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WITS women in travel

What We Learned at the Women In Travel Summit | #WITS17

WITS women in travel

Photo credit: Jason Seagle for Women in Travel Summit by Wanderful

WITS women in travel

Photo credit: Jason Seagle for Women in Travel Summit by Wanderful

WITS women in travel

Photo credit: Jason Seagle for Women in Travel Summit by Wanderful

 

I went to my first travel blogger conference! Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to a blogging conference before but never a travel specific one. Luckily, I was invited to WITS17 by Everywhere Agency. (By the way, if you haven’t already signed up you should!) This Woman in Travel Summit (WITS) conference provides tools, connections, and resources you need to become a better travel blogger. Their goal is to create an empowering, supportive, and creative environment for women to grow powerful relationships that will help travel bloggers partner with brands that can help advance your digital presence. Also, not to mention meet all your business goals!

 

Why go to WITS?

-Meet likeminded people
-Get inspired
-Get a different perspective
-Get new ideas
-Learn something new
-Make friends
-Make travel buddies

When you go to a blogging conference or networking event:

DO: Bring business cards, ask questions, take notes, network, make friends, meet people, and follow them on social media immediately! You can even do it in front of them. It helps to remember those people even better and strengthen your relationship!

DON’T: Be a wallflower. Conferences can be overwhelming and stressful because they are crowded and the schedules are crazy. It’s easy to make one friend and stick with that person the entire time. Especially after a full day of meetings, networking, and speakers all you want to do is go back to your room to relax BUT don’t. Push yourself outside of your comfort zone to network and meet people, meet different people, meet all the people! There’s usually an after hours dinner or networking event and make yourself go! Trust me, you’ll have fun and it’ll be worth it.

The main point of these conferences besides learning about how to excel in the industry is networking. It’s the perfect place to network with not only brands but other travel writers and bloggers. I love getting to meet everyone and making those connections. It’s nice to be around like minded people. So I’ve asked these new friends to share something they learned from WITS17!

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Check out these takeaways and tips from WITS17


WITS women in travel

“If you have a case of wanderlust, but don’t know how to translate that into a blog, WITS is for you. You’re already a boss babe, but this conference will show you how to connect that with the places you want to go and how to tell the stories you want while you’re there.” 

Whitney / @CovetedLuxe
WITS women in travel

“WITS is truly the most amazing congregation of wanderful women, vivacious vagabonds, and terrific travelers.  We all share a common love for adventure in new uncharted territories.  I loved the connections as much as I loved the sessions.  I had the added responsibility of closing out this amazing conference as a keynote presenter.  I based the outline of my presentation on the oft-quoted JRR Tolkein line, “Not all those who wander are lost.”  I shared my entrepreneurial journey of both being driven to get somewhere and sometimes feeling hopelessly lost.”  

Danica / @danicakombol

Everywhere Agency / Everywhere blog / Sign up here
WITS women in travel
“No matter how big or small your following is, network and talk to everyone. Brands, influencers, CVBs – you name it! While you may not receive a sponsored trip right off the bat, you’re making the connections for the future. All of these people are fountains of information, you just need to ask! They’ll be happy to give you more information and tips on how to increase your chances of collaborations and partnerships in the future.”
Lindsay Davies / FB, Twitter, Instagram
I have 3 takeaways from WITS17
1. Rising tides lift all ships shared by Food Travelist
2. Treat your audience like your best friend
3. Show the real you/ be you/ be authentic
WITS women in travel
“I learned the importance of boldly stepping out to pursue your dreams while remaining true to your vision and your heart.   We shouldn’t change or shape what we are doing to mirror someone else who may appear to have more success than you might have, at that moment in time.  Your success will come with hard work and from your passion for pursuing your dream!!  This philosophy holds so true to the vision and mission of my company, Lioness Travel, and travel-buddy app I am launching July ’17,  that was born to inspire and empower women to break the fear of pursuing their dreams through the awaking power of travel.  I believe there is even more power to break off that fear by uniting women and connecting them more easily through a mobile platform, like the Lioness Travel App, where they can inspire and encourage each other on a deeper level and truly share and connect through their love of travel.  When women unite, we are an unstoppable force and a great power to be reckoned with, much like a pride of Lionesses.  Every woman has a Lioness within and its Lioness Travel’s mission to awaken her within every woman.”
Valisha K Bogart / @LionessTravelCo
WITS women in travel
“A favorite takeaway was during Jamie at Hashtag-Legal’s presentation on negotiation. She emphasized the power of a phone call when negotiating because it humanizes you and gives you the opportunity to show off your personality giving you a possible edge. In the digital world we always jump to email and texts but this was a great reminder on how old school communication could actually land you a client. Of course don’t forget to follow up via email and list out what was discussed in the phone call”
Emily Hines

WITS was jam-packed full of so much awesome information! Too much for one post but we’re happy to share what we’ve learned! Grab more tips from WITS below including how to step up your photography and videography game!

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WITS women in travel

Photo credit: Jason Seagle for Women in Travel Summit by Wanderful

So take it from me and the advice of these lovely travel bloggers, it is a great idea to attend this conference! You will learn, network, and grow into more of the writer you want to be and possibly reach the goals you never thought you could once achieve. I had an awesome time and strongly encourage you to attend.
Have you ever attended this conference or something like it? Have any advice, tips, or takeaways? If so, we would love to hear from you in the comments section below!
WITS women in travel