I mentioned recently that this weekend I was going to one of the biggest conferences in the blogging calendar.
Fuelled by the excitement of meeting up with some of my blogging buddies at the Birmingham Blog Camp, earlier in the year, I booked my tickets to Britmums Live 2015 straight after and was so looking forward to it.
The night before I didn’t have any of the nerves I thought I’d have — instead it felt a little like Christmas eve — I was SO excited!!
I took the train into London on Friday and met up with some of my friends at the hotel we were staying at beforehand — cue LOTS of excited shrieking and lots of cuddles. I paid for early check in which was a godsend — so nice to dump all the bags and sort myself out before we went over to the venue.
We made our way over to the Brewery, signed in and signed up to the talks that needed to be booked in advance.
The venue was fabulous; a beautiful building laid out over lots of levels.
There was beautifully decorated outside area — a busy, buzzing, craft room — then the workshops and talks planned for the two days were held in four conference rooms plus there was ‘The Hub’ — a room that was almost laid out like a market place for the brands and sponsors of the event to show off their wares. This is where most people caught up between sessions too as there were free refreshments available.
I won’t bore you with every detail of the two days, suffice to say that I loved every second of it.
I met some fabulous brands, listened to some inspiring speeches, talked to lots of lovely like-minded people and met up with some of my blogging besties.
I chose my workshops quite carefully beforehand and packed in each and every learning opportunity I could and — as a result — I learnt SO much new stuff. Highlights definitely included the advanced SEO session and the Pinterest workshop.
Plus I went to a ‘Define Your Design’ workshop and spent a lovely creative hour creating a mood board.
For anyone toying with the idea of going next year I’d urge you to be brave and book a ticket! This time last year, the thought of attending such a big event with lots of people I didn’t know terrified me but having just spent such a lovely, busy two days putting faces — and voices — to the blogs I read, and learning more about the industry that I’m now a part of, I *almost* wish that I’d done it sooner.
I say *almost* because one of the reasons I felt so completely at ease was down to the fact that I had some lovely allies with me. Bloggers that I’ve been chatting to over the course of the last year who are now my friends.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m a pretty confident girl in a room full of strangers but making smalltalk over two days is tiring.
Having some people you feel really comfortable around — almost as a security blanket— is something I’d definitely advise for such a big blogging event. Blog Camp was a great pre-cursor — a more intimate environment to meet my buddies for the first time — and was definitely the way forward for me.
Cutting my teeth on a small event was perfect.
Despite what I (wrongly) thought when I published my very first blog post, blogging is an incredibly sociable business. I guess the clue is in the name ‘social media’ — particularly as it’s the social media platforms that give you the tools to get your blog noticed!
For anyone reading this who may be thinking about going to Britmums for the first time I’d say GO!
You’ve a whole year until the next one; plenty of time to make some good blogging allies and attend a smaller event beforehand.
Btirmums Live 2015 was fabulous. Such a great opportunity to learn, meet up with some great brands and mingle with the blogging fraternity. I’m looking forward to the next one already. Maybe I’ll see you there? :)
Caro Davies is a former art-director turned writer and content-creator, and editor behind UK lifestyle blog The Listed Home. She writes about home-related topics, from interiors and DIY to food and craft. The Listed Home has been featured in various publications, including Ideal Home, Grazia, and Homes & Antiques magazines.
I bottled it in the end this year, but I’m definitely going next year!
#twinklytuesday
Aaah bless you lovely!! I was SO fearful last year — you wouldn’t have been able to pay me to go!! And this year was a totally different kettle of fish!! NO nerves at all — I couldn’t wait to go and meet everyone! :)
I have seen BritMums all over social media the last few days! Looked like everyone had a great time!! I think I definitely would be too daunted to go to a two day event and not know anybody The talks all looked great though! Glad you enjoyed it xx
It was fab Tracy!!! And you would know people!! There were loads of people there that I’ve met through chatting online — PLUS you’d get to know even MORE people!!! :) x
It was blummin’ amazing. I was quite sad when it was over (even though I was very ready to get back to my man and my girl). I am so glad that I have finally met you – you are as lovely as I hoped you would be and I hope it’s not too long before I get to see you again. :)
xx
Aaaah!!! It was AMAZING wasn’t it???!!! I LOVE meeting you darling — I was so happy to have (most of) our girls together!! Can’t wait to see you again xxxx
Sounds like it was lots of fun #TwinklyTuesday
Aaah it really was!! I can’t wait until the next one!! :)
Sounds like you had a nice time and I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.
I’m not overly sure on what britmums is, but the awards sounded like fun =]
It was SO much fun!! Britmums is a big blogger meet up — there were lots of brands there to meet, LOADS of bloggers, talks and workshops to help you to learn how to hone your blog and be better at what you do. It was amazing — can’t wait til next year! :)
It was interesting to hear what goes on at the event. Glad you had such a fabulous time!
It was so much fun — I would definitely go again!! :)
There were so many people I wanted to meet, but I didn’t manage to meet as many as I hoped. There were just SO many people there! Sounds like you had a great time. I was telling my husband last night about the world record attempt ‘mummies’ he couldn’t believe it! ha ha!
Aaah I can’t believe I didn’t get to meet you!! You’re right — there were LOADS there!! I missed seeing so many people I was looking for, I could have done with another day!! x
So lovely to meet you! And next time let’s make time for a vino! Xx
Aaah it was LOVELY to meet you!!!! I was so chuffed when you asked that question and I realised who you were!!! Can’t wait til the next time :) And YES — we’ll make sure there’s wine (or gin in my case)! x
Looks like you had a fantastic time. Love reading these Britmums Live posts. I hope to come next year
It was FABULOUS Beth!! I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed it :) So nice to learn all about the industry we’re in :)
Thanks for sharing your experience on BritMums Live. My mummy went on her own (brave I know) it was hard and she felt daunted, however she had a great time and did meet up with some bloggers she knew online. She was daunted by the larger groups of bloggers who all stayed together and felt it hard to approach a group, this maybe stopped her for interacting more. It’s definitely worth it, but you need to be confident and brave x #TwinklyTuesday
I totally agree! You really have to swallow your nerves and boldly just go up to people!! I was with my group for some of the time but was quite happy off on my own too! SO lovely to meet lots of likeminded people :)