I feel like I’ve been traveling since December!  Where did January go?  I just returned from Little Rock and my new 2012 Mastermind Design Group with Tobi Fairley.  I learned so much last year I signed up again.

While I was there, I found out some exciting news!  I was awarded a scholarship from the company One Kings Lane to attend the Design Bloggers Conference in LA.  One Kings Lane was offering only five scholarships to attend this amazing event and I was really honored to be selected to receive one.

The benefits of the scholarship are that One Kings Lane is funding my attendance at the event, I will receive special recognition at the event and will have the opportunity to guest blog on the Design Bloggers Conference website profiling how I got started, sharing details of my blog, and my aspirations.

That is one more trip in February, but I am not complaining!  I can’t wait.  The conference is February 26-28th.  The event is at Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.  I had to laugh when I found out the location.  While this hotel is known for its historic architecture and storied past, Scott and I have a less elegant memory.

We stayed there several years ago when I ran the LA Marathon.  After the race was finished, we walked back to the hotel and took a shortcut through the back door and ran right into a Britney Spears music video shoot.  I was too tired at that point to really take an interest (this was back when she was pretty big time), but Scott and I have occasionally laughed about how we were nearly in her video.

The conference includes hours of great content, such as how to use social media more effectively, differentiating your blog as well as key topics such as interior design trends.  One of the main keynote speakers is Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, of Bravo’s Million Dollar Decorators series (as well as decorator to many Hollywood celebs).  You should check out his work here:

Martyn Lawrence Bullard

This is the design for actress Ellen Pompeo which Lawrence-Bullard did.  We also carry his new line of fabrics from Schumacher if you haven’t seen them, they are fab!

Another key speaker is Bunny Williams.

Bunny Williams

Bunny has a retail store, furniture line (Beeline Home), books and a blog, in addition to her interior design.

The conference has a ton of other great speakers, including Tobi Fairley and Kimberly Sheldon.  If you blog about design I encourage you to sign up as soon as possible!  I know several individuals attending (mostly from my mastermind group) and everyone is very friendly.

If you can’t make it to the event, you should follow updates on Twitter (@designblogconf, @heatherscotthom) and see if there are any live broadcasts online (http://design-bloggers-conference.com/).  If  really can’t get there, I’ll be sure to share with you what I’ve learned when I get back!