I am so bad. I have been so busy since I got back, I am finally now writing about this awesome event. I was contacted about this the day before my birthday (I know, what a great birthday present!!!). Sony wanted to talk to 15 mommy bloggers and give us some cameras (I didn’t know this last part till the day before I left for the trip!). All expenses paid trip, how could I say no?
I flew out on April 16th to San Diego. They got me an a flight through Midway (which I seriously needed since Midway is only 15 minutes away and Ohare is about an hour). Sitting in the airport always sucks, but I made due. My plane flight there sucked. A little girl screamed the whole way. This is why I don’t fly with my kids. I am terrified that is going to be me. The mom was by herself, and she walked up and down the aisle for the four and half hour flight. I felt so bad for her.
We then got to San Diego and I had a limo driver waiting for me. He had my name on a sign. It was super cool. I know I’ll never see that again. He took me to the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla (it was about a half hour drive). The hotel was awesome (I’ll be writing about it on my travel blog, so I won’t go into too many details here). Sony had boxes set up in our room (to use to Fed Ex our cameras back). They also had left us headphones for our kids, a rose, and two chocolate candy bars. They obviously know the way to a woman’s heart. We were on our own for Wednesday night (though we did have a $50 certificate to use at the restaurant). I met up with Deanna and Anne Marie , and we went to dinner. I had filet mignon. It was super yummy. It was one of those steaks that you didn’t even have to chew it — it just melted in your mouth.
The next day we had to be at breakfast at 9:00. We had a buffet breakfast (which was awesome). This is the view we had from the room we were in. Beautiful, isn’t it? We spent the first two hours after that introducing ourselves. We then had lunch out in the beautiful sunshine. We were only out there for about an hour eating some of the best food ever and I got sunburned!!! Here’s a list of all the awesome ladies who were there (if you have more blogs that I haven’t listed, let me know and I’ll get them added):
- Ciaran from MommiesWithStyle.com, Celebrity-Babies.com, CarandCaboodle.com
- Jenny from Momminitup.com
- Stacy from MomCentral.com, MomCentralConsulting.com and Mother-Talk.com
- Deanna from DomesticChicky.com, Apronista.com and HappyHousewivesClub.com/hotmama.html
- Kim from InAShoe.com
- Tracey from Sweetney.com, MamaPop.com and RocknRompBaltimore.com
- Erika from PlainJaneMom.com and emomsathome.com
- Heather from TheDomesticDiva.org and idivalicious.com
- Anne-Marie from AMamasRant.com, MyReadableFeast.com, ThisMamacooks.com, The-Write-Spot.com
- Christina from GeekGirlfriends.com and Tynanwood.com
- Amy from Amalah.com, MamaPop.com and Advice Smackdown on AlphaMom.com
- Laura from PaulnLaura.com
- Janice from 5minutesformom.com
After lunch, we got to learn about Sony and the impact of women on their business (Let me tell you, we have a huge impact!!!). We then got to start playing with the cameras we got. Oh wait, I didn’t show you the cameras yet —-
Camera #1: Sony Cybershot
Camera #2: Sony DSLR-A300K
Camera #3 – Handycam HDR-SR10
Yes, Sony gave us all three cameras! They also set aside time for us to work with their trainers so we could learn how to use them!
We then got instruction from photography expert Me Ra Koh. She gave us shooting instruction and tips of how to get specific results. She was really nice and she’s a blogger too!
We then got to go out to the beach and play with the cameras!
We then got a little bit of time to run up to our room and get ready for dinner. I took these pictures from my room!
We then met up with Sony and went to dinner at the Azul Restaurant. I got back to the hotel between 10 – 11 and went to bed.
On Friday, (April 18th), we met again for breakfast. Me Ra took some of our photos and critiqued them for us. She told us how to make our photos better. We then had a presentation from Rocket XL (the advertising agency who helped pull this all together). Us mommy bloggers ended up taking over that session with our opinions and thoughts.
After this session, we were able to do whatever we wanted till we caught our plane. Sony also gave us certificates for the spa, so I went and had a deep tissue massage. I then ate lunch and then had to get on my plane.
And that was my trip to San Diego!
Sounds like an awesome time, that is so great. Are there any plans for a daddy blogger event or maybe a photo blogger event, try and sway some of the hardcore Canon and Nikon guys over to the Sony way of seeing things?
Looks like you girls had an amazing time! Nice to see the pictures of that beautiful city and the beach, which I miss so very much.
WOW, that is so awesome! It's just amazing that companies do things like this and even more awesome that you received some amazing cameras! The DSLR-A300K is basically the camera that I've been looking at when I upgrade my current one! I'm so totally jealous ;o) But also so totally happy that you were able to be a part of this! GRATZ!!!
The second camera looks a lot more practical than the first, but it also seems like it might be too big to carry around. At least the first one can fit in a pocket even if it has a weaker zoom and quality.
I am very jealous of your trip, but glad you were able to go. Sounds like a lot of fun!
These are amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing.
@ Drew — When I was eating lunch with the Sony ladies, I did mention your idea of having a daddy blogger event. 🙂
@Mike It was super beautiful there.
@Holly I am still trying to figure the thing out. I think I may take a class or two. I'm not sure. I still haven't decided yet.
@JBourne The cameras are definitely use specific. The second camera takes much better pictures. However, the first one will be put right into my diaper bag. 🙂
@Alli – You are going to have to give me some tips on taking good pictures. I never owned a camera before that didn't my kids red eye.
nice pictures. great cameras. Wow for all the things on your trip. :D)
Keep it up.
Woo hoo! Love free stuffs to play wif.
Looks like you guys had an amazing time. By the way which sony camera did you like the best?
This sounds like it was a nice little bonus trip. Anyway how's the Sony HDR Camcorder? I bought a JVC, and it's really nifty. Only problem is it's photo resolution is kind of weak, even though it's great for videos.
thanks for the info and explanation provided
The pictures are amazing, must have been a really nice bonus trip. And that HDLR Sony video camera look great also.
So jealous of your trip you look like you had alot of fun 🙂
I bought my wife the Sony DSLR-A300K back in 2008 for a anniversary present. We bought some additional lenses and it was a good thing. My wife dropped one it broke from only a two foot fall. I was really confused, I thought the durability would be better. Did you have any problems? Maybe I just got a dud.