I’ll just make one thing clear: if you were expecting a post about rapid gender-change operations, you’ve, erm, come to the wrong place. You weren’t? Then read on… First of …
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What i thought of Britmums live 2015 event
This time last week, I was on my way to London to attend the two day blogging extravaganza that is BritMums Live. What a weekend! I laughed till my sides hurt, cried buckets, slept alone with no kids waking me up, ate delicious food, drank a fair bit of lovely white wine, and attended sessions
How are you feeling today after such a fabulous BritMums Live? Personally I am still not back to normal, I’m still trying to process all of the tips, advice and …
This year saw me attend one of the biggest blogging events in the blogging calendar — Britmums Live 2015. So much to see, learn and do. See how I got on :)
You won’t have missed that there was a huge blogging event this weekend, Britmums Live. I attended again, this was my third year and by far my most relaxed year. Possibly a little too relaxed if I’m honest, I packed on Friday morning – well it’s only 1 night away and not aRead more
My experience of BritMums Live
I’ve already written about 36 of the best blogging tips I learned at BritMums Live. But now, I’m focussing on some of the amazing people I met at my very first blogging conference, and sharing a few photos of what we got up to. I never thought I would be the kind of person to …
A round up post about my time, events, laughter and inspiration of Britmums Live 2015!
It may seem strange that the first meet up of Oxfordshire Bloggers took place in London, but then it was unplanned. Britmums Live is such a big event it is …
BritMums Live 2015, BritMums, Blogging conference UK, Father's Day, Father's Day 2015
A late 20's mummy blogging the love and laughs of raising two young boys. All the fun of being a parent to boys and the love they bring to my life.
When I started putting this session together with Teri I spent hours researching better blog design presentations, how to improve your blog design posts and how to DIY your web design articles! And they all became a variation on a theme. There are fundamental principles that aren't to do w
I think it’s fair to say our first Britmums Live was a success. Despite being just a teeny tiny bit […]
BritMums Live 2015, BritMums, Blogging conference UK, Father's Day, Father's Day 2015
Sewing, knitting and crocheting couldn’t be more cool and fun (even before you know that Ryan Gosling’s doing it) and it’s so easy to get started! We’re delighted this year …
I’m going to BritMums Live. I've bought my ticket, sorted my hotel room & I'm all set for this year's biggest blogging event!
Top UK Christian Mummy blogger writing about family, faith and travel
When I started putting this session together with Teri I spent hours researching better blog design presentations, how to improve your blog design posts and how to DIY your web design articles! And they all became a variation on a theme. There are fundamental principles that aren't to do w
Last weekend, 14 days after major abdominal surgery and with a lot of help from some brilliant friends, I went to London and I stood in front of a room full of my peers. I read something I'd written and I got a standing ovation and I made them all cry (for which I am sorry). It was the proudest and most bitter-sweet moment of my life. It was quite a big ask to travel down to Britmums Live in London from Manchester 2 weeks after surgery, and I make no apologies for the fact that the end of this post will be linktacular. I genuinely could not have gone to Britmums Live 2015 without a heck of a lot of help from a lot of people. I bought my ticket way back in July, and apparently I forgot about about that, because I bought another one in November. I only discovered this a month ago, but luckily was able to sell one on in time, and therefore had cash for my expenses without dipping into the houshold pot. It was a great start. Britmums Live started with an ice breaker and sadly it was far too active for me, so I had to sit it out with the most gorgeous man in the room - 3 week old Red Rose Baby And everyone else got to completely wrap up someone they barely knew with toilet roll! It was actually hilarious.... Going On An Adventure's Colette shows us how it's done - hokey kokey style. Flamenco, and then pretend you're an aeroplane.... and why didn't we all run away while they stood and waited to be judged!? Missed opportunities....if a little obvious. Out into the brand den and I genuinely loved the Sew And Sew room, yet I didn't lift a needle. I was happy enough walking through and taking in the atmosphere. I tried to break a record, I spotted Parragon's typo (did anyone else spot that?), and I ate ice cream made from cashew nuts and frozen berries. I think with this being my second time here, and I've been blogging a bit longer, I'm braver and prepared to talk to the brands more confidently. Last year I would stand around and not catch anyone's attention and then wander off. This year I chatted to everybody! Or maybe it's just my painkillers.... I did definitely talk pants with Carol Smillie, and it was brilliant. Genuinely a fascinating chat and she was smily, and she was down-to-Earth and lovely. And she's 53. I wish I'd looked that good at 33. Her Diary Doll pants are pretty excellent. A bit pricey, but I definitely think it's worth getting a couple of pairs. Trust me - you can barely feel it any difference to your regular knickers....I was really hoping for a pair in the goodie bag! I took a great photo of Emily A Mummy Too. She says I shouldn't show anyone, but no-one can be embarrassed by this photo...and if she asks, no-one's looking....right? I did go to sessions, and I did learn stuff. I met some amazing people who really I was in awe of, and was asked "are you any good?" by the fabulous Post 40 Bloggers founder HerMelness (I declined to answer - in case you were wondering). We had a celebrity keynote from Caprice, and then the Bloggers Keynote. I tried hard not to cry at the posts that came before mine. I'd read them all, twice, just to get to know them. I knew I was 7th. I'd learnt the order. I worried for Helen, who was reading before me. She went into the loo on her own and I knew how scared I was, so I had to go and check if she okay, and I cursed that bloody squeaky door. She was about as okay as I was... And then it was my turn. Pippa came with me to the stage and I did not look up. I stared at the lecturn and I realised I had to speak. I've spoken to big audiences before, but not when the subject was my own. I thought I couldn't do it. My mouth didn't move, and everything was in slow motion and when it finally came the first line felt like I spat it out, and then my voice just didn't work properly. I croaked my way through so much of it before I reached a part that was harder for me, and my voice cracked, and I paused and I knew I'd done that hard bit, so I carried on, and I did it. And I did look up at the end, and I saw everybody stand up, and I knew I did okay. I did her proud. I wrote Dear Elspeth because I didn't want anyone to blame Elspeth for what happened, I didn't want them to gossip about her and be negative about her. I wanted to protect her from that because it wouldn't have been fair. I never for one minute thought it would elicit the response it did. I've had far too many people contact me and tell me they have sought help, and their family members have sought help, after reading it. Every single one made writing it worthwhile. You can find the video of my keynote here. And then I felt awful because Leta had to go on stage already upset, and she was on her own up there. I knew her post was going to be hard for her, and I'm sorry. The post that stands out most for me was Twinkle Twinkle from 23 Week Socks. I cried so much reading it, I was delighted I did not have to go on stage after Louise. In the photo below I'm the purple faced one in the middle. I didn't realise it at the time, but the paracetamol I'd been prescribed was to keep my temperature down, so I hadn't worried about not taking it - obvious with kids, not so obvious with adults - doh! The people with me are the people who made Britmums Live possible for me. They were the ones sitting at my table as I waited to go on stage. They organised for the gorgeous sunflowers from the Lindemans Wines stand to be on my table when I came off stage. . .Those people looked after me. They made sure I always had a drink, I ate my dinner, I didn't pick anything up or carry anything, and they never left me on my own. Fiona, Mary, Jen, Helen, Eileen, Anna, Kel, Colette, and Pippa. Thank you to Sim, who couldn't be at Britmums Live, but she sat in my kitchen and listened to me practice reading my post aloud until I could get all the way through without crying, or going to make another brew, or nipping to check if someone was at the door. Thank you to Mary, and Pippa, who made my wish of "please can a magic fairy just organise everything and tell me what time I should leave my house and who I should pay?" into a reality (I even got picked up from my house). Thank you to Jen, and everyone else who at any point dragged my case or carried my bags for me, picked up everything I ever dropped, saved me a seat, and ignored me when I fell asleep at inappropriate times (I actually really wanted to see that session). Thank you to Colette for sharing a hotel room with me and calmly pausing the conversation whenever I was sick, then carrying on as if nothing exciting happened, and for going out at midnight with Kel while I was sleeping, to buy me some plain crisps and clear pop so that I could get enough lining into my tummy to take my tablets when I woke. Thank you again to Pippa, who despite having a 3 1/2 week old baby came up on stage and held me in a solid bear hug the entire time, and didn't complain when I squeezed her hand in a vice grip, and also had the somewhat important job of reading for me if I couldn't finish. Thank you to everyone who was there, everyone who wasn't. Everyone who watched and everyone who read. Everyone who nominated. Britmums Live 2015 was an amazing experience, but I'm sure you will all understand when I say that I wish it had all been a dream. See you next year.
Lots of top blogging tips from BritMums Live.
BritMums has been and gone for another year. This year was my second time attending BritMums Live. Last year I came away from the conference having learnt so much. I met a few new people, but I went mainly for the learning side of things. I went to as many sessions and talks as I could and I learnt a lot. This year was slightly different. I don’t feel that I’ve learnt much! I went to a good number of sessions, but everything that was said I already knew. I did learn a few new things that I’m hoping to apply to my blog over the coming months though. Aside from that I did have a really good time. In the run up to BritMums Live I have been working with my wonderful sponsor, Dom and Geri. Started in 2011, Dom and Geri is a personalised greetings card website with a difference. Selling personalised wrapping paper and gift tags to match your card, Dom and Geri have something for every occasion. Personalised cards and wrapping paper go hand in hand. The joy of personalised wrapping paper and cards is that you can swap and change for any occasion. Although the world is forever evolving, people still prefer the old cards and presents over emails and cyber gifts. You can also find Dom and Geri over on Twitter and Facebook. Before BritMums I packed my business cards away which had very kindly been given to me by the wonderful people over at Instant Print. I didn’t hand many business cards out, but it’s always handy to have them. Before the event I’d read about the Instawalk which had been arranged by One Dad 3 Girls. I was keen to go as I thought it would be a good chance to see some of the sights of London, but also to meet some other bloggers. I arranged to meet up with Kirsty from Something Crunchy Mummy and Sarah from Run, Jump, Scrap at Paddington station as our trains all arrived at the same time and we’d all agreed to take part in the Instawalk. I arrived first, followed by Kirsty then Sarah. We made our way to the London Eye and had a spot of lunch before the walk started. I’m really glad that I went on the Instawalk for one reason. I managed to buy our girls a souvenir ‘Beefeater’ London teddy bear. Sadly that was the only part of the Instawalk that I enjoyed. I feel really bad for saying it, but I have to be truthful. We didn’t actually do much walking. We just seemed to hover around the London Eye for an hour whilst waiting for other people to take pictures. I thought it could have been a bit more fast paced. I brought my camera along so that I could snap away at the sights too, but it would have been better for me if we took pictures as we walked. A few people left and decided to make their way to the conference, including me, Kirsty and Sarah. Time was getting on a bit so Kirsty and I headed to our hotel to book early check in so that we could drop our bags off. We arrived at the conference around 2.20pm. I wish we’d just gone straight to the conference so we could have had some time to sit and chat rather than walk 1.6 miles across London with our heavy bags! Anyway we arrived at the Brewery and registered. I learnt from last year to visit the brand stands first so that I could have some time chatting to them, collecting their business cards, leaflets and products they had to offer. This meant that on day two I didn’t have to carry them around. The Brands I don’t think there were as many brands in the main room as last year, but that didn’t matter as the brands that were there were all fab! Parragon Books I visited the lovely people at the Parragon Books stall first. I’m one of their book buddies which means that we regularly review their brilliant books. After chatting for a while about their new little learners range I was given two of their carry handle books called ‘Peek a Boo I love you’. It’s a great little book and will certainly come in handy for the aeroplane journey on our upcoming holiday. RealTimes Next up I chatted to the lovely and really friendly people on the RealTimes Stand. RealTimes is an app that automatically creates beautiful and engaging visual stories from your photos and videos, helping you capture and share life’s adventures with no effort. It’s a great little app that’s easy to use. Here’s a video that I created using the RealTimes app of my BritMums Live experience. RealTimes also have a competition running at the moment to win a VIP family experience for 8 to stay overnight in Port Lymphe Animal Reserve’s exclusive Livingstone Cottage. All you need to do is share your ‘Ultimate Family Moments’. Simply download the app and use it to create a shareable video montage of your ‘Ultimate Family Moments’ using existing or new videos and photos on your device. Your ‘Ultimate Family Moment’ can be anything you choose from a family birthday celebration, to a day out in the park. Here’s an example. Share your RealTimes story on Twitter @realtimes quoting #RealFamilies to enter. Winners will be selected by RealTimes experts who will be looking out for humour, emotion, fun and excitement. Entries must be received before 20/07/15. Full competition terms and conditions can be found here. Munchkin Munchkin were at last years BritMums Live and they’re a really friendly bunch! Last year they gave us one of their brilliant non-spill bottles so I was hoping for another this year as they’re absolutely brilliant.... [Read More]
When I started putting this session together with Teri I spent hours researching better blog design presentations, how to improve your blog design posts and how to DIY your web design articles! And they all became a variation on a theme. There are fundamental principles that aren't to do w
I thought my day couldn't get any better after I ordered a bottle of prosecco and it was only £15. In London! But then I won a Brilliance in Blogging award!
I’ve just come home from this year’s Brit Mums Live. It was a fantastic couple of days of meeting bloggers, chatting to brands and attending informative, interesting and inspiring talks and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Read more…
After a rash decision this year decided to go to the Britmums live conference, which if you do not know it is a massive conference where lots of parenting bloggers come together and there is a lot of food and wine too. I came with mixed feelings I was so nervous last year after my first event and after taking Son Son last year I thought I may have more time to listen to things with out trying to entertain a baby too. Good bye Hubby and kids! I arrived late on the Friday after a mix up with the hubby meaning I had to meet him from work with the toddlers. Thankfully they do enjoy going on the trains and we killed a bit of time shopping! I say shopping we went into the Lego shop and the Disney store and we were stuck in there forever! Finally handed over the chunks and was child free. Arriving late was pants as its horrid when you walk into something and everyone has already met. I walked around looking for someone I may recognise and just milled around the brands for a bit. I then spotted Bex from The mummy Adventure and she let me tag along like last year. Thankfully she introduced me to many people which was handy. I Looked into who sessions to attend before I came and planned to make the most of it, sadly I didn’t make all that I wanted and managed a lousy 3!! Which were pitching to brands, developing a youtube channel and Travel blogging. All three I would like help with so the notes I shall hopefully patient practice. What this space. The best thing about Britmums was the time away from the children. I never get time to myself so it was such luxury. I decided last min to stay in London and saw on the Facebook Lisa from Newmum online looking for someone to share with. SO off we stayed at the Easy hotel London. It was a rather dodgy hotel but was a right laugh. Lisa is a britmums Pro and gave me lots of tips on blogging and other things. Was nice to go out for a meal to wagamamas too and eat with out toddlers wanting to steal my food. Those twirlywoos where everywhere!!!! The brand hub did not seem as good as last year. There was a poor man with a sad face in front of books I felt so sorry for him. Then some more too that could be relevant. I came home with 5 beakers the kids were delighted. Also got another Latch water bottle, they are by far the BEST leak proof bottle we own. So to now have two means no more fighting over one drink when out and about. Baby Finn enjoying the session's I was sorry to leave early on the Saturday and miss the keynote there was a few I wold have liked to have heard. Sadly I had other plans which were camping and as I had already missed the Friday night camping I didn’t want to miss the Saturday night too. Its a shame they arnt at a different time as they are the people that inspire us more, more than waterproof pants (sorry Carol). As I sat on the train on the way home eating the contents of the goodie bag I realised what a mad 24 hours. explaining to people meeting the twirley woos with free wine and posh food was a laugh. Will I go next year I am unsure, as much as I loved feeling free of children I also found it so hard. I am dyspraxic and lack people skills sometimes. My biggest low was being to shy!!! Why oh WHY I am a nurse. At work I have verbal Diarrhoea but there I was too scared. which is a shame would have liked to say hi to a few more people. I aso didn’t want to appear rude or like I was rushing. I spoke to more people on the Friday but I think that was due to the glass of wine beforehand! I also will take many more photos next year, 5 was appalling for a bigger right? SO thank you Britmums 2015 for introducing me to those chocolate brownies that were to die for and posh food.
The biggest parent blogging and social media conference of the year included emotional moments, creative sessions and winning toilet-paper mummies...
For someone who ordinarily looks forward to big social and networking events about as much as the average person looks forward to root canal surgery, I thoroughly enjoyed my two days at BritMums Li…
So, I went to my first Britmums Live conference - for those who don't know what it is, just think of a massive wine-fuelled two day e...
When I started putting this session together with Teri I spent hours researching better blog design presentations, how to improve your blog design posts and how to DIY your web design articles! And they all became a variation on a theme. There are fundamental principles that aren't to do w
My very first BritMums Live conference. My very first time at any blogging conference.
Britmums Live 2015
Top UK Christian Mummy blogger writing about family, faith and travel
This weekend Jacek and I were lucky enough to attend the Britmums Live blogging conference in London for the first time, my attendance being sponsored by the wonderful people at My 1st Years. If you're unaware of My 1st Years they are a fabulous personalised gifts company who have the most beautiful gifts and items
Britmums Live 2015
I love Britmums Live. I love it so much that I booked my tickets for this year pretty much immediately after last year’s event. Then I found out that a few of my old blogging friends, the ones I’ve hung out with over the last couple of years, aren’t actually going this year. And I […]
This time last week, I was on my way to London to attend the two day blogging extravaganza that is BritMums Live. What a weekend! I laughed till my sides hurt, cried buckets, slept alone with no kids waking me up, ate delicious food, drank a fair bit of lovely white wine, and attended sessions
