We Hosted a Blogger Workshop! Perform on Pinterest Recap

It’s so crazy to think that Channing, Michelle, and I hosted a blog workshop last weekend. Something that started out as a “hey, we should do this!” turned into something bigger than we ever expected.

Channing and I talk Pinterest strategy all the time, and one day we realized what we were doing was totally teachable. We have a different mindset when it comes to Pinterest and it has paid off for our accounts and blogs. When people ask us questions blog questions, about 90% of the time it is Pinterest related. We knew we had some good information to get out there to some local ladies, and we just went for it. Perform on Pinterest was born. A site was up, we announced it, and put tickets on sale. We sold out in just a few days. It was so exciting!

Little did we know how much work would go into hosting a workshop and then coming up with the content and presentations we planned to give to our audience. People trusted us and paid to hear what we had to say. It’s crazy to think about that! We spent time individually planning our own presentations, and hours together practicing and refining the content of the workshop. We also started a Facebook group with our attendees to give them help and homework before the workshop!

Meanwhile, we also planned a killer event. Not only did we give them an afternoon of learning, we spoiled the heck out of them.

Here’s how we planned a successful workshop.

It first starts with the venue: The Hotel Sorella. Hotel Sorella is seriously the best location, right in CityCentre. The hotel is modern and clean, with touches of edge. We stayed the night before the workshop and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves a little moms night away! Hotel staff members were so helpful and accommodating to us – even from the very moment we went to tour the space months ago. The conference room was the perfect space for the workshop. Small and intimate but still plenty of room to move around. Everyone felt taken care of, especially with the snacks and drinks they gave us! I seriously cannot say enough great things about the Sorella. If you ever need a hotel in Houston, this is what you need.

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It was a great space to spew our Pinterest knowledge!

Next, we asked Jessica from Thoughtfully Styled to be our event stylist for the workshop. She came up with a gorgeous plan and executed it flawlessly. It was such a relief to have a qualified party planner help us out with the setup and decor of the room. With the help of Kroger for the beautiful floral arrangements and House of Hough for the table linens, she created a fun and inviting space for our guests. Each place setting had a gift from Kendra Scott and a personalized notebook from Tiny Prints.

Next came sponsors to spoil our attendees. We landed an exciting partnership with Kendra Scott who gifted gift cards to each attendee and hosted us for a shopping party in the middle of the workshop! Who doesn’t get excited about Kendra Scott?! We rushed next door in a torrential downpour and bought ALLTHEJEWELRY! The staff at were so great to work with. They set up such a cute party complete with snacks, drinks, and cupcakes! A huge thank you to the staff of Kendra Scott at CityCentre. You guys are the best.

Of course, we cannot forget the swag bags we were able to gift to each of our attendees. I am blown away by the items we got. We made sure to thoughtfully pick items that we felt bloggers would love, and everyone really enjoyed their gifts. Search the #performonpinterest hashtag on Instagram and you’ll see some sweet posts!

I mean…. just look at what we sent them home with!

Swag Bag Sponsors:

• Francesca’s // @francescas
• Tiny Prints // @tinyprints
• Shindigz // @shindigz
• Pop Beauty // @pop_beauty
• Hey, Bernadette // @heybernadette
• Walls Need Love // @wallsneedlove
• LZPencils // @lzpencils
• Brittany Garner Design // @britgarnerdesign
• Beauty & Pinups // @beautyandpinups
• Tula // @tula
• Lipp // @lippbeautifully

And we can’t forget the huge burlap cactus beach bag from Francesca’s!

(in my best infomercial voice) But wait, there’s more!

Vallone’s Restaurant in Houston hosted us for a family style dinner after the event. This after party was the icing on the cake. Guys…. there are no words to explain how amazing our experience was at the restaurant. The food, the ambiance, the service, the food, the wine, the food. Oh, and did I mention the food? They completely spoiled us. We all were blown away. It was the perfect ending to an amazing afternoon of all things Pinterest.

We would have zero photos of this event if it weren’t for our talented friend, Faison. She beautifully captured our afternoon (and evening!). Not only did she take all of these gorgeous photos, she joined us the night before to assemble swag bags, and was a huge help the day of the workshop. Thank you so much, Faison, for all of your help and your stunning photography! Houston ladies, if you need a photographer, she is your girl! Also make sure to follow her on Instagram at @faisonanne.

We can’t forget the Snapchat geofilter! I loved screenshotting all of the snaps after the event!

Some final thank yous (because there are really so many great people to thank):

• All of our amazing attendees who trusted us and came out to hear what we had to say. We hope that you were able to implement a new strategy with Pinterest that works.
• Stuart – you are a pleasure to work with and over deliver. This workshop would be nothing without you!
• Allie – your party made the workshop that much more fabulous.
• Katie & Elly – you guys were such a huge help in making sure the workshop ran smoothly!
• Jaclyn – Your event planning knowledge was so valuable to us as we planned this workshop.
• Channing and Michelle for being the best business partners and friends.

Now the big question is… how in the world do we top that?!