Blogging in 2016 — Will It Be a Conference Free Year?

 I was surprised that when I went to inquire further on the workshops and conferences that had been so successful in the past, that many appear to be on hiatus

We are now almost three months in to 2016, another three and we will be half way through the year. At start of the new year in this post I looked at where blogging is going in 2016 and why bloggers blog and what blogging means to them. And it seems this is about the time when all those New Year’s resolutions start to fall by the wayside and get overlooked by the stresses and responsibilities of our daily lives. As I was feeling a bit stuck I decided to take to the internet to see what was out there in terms of classes, workshops and conferences related to blogging. When I first started my blog I signed up for and I attended a number of the Lucky FABB conferences. I felt the conferences were invaluable for inspiration and networking with other bloggers, though I felt the emphasis was not focused enough on actual blogging and in fact the last conference was more about building your own business and being an entrepreneur. Although it was no accident that the focus shifted a bit, this shift was in response to a survey on what attendees wanted to learn more about and it seems that everyone wants to be a self-made “girl boss”. But do you think this sustainable? That everyone can be self-made entrepreneur?

Originally this post was going to be a round up of classes and conferences that could help bloggers take their blog to the next level and grow or even launch a business. But I was surprised that when I went to inquire further on the workshops and conferences that had been so successful in the past, that many appear to be on hiatus. Of course the Lucky FABB conference is no longer held as the magazine itself has been shuttered. The last IFB conference appears to have been in the winter of 2013, and Design Love Fest ended their traveling Blog Shop and now only offer LA based classes on calligraphy with the occasional photo session or meet and greet event. The highly successful Blogcademy has nothing posted in regards to 2016 be it in person or online, the Alt Summit also has nothing posted on their site for 2016, and even the all-online blogging school The Blog Class states registration is currently closed, with no updated information on if or when it will reopen.

What is going on here? What exactly does this mean? Has the novelty worn off? Is this the dot.com implosion revisited? What say you? I am not sure what to think. I was planning on taking or attending at least one conference or workshop this year, but I am afraid I may be out of luck. I will continue to periodically check the status of future classes at The Blogcademy, The Alt Summit and The Blog Class, and hopefully one or all will happen. There is always The Simply Stylist conference, which is not tailored specifically to blogging but could still be a great resource. And if any of you know of any classes or workshops taking place this year please feel free to share.