What I Learned at Conversations with Coca-Cola

I don’t even know where to begin with my recent trip down to Coca-Cola for the Conversations with Coca-Cola conference. I learned a great deal about the brand, my brand and met a bunch of great bloggers. My head was spinning from everything I learned so it took me a few days to soak it all in.

Day one of our conversation started at the World of Coca-Cola in Pemberton Place. After breakfast we were graced with a keynote from Katherine Stone, a local super star and creator of Postpartum Progress Katherine Stone. She gave us great tips for our branding ourselves and how to be innovative. Teaching us to be on track like working with brands that compliment your mission  and doesn’t hurt your brand. She truly is a visionary and someone I look up to because when I needed help she showed me the way.

After Katherine’s amazing keynote we gathered together to make vision boards. People made boards of their goals and where they see themselves and their brand. My vision board included a reminder of why I started blogging in the first place and what I strive to achieve. It was fun looking through everyones boards because the were all so different. What one persons focus could be totally different from the next. I think that’s what makes all the Mom bloggers so different.

Wendy’s came and treated us to some of their delicious choices. I love working with Wendy’s because of the great program Dave Thomas started called the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. We enjoyed some of my favorites including the Berry Almond Salad. We tried out the new Wendy’s App to track calories and make food pairings. It was great meeting some of the Wendy’s team that I already work with in person.

After lunch we met with some of the powerful women that keep Coca-Cola going. They were influential and had great information about balancing life and work.

we took a fantastic tour of The World of Coca-Cola which I hadn’t been to in years since it moved out of Underground Atlanta into it’s new spot next to the Georgia Aquarium. We got to see the new exhibit  The Vault where they just moved the secret formula into. It was very cool and very high tech.

We crammed our brains with every bit of history that Coca-Cola and how they took branding to an entirely different level and made Coca-Cola a household name. I learned more during that tour then I could process!

After a wonderful dinner with all the bloggers and Coca-cola staff I went to bed early in the modern chic W Hotel. 

On the second day of our adventure we visited the Coca-Cola headquarters. We learned all about the good efforts Coca-Cola is doing in the community and for the environment. Like having the largest fleet of hybrid vehicles of any other company. One of the best things I learned about was that when The World of Coca-Cola moved out of Underground Atlanta they donated the space to the government to open their own museum. They also donated the land in which they built the Georgia Aquarium. That is some hefty donations.
We were then introduced to the Minute Maid brand. We then learned all about ways to make our kids lunches fun while keeping it healthy. We had a fun competition to design the best lunch box meal for our kids. We got to wear fancy chefs hats and everything. Then we learned about Bacardi Mixers because let’s face it, Mom’s need a break also. We learned how to make a proper cocktail and some great drink recipes. We then created our own drink from some interesting ingredients. Our group won with a cocktail of Ginger, Rosemary and Strawberry Daiquiri mix. We named it the Redheaded Mary, it was very yummy!

After lunch we played an informative game of Jeopardy where we debunked some of the myths surrounding Coke. I also learned a lot about nutrition that I started implementing into my daily routine. I started walking, bought a pedometer and remember every day “calories in, calories out.”

It was an amazing two days that I learned so much during. A lot more about a brand that I already loved because of their marketing strategies. 

Coca-Cola brought me and other bloggers down for the Conversations with Coca-Cola. While there they provided us with food and accommodations.