Hi guys, 

Yesterday (Sunday 14th May) I attended what was the first of hopefully many NI blogger meet ups. The day itself was the brain child of real life girlboss Cathy Martin (CMPR) who runs Belfast fashion week. The idea was to host a brunch where bloggers, marketing people and PRs could come together to not only network and connect but to learn from one another also. 

The event was held in The Permit Room in Belfast (Fountain Street) soon to be renamed The Beringer cafe bar. I hadn’t been to the permit room before but it’s such a cool venue! The space itself is perfect for a nice chilled out meal with quite industrial looking decor. Cathy had organised for us to have a bite to eat whilst getting to know each other and during the two hours each of us (I think there was almost 50 of us!) did a little one minute pitch about our blog, brand or business. As nerve wrecking as this was I found this was a fantastic way to get to know a little bit about everyone. The majority of bloggers there I was already following on their various social media platforms but quite often with blogs in particular you can’t always put a face to the name, especially if they blog anonymously of course! So I found this to be a great way to see the blogs come to life and I met lots of new faces.

I learnt a lot from listening to how each of the bloggers came to start their blogs and what inspires them. It’s interesting to hear how blogging has become an actual job for some people and how their day job can tie in. Others, much like myself do it as a hobby and that’s cool too. 

Listening to the PR and marketing people was fascinating for me as I don’t really have much knowledge on how this side of things really works. I learnt some tips and it was beneficial to hear some of the dos and donts when working with a brand or client. 

I have to say I left the event yesterday feeling really motivated and inspired so thanks to Cathy for hosting such a great event! Word on the street is that another NI blogger brunch is already on the cards for September so watch this space! 

One thing I took away from the day is not to compare myself to others (blog wise). Everyone is unique in their style and format of blogging. Some post a few times a week; others sporadically and hell some only instablog! The most important thing is to produce unique content that you can get enthusiastic about as this will shine through to your readers. So if you are a blogger reading this the you do you and keep going! 

Thanks for reading, 

Emz xx