On Saturday morning, we continued to pick up where we left off yesterday with the Blogger Sessions. Again, this is proprietary information which is not to be shared with the general public. (Sorry!)
Introduction to Charleston
First2Board Charleston Sessions Friday Cocktail Reception and Dinner
First2Board Charleston Sessions Saturday Workshops
First2Board Charleston Sessions Saturday Mileage Run Workshop
First2Board Charleston Sessions Sunday Historic Walking Tour
The Sights and Sounds of Downtown Charleston South Carolina
The Sights and Sounds of Nightlife in Charleston South Carolina
The Sights and Sounds of Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant
The Various Eats in Charleston South Carolina
Four Points by Sheraton Miami Beach Hotel Review
The Sights and Sounds of Miami Beach Florida
We started off the Saturday Workshops for the general public at 9:30am with our very own Frugal Travel Lawyer, Bonnie. She talked about maximizing the Southwest Rapid Rewards program and why flying Southwest makes sense (which I disagree).
Next, Jeff (Indulge the Wanderlust) and Dia (The Deal Mommy), talked about family travel. The title of their presentation was called “Traveling with Families and Friends.” Jeff gave some tips about traveling with family and Dia talked about long term apartment/condo rentals.
We were running a little behind schedule, so we had a working lunch during the next presentation which was mine. Lunch was an Asiago artisan sandwich from Panera Bread and firefly vodka sweet tea concoction.
I presented a primer about Mileage Running and an interactive session on how to find a mileage run. I will have my PowerPoint presentation uploaded in a later installment for those that are interested.
Photo courtesy of Jason of Food Wine & Miles
After my presentation, the infamous Mr. Pickles wheeled in an enormous large 29” luggage which none of which knew what was in it.
Mr. Pickles talked about “Living the Mr Pickles Lifestyle” which was a very controversial and SHHHHH session. This was the most interesting session because he talked about his childhood, lifestyle, and future goals. He talked about the 25,000 mile one-way Business Class redemption from ex-USA to Asia and revealed many secrets which we were sworn to secrecy.
Rick Ingersoll of The Frugal Travel Guy talked about how the game has changed. The “old” game refers to how bloggers used to get along very well with each other before the introduction of credit card affiliate links. Rick mentioned that that the only harsh words were “Did you search the forums before asking that question?” The game has changed tremendously with internet flaming, name-calling, and harassment amongst the frequent flier community.
Stacey of Very Good Points, closed with the introduction of #FirstWorldFixes. She mentioned how she got Shark Fin Soup banned from being served in Chinese hotel restaurants. For every #firstworldproblems that we express, there should be a #FirstWorldFix.
Stacey also collected bar soap from the Charleston Sessions attendees to donate to a local homeless shelter. Apparently, the collection of bar soap was stolen when left in the conference room overnight on Friday.
After Stacey notified the hotel of the missing box of bar soap, the Aloft Charleston generously replaced it with Bliss soap.
There was also a raffle at the end of the session where the coveted prize was a 20” Tumi International Carry-On Luggage among other prizes. Everyone was a winner and received gifts such as First and Business Class amenity kits, First Class pajamas on world class airlines, headphones, and much more.
The Aloft Charleston hotel also provided each of us a parting gift of Firefly Vodka Sweet Tea minis which was very gracious of them.
The next Charleston Sessions was announced and will be held in Seattle next year in August of 2014. Will you be attending First2Board’s Seattle Sessions?