Last Saturday I went to my very first bloggers conference. I’d read with great interest about some of the others held before and promised myself I’d go to the next thing ever held in Sydney.
I’m so glad I did.
The venue for Nuffnang Blogopolis was the very swanky Sofitel Sydney Wentworth Hotel. After an obscenely early start and long drive down the dogs-breakfast of the M2, I was all kinds of nervous and excited. The one piece of toast I’d eaten before I left wasn’t helping much. Walking through the entrance doors, I had the good fortune to see the one person I actually knew – the irrepressable Kim from All Consuming – standing in the foyer. Thanks, Kim. You were the best way to start my day!
Once upstairs, cue the slightly intimidating sight of a few hundred bloggers, en masse. Holy crap. It was a little overwhelming, to be honest. But I walked in, found a seat and introduced myself to the lady next to me. Hello Kim from Design Hunter!
 |
| So many bloggers… not enough time to meet them all! |
I learned STACKS of stuff from all the speakers, some of whom I’d never heard of before, but all were very acomplished people in their particular blog niche. People like Nicole Avery from Planning with Kids, Imogen Lamport from Inside Outside Style, Jeff Tan who talked about SEO & Analytics (I knew next to nothing about that so I’m so glad I went to his session), Nikki Parkinson from Styling You, Caz Makepeace from yTravelblog, Mrs Woog from Woogs World and Eden Riley from Edenland.
 |
| Looking up – thanks for the tip, Mrs Woog… |
And there were other delights to be had during the day. The very large goodie bag. A top notch lunch. But I especially loved the morning and afternoon teas. I mean, look at this:
 |
| Don’t mind if I do… |
Twinings were one of the sponsors of the day and they really nailed it. Beautiful cups and saucers and cake stands. Plus the tea was delicious.
 |
| Milk and none, thanks |
I relished the chance to listen to some of my favourite bloggers share their ideas and advice about blogging. You can’t get enough of that kind of feedback. Plus I loved the overall feeling of community that prevailed throughout the room, the generosity and continual ‘giving back’ from the big names of the Australian blogging landscape. All so very appreciated by people like me.
My favorite panel of the day would probably have been this one:
 |
| Panellists Jeroxie, Edenland, Good Googs & Lady Melbourne |
Moderated brilliantly by Kim from All Consuming (seriously she needs to do more of that kind of thing. Hilarious! And she sings as well!) it was all about ‘Finding Your Voice’ and in my opinion, was worth the price of the ticket to Blogopolis alone.
 |
| Another panel with David from Nuffnang (out of view to the left), A Beach Cottage, Mrs Woog & Trevor Young |
Suffice to say, this will not be the last blogging conference I will go to. After this, I want more!
I managed to meet so many people but there were others I didn’t get the chance to say hello to. Good manners stopped me from interrupting them mid-conversation! But here are the few I was thrilled to get the chance to meet:
Kim from Design Hunter
Yvette from Ellas List
Karen from Miscellaneous Mum
Rachel from The Kids Are All Right
Janine from Shambolic Living
Zoey from Good Googs
Nicole from Planning With Kids
Jules from One Pink Chair
Tina from Tina Gray Dot Me
Nikki from Styling You
Sarah from A Beach Cottage
Kimba from Kimba Likes
Trevor Young from PR Warrior
Valerie Khoo from Sydney Writing Centre
Check them out – there are some amazing writers on that list!
I’d love to hear what anyone else thought about the conference… add your thoughts or link to them in the comments!
Leave a Reply