Social media conference, showing off Omaha top busy weekend
What a weekend! So much travel-related items packed into a 48-hour window. I feel like I need a weekend to regroup from the weekend.
Our weekend started with an Omaha Bloggers’ conference on social media. The conference was organized and facilitated by my wife, Lisa. I am very proud of the success she enjoyed with this conference. Roughly 15-20 people were expected to attend. The turnout was at almost 30. Great job, Lisa!
The conference featured nationally-renowned speaker Sara Broers of Mason City, Iowa. Sara speaks on the need for and success of utilizing social media for bloggers and businesses.
The basic message is: Use all your social media and get yourself out there for the public to know.
In addition to being a national speaker, Sara writes three blogs: Travel with Sara, All in an Iowa Mom’s Day, and Social Connections LLC. She is one busy Northern Iowan.
The conference was held at Ragazzi’s Pizzeria in Ralston. The management was great to work with and was very attentive to the needs of the group.
A side note: Ragazzi’s led the drive for “Pizzas for Pilger.” The town of Pilger was devastated by rare twin tornados about a month ago. Pizzerias around Omaha offered cheese pizzas for about $12, with all proceeds going to the Pilger fund. They raised about $80,000. Ragazzi’s was invited to the town’s annual celebration the same day as the conference. One of the restaurant’s partners represented the eatery there.
The buffet of salad, pizza and cupcakes was delicious. They make their own cupcakes on site.
Following the successful conference, Lisa and I had the honor of spending the evening with Sara and introducing her to the Old Market in downtown Omaha.
We mainly walked along Howard and Harney streets, so she could see a variety of the building architecture and the unique stores along the way.
We stopped in at Tannenbaum’s, which a holiday and seasonal store. The Christmas decorations were impressive.
The Thomas Mangelsen art gallery impressed Sara. We spent quite a few minutes there checking out the fantastic photography of one of the world’s best photogs. Very proud to call him an Omahan.
We checked out Heartland of America Park. The water fountain was jetting water up to 300 feet into the sky.
We checked out the military memorials at the park – the World War II home support and the Paratroopers.
A nice walk along the riverfront on Lewis and Clark Landing followed.
We told her the story of the Storz Brewing Trophy Room Grill and Brewery. The city is thrilled to have the Storz name back in the beer business.
We checked out the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge. It’s the nation’s longest pedestrian bridge connecting two states. The River City Star paddle boat timed its route perfectly, to be near the bridge during our visit.
A walk back through the Old Market ended in dinner at Block 16 at 16th and Farnam. We’d never eaten there before, so Lisa was a little nervous about taking a visitor there. The nerves quickly subsided once we took a bite our sandwiches. Each of our meals was excellent. No wonder this place has been an award winner for the past few years.
We topped our night with a walk to the Howlin’ Hounds coffee shop at 16th and Leavenworth. Our friend Jamie Thomas had a photo exhibit there. We checked out the photos, including buying one of a Bolivian elderly woman. Great photography!
We escorted Sara back to the Magnolia Hotel, which hosted her for the night. The Magnolia is a boutique hotel in the old Aquila Energy building at 16th and Howard. It’s a great place to stay.
We started Sunday picking up where we left off.
Picking up Sara at the hotel, we took a short drive around downtown showing her a few more icons or views – the Omaha sign on the Pinnacle Bank building, which has appeared on TV several times, the Spirit of the Pioneer Park on Capitol, as well as the TD Ameritrade Ballpark Omaha and Century Link Omaha arena.
The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium was our next stop. We spent about 2.5 hours visiting the hot spots of the zoo.
We started with a tour of the aquarium. Sara loves penguins (who doesn’t?). We spent a few minutes relaxing in front of the tuxedo-looking birds. Some of them were active, swimming and even mugging for pictures (it seems).
On to the shark tunnel. We checked out the sharks, turtles and other sea life.
Sara hasn’t been to the zoo in a few years, so the aquarium’s renovation was new to her. The coral reef area provided a glimpse into the colors of the corals and a view of the jellyfish collection.
Next up was a trip through the Lied Jungle and Rainforest. We walked along the top floor, taking in the vegetation and animals.
A ride high atop the zoo grounds followed on the Skyfari. The ride, which is basically a ski lift, takes you from near the entrance to the old Pachyderm Hill – home of the rhinos. The ride takes you over the giraffes, ostriches, cheetahs and Monkey Island.
We visited Stingray Beach, which is the zoo’s special exhibit this year. The exhibit is home to several sting rays. They can be petted and fed without the fear of being stung. It was a fun experience. They felt squishy.
Lisa had a bit of an issue trying to feed them a couple of times. LOL. She and the first ray did not connect with the food very well. It finally got the fish treat. The second encounter didn’t go well when Lisa dropped the fish to the bottom of the water. At least maybe a sand dollar ray got a treat.
After a quick trip through the Desert Dome (it was super busy), we headed out for our next stop – lunch.
Well, we arrived back to the Old Market before Zio’s Pizza opened, so we took another short walk through the Old Market. We checked out the Omaha O! Guy near the Chamber of Commerce office. The sculpture is a couple stories tall.
Lunch at Zio’s was outstanding. Sara and Lisa each had a slice of pizza and salad, while I had a calzone and salad. We shared an order of BBQ wings as an appetizer.
After lunch, we made our way to the Durham Museum. We took into the old Union Station depot section before heading to the exhibits on the lower floor.
The special exhibit this summer is Design Zone. It appears to be geared toward children.
We checked out a few of the permanent exhibits- log cabin and bank front, as well as the Native American and old town areas.
Following our trip through the Durham, it was back to the Magnolia, so Sara could pick up her car and make her way to the next stop on her itinerary.
Lisa and I stopped at Ted and Wally’s ice cream shop to help the country celebrate National Ice Cream Day.
We later met up with Sara and other bloggers at the Hilton Garden Inn West, near Village Pointe shopping center. We participated in a hard hat tour of the new Home2Suites hotel next to the Garden Inn. They are owned by the same franchise group.
The tours of both hotels were interesting. The Hilton Garden Inn was a brief tour, as we checked out a couple of their guest rooms.
A reception was hosted by the hotel staff for the bloggers and area businesses attending. There was a nice-sized group of visitors eager for the hard hat tour. Lisa and I took part in a hard hat tour in St. Louis previously, so we looked forward to this one.
DJ, the Home 2 general manager, gave us a close-up look at the rooms that are still in progress, but close to completion. The Home 2 anticipates a mid-August opening, providing construction stays on target.
We will have a more in-depth review of the hard hat tour this week, so please look for that.
Following the tour and additional visiting with the hotel staff, it was time to wrap up the whirlwind weekend.
I want to mention again how proud of my wife I am for her organizing the blogger conference and additional items. Lisa, you should be proud of yourself.
Disclaimer: Thanks to the Omaha Visitors Bureau for providing a zoo pass for Sara and pass for two at the Durham. However, all opinions and views are mine.
