obviously, too many emails is weird. Don’t do it.
- Take risks-contact people that you would like to know
- Make sure who you’re trying to meet has a sense of who you are
- Be gracious. I really, really, appreciated the time that Lauren, Kyle, and Paula took out of their day to meet me.
- Have fun!
- Keep in touch
**The link is our picture! Kyle is taking it. He is not shy***
http://instagram.com/p/W65HgmyB–/
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You 3 ladies look lovely in that picture 🙂
Thanks for your kind compliment. We had a wonderful time hanging out!
Although I am anonymous with my blog, (only the bf knows about it and he hasn’t even read it) eventually I would like to connect with some of my favourite bloggers if I do get the chance to attend a conference. I’m quite introverted, quiet and shy. Meeting new people and trying to socialize with them makes me quite nervous. My bf says I tend to overanalyze social situations. I can’t help it!
Pf bloggers are the best! I did notice that there are a large number of people who are introverts and their blog becomes their voice. I would encourage you to email people (privately) who you’ve connected with via comments and introduce yourself. If you’re going to FinCon13 set up coffee dates or happy hours. I am an extrovert but initially reserved when I am in new situations or meeting people for the fist time. I like to get a feel for the situation first. Also, you could join your local PF meet up. We have one in Denver and I know there are a lot through out the U.S. Where are you locate?
I think it’s great that you were able to meet up with them. I got to hang out with Paula in a small group at the conference last year and she is definitely an impressive woman.
If we ever have to go back to Denver, you are my official tour guide! 😉
It was wonderful meeting them. I have def. changed the way I think about investment property based on something that Paula said. She should write a book about real estate. You two are ALWAYS welcome! I love showing people around Dtown! It will be different from what you experienced during FinCon12 .
That’s awesome you got the courage up to organize that. I think it can be scary but totally worth it. I helped organize a socal meetup in december and it was great meeting the people behind the blog. What’s great about this community is you can find someone in almost every state!
I just contacted Lauren and she was kind enough to organize everything. I’m really glad that I did! I will be in St. Louis in May so I might reach out again and see who I can meet with when I’m there.
Sounds like a lot of fun. I’d love to meet up with other personal finance blogger (if you’re ever in the NYC area, e-mail me. I won’t think you’re creepy!)
I will def. connect with you if I’m in NYC. There is a slight possibility that I might go there Labor Day Weekend. Will keep you posted. Thanks for not thinking I’m a creeper 🙂
I have plans to meet up with quite a few bloggers while in the US! Quite exciting as being in NZ it’ll be my only chance really. I have met with a couple of (non PF) bloggers down under, but the blogs I follow most closely are all overseas.
As I do this more and get more invested in pf blogging the more I want to connect with other pf bloggers. Partly because it’s cool to meet people who are as cool (read potentially nerdy) and love finance in the same way that I do! Also, it’s just great to meet new people.
Haha, I guess “charming” is one word you could use to describe me 😉
There were other adjectives I could have used but “charming” won, hehe!