On Sunday 12th July, I found myself in a room full of people, frantically swapping business cards, taking arty pictures of bowls of popcorn and tweeting incessantly. This was my first blogger meet!
When I heard, several months ago, that a meet up was being planned in Liverpool, I decided it was time to stop being so shy and making excuses and to just bloody book a ticket already! The ticket was a tenner, and boy was it worth it!
Organised by the lovely Katie (@CurvaceousUK) and Jenny (http://secretbeautybox.co.uk), the meet was held upstairs of the Lime Kiln Whetherspoon’s in Liverpool, and we had the whole of the top floor to ourselves – including our own bar! As soon as we arrived (a few of us having met awkwardly at Central Station), we were given our lanyards (I love a good lanyard!) and a little box from Sweet Cecily’s. I go into the product itself on my Youtube video, but I was really impressed at the label saying my name and a little note from them. It was such a sweet touch and really stuck with me!
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This picture does not do the lanyards justice! They were so cute, had our blog names on and even a QR code so that people could find your site! Such a cool idea!
I had no idea what to expect from a blogger meet, but we all sat and chatted, and slowly became less shy! I think those of us who spend out lives interacting on the internet forget how to deal with real life – I know I do!
We were welcomed by Jenny & Katie, and went around the room to give a little info on ourselves. Annoyingly, the people downstairs were really loud, so I didn’t get to hear everyone as well as I would have liked, but it was great to hear such a mix of bloggers, both in topic and experience. Next, the lovely Lisa Hodson (http://www.hollybobbs.co.uk) gave us some top tips on blogging. We started by swapping business cards which was so useful because I had wanted to collect some, but hadn’t wanted to ask! She talked us through some practical steps we can take towards improving our blogs and I actually found it so useful. For example, I realised I haven’t been promoting myself enough on Twitter and that I should share my posts more – I hope it works!
Next, was a blog-themed quiz! I am very competitive but this quiz was hard! I was happy to get to the final round (with a massive 5/10), but didn’t manage to answer the sudden death question right. The prize, I believe, was a ProBlo brush which looked amazing!
We were then treated to a talk by Melanie Ashworth about MyShowcase, which is a really new business to the UK, and has a huge collection of different make-up and beauty products. The idea is that you can have your friends over, and a MyShowcase Stylist comes to do a demonstration, let you try the products etc, with no obligation to buy. A little like Ann Summers’ parties! The hostess of the party gets £40 to spend on the products and a 20% discount, so I think I might give it a go for something a little different to do with my friends! We were also given these lovely little gift bags, including a catalogue of the products and a free balm.
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Another new brand, Motives Cosmetics, was presented to us by Hannah Wilson, who demonstrated the perfect way to do your brows – something that I watched very intently! Again, you can have parties and treat yourself to some exclusive cosmetics – I really want the brow kit!
Next were Skinny Tan, a self tanner packed full of skin-smoothing natural oils which has been said to reduce the look of cellulite. Apparently it smells great too! They were doing half-price spray tans for the bloggers, but I am always such a wimp with things like that – I’m worried I’ll look ridiculous! One day I’ll take the plunge!
Self-tanner. Skinny Tan.
During a random raffle, I won a lovely perfume from Milton Lloyd which was a lovely surprise! There were so many amazing prizes given out, including the Fuji Instax Mini which I would sell a kidney for!
We were lucky enough to be treated to a HUGE spread of a whole load of Wetherspoon’s favourites! It wasn’t great for being on Slimming World but it was delicious! Eating happily and chatting about everything, from our blogs and beyond, I think we all felt pretty inspired. I’d been finding it hard to focus on my blog with so many things going on in my life, but this day was exactly what I needed to get back on track! I met some really great people and I think it’s interesting that blogging can seem pretty lonely at times, especially when no one quite understands what it is you do, so being in a room where we all love this weird little hobby made me feel so happy.
This is not to mention, of course, the amazing goodie bag we were given! Here is a list of the contents, however over on my Youtube channel I do a whole unbagging video if you want to see them properly!
– Lush Spa Goodie Bag
– Virtue Ice Tea Drink
– Thomas Tucker Popcorn
– Earthnicity Finishing Powder
– Greener Cleaner Brush
– Passion for Natural Product
– W7 Make up
– Playboy Make up
– Mello Mallo Marshmallow
– Sweet Heart Wax Melt
– Crabtree & Evelyn Hand Cream
– Boden Clutch Bag
– Manuka Dr Samples
– Sweet Cecily’s Body Butter
– Milton Lloyd Perfume
– The Blogger Programme Bag
I couldn’t believe how spoilt we were! Or how inspired it made me feel! I cannot thank Jenny & Katie enough for organising such an incredible event. I can’t even imagine how much work goes into something like that, and it was so appreciated! Also, a big shout out to the lovely ladies on my table, Paige, Nadine, Holly and Kayleigh. who made sure I wasn’t a total loser on my own, you guys are wonderful! Check out their blogs by clicking on their names – technology eh?!
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Finally, a big thank you to all the companies that sponsored, donated prizes or otherwise helped out with the day. Their details are below if you want to find out more about them!
I can’t wait for the next event!
The Little Macaron Shop
@littlemacaron
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-little-macaron-shop/213621125401410
http://www.thelittlemacaronshop.co.uk/
Lush Spa Liverpool
@lushliverpool
https://www.facebook.com/lushliverpool
Virtue drinks
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Northwestbloggerevents/
@virtuedrinks
Tommy tucker
@ThomasTuckerLtd
https://www.facebook.com/ThomasTuckerLtd?fref=ts
Earthnicity
@earthnicity
https://www.facebook.com/earthnicitypolska?fref=ts
ProBlo
@ProBloGroup
https://www.facebook.com/problogroup?fref=ts
Greener cleaner
@GreenerCleaner_
https://www.facebook.com/greenercleanerltd?fref=ts
Passion for Natural
@Passion4Natural
https://www.facebook.com/passionfornatural
W7 Make Up
@W7makeup
https://www.facebook.com/W7makeup
PlayBoy Make Up
@PlayboyMakeupUK
https://www.facebook.com/PlayboyMakeupUK
Mello Mallo
@yomellomallo
mellomallo.etsy.com
https://www.facebook.com/himellowmallow
Sweet Heart Wax Melts by Kirsty
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1591755331087245/
Crabtree & Evelyn
@CrabtreeUK
https://www.facebook.com/CrabtreeandEvelynUK
Boden
@Bodenclothing
https://www.facebook.com/JohnnieBoden
Manuka Dr
@ManukaDr
https://www.facebook.com/manukadoctor
Sweet Cecily
@sweetcecilys
https://www.facebook.com/sweetcecilys
Milton Lloyd
@MiltonLloyd
https://www.facebook.com/MiltonLloydLtd
Ohh Deer
@ohh_deer
https://www.facebook.com/ilikeohhdeer
Motives
@hannahjw_x
www.uk.motivescosmetics.com/HannahJane
https://www.facebook.com/HannahJaneBeauty
MyShowCase
@melamash
http://www.myshowcase.com/stylist/melanie_ashworth
https://www.facebook.com/mybeautyshowcase
Skinny Tan
@SkinnyTanHQ
https://www.facebook.com/SkinnyTan
Fuji Instax
Comments
What a wonderful post! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the day, I hope I get to meet you again soon and have more chance to talk to you and everyone. 😀 xx
Glad you had a lovely day and pleased that my talk helped a little 🙂