Maureen, Jolanthe, & Jimmie
When I moved back to America, I suddenly had a network of homeschooling friends around me who understand the unique challenges of educating your children at home. But I still had no “in real life” (IRL) friends who were bloggers. Besides a few exceptions, all my blogger friends were online friends, people I had never met in person.
No more! I have been to BEECH!
Twelve ladies converged at Vero Beach, FL at the home of Maggie Hogan, of Bright Ideas Press. Jenn Perry pampered us with swag, lots of chocolate and good food, and a schedule full of informative sessions.
Some of you know that the micro-conference kicked off with a Twitter party – hands-on practice of the social media strategies we were learning at BEECH. Our amazing sponsors contributed some primo prizes:
- Hearts at Home
- Honeycomb Design Studio
- Home Educating Family
- Founder’s Academy
- Bright Ideas Press
- MomComm
- Notebooking Fairy
- Homeschool Creations
- Borsa Bella
Friday and Saturday were full of laid back, small group sessions in which Maureen, Jolanthe, and I shared from our personal experience what works in the homeschool blogging niche. There was lots of time for one-on-one mentoring and problem solving.
We laughed – and cried – around the table as we ate family style in Maggie’s house. The atmosphere was homey, low stress, and encouraging.
Even though I was invited to BEECH to share, I found that I learned just as much as I taught others. One amazing thing about blogging is how multi-faceted it is. And as God arranged it, each of the ladies there seemed to have a different area of expertise. Better yet, each blogger was willing to share her nitty-gritty “secrets” to blogging. The sessions were not general overviews but packed with meaty details and how-tos. Everyone of us, including the leaders, left with long to do lists for ways to improve our blogs and our productivity.
I already knew Tricia, Jamerill, Jenn, and Karin, but this was my first time meeting them in real life. Brand new friends are Suzanne, Stacey, Donna, Daniele, and Maggie.
If you are a Christian homeschooler who blogs, stay in the know about the 2013 BEECH conference by signing up for the newsletter on the conference page. And keep following the #BEECHcon tag at Twitter.
Hi and welcome! I'm Jimmie and this is my online collage of our Charlotte Mason homeschool. Taking just a little more time to document our learning shortens the learning curve for other busy homeschool moms.
Feel free to browse around my posts and freebies. My aim is to bless each reader with something useful. 
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Twitter: writeshop
February 21, 2012 at 12:01 pm
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Kim recently posted Editing tools for young writers.
I love how you added Jolanthe in the group photo! Thank you for sharing your wisdom this weekend. It was pure pleasure being with you and all the ladies. Getting to hug your neck! Memories for always.
Tricia recently posted BEECH Mini Conference.
I so wish I could have gone with ya’ll!!! I grew up in Vero Beach and learned how to swim at that beach!
I am praying and hoping that the Lord will provide for me to go next year! Lord willing and I live!
Thankyou all for being so encouraging!
Maralena recently posted little BIG Family.
Wonderful post Jimmie! Great to have connected with you…loved all of the info you shared!
What a wonderful set of friends to have!
Phyllis recently posted Logs for President’s Day.
LOL–love Jolanthe’s picture in the top photo
Maureen recently posted Blogging Conference for Homeschoolers: BEECH recap.
that looks like a lot of fun!!
Amber recently posted So….
FYI… your post was duplicately posted here: http://firstchristianmeeting.info/blogging-conference-for-christian-homeschoolers-%E2%80%94-beech
Ashley Pichea recently posted 10 Most Popular Posts {so far in 2012}.
I also love your doctored group photo. Great way to add in the photographer! Sooo, are you planning to share any tips you learned?
FYI & “slightly” off-topic (but having to do with blogging info)- Last month I followed your link to the sight showing how to add the “add my button” widget to your blog. While I was there I accidently installed a virus on my computer which hid my files and programs and made it look like they were all wiped out. I’m usually good at avoiding those things, but I was not expecting it on that site and wasn’t as careful about clicking things as normal (it came up as a fake error message). I ended up calling a friend in Seattle who helped me get rid of the bug and put my computer back in order. I’d still like to install the widget, but I’m a little scared to go back to that site. If you happen to know the blog owner, you might want to let them know because I don’t think they are the type that would intentionally have something like that on their site.
Hmm, that was a little more than “slightly” off topic. . . wasn’t it?
Melissa Telling recently posted Gardening Notebook Freebie.