My Cat Goma Blog Update

All in one week! Blogpaws 2011, Earthquake and Hurricane Irene

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 11:20 AM PDT

Hi everyone! As you all know I went to VA for Blogpaws 2011 last week. Let me tell you it was kitty-tastic! Before I get to that there was a 5.8M Earthquake on Tuesday in VA...well I was at JFK airport when this happened and my flight was canceled...so I got stuck at the airport for 7 hours...and my flight was only one that got canceled. What's the odd of that?? I am so unlucky when it comes to flying.

It was my first year of Blogpaws so I didn't know what to expect. The whole conference was very welcoming. People were so friendly and warm. It had a great sense of unity that we all share the same passion and interest, blogging about animals! Here are bloggers I've met at Blogpaws(no particular order): Dorian Wagner of Your Daily Cute, Ingrid King of The Conscious Cat, Angie Holland Bailey from CatLadyLand, Tamar Arslanian from I Have Cat, Robin Olson from Covered in Cat Hair, Kate Benjamin from Modern Cat, Stephanie Harwin from Catsparella, Andy from Purina Cat Chow, Margaret Gates of Feline Nutrition, Janea Kelly from Paws & Effect, Carol Meir from Coffee Cats n Yarn(thanks for the goody bags!), Caren Gittleman from Cat Chat with Caren and Cody, Sue and David Caban fromThe Furry Bambinos.

These are some memorable seminars I have attend at Blogpaws 2011: Publishing Options in Today's Digital Environment by Susan Daffron, Penny Sansevieri and Dorothy Hearst,Create a Compelling Brand by Holly Buchanan, Can You Make Money with This Thing? by Leticia Barr, Laura Franklin and Kelly Whalen. StumbleUpon: How to Create, Share and Discover Great Content by Vijay Vachani, The E-book From Digital to Print: A DIYer's Journey by Debbie Jacobs:(fellow Vermonter!),No Blog is an Island: Tools to Build Traffic & Community by Neil Brogan and Felissa Elfenbein, Copyright Basics, FTC Updates & Contest Rules/ Regulations by Emily Campbell, Mary Engle(FTC) and Donna DeClemente.

Kelly Whalen, Leticia Barr, Laura Franklin.

For those who voted Goma for Dogtime Petitte Award 2011 thank you!! On Friday night, Dogtime.com announced the winners. The winners will win $1000 donation money for charity of choice. Unfortunately Goma didn't make it to the best cat blog, however well-deserving Robin Olson from Covered in Cat Hair won!

Please visit her awsm blog and con-cat-ulate. Well even though Goma didn't win, Goma, Kuma and Syd are NO.1 in my book! I will keep trying every year maybe one day we will win haha! Thanks again for your support I was so happy that we got to be in finals! You can watch the virtual awards ceremony on Dogtime.com.

Now that I hear that tens of thousands of households still without power in DC and VA area, also massive flooding damages in VT. I can't help but wonder how powerful hurricane Irene was... First thing I noticed when I came back to VT was I didn't have signal on my phone, I called my cell phone provider from Skype and they told me the tower is down...unfortunately my plants and tall Tomato plant fell and damaged by wind... Goma, Kuma and Syd were unaffected by the Hurricane, thank you so much for those who wrote me and ask about them! After all, it was crazy week, full of excitement and surprises! Lastly I wanna give a special Paws-up for Jack the Cat who got lost in American Airlines JFK cargo facility last Tuesday. It's been a week no sign of Jack anywhere...please keep sending puuurrrs for Jack's safe return and recovery.