One of the best parts of our jobs in marketing and public relations is working with and developing friendships with home and lifestyle bloggers and members of the media. Forest Home Media recently hosted a Nashville Bloggers weekend getaway with some of our favorite bloggers and media peeps and it turned into quite the social media and traditional media news story.
Nashville Bloggers Weekend
It all started on Friday morning with our first phase of early arrivers. FHM partner Nancy McNulty booked an interview for Rhoda from Southern Hospitality Blog on WSMV’s midday show with charming host, Kacy Hagerty. 
Rhoda shared her top tips for starting a blog. Believe it or not, it was Rhoda’s first television interview and she was a natural. (Nancy also ushered former editor of Southern Living Lindsay Bierman through his first live interview as well!) Next, Rhoda, blogger Heidi Rew and Tennessean columnist/blogger Angela Folds headed over with Nancy to visit on set with Talk of the Town Anchor Meryll Rose. There were lots of great photos taken and social media posts.
The trendy lunch spot, Pinewood Social, was chosen from Southern Living Magazine Deputy Editor Jennifer Cole’s top 100 Southern restaurants! Check out her yumminess on Instagram. This event was very well documented by all on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Here is a behind the scenes photo of what lunch with a bunch of bloggers and media types REALLY looks like.
We got in a little shopping with social media and blog coverage for Scarlett Scales Antiques, The Barn, PD’s, Serenite Maison and The Nashville Flea Market.
We arranged a surprise for the group. We invited them all to watch the on-air giveaway of the HGTV Smart Home built by Forest Home Media client, Carbine & Associates, FROM THE ACTUAL SMART HOME. Sitting on the Smart Home furniture and watching on the super smart TVs, they gave the show great live social media coverage.
They were also the first ones to break the news that the winner was taking a cash buyout and the HGTV Smart Home was available for sale- fully furnished- for $950,000. The house sold within 24 hours of hitting the MLS – thanks to their help in getting the word out.
The whole group (minus KariAnne from Thistlewood Farms) met up for a fabulous garden to table dinner at the home of Meryll Rose.
Her house created quite the buzz. She and husband Dan have only been in the home for 6 months but have finished a complete gut and remodel of their Brentwood Home. One of our bloggers, Brandy Adams had been in the home for an estate sale 6 1/2 months prior and could not believe it was the same home. Meryll and Dan had previously been in the house flipping business, so this was not their first rodeo. Well done guys!!!
Nancy, hosted a lovely dinner in her beautiful home and was also weekend hostess to 1/2 of our guests.
We were thrilled to be joined by Southern Living Garden Lifestyle Expert Carmen Johnston who brought the most decadent mini pound cakes for dessert served with farm fresh Peach Truck peaches. Wow!!
A stop off in Leipers Fork, lunch at Joe’s Naturals and breakfast the next day at The Loveless Cafe was completed with a celebrity sighting- No Less!! We ran into Larry Gatlin and he very graciously posed with our group for photos.
What trip to Nashville would be complete without a visit to lower Broadway?
We squeezed through the incessant string of bachelor and bachelorette parties to make our way into Tootsies, Legends, Layla’s Bluegrass Inn and The Stage. Whew!!!
Special thanks to Carmen Johnston who brought beautiful container gardens for the whole group!!
Nancy Mueller wrote a lovely story on the HGTV house being for sale.
Watch Rhoda from Southern Hospitality on WSMV.
Blogger, Rhoda Vickers wrote 2 blog posts about the Nashville weekend. Part 1 and Part 2
Here is Heidi Rew’s account of her Nashville adventure.
Beth from Unskinny Boppy did a fun re-cap of the weekend.
Beth and Rhoda also wrote features on my house 🙂 🙂 Rhoda’s Feature Beth’s Feature
Also joining us for the weekend fun were: Heather Patterson from At the Pickett Fence, Kristie Barnett from The Decorologist, KariAnne Wood from Thistlewood Farms, Lesley and Denise from Chaotically Creative and Brandy Adams from Make + Model.
So, that my friends is how you turn a Girls’ Weekend into a media event. Schedule fun activities, throw in a client event, add the MOST fun, media savvy friends, a celebrity sighting and you’ve got a “winning weekend.”
