This may sound silly but I just don’t know where to start.. From the moment I got to The Brewery, in Chiswell Street I was enveloped in this weird mixture of comfortable calm and excitement. You wouldn’t think the two would go hand in hand but they do. I was comforted knowing that I’d be around people like myself, parents who liked to blog, tweet, express themselves via technology and who, like me, would be open minded and pretty awesome. So yes, that made me extremely comfortable and enveloped me in this weird sense of serenity. On the other hand, I was meeting some parents who as I just mentioned, liked to blog, tweet, express themselves via technology and who, like me, would be open minded and pretty awesome, which made me terribly excited!
These would be two days full of meeting great, creative, inspiring people, some of whom I’d admired at a distance, others who I’d formed relationships with over the net and would now have the pleasure of seeing in the flesh! Let me tell you this, the Britmums Live experience did not disappoint. The venue was top class, as was the line of speakers and the fantastic schedule of workshops and discussions. I learned some fantastic tips about photography, Pinterest, vlogging and taking my blog to the next level. All of these lessons were rigorously written down in my terrible chicken scratchings (with handwriting like mine I should have been a doctor) in the notebooks provided to us and which I will keep somewhere safe until such time as my foggy head subsides and I can concentrate enough to figure out what I was trying to say.
To me, naked waiters and goody bags aside, the main highlight of the two day event was the people. in fact no, it should be People. They were that important and significant you see, so it needs a capital P. I met some fantastic bloggers who I’d bumped into at Cybher and Save the Children, as well as many who I’d never seen before but made me feel so comfortable within seconds. Keith from Reluctant Housedad actually made my day when he caught me mid pee-run and said hello, I’ve been getting his blog delivered to my email box for yonkers and have always considered him blogging royalty so was chuffed to bits that he recognized little old me!
Mel, from Her Melness Speaks also made a lasting impression on me, you know when someone has those special wise eyes that look at you but not really at you? Those eyes that look into who you are inside rather than what you’re trying to be on the outside? She’s got those eyes! Love it! So anyway, Mel came to dinner with a group of other fab bloggers to The Drunken Monkey (yes I know, I do have an obsession with that Dim Sum and Cocktails haunt!) and thanked me the next day in such a way that I’d felt I’d just been given a medal of honor. No exaggeration, as I’ve said it’s the eyes, oh and her fantastic use of words. (Thank you Mel).
Adele from Circus Queen and Maria from Tiger Tales were lovely enough to sit down to lunch with myself and Kate (my new blogging bestie). These are two blogs I read as I would the morning paper, so it was really fantastic to just lime (‘chill out’ -for those of you who don’t come from a small island) and share birth stories over hot food and trifles.
Everyone was made to feel so comfortable at Britmums, I’m sure the wonderful social butterflies and their cute neon stickers played a big part. Kate, from Two Cats, Youngling and Me as well as Sara, co founder of Livvys smile both became social butterflies themselve by the end of the event and should be really proud. I was so happy to have had the pleasure of spending time with them! Yup I am a little gushy, but spending two days surrounded by that many amazing women will do that to you, as will the amount of alcohol consumed.
There is so much more that I could write but I shan’t. I’ll only end up missing out some of the fab people I met or some of the great brands I spoke to, so instead I’ll leave it there. A great time was had by many. My head still hurts so I’ll end it here!
