I had the opportunity to head to the Lucky Magazine Fashion and Beauty Blog Conference (otherwise known as FABB) yesterday with the Microsoft Windows Team. I’m over the moon excited to be working with Windows in their Windows Champions Program for bloggers, and this was my first opportunity to really try out my Sony Vaio on-the-go and at a conference!

The Lucky FABB Conference was a conference that was all about the fashion and the beauty and the business of being a blogger in these realms and making it truly work.

I knew the day was going to be pretty fantastical when Diane Von Furstenberg was listed as the opening conversation. Someone. Hold. Me. The iconic DVF? Oh, yes. The maker of the wrap-dress? Oh, yes. She was incredible to listen to… and I couldn’t help tweeting like a crazy lady while she spoke because her advice and her words were so inspirational.

As a mom, I loved hearing how she builds her business (even now as DVF is a grandmother) and the advice she gives and lives by…

“It’s a matter of breathing… know how to have buffers between you and the world. You need time for yourself.” – DVF

Advice that is simple, but so utterly important and we forget about taking time for ourselves when truly, it’s essential.

Another piece of information she shared that I loved was that she “works so she can share.” And that to me says it all. If it’s not about giving back and sharing, then what good is creating such a successful business? I just LOVED listening to her!

And then the day was filled with INCREDIBLE panels….
Building Your Brand in 2011
Brands & Bloggers Working Together
Setting the Trends
Building a Business
What Platforms are Right for You?

I have to be honest, the 2 panels that spoke to me (as a blogger) the most were:

Building Your Brand in 2011 with (are you ready for this cast?) – Scott Lipps, President of One Management, Rebecca Minkoff, Coco Rocha, Rachel Roy and Essie Weingarten (like of the nail polish, Essie!). It was an all-star panel and it was thoroughly engaging and fabulous to hear perspectives and opinions on social media. As a blogger and as someone who has fully emerged in the digital waters, it’s very interesting to hear the perspective of someone who has had a lot of traditional media fame and tremendous business success, and just start to become immersed in the social media waters. I think if there’s ANYTHING I’m taking away from the conference it is that EVERYONE has to figure out a way to make it work in social media, everyone.

I loved hearing Rachel Roy (@Rachel_Roy) say… “If I have any success in social media it’s because I put my heart into it and I’m 100% transparent.”

And Scott Lipps had great advice when he said, “You have to be involved in everything in social media and if you build a brand, you’re going to have to have your hands in everything.”

The other panel that really resonated with me was the panel: Building a Business with Rodger Berman (Rachel Zoe’s husband), Lisa Gavales, CMO of Express, Erin Kleinberg/Stephanie Mark of The Coveteur and Adam Rich co-founder of Thrillist. I loved listening to this panel because you had a fabulous balance – 2 successful bloggers, a highly successful CMO of a huge brand and a celebrity. It was beyond interesting to hear their advice as to how to go about building a business… and the advice?

Pitch. Pitch. Pitch. And then pitch some more.

I loved hearing that because nothing happens if you’re just going to wait to let it come to you, you need to be a do-er, a hustler… and all of these people are that and have been that. Create partnerships and content partnerships. But JUST DO! Get out there and expand your platform immensely and things will happen.

And… ahem… one of the HIGHLIGHTS of the day…

KARDASHIANS were in the house! All of them… Mama Kris, Khloe, Kim and Kourtney. I was actually blown away by how inspiring they were. I didn’t know the back-end to their story… I had zero idea that they actually have worked so hard to get to where they are. It was cool to see them all together and share how they work hard at social media to create enough content to allow people to get to know who they are… and them as a family better beyond the show.

The day was just awesome. I mean, AWE-SOME! I had know idea it would be so jam packed full of information and advice and tips that were there to help make me a better business woman and blogger. I was able to capture everything on my Sony Vaio Y laptop! It totally blended in with the fashionistas because it was, well… PINK! And I was able to store it in my tote that I brought with me for the day…

For me, this was such an added benefit that I could easily pop my Sony Vaio Y into my bag and not have to worry about it. The portability factor was huge! Not to mention it’s so compact – the screen is 11.6″ – so it’s ultra easy for me to hold on my lap (which I had to do) and not have to deal with a gigantic screen and/or machine. These kinds of things are extremely helpful for me when it comes to traveling with a laptop — I need easy. I need convenience. I need user-friendly! It made my day doable… I was able to take a ton of notes and update Twitter and Facebook smoothly and quickly.

And then I got to enjoy the other aspects of the day in the “Experience Suites”…

J.Brands, Marshall’s, Timberland, Sorel, Philip Simon, Essie, Zappos, White House Black Market, Express… each of these brands had a fabulous and fun (and interactive!) suite! I loved hanging out in each of the suite’s and learning about the brands and hearing about new products coming out!

Check out my Express debut…

And check out this gorgeous dress by LAUNDRY…

I just had the most wonderful day.

It was a pinch me day.

It was a day I want to repeat!

Thank you so much Microsoft Windows!

Disclosure: I’m working as a Windows Champions.