I Went To #BML16

Most folks that know me will already know I love a good blogging conference but after finding last years Britmums difficult due to pregnancy and trying to keep it secret along with battling some of the cliques that comes with hundreds of bloggers in one space I was surprisingly really looking forward to going to this years. 

For me the social interaction with like-minded people is almost as important at the workshops and official talks. 

After loosing my mojo a year ago and then spending the last few months not quite sure where my blog and I belonged within a community that is immensely cliquey and ‘friend’ focussed I was rather anxious at going for a weekend and not knowing if I would spend the weekend on my own. 

This weekend I can honestly say that not only has it cemented one or two friendships that were already in place with the lovely ladies Clare from Emmy’s Mummy & Harry’s Too and Emma from Mrs Shilts but I am so thrilled to have made lots of new friends too.

There was an official Friday night meet up the night before but Clare, Emma and I headed instead to a local bar near the Saturday venue to meet up with some others. For me there was no way I was travelling all the way from Nottingham to London to the hotel only to then drop my bags off to then travel round London again to the event.

Initially I was rather disappointed the official Fringe event meant more traveling but as soon as we arrived at the non official venue I can honestly say I have not laughed that much in a very long time. 

Working at home for me is great but I am not naturally a loan worker, I love the hustle and bustle of an office environment, I like people. Events like BML16 mean that I can be with people who are doing the same things as me and that really helps build my enthusiasm and help me feel more of that community spirit that I crave most of the year round. 

This year I couldn’t have made the event without the help of the wonderful people at Canvas Holidays when they stepped into the breach late on and offered to sponsor my attendance.

I can not tell them just how grateful I am that they helped me get there and refuel my love of blogging and the community that comes with it. 

Although there was overlap in the workshops I wanted to attend and didn’t get to all of them I wanted to I was really pleased with the 2 of them particularly, SEO with Judith Lewis from DeCabbit Consultancy who was fantastic, however I do wish I could have spent a whole day with her as her knowledge has no bounds! and the workshop ‘Understanding Google Analytics’  which is run by Digital Garage/Google was really informative. 

My overall feelings of the event were that I preferred the 1 1/2 days it used to be on for as I felt the day only event itself was really rushed in comparison and I felt there was a difficulty fitting in the brand interaction and the workshops without missing something.

However with my joy of blogging restored, some amazing companies to look forward to working with and some amazing friendships, fledgling and established this year I really am pleased that putting myself out there to go has already made a massive difference to my mindset.

…… Oh and even the 5am fire evacuation from the hotel couldn’t dampen my positivity!