I’d seen some positive buzz around our upcoming presence at BlogHer, but overall I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would people avoid our booth because we had sex toys on it? Would I be able to answer all of their questions? What would everyone think of our swag? Those questions swirled in my head as I packed for BlogHer. I tried to motivate myself by envisioning on all of the learning opportunities I’d have in the next few days. This approach helped calm my nerves and keep me focused on our schedule.

There were boxes as far as the eye could see!

I arrived at the convention center where lots of people were busy setting up their booths. I got to work organizing swag bags and setting up our big display sign. Over the next several hours, we witnessed the transformation of the convention center. Attractive display pieces sprung out of boxes and bags, and workers assembled decorative stands for their products. When we came back in the morning to put the finishing touches on our booth, the convention center had finished its temporary metamorphosis. Bright lights illuminated brand logos and banners. Oodles of giveaway products lined the tables and packed into the stylish shelving units. Everything was ready for the BlogHer attendees. I held my breath.

In the process of setting up our display items

We met with bloggers and other attendees in the expo hall on Thursday evening and all day Friday and Saturday. Our table was lined with some luxury toys from Jimmyjane, Fun Factory, and Jopen. We also had some Tantus products and Afterglow candles. The EdenFantasys Passion Bullets Dual was on display, too. The dual bullet generated a lot of interest, and people seemed very happy when they discovered it was part of the swag bag!

We had so many swag bags that we couldn't fit them all at our booth, so we put some into storage temporarily. But don't worry, they all found happy homes by Saturday!

I’ve been involved with the EdenFantasys community for a few years now, and my time here has made me feel pretty comfortable talking about sex toys in general. I was so glad that a lot of the BlogHer attendees felt comfortable asking us about our products, the different functions, and toy cleaning questions. I talked with some people who seemed quite experienced with sex toys, which was fun because they enthusiastically asked about the product designs and functions. Even more rewarding were the conversations I had with people who were getting their first sex toys in our swag bags. How awesome is that? Maria, Kayla, and I all talked with people about sex toy basics like using lube, cleaning toys, and different ways to use the products. We even had people come back the next day and thank us, warmly, for the swag.

Sometimes we had so many people at the booth that you couldn't even see our table!

Of course, while we were talking up our products, we also generated a lot of interest in our blogger programs. And why wouldn’t they want to write about EdenFantasys or review one of our awesome products? Well, not all of the BlogHer attendees wrote blogs that would work with our content, but we still talked with a lot of them about our community and shopping experience. And we’re pretty sure everybody enjoyed their swag!

Our luxury items and some sample products like Wet lube and the Passion Bullets Dual

As Saturday evening approached, the last rush of BlogHer people swarmed our table, asking about our programs and getting what was left of our swag (it was so popular that we ran out of bags!). Then there was a moment of quiet as the last of the attendees left the expo hall. I’d already noticed some booths starting to break down their setups. An aura of satisfaction and relief hung in the air for a minute before the clatter of the cleanup began. Forklifts came out of the storage area, boxes and bags reappeared from beneath tables or behind fake walls. All the pretty displays were packed and hauled away. We loaded our booth’s gear into boxes and luggage and headed out of the convention center with hundreds of new contacts and even more memories from our first experience in the BlogHer expo hall.

Kayla gives the lowdown on Eden and toys to some very interested attendees.