118 weeks and 5 days | Britmums Live 2015

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?  :)