Hey everyone! This post has been a long time coming! It's also a long one so grab your cuppa and prepare for a great read!
In late June of this year I met up with my friend Kirsty Lo and we had a really great chit chat, catch up and she was telling me about her
website launch party she was organising. I've always wanted to organise an event but I was just scared that something would go wrong or it just wouldn't be fun!
I have a brain bursting with ideas but sometimes I can be a little too scared to put them into action! (I have no idea why) so back to the story! lol
As Kirsty was telling me about her event, I told her I want to organise an event too! "I just don't know where to start!" So in her words she said " just do it! organise one! " and I have no idea why , but just that little sentence gave me a bit of a confidence boost and I sent out my first tweet!
I gathered a list of about 15 bloggers and started emailing and calling brands! I honestly think I sent out about 100 emails to companies that I would love to work with , 85% of them being a total long shot! However most of them were interested in what I had to say! considering I had not secured a venue for event or had actual confirmation from the bloggers, these brands still wanted to get involved with my "idea"!
Thus #bhmbloggermeet was created! I started promoting it more and more , created a facebook group to keep the bloggers updated, then all of a sudden I had a list down my arm of 40 bloggers that wanted to attend! As it was my first event I wanted it to be small , and I wanted it to be perfect! so I selected 20 bloggers to come.
I was able to secure fifteen sponsors for the event which was just amazing!! As time went on , plans changed and I occurred a few hiccups , never the less I overcame them and the event continued as planned! I got all the goodybags together filled with sponsor gifts and a few gifts from me , then prepared them for the event !
The event took place at The Slug and Lettuce Brindley Place , Birmingham . We had a section to ourselves exclusively which was awesome!
I headed to the event early to set up, on the table I displayed the event hashtag #bhmbloggermeet in cupcakes across the table , along with some cookies branded with the official logo that I designed . the cupcakes were made by my fantastic baker of an aunt! Also on the table I displayed all of the bloggers name tags for them to collect upon arrival.
On the table was the first game I created called "What does my cupcake say", and I also had the goodybags bags laid out for each blogger to collect.
As a blogger myself I know that getting a goodbag is always exciting , and having to wait until the end of the event for it is really hard!! lol
so I decided to be nice and give them the goody bag at the start! :-)
To keep the event classy I provided a selection of juice , rather than alcoholic beverages and also chose wine glasses , as they are more sophsticated!
My bloggers arrived , along with my special guests Kirsty from Motives cosmetics and Maria from The central school of makeup.
The bloggers took tons of pictures of the table , mingled with eachother and then it was time to start the event!
The first challenge was to take a picture of the Blogger binder that was in their goody bags (created by myself) and post it on their instagram page using the #bhmbloggermeet . The Binder was filed with lots of blogger tips and printables to help them get organised.The idea behind this challenge was to create awareness of the event using social media, specifically on instagram , and to get other bloggers engaged with the event even though they could not come.
Here are a few of the pictures by the bloggers
Next we got to know eachother a little better and talked a little about our blogs playing the Name tag game. Each blogger had a symbol on their name tag , and each symbol represented a question about themselves. It was a great way to break the ice and get the bloggers talking to eachtother! (nobody likes awkward silence)
Next on the agenda was "what does my cupcake say ?" The Bloggers had to come up with a fun whitty saying for their cupcakes and also post that to instagram!
Here is one of my favs:
Next we had a fantastic presentation from Kirsty Lo from Motives Cosmetics .
Followed by a presentation of "The perfect winged eyeliner" by Maria and Jess from Sponsors The Central School of Makeup.
We then headed into our games!
To be a successful blogger you need to : 1. STAND OUT FORM THE CROWD ,
2. BE PASSIONATE & 3. BE KNOWLEDGABLE.
The first game was called "Guess the blogger" I had two volunteers participate and they held a piece of paper which said what kind of blogger they were. The rest of the bloggers had to give them clues so they could figure it out. This game tied into standing out from the crowd. In order to stand out , readers need to know what you blog is about , in turn they must know what kind of blog they are reading , whether it be a lifestyle blog , beauty blog ect.
The next game was similar however it was called "LYRIC VS QUOTE" This tied into being passionate as they had to determine a passionate blog quote or a passionate song lyric. I again needed two volunteers, and they had to read out a few lines of a blog quote or song lyric . The bloggers had to guess what kind of quote they were reading. The two lucky volunteers got two exclusive guest posts in Femalefirst Magazine!!
Following from this game it was time for the bloggers trivia! This is Where it was every blogger for themselves! They had to answer a series of true or false facts about blogging! This tied into being
knowledgable. This was a real eye opener for the bloggers and gave them some really helpful tips about blogging!
The winner of this game got a full skincare set courtesy of Bee Good
To finish off the fun we had a lovely meal provided by the slug and letuce and got to chat and make friends!
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My Meal
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Overall the event was a HUGE success and I cant wait to organise more!
Now lets take a peek inside the #bhmbloggermeet goodybag!
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Each blogger got their own necklace and discount code courtesy of lyliarose.com
Dottie Rocks gave each blogger a stunning wall art piece and a cute pencil from her etsy store!
Harlequin cosmetics created a mini sample pack for each blogger featuring two of their items from their store
Lovely Lotions provided a sample of Their brand new handmade soap!
Nanshy cosmetics provided a makeup brush for each blogger!
Bee Good provided a hand lotion and lip balm!
Milton lloyd provided some sample fragrances for each blogger! |
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I created and designed a blogger binder for each blogger and filled it with bloging love! They have tons of printables they can use to help them get organised with blogging!
I also provided each blogger with a Goal jar! |
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| Here is a sneaky peek into their binders! |
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The goal jar. The bloggers must write several small goals on a piece of paper and pop it into the goal jar. Each week they can pull out a goal and work on it for the week. This will keep the bloggers enthusiastic about their blogs and social media !
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This is what the bloggers received in their goodybags from lush cosmetics!
As the hostess of the event , Lush was oh so generous to provide me with tons of gifts!
THANK YOU LUSH FOR THESE AWESOME GOODIES!
So to finish off this post with a heavy heart, I am ecstatic about the future with my blog and career goals. organising this event has encouraged me to start a company! Ill be hosting many more events but most importantly ill be doing what I love ! I can't wait to share my success story with you all.
A special thanks to the Birmingham Blogger Meet guestlist of bloggers
1.Abbigayle Warner (me) Stealstylist.com
SPONSORS
so what do you think of #bhmbloggermeet?
have you checked out the hashtag yet on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter?
Check out all the exclusive event pics and all the bloggers posts about it via the
offical facebook page also hit the like button as i'll be creating a guest list of bloggers for future events via that page very soon!
Also request to join my blogger events
facebook group , whoever is part of that group will instantly have a spot reserved for the next event !
Thank you so much for reading!
Leave a comment down below and lets chat! xo
