by Alyson LaBarge
MomStart Contributor

Note to readers: I was hosted by P&G (Proctor & Gamble) for this blogger conference.   Accommodations and travel expenses were paid for by P&G.

A while back, I was lucky enough to attend a two-day awesome event called Access P&G. This event was created to bring bloggers and P&G brands together and they pulled it off in grand style!

I learned so much in those two days!  I truly never realized just how many products that I use day in and day out that fall under the Procter and Gamble umbrella!  See how many of these are in your home:

• Crest
• Charmin
• Febreeze
• Iams
• Tampax
• Bounce
• Nice ‘n Easy
• Bounty
• Swiffer
• Pampers
• Puffs
• Pantene
• Head & Shoulders
• Cover Girl
• Olay

… the list goes on and on and on.

I now know I use a TON of P&G products!

Having never been to Cincinnati before, getting there was half the fun!  I left DFW and changed planes in Charlotte.  The plane from Charlotte was the smallest plane I had ever been on…we even walked out onto the tarmac and climbed a flight of stairs to get on the plane.  It was really quite fun. lol

The hotel they put us up in was SO cool. It was in the heart of downtown at the swanky 21C Museum Hotel.  It was amazing and I would love to go back just to stay there again.  21C Museum Hotel doubles as both a hotel AND a fully-functioning art museum/cultural civic center.  Each room had a super artistic touch in the funky tiles in the shower that showed a variety of body parts – an eye, ear, nose, etc.  The staff was outstanding in seeing to our needs and my absolute favorite thing was the giant yellow Penguins that the staff constantly move around the hotel.  I even got a mini-ceramic one to take home and he makes me smile to this day!

• A meet and greet event held in an interactive digital playground exhibit at the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center that included Celebrity mom and Cincy native-by-marriage Vanessa Lachey , sharing the virtues of P&G laundry solutions like the ever-popular Tide Pods and Downy Infusions.  We were also introduced to my newest favorite, the Cincinnati wonder, Graeter’s Blackberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.  Delicious does not begin to describe it. 😉
• Tampax-sponsored yoga. I’ll spare you the photographic evidence but it was very relaxing and the expert tampon engineer even managed to make the braid feature totally exciting. Seriously!  I knew I liked Tampax and now I know why. *giggle*
• A visit from J.B. Kropp, a Strategic Partnerships fellow at Twitter who talked to us about Optimizing Your Blog through Social Media.
• A walk through a couple of blocks of super cool Cincinnati downtown architecture.
• A visit to the main P&G headquarters.
• Putting Bounty Duratowels to the test.
• Lunch created by and with Top Chef Stephanie Izard.
• A tour of the the P&G Archives.
• Meeting Pawl Griffin… (also known as the VP of Canine Communications for IAMs) and learning about the healthy background of IAMS So Good Dog Food.
• Meeting and getting tips and trends from Celebrity hairstylist David Reposar and makeup artist Bruce Grayson.
• Danielle Smith, Access P&G attendee and author of Social Media Engagement For Dummies, was the moderator for our group discussion on Balancing Blog and Home.
• Dinner at legendary Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse.

Watch for my other posts regarding some of the great information and events that took place during Access P&G!

Probably one of the biggest bonuses of this trip was that I finally got to meet several bloggers whom I’ve known online for years like Naomi at Superdumb Supervillain, Zippy at Champagne Living,  Alicia at The Mommy Insider and Danielle from Extraordinary Mommy!

I had a wonderful trip and am so grateful that I could attend.  A special thanks to the amazing PR team Sara, Molly, Tim, and the rest of the crew for putting together an unforgettable conference and giving me a chance to explore all the great products P&G has to offer!