#BritMumsLive - a whole new perspective

I've been to quite a few blogger conferences now and never are they the same. Even when they are in the same venue, there is still always something new to learn but I got a whole new perspective this time by moderating a room. For the uninitiated, this means I stayed in one room for the whole conference and introduced the speakers and kept the Q&A on time. I can honestly say I really enjoyed it and it meant that I got to listen in to sessions I might never have gone to if I had just been looking at the program.

So here's a thought for you, next time you go to a conference and the agenda looks too big and overwhelming and you find yourself wondering what on earth you might do I'd say find a room where there is a few sessions you like the look of and go and sit in there. 

There are many plus points for this - 

• you can retain the best seat in the room for the whole day
• all the bloggers you fancy chatting with will come to you (as you can tweet out where you are)
• you'll remain calm and sweat free as you don't have to run from the second floor to lower ground in under 5 minutes!
• you'll learn things you never even realised you needed to know and you never know they might just have some bloggy benefits to come out of them
• you can make friends with the moderator

I had a great time at the conference, BritMums Live has always been my favourite but I do wonder if it had got just a bit too big this year, 700 people all together is pretty overwhelming, even for an old timer like me.

What I learnt

Even though I was working rather than attending as a delegate I still learnt some new things and now have a list of jobs that I must get on with over the next couple of months.

1. Don't just accept the offers that come through to me. When offered an idea for a sponsored post pitch back to them with something that interests me and my readers more but still fits their need. Jen at Mum in the Madhouse
2. When working with brands, change your perspective, it is not about you, it is about the brand. We have all got so hung up on 'what is in it for me?' and actually lots of good things come out of relationships where I am looking to satisfy them and go the extra mile (whilst of course still making it worth my while). Kirsty at the Family Adventure Project
3. Gleam is a newer and easier version of Rafflecopter, I'm keen to give it a try. Di at SuperLucky
4. When I write a post that is of interest to other well connected people, contact them and ask them to RT my post or share it in their circles. SEO Jo Blogs
5. G+ has already overtaken twitter, I need to use it more wisely. Create better circles and take some time to move people into the right ones, have two way follows with people, Google likes that. 510 pixles is the magic number for getting large G+ images in the feed. James Dearsley
6. I must sort out my Google authorship, I have tried to do it a number times and it does not work for me but apparently there is a great help page in G+
7. I need to learn more about YouTube. There is a YouTube playbook with all sorts of advice for me to read and I learnt how to annotate my videos so I can link to my blog from within them! Greg Brand
8. There is never enough time, you see a ton of people that you want to chat to and they are gone in minutes!
9. That a quiet Friday night is a sensible option when you need to be up early on the Saturday.  I'm showing my age but three glasses of wine and an Indian were plenty for me and Clare.
   

10. That the Montcalm at the Brewery is a very lovely hotel and I want to stay there again! Really good breakfast too!

All in all I really enjoyed my weekend and I hope you had a fab time too.  Tell me, what was your favourite session, so I can go and seek out some notes and maybe the find the presentation if I'm lucky!  Mich x

Not long now.... #BritMumsLive

About ten days ago I let my bloggy mates know that I was all up to date with my blogging commitments and I'd be having the rest of June off. I fancied just being my own boss for a couple of weeks and not being a slave to my blog and PC.  I've done quite well, I've not spent much time online at all, my social media channels have been pretty quiet and I've been enjoying my kids and the house has not looked so good in a long while but I just can't keep quiet.

BritMums Live is almost here and it is my favourite blogging conference of the year. I remember back to early 2010 when it was CyberMummy and I was not confident enough to buy a ticket but then I sat there in June and watched the twitter stream and vowed I would go the next year and I've been each year since. In 2011 I angst over what to wear and worried myself silly and then had the best time and in 2012 and 2013 I was a speaker and was also a BiBs finalist and then this year I asked if I could work the conference. So I'll be moderating room 3 and you can come and see me if you fancy learning more about running fabulous and legal giveaways, the power of SEO or making the most of Google +, they are all happening in my little room.

I really can't wait and my choice of sessions has been made very easy for me this time, I'll just see everything that is in room 3! So that is one less thing to think about, which is good as I've just realised I have nothing suitable to wear. As I'm a room moderator I feel I need to look smart and sadly my wardrobe swings from casual daywear to formal workwear, I don't seem to have anything in the middle nowadays (well, not that fits anyway!). So tomorrow I need to find at least one nice outfit so I can feel presentable. Oh well, at least I know this conference is a friendly one and whatever I wear no-one but me will care, that takes the pressure off somewhat.

Also tomorrow I'm going to visit my sponsor. Yes sponsor, how unexpected is that?  I haven't had one since 2011 as I'm super fussy about who I will represent, I have to be totally in tune with their brand and product. But when Boots Opticians got in contact with me and asked if I wanted to be an ambassador for them this year at BritMums Live I was very happy to say yes straight away as Miss E has her eyes tested at our local Boots Opticians a few months back and we got her glasses from there and the service was just top-notch. I know this as JJ a month or so later went to an independent optician that is closer to our home and I had a free sight test at Specsavers in May and neither of them lived up to our experience at Boots Opticians. So tomorrow I'll have my eyes tested again and then I'll write up a full review.

You can visit Boots Opticians whilst you are at BritMums Live on stand 22 and they will have a super competition running, which you can find out more about at the conference.

I look forward to seeing you there...  are you as excited as I am?

and in case you are not sure - this is me....

Disclosure: Boots Opticians are paying for my travel, hotel room, an eye check and new glasses in exchange for me acting as an Ambassador for them at BritMums Live and honestly reviewing their optical service.