Last year, I attended the inaugural ROAM event in beautiful Kelowna, BC. I could have easily skipped the event because I was moving,  house hunting and starting a new job all at the same time which is more than enough to handle. But I didn’t, and I am SO GLAD that I took the time to get to know ROAM.

Why ROAM Rants Supreme on the Conference List For Me

Location.
FINALLY the West Coasters didn’t have to fly all the way to Ontario to take in a conference. Instead, I could drive to Kelowna from small-town Alberta through the gorgeous beauty known as the Icefields Parkway. I spent 7 hours in the car alone, rocking out to tunes, listening to podcasts and eating my own snacks. It was quiet. I stopped for geocaches as I wanted to. It allowed me to get my head into the game before I showed up, and provided a break from every day. This year, I’m doing the puddle jump fly from Edmonton to Vancouver, which is only an 1.5 hour flight. That’s about how long I sit still.

Sweet, Glorious Movement & Sunshine.
I don’t sit still well. At home and play, I’m always on the move hauling wheelbarrows, walking kids to the bathroom and playing baseball in the yard. Sticking me into a conference room with no sunshine for many hours, and I wilt. ROAM keeps it interesting – they take you to local cafes, eateries and businesses within walking distance of the hotel to learn at. Not only do you get to check out amazing sights in the city you’re in, you get a little Vitamin D outside (hurrah!) The harbour in downtown Vancouver is definitely on my bucket list to explore more!

Time to Get Social.
Hands down my favourite part of showing up at a conference is having real conversations and diving deep. Not the ones that are about an introduction and reading off your name tag on who you are. Conversations sparking from passionate people, asking questions, and learning more. The ones where you just click with others from the community. The conversations that make you cry, or nod your head because you’ve been there, or you are there. At ROAM, I felt like I had a chance to really talk to most of the people there and get to know them.  My Facebook Messenger lights up regularly with ROAM people that I’m collaborating with, and still communicating with on a weekly or monthly basis. 

Action, Jackson.
I came home from ROAM and I did things. My notes didn’t just sit in the notebook and go nowhere. I cleaned out my Inbox and got it to Inbox Zero (and maintain that!). I dove deep into our Pinterest statistics and was blown away. This changed up how I used the whole platform and I grew it massively this year because of Paula’s advice. I started making videos for YouTube (still working on that). Shelaugh Cummins always blows my mind – and her workbook continues to be helpful about Power Moves (and I’ve even upgraded to her planner).  These little nuggets of knowledge provided me real action steps to move forward, not just 75% of the story. 

RSVP For Tonight Twitter Party!

Some huge prizes are up for grabs:

2 Full Conference Passes to ROAM ’16 Vancouver
$250 Flight or Hotel credit for ROAM ’16 Vancouver
Professional Media Kit
Web Audit
$200 WordPress Credit from That’s So Social

RSVP Here: http://blissdomcanada.com/2016/04/rsvp-howweroam-twitter-party/