BritMums Live – Epilogue
Sunday, 24 June 2012 
8 Comments
I arrived at BritMums Live on Friday just as Ruby Wax had finished her keynote address. I would have liked to hear her but 3pm was the earliest I could get away from the office.
I immediately tweeted Lisa and Otilia because big conferences like that are a bit scary if you don’t have anyone holding your hand when you mingle.
Once I had found them and a few other friends, the evening proceeded to be very lovely, although still just a bit overwhelming due to the sheer number of faces there.
After the Brilliance in Blogging awards in the evening we chatted a bit and enjoyed glass after glass of prosecco handed out by topless waiters. I’m sure not all mommy bloggers thought that this was necessary at a conference like that, but I found it a nice humorous touch to the evening.
After the end of the 1st day I had dinner with a bunch expats at a nearby pub. Unfortunately the group was split into three tables so I didn’t get to chat much to the people who were not at my table. I did meet the überlovely Penny from Perfectly Happy Mum and the supertalented photographer Julia Boggio who lives in my neighbourhood and has danced with Patrick Swayze on the Oprah Show ( not that these two facts are related to each other in any way).
By 11pm I was home and in bed… And that was the end of the 1st day.
On Saturday I dragged myself out of bed by 8 knowing I’d miss the beginning of the conference but my main goal was to get to the conference for Julia’s photography workshop at 9:45.
I arrived at 9:30, got to listen to Sarah Brown for a little bit, who, by the way, is the most down to Earth “celebrity” I have ever heard speaking.
Julia’s session that followed was packed, she looked fab and delivered a very engaging and interesting session on how to use light when taking photos.
Her workshop ended with a video of her famous dance on the Oprah show. I think most people in the room cried a little :)
My two other favorite sessions from day 2 were Janice Curry‘s Facebook one and Julie Hall‘s WordPress one. It looks like BritMums had fully implemented feedback from last year and made sure that all the sessions were a bit more technically advanced than they were last year. That earned BritMums some major brownie points from me :)
I left the event at 4pm to be able to see my boys before bed time. They were of course more than excited to get some new Lego and I was pleasantly surprised by the contents of the goodie bag – only one packet of wet wipes this year but lots of other great items – children’s books and lotions and DVDs and stickers and nibbles.
Now my head is full of to-do-lists and lists of websites to check out.
Now my head is clear about the fact that blogging IS fun, no matter what non-bloggers say :) I have wanted to quit a few times in the last 7+ years, but I have a feeling that I won’t for a long time.
And last and not least, here’s to the girls without whom my BritMumsLive weekend would not have been what it was:
And here’s to the lovely bloggers I met in real life either for the 1st or 2nd time:
- Mum on the brink, Chez Mummy, Circus Queen, More than Toast, This mid-30s life, London Baby Advice, From fun to mum, New mum online, Mindful mum, Julia Boggio, Vegemitevix, Sew Scrumptious.
If I said hi to you and have forgotten to pop you in the list, let me know!!!!!
It was great to finally meet you. You are utterly beautiful! I thought I was the latest person there for the opening but you beat me – though you have an actual reason. I just couldn’t get my act together with the tubes…ended up going back to Paddington 3 times to start my journey again. Glad you had such a good time.
I got lost going to Cybermummy last year :| (and I live in London!). I’m glad I spotted you and said hi :)
Lovely to meet you, too, neighbour! We should get together for coffee soon. Jx
That would be very nice. I’m free this Wednesday morning and then the first 2 weeks in July before I’m off to Estonia ;)
I am always happy when I see you at one of these because I love hanging out with you! Shame I couldn’t see you more this time, but thanks for ‘doing lunch’ at least. Looking forward to brunch or dinner sometime soon.
PS LOVE that photo of you and the waiter! It was all light hearted fun, anyway. I saw one guy being told he was being objectified, he shrugged and I asked him if that’s how he felt and he said ‘I work hard on this body, it’s nice to show it off AND get paid to do so!’
I missed Ruby Wax too! I also missed the BiBs (went out for dinner with hubby!) and we left early on Saturday as well. But the rest of the time when I was there I was amazed by just how much there was to do and how many people there were to meet (far too many to do everything and meet everyone, the only downside!!)
What a great round-up post and lovely snaps.
Thanks so much for the mention.
Liska xxx
Oh wow – how cool is your photo with half naked waiter??
Lovely to see you too, and I so enjoyed reading that. I’m sorry we didn’t speak for longer and I feel like I’m saying that to so many people! xxx