133: Texas Pet Sitters Conference with Jessica Milam
Check out the Texas Pet Sitters Conference
Summary:
Jessica Milam, co-organizer of the Texas Pet Sitters Conference, joins us to talk about how the conference has changed over the years, what their 2021 conference has in store, and why they started the Texas Pet Sitters Association. We talk about the importance of preparing for online conferences and why being part of an association brings value to you and your business.
Topics on this episode:
History of the conference
What to expect
How to get prepared
Why they started the Texas Pet Sitters Association
Main take away? The conference is February 19-21, 2021. Mark your calendars!
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
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SUMMARY KEYWORDS
conference, pet sitters, speakers, vip, people, sessions, pet, attend, business, association, pet sitter, year, started, talk, texas, online, excited, member, benefits, chat
SPEAKERS
Collin, Jessica Milam
00:18
Hi, I'm Collin.
00:19
And I'm Meghan.
00:20
And this is Pet Sitter Confessional.
00:22
an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter.
00:29
Well, hello everybody and Happy Friday COVID has changed a lot with the pet sitting industry and a lot with the world. And this year, the organizers of the Texas pet sitters conference have really been working hard to adapt their 2021 conference to a new format and adding a lot of exciting things. And we're really excited to talk with Jessica Milam today, co organizer of the conference about what they have planned and all the exciting things that they've been working on. So Jessica, thank you so much for coming on the show today.
00:59
Thanks for having me. I am the owner of first services for pets. My husband, I own the business together. And we started in 2013. And we're up in Far, Far North Texas. Our start in the pet industry was many, many years ago when we started with volunteering with a rescue that was local to us. And then I moved into boarding daycare and grooming scene and worked in that area for a while. And then it's led me to here to having that same business. And I joined the conference committee two years ago. And we've just been having a lot of fun since
01:33
Yeah, well, maybe give us a little bit of history and background of the actual conference.
01:39
So the tax assessor's conference had their first year in 2015. And Michelle and Kathy started the conference together with a desire to have a grassroots conference for local Texas pet sitters. In order to make it more affordable, and something that more people could attend. The national conferences were so expensive, and so many local pet sitters couldn't attend them because of the financial burden that it placed. And they really wanted something that was an all over affordable experience for pet sitters in Texas. Since then, it's grown to pet sitters all over the country, I think we had someone from Canada attend last year. And we've kept it as affordable as we can. We've kept the prices low with while also providing amazing content, so that anybody can really access quality education, grow their knowledge, and become better pet sitters to increase the overall, you know, feel of the industry.
02:33
Well, and I know you guys have been working on some things this year, taking it all virtual and all online. So what is the conference going to look like? In 2021?
02:44
Yeah, definitely. So online conferences, kind of look and feel the same, it seems these days, we really wanted to turn that around and have a completely different type of conference. So we will be doing a very interactive conference using the huva platform. It's a conference platform that started in person, and they've moved online because of 2012 me all the tap in this year, it will be very interactive. So it actually allows you to do all of the conference in one app or one, you know, browser on your computer. You can access everything from every single thing about the vendors, you can talk to sponsors, and actually check in and like have a conversation with them just like you would if you were at a you know, big vendor fair. And it gives you access to all of our speaker information, and each of the talks right there in that platform. In addition to that, using that platform, we're going to be able to utilize it to have a lot of in person conversations, or as in person as you can get online. So we'll actually have some networking, or we'll get together in group chats and chat just like you would if you were in person and have some exclusive VIP chats and things like that. So we're really trying to make it more in person feel online. And just kind of blow away the online conference field that is normal. I think that we're all used to right now.
04:07
Yeah, the typical sit down, watch a video baby have a chat associated with it, but a lot more interaction and a lot more connections to be to be made on the platform. It sounds like
04:17
yes, that's exactly our point. And one of the awesome things about platform is you can actually have conversations within the platform with people. So just like you would pull someone out individually and have you know, a little one on one chat with them. You can do the same thing within the platform. You can do text chat it, you know, text messaging back and forth, or you can actually do a video chat. So it really brings that in person feel online as much as we can.
04:39
Yeah, no, absolutely. That's that's that's really exciting, because that's always one of the most important parts about attending a conference are those kind of connections and those interactions that you have in the hallways or before after each session.
04:52
Yes, exactly. So we're really hoping to continue that feeling through this.
04:56
What kind of speakers you guys have invited and are going to be there at the conference.
05:00
Yeah, so our keynote speaker is Kate McClellan. And I'm super excited about her. I'm kind of one of her family fan girls, I call myself. Um, she is the queen of marketing and the pet sending industry, if you've ever looked at her business page, it's pet sitters Ireland, she has something like 26,000 followers, she has been able to take marketing and turn it in, take her marketing and turn it into a huge world. for them. They're one of the biggest petsitting or actually the biggest cutscene companies in Ireland. And she's used all of her marketing efforts to get gain lots of free publicity, and write ups in the papers, news stories, all this stuff. And so I'm really excited to have her as our keynote, really talking about how to hands on do marketing for your pet sitting business, and in today's world with COVID, and everything else that's been going on. So she's one of our speakers, we also have a fear free veterinarian, that will be one of our speakers, Dr. Lisa Bell, she will be a speaker talking about what pet sitters need to know, on senior care. So if you have seniors you're taking care of, you know, what are the things you need to know about that, we've got some awesome cat speakers that will talk, you know, specifically about cat care. And that's something I feel like it's always important at a conference, because so much of us focus on dogs, we'll have some farm care. And we've got an awesome accountant with that we'll be talking about, you know, practical things to do in your business with your accounting to help you overall. And that's just a small percentage, we have so many more speakers, I know that we've got someone talking about hiring, we do actually have someone from fear free, that we'll be talking about fear being a fear, free pet sitter, the things you can use, and all of that good stuff, too. So lots of awesome speakers.
06:43
Yeah, sounds like a good mix of hands on practical advice when dealing with the actual pets, and some mixture of the business savvy guides and information to
06:54
Yes, we really try and balance both sides, because it's important as a pet sitter, to know how to do your job, but also to manage the business because you are business. And if you're not managing it, and in working it correctly marketing correctly, then you're not going to be long term successful
07:08
thinking of the conference and how it flows. What What should attendees expect? Is it is it from nine to five every single day? Or how how are they going to be able to attend each of those talks?
07:21
Yeah, so we're gonna have, through the Silva platform, there'll be links, so they can just log into the app or the website and just click on the link, it'll bring them to each talk, we're going to have some live networking, we've got a few things in the works. We've talked about some, like breakfast networking in the morning, just like you would do at the hotel conference, you know, you you go down to breakfast, and chat with people. So we're gonna plan on doing some of that. They will be in between, we'll have some chat talks available where you can jump in and, and talk with your fellow attendees and talk about the sessions. And then we'll just kind of have things throughout the day. So it'll I believe our first session is at 10am. And maybe 11am, I would have to check the schedule. It's all online right now. But and we go pretty much all day just like you would an in person conference. Because we really want to have that like excitement in conference in person conference feel where you go from one event to next and you have little networking in between and chats here and there. So it'll kind of feel like you're doing in person but a book in your own room or in your
08:18
house. in your pajamas. Yeah,
08:21
exactly.
08:23
You mentioned mentioned excitement there. I was curious, what are you most excited about? for this coming conference?
08:31
I'm definitely excited about the speakers. I think that something that some of this online conferences tend to miss is having really engaging speakers. And this year, we do seem to have some really awesome engaging speakers that are excited to talk to our industry. I think one of the things I've tried to bring in, and I think we all are, is really getting into an overall well rounded conference knowledge. And so um, you know, hitting all different aspects of the business. And that's what we're doing. So I'm really excited about that. I'm excited about the overall balance that we have this year with the conference
09:04
was you mentioned there, these are gonna be jam packed, jam packed days with a lot going on. So how best could we get ourselves prepared for all of that information to experience that each day?
09:15
Yeah, that's a great question. I would recommend everyone kind of look at the speakers, look at the speakers and look at the topics. And if there's something specific that you want to know that you don't know, write it down and have it ready, we're going to have question and answer sessions at every single after every single talk. And we really, unless speaker just doesn't want it to be an interactive session. One of the things that we'd like to do is make it more interactive, where you can ask questions and get answers throughout the talk. So definitely have those questions ready. And then if you are a VIP, our VIP level will actually send a swag box out to you that will have a whole booklet that will have each speaker will have put together several pages of what they're gonna be talking about highlights. So looking over that and having an understanding of what they're getting. Talking about and getting prepared is a great idea and then checking out the speakers and the BIOS, that'd be a great way to prepare.
10:08
Yeah, you know, it's kind of like just how you'd prepare for an in person conference, looking at the talks, thinking about what you need to attend, what kind of information you want out of it. And I love that idea of going ahead and writing down some initial questions that you may have and seeing if they get answered during the talk. And then if not, you know, ask them, ask them, it's a great way to just sit down, do some pre thinking about the topic and how it applies to you and where you are in your business.
10:33
Yes, that's what I think I always miss out on online conferences, I always think about what I want to ask ahead of time that I totally forget about it. And so just getting that prepared and writing it down. Because,
10:44
yeah, not just think about it, but write it down. That's the key step.
10:48
Exactly.
10:49
Well, that goes into kind of a follow up question to that, as that's preparing for it. What about getting the most out of it sounds like there's a lot going on, there's a lot of ways to engage, interact and get connected with with all of that, how do you get the most out of this kind of conference?
11:06
I think the best thing is that, for people to really set the time aside, just like you would an in person conference, when we go when we have our in person conference, people travel down for the weekends, they booked out their entire weekend for the conference. And they're there as a dedicated attendee. And I think that we tend to forget that part with online conferences, and I, we really wanted to organize this conference. So it had that same feel. And so really blocking out your weekend, just like you would normally, the conference goes from Friday to Sunday. And so taking the time out of your business, taking the time, you know, away from friends and family, that you would otherwise, you know, still playing in between sessions, really diving into the conference and being present and being there. I think that's really the best way to get all of it out is be available for the networking sessions, ask questions, get to know people in between, that's what's awesome about the platform that we're using is you really can connect on a one on one level or a three or you know, three people together or a group of people. And make sure you reserve that time to do it and not just plan to be at each session, but plan for the entire weekend experience just like you would an in person conference,
12:10
right? No, I absolutely love that of there's so much more than just sitting in front of the presentation. And many of us may be experiencing zoom fatigue, or online fatigue from having to sit and watch so much stuff. But knowing that there is all of these ways to get connected, and that that is such an important aspect. And so it's it is, you know, really a just 100% agree with you on that of setting the time aside, not just for the talks, but also for that networking opportunity, because that's that's going to be huge.
12:39
Yes, for sure. And that's really, we feel that that's the biggest benefit of our conference is the networking with other people that are on the same level as you in this industry. And really taking the time to still do that, because I think a lot of online conferences, they have the sessions and sessions are awesome, but you miss that in between connection. And we really want people to take time to do the in between connection as well.
13:00
Right. Right. You alluded to a little bit earlier about the the different tiers that you have. So explain what those are and what each of them gets you as an as an attendee.
13:12
So generally speaking, you know, our conference would be a paid conference, you would pay for a ticket and you would show up and attended. One of the benefits that you get online is we have the ability to offer it up for free. So for the first time ever, we'll have an absolutely free conference option. So you don't have to pay anything. We really wanted something that in this year where money has been so hard for so many people that they could attend regardless of their financial situation. So you can go to our website and sign up absolutely free. There's no cost involved, you can show up on the day of and attend each session. So that is one of the biggest benefits of this year's conference. But because we do realize that there are benefits to paying for conference and showing up online, and all of that we also have our VIP ticket. And the VIP registration gets you a few extra things. Number one, you'll get the videos after the conference. So you can view any of the sessions for up to six months after the conference, we're going to have some special VIP only networking sessions. So those will be for just our VIPs we'll have you know times where we can get together and chat, discuss speaker stuff, things like that. You'll also one of the things we're most excited about is that, you know the fun part of conferences is going in person and getting that swag bag, getting things from the vendors getting the T shirt and getting all of that kind of fun conferences stuff. And so the VIPs will actually get a conference swag box mailed to them ahead of time. So about a week or two before the conference, they'll get their t shirt. They'll get a swag box with all the fun swag from vendors and sponsors and other participants in that and then they'll also get our conference notebook. So we're actually gonna be binding together an awesome notebook that will have speaker notes The things that our speakers will put together that they think is the most important parts of their topic, or their, their, their talk. And all the information on our sponsors and vendors is key, but we'll give you something physical to take notes on. And a really great way to view the conference ahead of time and have it for later. So the VIP level, we'll do that. And then the other big benefit of VIP this year is becoming a member of the Texas pet sitters Association. So part of VIP, is that membership fee.
15:30
Yeah, and I definitely want to talk about that association, because you guys have been doing some really cool stuff with that, and a lot of exciting things. And so it sounds like, you know, again, all the information is is there and everybody has access to that if you're wanting to have more involvement or more access to certain things, that's where that that tier level comes in,
15:46
correct? Yes. I
15:47
can't believe we made it through this entire talk about this. But when are the dates? And when? What is going on next year? Definitely. It's
15:55
so it's February 19, through 21st of 2021.
15:59
Awesome. And where can people go to get signed up for that?
16:02
Yeah, it's Texas pet sitters.com, or TX pet sitters dot com.
16:10
And I'll have a link for that in the show notes so people can can click right to that. You know, you mentioned there about the VIP tear, you become a founding member of the the brand new Texas pet sitters Association. Where did that come from that idea from creating that association?
16:26
Yeah. So it really founded from just a way to bring our conference the next level. Up until now it's been, you know, a group of ladies who love this industry and really love education and really want to bring education attainable for everyone. And just to make it a little bit more of a professional, one more level of we decided to form the association, it actually makes us a nonprofit organization, so we can get access to discounts at conference venues. So one of the things we've always really wanted to keep is keep the price budget friendly. But as you grow, you have to get bigger spaces, and bigger spaces come with higher dollar points. But when you're a nonprofit, you do get those spaces sometimes at a discount. And so we really saw that as a good way to keep our organization grassroots, and also allows our sponsors to have their their sponsorships categorize a little bit differently than when you're, you know, a group of people putting together a conference. So that was our basic reason. And when we when we started thinking about the association, we started thinking about all the benefits that could be for people. You know, sometimes the memberships to the national organizations are expensive and out of reach financially for pet sitters. So again, this is another way that they can, you know, financially join an association having a name attached to them, have education provided for them. And so that's really just looking at overall benefits of an association to members. That's why kind of why we have formed we formed it.
17:51
Yeah, no, I that's really cool. I love I love hearing that. Because, you know, you looked around and you said hey, you know, how can we bring more benefits? How can we bring a greater value to to our members and to people who are showing up every year and to do more with this platform? I guess if I don't live in Texas, can I still be a member of Texas pet sitters Association?
18:12
Definitely. So we always joke around that whenever people attend the Texas pet sitters conference, and they're not Texans, or they're not a Texas business, they just become a Texan for the weekend. And so we just decided that everyone just be adopted Texans for our conference. It started as a Texas pet sitters conference, because the focus was really on local Texas pet sitters. But it's such a value that people from other states have found it's so important to travel. So like I said, we had someone come from Canada last year, and we have people who travel from all over the US to come to our conferences and last few years. And so really, it's something that we've kind of adopted all of them into our Texan environments.
18:48
I can't wait for my honorary Texan plaque, that'll be really cool. And so becoming a member of many of us are familiar with benefits from other organizations. What kind of things do you get access to? Or can you get involved in by becoming a member of this association?
19:06
For sure. So number one will be future founding member discounts on on our conferences, so a lot of people are familiar with or what our past attendees have been familiar with our early bird discount that's exclusive to previous attendees. And so we'll have something similar, we'll have a founding member discount for our future conferences. In addition to that, they will get access to our online pet sitter locator. So we've started that process. And that's just you know, a pencil locator is a way for twofold number one to help pet parents find you. And number two to help your SEO. You know, the bottom line of that is all the ways you can link back to your website are so important for SEO and for Google. And so that is a way to just bring one more, one more point to Google so to speak. And then we also will have our exclusive Facebook group that will be for members only. And each month within that group. We want to bring in industry experts to talk with our sitters to talk with our Members answer questions they have have live conversations do, you know challenges each month and things like that. So there's an ongoing educational component so that you're not just learning that one time a year, you're learning throughout the year, without it being something that you have to go and do or something that's, you know, you paid this huge, huge fee for, so you feel obligated, but you don't really have time, it'll be something that really more integrates into your daily life.
20:21
Oh, wow, that's really cool, you know, hearing you're going after this, this broader community, these connections. And I don't want to discount that being listed on the page for SEO purposes. Because that that is really, I think an underutilized tool that many may not realize is so powerful, because the more times, the more times you have your name associated with petsitting, the more likely you are going to show up during a Google search result. And so that's something to really take advantage of,
20:49
yes. So we're really excited about all of those things, you know, you're you're not going to see the myriad of benefits that you get, we still think it's super important to join organizations like pet sitters international and, and naps, but it's just another level. And another thing that you can do, we're going to, we're creating a badge that you can put on your website, so that you'll have that association, you know, recognition, so people see that you're part of it. And that just gives you another level of professionalism, that anytime you can add professionalism to your name and your business, it just really, overall brings up the petsitting industry to more of a professional level, but then also brings you up as well in people's eyes, even if they don't know what that means. They'll go Oh, look, they're a part of all of this. And so it just really makes you look better.
21:28
Yeah, more professionalism, and more community are always good things, right? Those are just going to make you as a pet sitter better. And I love how you touched on that is going to make the broader community of pet sitters better as well as we come together in organizations like this.
21:42
Yes, definitely.
21:44
So how can people become members of the association is right now just through that, that tear of the other conference?
21:52
Yes, initially, it'll be just for the tear of the conference. Since this is a new thing for us, we none of us have ever been in an organization like this before, we really want to make sure we do it right. So all of our VIPs will automatically gain membership, as we get our hands on and establish our you know how we're going to do everything this first year, then we may open it up outside of the conference, you know, registration time period. But for now, the best way and the only way to become a member would be through that VIP membership.
22:19
Well, and again, it gets you access to a lot more for for the conference as well. You know, that's that's a great way to go. If those are the kinds of things that you're that you are interested in.
22:29
Yeah, it's definitely a very high value VIP, it's not just one thing that it gets you It gets you a whole lot of punch for your dollar, right?
22:39
bang for your dollar punch for your dollar, lots of things for dollars, right. So remind us again, of the dates, and of where we can go and get signed up and maybe get in touch with you if they have more particular questions.
22:56
Definitely. So it's February 19, through 21st of 2021. And it will be jam packed all day long. Our normal conference goes from the morning to the evening. And so we really, like I said, what that whole conference feels. So we'll be all three of those days all day long. To find out more information or to get registered, you would go to Texas, pet sitters.com. So it's t x pet sitters.com. You can contact me anytime through our Facebook page. It's Texas pet sitters. So on Facebook, if you just search Texas pet sitters conference, you'll actually find it really easily. Or TX, pet sitters on Facebook as well. I generally respond to those messages pretty quickly. And if not someone else in our group will. But yeah, you can ask us any questions on there. And definitely follow us. We are sharing all the information about the conference on that page, including announcing about speakers and talking more about the different sessions we're doing and all of that good stuff.
23:48
Yeah, you guys are sharing a lot of information. And again, I'll have links to all that so people can click right through those get connected and get get signed up today. So Jessica, thank you so much for coming on and sharing about this awesome conference.
24:00
Well, thank you so much for having me. I
24:02
really appreciate it. set the date. Mark your calendars and Megan and I hope to see you there. Have a wonderful weekend and we'll be back again next week.
