On Friday 22nd June 2012, hundreds of bloggers descended on The Brewery in London for the largest parent blogger conference in the UK. As a 'newbie' to the blogging world and with no sponsor on board i had given up hope of attending this years event, but thanks to the lovely Working Supermum who kindly donated her ticket to me i was able to go on the Saturday and what a day it was.
I was up at the crack of dawn, 5.15am to be precise ready to catch my train to St Pancras International where i would be meeting up with the lovely Angela at Mum Of Three Boys, Laura at The Life And Times Of The Working Mum and Bex at The Mummy Adventure before travelling together to the event. After a short journey by taxi we arrived at The Brewery, a stunning Grade II listed building with it's own cobbled courtyard and top-hatted butlers nestled away in the heart of London.
We registered at reception, collected our badges and made our way to The Hub for coffee and pastries. This main room was home to the many sponsors and brands exhibiting as well as the Warner Bros. Lounge and the TK Maxx Style Lounge.
From this point on, the day was a whirlwind of workshops, networking, socialising, tears, laughter and note taking! So, my highlights.........
I was up at the crack of dawn, 5.15am to be precise ready to catch my train to St Pancras International where i would be meeting up with the lovely Angela at Mum Of Three Boys, Laura at The Life And Times Of The Working Mum and Bex at The Mummy Adventure before travelling together to the event. After a short journey by taxi we arrived at The Brewery, a stunning Grade II listed building with it's own cobbled courtyard and top-hatted butlers nestled away in the heart of London.
We registered at reception, collected our badges and made our way to The Hub for coffee and pastries. This main room was home to the many sponsors and brands exhibiting as well as the Warner Bros. Lounge and the TK Maxx Style Lounge.
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| The Brewery Britmums Badge TK Maxx Style Lounge |
- SEO and Legal Issues Workshop - Yes i know it sounds tedious and boring, but this workshop actually provided a lot of useful guidance and tips on how to improve our blogs and comply with laws etc.
- Pinterest Workshop - This was a really relaxed but informative discussion which really helped develop my understanding of Pinterest and i now know that i'm not using it to it's full potential so plan to implement some changes to my 'pinning' habits over the forthcoming weeks.
- Sod The Stats And Blog For Happiness - This was a fantastic session with some sound advice from the panel and thought provoking input from the audience too. I think the biggest thing i learnt during this session was not to get caught up in the saga of stats and remain focused on the reasons you started blogging in the first place. Try not to over think posts and don't just write what you think other people want to hear. Write from the heart, be honest, be real and be true to yourself.
- Social Media - Make a strategy, use best practices and get results.
- Cherry Healey and Sarah Brown - Both excellent speakers who left me with some food for thought.
- The Bloggers' Keynote - Featuring members from the Britmums community reading extracts from their blogs and by far THE best session of the day. The video pregnancy announcement by Dear Beautiful Boy was amazing but Downs Side Up stole the show with a heartfelt post about her daughter Natty that moved me to tears and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
I left feeling truly inspired and full of ideas, i got to meet some fantastic people and have formed friendships i know will last. Blogging has presented me with some great opportunities in such a short space of time and i already feel like one of the family. I know it's only going to get better.
Here's to Britmums Live 2013
Vikki xxx
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