My Britmums Live 2014 Experience #BritmumsLive

This weekend, I joined thousands of bloggers at Britmums Live in London, the UK’s biggest two-day social media conference and blogger event. I really enjoyed attending Britmums Live 2013, so I was looking forward to this year’s event.

Both experiences were very different, enjoyable in a distinct way. Last year I considered myself a new blogger, I enjoyed writing and sharing on the blog, but I wasn’t too sure what I was doing. Although I felt a bit lost in the blogging scene, I am usually chatty and bubbly, so I had no troubles introducing myself and making friends at my first blogging conference.

One year has passed, over one thousand posts have been written, and I finally see myself as an established blogger. I have found my voice and love sharing my own opinion on literally anything and everything. I was even shortlisted for in Social Media category.

I attended Britmums Live 2014 thanks to my wonderful sponsor Biovault Family, leading private human tissue bank offering cord blood banking service throughout the UK.

You can find out more about Biovault Family on my Britmums Live introductory blog post, or contact them directly on  01752 548 627.

 It was lovely meeting old friends and fellow bloggers, such as Lucy (London Bird Lucy), Lynn (A Slice of Lemon’s Cake) and Christine (Mummy of 3 Diaries) in the picture above, and other lovely bloggers too!

I have chatted to so many amazing bloggers and brands over the past few months, so I really wanted to speak to them and introduce myself at Britmums Live. Nothing like putting a face to a name, but I found that two days were not enough to do it all, attend panels and discussions whilst socialising. I wish we could have a whole week of Britmums Live – how amazing would that be?!

Top Tips for Britmums Live

I thought I would put together my top tips to make sure you make the most of your time at the next Britmums Live.

Plan ahead

Check the agenda and decide which sessions you would like to attend. There is a mixture of beginners and advanced 45 minute sessions throughout the day, whether you are interested in finding out more about social media, storytelling, food styling, photography, video and other topics.

I must confess it was quite hard deciding which sessions to attend, I wanted to go to most of them and wish there was a way of splitting myself in half.

Don’t be scared, bloggers don’t bite

Bloggers usually give hugs, if you are feeling lonely, you can always go to the Butterflies for some TLC! Feel free to approach bloggers and introduce yourself, swap Twitter handles and exchange business cards.

Blogging can be quite lonely at times, as we are all hiding behind a computer screen. Britmums Live is a great place to get in touch with other bloggers and brands. It is your perfect opportunity to be funny and silly, dress up and be yourself.

My favourite sessions:

I attended several inspiring sessions at Britmums Live 2014. One of my favourites was ‘Creating a Pitch’ with Jaume Marin from Costa Brava Tourism and Kirstie Pelling from Family Adventure Project. I love working with brands and collaborating in projects, so it was interesting to find out from a brand prospective what they are after when working with bloggers.

Another great session was ‘Collaboration: Working together for bigger impact’ with Annabel from Country Wives, Tanya Barrow from Mummy Barrow and Maggy Woodley from Red Ted Art. I took part in the team London for Team Honk relay and together bloggers raised over £30k for Sports Relief during the 12-week relay. A great example of collaboration to achieve amazing results for a great cause. 

 

Travel Blogging session with Steve Keenan (Travel Perspective); Trish Burgess (Mum’s Gone To); Simon Calder (The Independent) and Emma Raphael (Bavarian Sojourn) was also very useful. I love being a Butlins Ambassador, live tweeting during our holiday and writing about our experience, so it was great finding out more tips about travel blogging.

The panel shared tips on creating compelling stories, press trip tips and good practices.  We would love to explore travel blogging even more this year!

What have I learnt?

I learnt that I should ‘Just Do It’, inspired by ‘Design tips to make your blog look gorgeous’ with Lucy Heath from Capture by Lucy. Sometimes I try to do too many things at the same time, she reminded us that we ‘cannot be all things to all people’, and her advice was ‘Don’t let fear, doubt, comparison, disillusion or isolation stop you from changing your design’.

 I shall take Lucy’s advice and all great tips shared at Britmums Live to all areas of blogging. I shall be brave, be creative, and be myself. I love having my own space online and I shall treasure it more than ever!

See you next year at Britmums Live 2015!