The Blogger Association will host its first annual convention in Phoenix, Arizona from February 4-7, 2015. The convention will provide 150 attendees, 10 VIPs, 8 keynote speakers, and 15 employees with skills to advance their blogging careers through workshops and networking events. Topics will include how to start a blog, coding, social media, drawing readers, and the future of blogging. The convention will be held at the Hotel Palomar with meals, sessions in the Dreamcatcher Ballroom, and an optional offsite activity. Evaluations will provide feedback to improve future conventions.

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Blogger Association Convention
Phoenix, Arizona
February 4, 2015 – February 7, 2015
The first Annual Blogger Convention will allow both experienced and new bloggers to
hear from top bloggers, marketers, and Internet personalities. This convention will
provide the bloggers with skills to advance in the blogging world and time to network
with attendees and speakers.
Demographic – The convention will be geared towards the young entrepreneur type
between the ages of 20 to 35. The convention will be geared towards anyone who is
interested in starting a blog, already has an established blog, or is just interested in
learning about how blogging works.
Location - The convention will be held in Phoenix, Arizona at the Hotel Palomar in
Downtown Phoenix. The Hotel Palomar was chosen because it is located in the heart of
Phoenix, giving the attendees access to a variety of local attractions and the hotel has
unique meeting spaces that can be used for the convention. The Hotel Palomar has a
very trendy and unique vibe that will work hand in hand with the theme of the
convention.
Time – The convention will be held the first weekend in February to avoid any serious
weather concerns and holidays. These dates will ensure that the weather is not too hot
and not too cold for the attendees. The dates also avoid any major US holidays, which
will allow the attendees to be completely focused on the convention. The dates were
also chosen to keep in mind of the attendees’ workweek. The convention will be held
primarily during the weekend so that the attendees do not miss out on too much work
time.

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Goals and Objectives
Goals:
• To provide attendees with a better understanding on how to run a
successful blog.
• To provide the attendees the knowledge on popular social media outlets
and understanding on how to create engaging atmospheres for their
readers.
• To create a community between the bloggers.
• To provide the understanding of what makes a blog successful.
• To create an exciting vision of the future of the blogging industry.
Objectives:
• To teach attendees how to properly and effectively carry out blog
functions: Coding for blogs, writing blog posts, designing blog templates.
• To teach attendees how to market through social media using tools like
hashtags and promoted posts.
• To provide valuable networking time that will allow the attendees and the
speakers to develop relationships between one another.
• To provide attendees with the knowledge of what draws more readers to
your blog.
• To show attendees what opportunities the future holds for careers in the
blogging industry.
Who Is Involved
• In order to properly execute the event we will need help from the Hotel Palomar
staff in several departments, including:
o Banquet sets
o Sales
o Reservations
o Front desk team
o Meeting specialists
o Group account coordinators
o Audio Visual team
o Catering
• We will also utilize 15 of the staff members from the Blogger Association that will
assist in the planning and execution of the event.

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o These employees will not only assist in planning the event, but will also be
a direct contact for any hotel employees or attendees during the event.
• In order to create an exciting event we will also need speakers to speak at the
event. The speakers include:
o Cara Loren (www.caraloren.com)
o Lauren Conrad (www.laurenconrad.com)
o Lo Bosworth (www.thelodown.com)
o Sakura (www.bloguettes.com)
o Loren (www.bloguettes.com)
o Kaitlynn Carter (www.thewesternwild.com)
o Jaclyn Hill (www.jaclynhillmakeup.com)
o Charlotte Groeneveld (www.thefashionguitar.com)
Pre- Event
• Marketing will be done through the blogger association’s social media sites.
• The keynote speakers will also market the event through their blogs, YouTube
channels and social media sites to reach their followers.
• Attendees will be able to reserve their spot in the convention online.
• The attendees will be charged a $150 fee for the convention and an additional
charge of $75 if they wish to attend the outside activity.
o This cost can be paid in monthly payments, but must be paid in full by
January 4th
in order to reserve their spot
o The cost is non refundable in order to save the company from no show
costs
Transportation
• Attendees will pay for their own transportation.
• Due to the fact that all attendees are coming from all around the country/ world,
they will be in charge of booking their own flights.
• There will be a shuttle that picks up attendees from the airport every hour. The
first shuttle will pick up at 7AM and the last one will pick up at 3PM.
o Attendees will be advised to book their flights according to the shuttle pick
up times and will be responsible for their own transportation to the hotel if
they arrive before or after the designated shuttle times.

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• VIPS and speakers will be primarily flying in from California and New York. They
will be booked on the same flights and will have private transportation to
transport them from the airport to the hotel.
o For any VIP or speaker that lives outside of California or New York we will
be flying them out on their own flight and they will also have private
transportation to the hotel.
o Costs are covered for the speakers, but not the VIPs.
• Employees that will be working the Blogger Association Convention will be on the
same flight from California.
o The employees will be flying out one day prior to the event to prepare.
o The employees will have a shuttle that transports them from the airport to
the hotel.
o All costs are covered.
• Departure day:
o Attendees will have a shuttle running to the airport every hour, starting at
11AM and ending at 5PM
§ The attendees are responsible for booking their own flights out.
o VIPs and Speakers will have private transportation to the airport and will
fly out on the same flights to California and New York
§ If they are flying anywhere else, they will be flown out alone.
o Employees will be transported on a shuttle that runs at 7PM the evening of
the last convention day.
§ The employees will all be flying out on the same flight to California.
§ If they wish to depart earlier their flight will be covered, but they
must provide their own transportation to the airport.
• Transportation to the outside event will be covered by the convention
Hospitality
• Attendees will be staying at the Hotel Palomar in downtown Phoenix during the
convention. The attendees will have to pay for their own rooms during the
convention.
• There will be a block of rooms reserved specifically for the convention, in which
guests will be utilizing at a discounted price.
• Guests will be booked in room types accordingly. Attendees will be in deluxe
guest rooms with two queen beds. Speakers and event VIPs will be booked in
suites or skyline guest rooms with one king bed. Guests will not be able to
upgrade their room type due to the contract with the hotel.

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• The guests will be provided with continental breakfast during the convention and
two paid dinners.
• The convention will have room for 150 attendees, 10 VIPs, 8 key note speakers,
and 15 employees
• Employees’ rooms, meals, and transportation will be paid for and they will be
paid their usual salary
• Key note speakers’ rooms, transportation and all incidental charges will be
covered by convention and they will be paid $400
• VIP’s rooms will be covered, but they will be in charge of all other charges.
Registration
• There will be an on-site registration desk. However, guests will be able to
reserve their spot for the convention online.
• Guests will pay prior to arriving at the convention. The payments must be
received by January 4th
, 2016 in order to hold their spot in the convention.
• The registration will be held in the pre-function space outside of the
Dreamcatcher ballroom, which allows for open space and easy to locate for
the guests.
• At registration guests will receive an itinerary of events, a name badge with a
lanyard, a map of the downtown Phoenix area, a tote bag, a notebook and
pen, and packets of valuable information that will be covered during the
convention.
Schedule:
Day 1 (February 4th
) –
12PM – 3PM Attendee Arrival N/A
12PM – 4PM Registration Outside of Dreamcatcher II
5PM – 6PM Welcome Reception Calavera Ballroom
6PM – 8PM Dinner (Provided) Dreamcatcher I
Day 2 (February 5th
) –
7AM – 8AM Breakfast Calavera

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8:30AM – 12:30PM General Session Dreamcatcher I & II
12:30PM – 2PM Break N/A
2PM – 5PM Coding Workshop Zia & Mural
5PM – 6PM Break N/A
6PM – 9PM Networking Reception Fresca & Pool Deck
Day 3 (February 6th
) –
7AM – 8AM Breakfast Calavera
8:30AM – 10:30AM Social Media Workshop Zia & Mural
10:30AM – 12:30PM General Session Dreamcatcher I & II
12:30PM – 2PM Break N/A
2PM – 7PM Offsite Activity N/A
Day 4 (February 7th
) –
7AM – 8AM Breakfast Calavera
8:30AM – 11AM General Session Dreamcatcher I & II
11AM – 12PM Q&A With Guest Speakers Dreamcatcher I & II
12PM Attendees Depart N/A
Meeting Space
• The majority of the convention events will be held in the Dreamcatcher
Ballroom, which holds 225 people. This allows for all of the attendees, VIPs
and speakers to attend the general sessions.
• Smaller breakout groups will be held in Zia and Mural rooms, which can be
broken into two smaller rooms each.
• There will be a networking/ dinner reception in the Fresca room and the pool
deck. The Fresca room opens up to the pool deck; therefore we will be able to
utilize both spaces in correlation. The space holds up to 260 guests in total.
• The Calavera ballroom will be utilized for breakfast each morning. The room
holds up to 90 people, but the pre-function can be utilized for seating as well.
Program Content
• General Session (1) – Topics covered: blog overview, how to successfully run a
blog, and starting a blog. Speakers: Cara Loren and Lo Bosworth blog
personalities.

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• Coding Workshop – Attendees will be broken up into two separate groups, one in
Zia and the other in Mural. Lead by Sakura and Loren from Bloguettes.
o Hands on workshop that teaches attendees the basics of coding for blogs.
• Social Media Workshop – Attendees will be broken up into two groups, one in Zia
and the other in Mural. Lead by Jaclyn Hill (YouTube personality) and Lauren
Conrad (blog personality)
o Hands on workshop that teaches attendees how to effectively run popular
social media outlets.
• General Session (2) – Topics covered: Drawing in more readers, writing
interesting blog posts, and knowing what your readers want to see. Speakers:
Kaitlynn Carter and Charlotte Groeneveld blog personalities.
• Offsite Activity – Attendees that opt in for the offsite activity will be attending one
night of the Phoenix Fashion Week. They will utilize this opportunity to cover the
event on their blog to get hands on practice of the tools they have gained during
the convention.
• General Session (3) – Topics: Future of blogging, how to make a career with
your blog, and treating your blog like your job. Speakers: Loren and Sakura from
Bloguettes.
• Q&A With Speakers – This will give the attendees the chance to interact directly
with the speakers and ask any questions they have for them.
Meeting Room Set-ups
• Dreamcatcher I & II Ballroom – Standard schoolroom set-up.
o This will be used so attendees have a table to have their laptops or
notepads and so the speaker is the main focus.
• Calavera Ballroom – Crescent-round set-up.
o This will be used so attendees can enjoy breakfast while talking to other
attendees.
o There is no main focus in this meeting room so there is no need for the
tables to face a specific location
• Zia & Mural – Crescent-round set-up.
o This will be utilized during the workshop sessions because it creates a
more intimate setting and can allow attendees to easily interact with each
other at the tables, but still have a main focus towards the speaker.
• Fresca and Pool Deck – There will be no specific set up for the networking
reception, instead there will be several small high top tables around the room.
o This will be utilized because there is no need for a large tables as people
will most likely be walking around and networking

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Tables, Chairs & Audio Visual Equipment
• The Hotel Palomar provides all tables and chairs for the meeting rooms.
• The Hotel Palomar’s banquet team will set up the meeting rooms, so there is no
need for utilizing an outside company.
• Every meeting room at the Hotel Palomar is equipped with audiovisual
equipment and wireless Internet, including the pool deck, which will be great for
the networking reception.
• We will utilize enough tables and chairs to seat 200 people to give some wiggle
room
• Each meeting room will utilize wireless microphones since there will only be one
speaker at a time.
• The meeting rooms will also need rear projection screens and line array audio
system.
o The speakers will bring their own USB to or laptop to connect to the
projection screen.
• No video conferencing will be needed during the convention
• Any web applications needed during the convention will be provided by the
Blogger Association.
o These applications include Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel,
etc.
Food & Beverage
• Continental breakfast for three days includes:
o Fruit
o Bagels
o Donuts
o Coffee
o Orange Juice
o Water bottles
• Welcome dinner:
o Catered by the Blue Hound Kitchen at the Hotel Palomar
o 200 plates needed (including employees)
o Full Dinner
• Networking reception:
o Catered by the Blue Hound Kitchen
o Will have hors d’oeuvres passed around and small buffet styled setting

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• Snacks:
o Every meeting and workshop will have a small snack bar located at the
bag of the room filled with:
§ Coffee
§ Water bottles
§ Iced Tea
§ Soda
§ Chips
§ Candy
Insurance
• General liability - To protect against any claims involving bodily injury or property
damage that occurs during the convention.
• Fire Liability – We will need fire liability to cover the costs of any fire damage that
may occur to the facility during the convention
• Event cancellation insurance – while there are very little chances of weather
emergencies in Phoenix, there is still possibility for other emergencies that could
cause the event to be cancelled, which is why we will utilize event cancellation
insurance.
• Worker’s compensations – Due to the fact that the event is only utilizing
employees from the Blogger Association we will not need to get worker’s
compensation because the worker’s compensation policy from the company will
cover the workers during the event.
• Additional Insured – We will need additional insurance on the charter busses and
the private transportation that we will be utilizing during the convention.
• Independent Contractor Liability – All guest speakers are required to have their
own certificate of insurance showing that they have worker’s compensation
because they are independent contractors.
• Medical liability – We will need medical liability incase of any medical expenses
for injuries that occur during the convention.
• Umbrella Policies – We will need umbrella policy to cover any gaps in insurance
and insure that the company does not have to pay for any gaps in coverage.
Budget
• Indirect Costs:
o Staff salaries

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o Software applications
• Fixed costs:
o Meeting room rentals ($3,000)
o AV equipment (Microphones, speakers, and projectors) ($200)
o Tables and Chair ($200)
o Guest speakers ($3,200)
o Rooms for employees, speakers, and VIP guests ($3,300)
o Shuttle services ($800)
• Variable costs:
o Food and Beverage
o Transportation for employees and speakers
• Break even point:
o Fixed costs are $10,700
o 150 attendees
o Registration fee is $71
• Budgeting for Profit
o Variable costs of $6,000
§ Brings registration fee up to $112
o Will bump registration fee up to $150 in order to gain profit and cover
variable costs
Evaluations
• At registration attendees will be given a phone number that they can text at any
time during the convention to ask questions about the convention, note concerns
and give feedback.
• During the last general session the attendees will be given a survey that they will
be able to fill out and return back to the Blogger Association employees.
• Questions will include:
o Do you believe the convention was helpful to you and your blogging
future?
o Was there anything during the convention that you did not find helpful?
o Was there anything that you would have liked to have experienced or
learned during the convention that you did not?
o What could have been provided during the convention that would have
made your understanding of blogging better?
• These evaluations will be utilized for the next years convention in order to give
the attendees more of what they want to experience.
Green Services

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• One way we will incorporate green services is by asking the attendees to not get
their rooms serviced by the housekeeping team.
o By doing this Hotel Palomar is saving water usage, paper towel usage,
and spraying less harmful cleaning chemicals.
o If attendees opt in to not receiving housekeeping they will get $10 off their
registration fee.
• Only reusable plates, utensils, and cups will be utilized during the convention.
• The only time paperwork will be passed out is at registration, other than that the
attendees will be able to access all information through a public Air Drop drive.
Risk Management
• (1) Strike/Riot in Downtown Phoenix.
o Because Downtown Phoenix is the central area of Phoenix, most events
occur there, which means it is very likely that a strike/Riot could occur
during the convention.
o Mitigation (1) – If the strike/riot was not very serious or harmful to the
attendees well being, the convention would continue, but we would advise
attendees to stay on property. We would also cancel the offsite activity
and plan a new on site activity, such as spa treatments, to make up for the
inconvenience.
o Mitigation (2) – If the strike/riot was very serious and harmful we would
utilize our cancellation insurance and postpone the convention. We would
not want to continue the convention and take a chance that an attendee or
employee could get harmed.
• (2) Key speakers do not arrive
o It is very possible that a key speaker could not arrive to the convention,
which could possible decrease the effectiveness of the convention.
o Mitigation (1) – If the key speaker was not going to be coming to the
convention at all, we would utilize one of the key speakers from another
day and pay that speaker double (using the pay from the original speaker).
Prior to the event we would have signed contracts from the speakers
noting that if they do not show they are responsible for paying back all
transportation and room charges. So we would not lose out on that
money.
o Mitigation (2) – If the key speaker were able to arrive to the convention
late, we would move around the speaker’s times. For example, if Cara
Loren was not able to arrive until the second day, then we would pull
Kaitlynn Carter from the second day and she would speak on the first day.

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The speaker would have to pay for their cover the costs of the flight
change and would be charged an inconvenience cost that would be
relayed in the contract.
• (3) Winter Storms (Flight cancellations)
o While it is highly unlikely for a winter storm to occur in Arizona, it is very
likely for one to occur in other states that attendees and speakers may be
coming from. If too many flights were canceled we could possibly lose out
on our speakers coming from New York, creating a problem for the
attendees.
o Mitigation (1) – Web conference. If key speakers were unable to make it to
the conference due to flight cancellations with weather concerns, we
would give them the option to conduct their session through web cam. The
speaker would still get their stipend pay of $350. We would not need to
worry about covering the costs of the transportation because the airlines
would waive that due to weather concerns and the rooms would be taken
care of with our contract through the Hotel Palomar.
o Mitigation (2) – If more than 4 of our key speakers were unable to attend
the convention we would utilize our event cancellation insurance and
refund the attendees their registration fees. With four of the key speakers
missing the event would not effective and creates the possibility of
attendees not wanting to return the following year. Rather than risk the
unhappiness of the attendees, we would reschedule the convention and
give the attendees, who do not want to attend the new dates, a refund.