Vlog | My Day at BlogFest

If you follow me (or any UK bloggers on social media), then you won’t have been able to escape the fact that this past weekend was the Mumsnet BlogFest. A blogging conference for bloggers, vloggers and brand builders.

I attended last year, but as it was quite last minute, I hadn’t arranged to meet up with anyone (not that I have masses of blogger friends anyway). But this year, I prepared well in advance and arranged to meet some of the #KCACOLS ladies at King’s Cross, so we could all head up together. It can feel quite overwhelming walking into somewhere full of people when you don’t know anyone. So I’m glad they let me tag along with them 🙂

I still enjoyed last year, even though I was by myself for most of the time. I got to chat with brands and PRs that were there so it was all good. This year I spent about half my time with people and half without. I felt confident that it was OK to be by myself, though, and I even approached a few bloggers I have followed for a while. For me, I go for the sessions and to learn new things, not just the social side.

I thought the panel sessions were fantastic this year. Really interesting people that were funny, poignant, ballsy, and engaging. There were interesting topics that did make me think. There was quite an element of ‘man bashing’ going on, though, which did make me cringe a bit for the males in the room. In my opinion, being feminist shouldn’t be about hating men.

I wish there had been different sessions on at different times of the day. As there were so many sessions that I would have liked to have gone to! Compared to BritMums that I went to in the summer, the people leading the sessions were experts in their field. I don’t mind the cost of having to get ‘big names’, as I’d rather learn from them, if that makes sense.

I didn’t learn masses but the discussions really have made me think. I need to change some things up on my blog and become a little bit more specialised. I need to learn to say no more and to tell things how they are. I have a tendency to keep things quite rosey on here, because I think that’s what everyone wants to hear. But I prefer more real content as a reader, so my readers must do too, right? The last session of the day, with a blog crush of mine The Comeback Mum, was the best session; I got a lot out of it. Davina McCall gave a brilliant off the cuff keynote speech to round off the day – fantastic!

So I have been inspired after BlogFest and would attend it again. I will make, and have started to make, changes to my blog and social channels as a result. Some people were complaining about the goody bag, but to be honest, it isn’t what I went for. I went for the inspiring speakers and it left me feeling very inspired and motivated. I think I still prefer it to BritMums!

Have you ever been? If you went, did you enjoy it?

Here’s a small insight into the day: