Blogger Conferences: Digital-Only Events to Attend in April
Welcome to Blogger Events, a monthly column of what’s happening in the blog world. If you have an event you’d like featured, reach out to the Beyond Bylines team via Twitter at @BeyondBylines.
Due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen many events for media and bloggers canceled or postponed in recent weeks.
Luckily, some events are switching to digital-only formats. So if you’re going stir crazy while working from home or couldn’t attend these events before because of travel or pricing issues, now is the time to sign up!
We’re also working to keep the Upcoming Events page up to date, so make sure to check out individual event websites for the latest changes.
Multiple Dates Available: Digital Women Leaders Coaching Session
“Digital Women Leaders is for women and female-identified people working in news who are looking for advice from someone who understands their experience.” Book a free 30-minute session with one of 120+ available mentors to get advice on anything from career planning to data journalism, time management and how to avoid burnout. The mentors come from a range of outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Politico, Apple, and ESPN.
Anytime: Poynter News University Webinars & Courses
“As a service to the journalism education community in this challenging period, Poynter is offering its online catalog free for a limited time to help educators and students affected by COVID-19 (coronavirus).” Courses include “Math and Numeracy Primer: How to Write About Numbers” and “Target and Engage Your Audience: Digital Experiences That Drive Results.” Courses and webinars will be free through May 31, 2020.
Anytime: WordPress Block Editor Training via Yoast
If you’ve recently updated to WordPress 5.0, you’ve seen the new block editor. The updated tool allows you to easily create different content layouts. If you’re looking to switch up your blog post formats, check out this free training from Yoast, the top SEO plugin on WordPress.
Daily: The Future Belongs to Creators
ConvertKit, an email service provider for creators, has launched a daily live show to “channel anxiety into creativity.” Topics covered so far include tips for being productive while working from home and the “superpower” of building an audience. The shows are roughly 30 minutes long and will be live every weekday for the next eight weeks at noon PST.
Multiple Dates: TED Connects
This new program features free, live, daily talks with experts “whose ideas can help us reflect and work through this time with a sense of responsibility, compassion and wisdom.” Previous speakers for the TED Connects: Community and Hope series include Bill Gates, Garry Liu of the South China Morning Post, and Priya Parker, author of “The Art of Gathering.”
April 18-19: Thrive
Thrive is an intimate conference offering courses for beginner, intermediate, and advanced bloggers. Sessions will teach attendees how to make their blog stand out, provide tips on email marketing to boost followers and clicks, and discuss best practices for optimizing content. Organizers decided to move the event to a virtual-only format: “Same speakers, same sponsors, same workshops, same results. This time, from the comfort of your home.” Bonus: The Saturday conference is free.
April 19-24: Business Moms Summit
This event for mom business owners will “teach you proven strategies that you can use to change your mindset, up-level your business planning and goals, find time for self-care, master your marketing, and conquer social media.” The Business Moms Summit will feature 40+ speakers over five days, covering topics like goal setting, tax tips, mindfulness, photography, and design. The summit is online-only, allowing busy moms to choose which courses best fit their needs.
April 24: BlogHer Parenting
This will be BlogHer’s first-ever event focused on parenting. More than 300 parenting-focused content creators, entrepreneurs, and influencers are expected to attend the one-day event to learn how to “incorporate their personal lives in to building their brands, increase revenue across their platforms, and take their blogs and businesses to the next level.” #BlogHer20 Parenting will be a digital-only event. A statement on the site reads, “In a time where connection and collaboration are needed most, we are broadening our horizon to make our events more accessible to women everywhere.”
April 27: Data Visualization Training
Hosted by David McCandless, founder of Information is Beautiful, these training sessions will help you learn how to conceptualize, create, and design effective visualizations and infographics. There is a lot of new data being announced each day around COVID-19, so being able to successfully translate that information into a visual element is a great skill to work on.
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Rocky Parker works in Audience Relations at PR Newswire. Check out her previous posts for Beyond Bylines and connect on LinkedIn. When she’s not working, Rocky typically can be found cooking, binge watching a new show, or playing with her puppy, Hudson.
