I took 3-d Bree along on our trip to the event for a variety of reasons. First of all, she has her own twitter account and while I have to be politically correct and proper, she is not hampered by those requirements and is a little more forthcoming in her remarks. It’s also a fun way to narrate an event, because people will tell a dog (whether its a 3-d dog, a flat dog or a real dog) things that they would never tell me. She also brings a smile to everyone’s face, and best of all, she wears the Tagg tracker so my husband can always find me if anything happens.
Everyone knows how much I hate getting my picture taken, but Bree photographs beautifully, so we always use her in the photos. She is famous now…
If you missed her travelogue on twitter, you can find it here: http://www.twitter.com/dogonmission
We started out at the Wyndham, which is NOT a hotel I would recommend if you’re staying in Orlando. Other than the hotel, we had an amazing time and fortunately spent long hours at the conference center (which, coincidentally, is the second largest conference center in the world).
We found a huge number of products that we immediately loved, some that we loved after we thought about them for a moment, and some that were just plain strange. We attended several large media events and press conferences, which gives us the first look at the newest items on the market. We watched Sandy Robins receive her “Excellence in Journalism” award from Purina, the sponsoring group. We got to hang out with our good friends (which we decided to list below) and we finished the week off with large blisters on our feet from walking the floor and seeing all the amazing new items for pets.
Famous Pet People We Met
No event is complete without doing some name-dropping and, not surprisingly, 3D-Bree made lots of new friends (she is very sociable and equally pet-able). During this trip, we saw Cesar Millan getting some love from his new beau outside of the hotel, and we also caught up with Victoria Stilwell and our good friend, Harrison Forbes in the press room. Both were very gracious and happy to meet 3D Bree, so we snapped a quick pic.
I also met Dr. Marty Becker at several events. Sandy Robins, another good friend, received her “Excellence in media” award and I have to say, it couldn’t have gone to a more gracious, kind, and humble person. We are very proud of you, Sandy!
During the event, we got to hang out with a big cast of characters I am proud to call my friends. I want to list them because if you haven’t already, you should visit their websites and stores. They include:
- Joanne McGonagle (The Tiniest Tiger
author and ConservationCubClub host) - Karen Nichols (MouseBreath)
- Paris Pentameter & John Bigley (DogTipper & CatTipper)
- Rachel and Brad Phelps (Preston Speaks)
- Nikki Moustaki (Author and founder of The Pet Postcard Project)
- Amy Burkert (GoPetFriendly)
- Kristen Levine (Fetching Communications)
- PepperPom
- And many more…
If that’s not enough, we had lots of time with our other great friend, Michelle Maskaly from Pet Age magazine and spent some quality time with Susan Logan, the editor of Cat Fancy. We also got to meet Alan Siskind of Dog News Daily. Of course, the entire crew of BlogpPaws was there and so we got to see Carol Bryant, Yvonne Devita and many more.
I have never typed all of these names in at one time, but upon re-reading this, I have to say that I have an astounding network of friends!