Despite the drama at last year’s controversial Mumsnet Blogfest, I decided to go again this year. I love going to events where I can socialise with like minded bloggers and Blogfest gives you the opportunity to learn new things during the talks too.
I arrived just in time for coffee, pastries and a few hugs before the first panel session started.
I’m afraid, I just wasn’t into it. I was bored from the start and ten minutes in, one of the panellists stated a very strongly formed opinion as though it were fact. It was an opinion that I would never agree with and the way it was declared, grated on me. I thought “here we go again” and not wanting to be made angry from the start of the day, I got up and left.
It was the best move I made.
I found the lovely team from Mark Warner Holidays, who not only remembered me, but were keen to hear how I was and asked about the current status of my health issues, including last year’s Thyroid Cancer and my more recent removal of pre-cancerous cells from my cervix. We had a lovely long chat and despite it only being 10am, I started on the delicious mulled wine the the Mark Warner bar staff were making from their Alpine Ski themed bar!
I also met the highly talented team from WAH London, who painted my nails. I was so lucky to have left the talk when I did, because it meant I didn’t have to queue at all to get my nails done. Along with a lovely lady from Talk Talk, we had a really nice chat about twins and nails and all manner of things, whilst drinking more mulled wine. I was really thrilled with the gorgeous job that they did of my nails, designed to match my dress.
I had such an enjoyable morning.
It was really nice to chat to so many of my blogging friends. Particularly Laura from Tired Mummy of Two, because I was so thrilled to hear the news, that her daughter Elizabeth is on her very last week of chemotherapy – she too has beaten Leukaemia! I hope they have a really fab time celebrating.
Throughout the day, I caught up with lots more blogger friends and entered some of the competitions run by the sponsors. I caught up with my 2013 sponsor Coca Cola, who have recently launched their new product, Coca Cola Life. You can see my review of Coca Cola Life here.
I had a delicious lunch of noodles and prawns (I was warned by other bloggers that the beef dish was awful) and then hit the desserts, which were totally yummy!
I thoroughly enjoyed the talk by James Dearsley from The Digital Marketing Bureau about how to get more out of Google. He made it interesting, lively and funny. I actually felt that I had learnt a lot from that session and I have come away with a ton of questions to email the poor guy as he ran out of time.
I also enjoyed the session on YouTube, as this is an avenue I want to explore more on my blog. I learnt an awful lot from that session too and really hope I can put it into practise.
Unfortunately I didn’t get anything out of the other sessions I went to. I found them boring, only vaguely related to blogging and one went way off on a tangent away from the topic title. I left most mid-way through in favour of socialising, drinking wine or chatting to brands.
My highlight of Blogfest, was Lucy Porter. She was SO funny. I was quite literally laughing out loud. There was lots of rude jokes about the male anatomy and plenty of swearing. What a way to end Blogfest – absolutely hilarious!
Great write up! I was supposed to be there, but my youngest was really unwell Friday night so I didn’t feel comfortable leaving him. I often find that the social side of these things is my favourite part. And LOVING those nails! See you next year! x
Awe, all in all sounds like you had an awesome day Emma! Wow, getting your nails done, drinking mulled wine and eating scrummy food! So wish I was there!
Jo Laybourn recently posted..Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red
The social part was the best bit for me and Lucy Porter was awesome! Sorry I didn’t get chance to say bye, the gin called x
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Sounds like a bit of a mixed bag! I haven’t had that impression from others, but I do think people tend not to be 100% honest about these things as they so want it to be the most amazing experience ever and it often isn’t really! I feel slightly less jealous now as I did have a case of FOMO yesterday!
Sarah MumofThree World recently posted..Silent Sunday 9.11.14
I like honesty, Emma, and if I’m being honest then I must also confess that BlogFest did very little for me. I didn’t like the venue – too block like and impersonal – and I’m afraid I too found myself bored throughout the day, so much so that I left at 3pm. An hour and a half for lunch was too long but I must say that I actually really enjoyed the beef dish! And the salted caramel meringues were to die for. I may have eaten six. 🙂
The opening session – I zoned out within 10 minutes. I did, however, enjoy the talks from Paul Armstrong and Kate Rushworth. Then I quit while I was still standing upright.
I’ve been to three blogging conferences this year – BritMums, BlogHer in California and MumsNet. I would return to the first two but sadly my first time at BlogFest was also my last.
Beautiful nails. I enjoyed socialising with bloggers and brands on Britmums Live 2013 and 2014. I haven’t been to Blogfest yet, but should arrange to go next year! 🙂 x
It was lovely to see you yesterday, albeit briefly. I really enjoyed the day (and the beef)! I will be back again next year. Hope to see you soon.
HelpfulMum recently posted..09.11.14 Silent Sunday
That looks like a really fun event. And you’ve learned some neat stuff, too.
The actual conference parts weren’t very fun, but all the breaks were! lol.
It was so lovely to see you and to see you looking so well. I look forward to having a chance to catch up again soon
It’s funny isn’t it, this was my first blogging conference and I loved it! I found all the sessions I attended either useful or interesting. What was the comment that made you leave the first session? There were a couple of things I disagreed with in it, but I made my point at the q&a’s at the end. I’d happily go again, in fact I will. Seeing Nick Hornby, Job Ronson etc was worth the ticket price alone and Lucy Porter was amazing.
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I’m afraid to say I didn’t know ANY of the speakers or panelists. The only speaker I had even vaguely heard of was Lucy Porter and I wasn’t wowwed enough by any of them to even bother Googling them when I got home! So for me, the event wasn’t worth the ticket cost at all. I just loved the social side.
Nice to hear somebody enjoyed it. That’s two years in a row for me where I’ve not been impressed. I much prefer Britmums Live.
So gutted I missed it! Circumstances prevented me from going but I was so jealous. Love Mark Warner’s theme this year and I definitely need my nails doing like that!
Actually Mummy… recently posted..A weekend in L’Estartit Catalunya
I’d love to hear more about the Google and You Tube sessions, they sounded very worthwhile
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