There I was. On the dance floor, getting ready to hear Racheal McCaig sing her first karaoke song of the night. It was the Blissdom Canada annual Halloween karaoke party. The words that first escaped Racheal's mouth, however, were not what I was anticipating. "Yes, that's Jordan Knight over there." What? Jordan Knight?!? Over where? Surely, it must be someone disguised as the New Kids on the Block star.

I glanced once.

I glanced twice.

It was true! Jordan Knight was in the house! Eeek!

Shortly after that announcement, the room emptied nearly immediately as all the women-turned-12-year-olds lined up for their exclusive photo opp, each donned in their costumes. What a sight! And of course, there was Eric Alper handing out Jordan Knight's latest CD. Awesome!

Jordan Knight and myself at the Blissdom Canada karaoke costume party.

Later, Jordan joined us for some karaoke à la NKOTB while his adoring fans joined him on stage. Including myself. Pinch me. I must be dreaming.

Check out this video on CBC Live.

Jordan Knight's Surprise Performance at Female Blogger Conference

Last week, digital women from all parts of Canada joined together in a networking opportunity during the ShesConnected Conference 2011 held right here in good ol' TO. As an adviser and panelist, I was really excited to see all the fabulous women and brands in attendance, who were equally as excited to be there. It was such fun to socialize with and meet fellow bloggers with whom I've chatted both online and off. And even with all the breaks we had, there were still so many awesome people that I never had a chance to speak to in person. Not that I had much of a voice anyhow...

But I still tried some caraoke.

Yes, you read that correctly. Ford, the title sponsor of the event, had set up karaoke in one of their cars and I thought it was such a brilliant idea. At various points throughout the conference, you could hear the music blaring and the horn a-honking. And you know I'm always in favour of music, honey!

Marcy Berg, Rachel McCaig, Diane Morgan and Lisa McDonald doing caraoke.

It was also really nice to meet chef Christine Cushing, who so kindly autographed her latest cookbook for me and offered either a bottle of her organic olive oil or homemade tomato sauce. I went with the olive oil. Did I mention she's really sweet in person? Speaking of sweet, send her a tweet @ccfearless and ask her for an interesting fact about strawberries and lemons. I was pretty surprised.

Chef Christine Cushing (@ccfearless), ShesConnected Conference 2011

The rooms at the Sheraton Hotel, where the event took place, were nice and cozy.



And I really liked the view from my my room at dusk.


I really wish I had the chance to take a dip in their heated outdoor pool, though.

Sheraton Hotel, Toronto

But instead, I headed over with a bunch of gals to the ShoesConnected tweetup at Town Shoes on Bloor Street. It was a lot of fun hanging with Lena, Heather and Juan while I busted a move on the upper level. The D.J. was awesome!

ShoesConnected Tweetup at Town Shoes

I also met the man behind @Loose_Button who gave away some pretty cool Luxe boxes.

@Loose_Button and @Listen2Lena, ShoesConnected

The next day, I sat through some really interesting panel discussions and was happy that my panel was earlier on in the day. This was my first panel ever, moderated by the one and only @DuriAjrami. To my left was ShesConnected CEO and co-founder @DonnaAntoniadis. To my right was @JamesClarkeCA, Digital Marketing Manager of Maple Leaf Foods. He was great but I have to share something with you. James has a tendency to shake his leg. A lot. Donna thought I was the one making the table and stage shake incessantly. When I informed her it was James, she told me to put my hand on his thigh to get him to stop shaking. This is not how I imagined my first panel would be like. But I did it anyway. While he was in mid sentence. Eek. Sorry, James! Next to him sat @JulieCole of Mables Labels followed by @Jen_Banks from A Busy Mommy and the lovely Lina Saouma of Hallmark Canada. The discussion went well and I managed to answer a couple of questions even though my voice was hoarse. The highlight for me was when I heard Duri refer to me as 'famous.' At least, I think that's what he said. Me? Famous? ha! He must have been talking about these Social Media Rock Stars:

Casie Stewart, Christine Cushing, Tracy Moore, Lianne Phillipson-Webb, Shannon Mischuk

We later discussed a blogger's worth...

Theresa Dostaler, Raymi Lauren White, Stephanie Holmes, Wendy Kam Marcy, Jennifer Ballamara McPherson

As well as Rate Cards, Guidelines and Disclosures.

Deanna Tousignant, Alyssa Kingsbury, Jeannine Miranda, Lena Almeida, Andrea Tomkins

I learned a lot during these panels and the wheels in my head are still turning. There are so many things I need to take into consideration and I really need to re-evaluate my goals for my blog. The ShesConnected Conference was really fantastic and it was plain to see that a lot of hard work and dedication went into all the prep work.

In the meantime, I get to take with me all the wonderful experiences of networking and connecting with so many fabulous people. I also got to enjoy some super delicious chocolate care of @PurdysChocolate and the lovely @chancesmommy who was so sweet to bring me a chocolate Bear Paw from Manitoulin Island. It was SO good! And I can't forget the supply of @AdultEssentials vitamins that came in one of the swag bags. These vitamins keep popping up everywhere, I tell ya!

Oh! And I got to hand out my new mini Moo cards which I got to try out thanks to @Klout. Aren't they cute?



To all of the wonderful people I got to meet, I am so thankful for that opportunity and hope to meet again soon. To those with whom I failed to connect, I deeply regret not making a better effort to do so. I truly hope everyone enjoyed the conference and left with new friendships forged, connections made and some invaluable insights learned. I know I did!

As most of you know, the 2nd annual ShesConnected Conference 2011 will be taking place here in Toronto on September 29 and 30. Since you cannot purchase tickets to this event, you need to apply to attend. Many attendees have been announced and I can feel the excitement building.


As an advisor, I have the wonderful opportunity to give away a conference pass. Simply head on over to the ShesConnected Conference contest form and tell us why you deserve to attend for a chance to win! And while you will be guaranteed to have a blast hanging with yours truly, you will still be responsible for travel and accommodations. But I might be able to snag you a beer...

Be sure to enter before September 6, 2011. Open to Canadian residents only.

And remember, if you are active across all major social networks and have established relationships with other influential women, you can still apply to be one of 200 Top Digitally Connected Women in Canada to attend the conference for FREE!

Here are some of the criteria:

• you are a member of ShesConnected.com
• you are Canadian
• you are extremely active across all social media (Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
• you post frequently on Blogs, Twitter and Facebook
• you post high quality content
• you are eager to work with Brands
• you fit the demographic their sponsors are targeting

Don't forget to RSVP for the fabulous #SCCTO Twitter parties, too!

Thanks to all the wonderful SCCTO sponsors and the amazing people behind ShesConnected for making it all happen!

In case you were wondering what all the buzz has been about over #SCCTO on Twitter, it's all about the 2nd annual ShesConnected Conference 2011 taking place right here in Toronto on September 29 and 30. If you are active across all major social networks and have established relationships with other influential women, you can apply to be one of 200 Top Digitally Connected Women in Canada to attend the conference for FREE! Here are some of the criteria: you are a member of ShesConnected.com, you are Canadian, you are extremely active across all social media (Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), you post frequently on Blogs, Twitter and Facebook, you post high quality content, you are eager to work with Brands, you fit the demographic their sponsors are targeting.

This year, I have been invited to join the advisory panel of digital women. It has been exciting to learn about the amazing sponsors and speakers set to participate this year including CityLine Host Tracy Moore, TV personality and chef Christine Cushing, Toshiba, Chicken Farmers of Canada, Nokia, and Life Choices Natural Foods, just to name a few.

In the meantime, be sure to RSVP to attend the next #SCCTO twitter party where you can win one of 50 amazing prizes such as a Toshiba Thrive Tablet, Nokia X7, and a ShesConnected Conference 2011 pass.

"Roots of empathy lie in language." - Dr. Samantha Nutt