I’ve been blogging for a while, but I had never been to a blogging conference until last week. When I heard that the iRetreat 2014 conference was going to be at Hershey, I bought my ticket right away. I wasn’t the only one who was excited, though. The kids were excited that I was going to a conference at Hershey, so THEY could go to Hershey. One of the considerations in attending this conference was that it was being held in a family-friendly place, so the whole family could go, too. Because our vacation time is limited, we try to keep trips without the entire family to a minimum.
We were happy that the Hershey Lodge conference team let us add on the day before the conference, so we could take a little time to look around before the conference began. We loved seeing how the signs and other features changed from section-to-section. We were in the Hershey’s Cocoa section, but we also passed through the York Peppermint Pattie section to get from our building to the conference center and lobby.
Our room was pretty and functional. The beds were actually more comfortable than most hotel rooms I’ve stayed in, and we had no trouble sleeping at all. There was a small refrigerator and a small single cup coffee maker. There were more electrical plugins than I have seen in a hotel room ever, and the wifi was good. Both of these are very important for a conference center.
Hershey Lodge sure keeps the chocolate alive in the details. Can you see the Hershey Kiss on the cover of the bed?
And each day we were there, we came back to find Walter surrounded by Hershey Kisses. Yes, chocolate seemed to be everywhere! Did I mention that each of us were given a Hershey Bar when we checked in? We also got free admission into the Hershey Gardens and The Hershey Story (museum).
After I checked in for the conference, I immediately headed back to the room laden down with great swag! There were several brands represented at this conference: Carnival, Bricks 4 Kidz, Rite Aid and others. I’ll be writing more about them later. Oh, and Carnival? I’d love to hear from you!
What did Don and the kids do? Well, they went to The Hershey Story, Chocolate World, and Hershey Park. I’ll write a little more about that later, too. They did have a great time and would LOVE to go back again!
The other fun thing about Hershey are the characters. During our time there, we saw the Hershey Bar, Reese, Hershey Kiss, and KitKat Bar. A lot of fun and learning happened during this trip, and I’ll be sharing a little bit more about it over the next couple of weeks. Oh, and one of the sponsors gave me something to give away on the blog, so make sure to keep your eyes open for that!
This one looks like so much fun! A few bloggy friends of mien went, and I kept drooling over the fun stuff (AND CHOCOLATE) while they were there! I had to stop staring at Instagram. ha!
It was a lot of fun, and I especially liked that it was held in a family-friendly location! Next year, it will be in New Orleans.
It was such a great conference and really fun to finally meet you!
It was, and I enjoyed meeting you, too! Need any more chocolate? 🙂