First of all, I want to apologise to everyone who I met and wasn't very talkative too, I was SO ill (still am) that I couldn’t really enjoy it, I tried so hard and I did enjoy bits and the company, but spending hours upon hours feeling like I was floating and wanting to go home, sucked!
Sessions
YouTube
The first session I hopped into was the YouTube session, it was fab. The guy Jules Fournier who ran the majority of the session was funny and gave out lots of information, but basically just repeated everything that Aby (YouBabyMeMummy) says, just from a YouTube point of view (regular posting, finding your niche etc).
The second half of the YouTube session was great, Magali de Quillacq, who ran the session, gave lots of online information on YouTube specifically for parent bloggers (I'm typing that one up now) and went over things like how often to post, different types of content and what views they get and lots of other regularly asked question. I came out of the session feeling a lot more positive and interested in writing my YouTube step by step plan.
Smash your blogging goals with focused blogging
This was Aby's session and although she was live streaming it and I'd done it before, I wanted to be there and see her teach in person/support her. As per usual, Aby's words just echo within me, when she talks it just makes sense and once I put it into place, I get results. If you are interested in Aby's talk, you can watch it here on her facebook page: YouBabyMeMummy
Instagram and Instagram Stories
Now this session was quite different, both Harriet from Toby and Roo and Alice from More Than Toast, sat on their stools and chatted to us like friends. They talked about what works and what doesn't work, gave tips about the algorithm and how clever IG is that it knows if you have used your phone or a camera. I got pretty sick during this session though, so just had to duck out early, unfortunately.
The Secret Life of YouTube Mums
This session made me laugh so much, both Emma from BrummyMummyOf2 and Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter were so real and so funny. Ciara from My Fussy Eater was awesome too and gave really relatable information. The session was question and answer and honestly, could have gone on for much longer.
Meeting People
Meeting everyone was amazing. so many fantastic bloggers and they were all so lovely and NORMAL (like they weren't ever going to be!)
List of who I met:
Aly - Bug Bird Bee
Jenifer - Jenifers Little World
Clarrisa - KK Moo and Monkey2
Aby - You Baby Me Mummy
Amy - Amy Treasure
Lauren - Inspire, Create, Educate
Lucy - Oreos and Gin
Harriet - Toby and Roo
Hannah - Hannah Spannah
Al & Jen - The Dad Network
Emma - Brummy Mummy of 2
Prab - Absolutely Prabulous
Angela - The Inspiration Edit
Su - Ethan 'n' Evelyn
... and quite likely others, but the day was so blurry that it's so hard to remember everyone!
Meeting Brands
Well, I only handed out 3 of my amazing business cards (1 to a blogger and 2 to brands) so I kind of feel they were a waste, but the brands weren't anything I was interested in (which I also heard from a lot of people).
I did pop by the #AmI1in5? stall and spoke to a lady there as I am really interested in their campaign. I also tried out Jennie Maizels (who has an awesome way of looking at teaching people to draw) and was amazed at how easy I could draw! I will definitely be writing a post about both of them!
The Wordpress guy was nice but just sent me to the website, which I honestly could have found myself. I popped around all the other stalls too, but none of them 'fit' (though printing out IG photos was lots of fun!)
The Food
When we turned up there was a nice breakfast laid out, so I grabbed a fruit juice and a yoghurt with fruit compote! (Very posh!) There was water, tea and coffee available all day and also snacks in the afternoon like mini doughnuts or brownies.
Lunch was nice, I took a picture but I don't really know what it all was. Potatoes, chicken, salmon, rice, mushrooms, sauce, shallots and some yellow thing that was a cross between rice and flour. I also, of course, grabbed a cake pot, some fruit and a small bit of cheese and grapes.
The proceded to take 50 arty pics of my dessert! haha
BIBs 2017
The boat... Why on earth did they choose a boat?! It was a lovely Idea, but I know so many people (including myself who were feeling extremely seasick!) There was plenty of free drink and posh nibbles (they looked good but the smell told me I was too ill to eat them!)
The boat was City Cruises and we took a really nice trip down the river, there was a guy on the mic telling us to look left/right to see big ben etc but to be honest everyone was so loud that we couldn't hear him. Then the awards began, so many amazing people were nominated and so many amazing people won (I'm sure it must have been an extremely hard decision). I'm so glad Al was recognised and won an award The Dad Network means so much to so many people, so he totally deserves it. (As does his beautiful wife).
Overall, I had an amazing time meeting the most amazing people ever. I wouldn't say that the conference itself is the best, I don't feel I actually learnt that much, but the chance to meet and mingle with the people listed above made the whole day worth it.