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| Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
"Blogtacular is the place for people whose hearts beat with creativity to come together to meet, share and inspire."It's not just for bloggers, it's for small businesses/entrepreneurs that have an online presence.
The past few years I read everyone's posts about Blogtacular and wishing I had been there but I was put off by the price. The more I read about it and how people go year after year I decided to take the plunge and invest in myself and I am so glad I did. It is worth every single penny and this is why....
My tribe
This was the ethos of the event, the creative community. The goody bag says it all....
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| Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
Meeting lots of like minded people was definitely a highlight for me. I got to meet people who I admire and follow on social media as well as catch up with friends I already know and make new ones.
There were lots of opportunities to socialise on the day of the conference but they also had fringe events on the Friday which were a great way to get to know people. There were simultaneous photowalks and a videowalk across London. I went on the photowalk in East London around Shoreditch, there'll be another blog post with all my photos from this but in the meantime you can check out the hashtag #Blogtacularphotowalkeast on Instagram.
On Friday night there was a get together at West Elm which if you have not been is an amazing shop selling unique furniture and home decor. This was a time to chat, mingle and drink unicorn smoothies! I actually didn't get to try the smoothie as there was a huge queue for them so I stuck to the cider that was on offer, that's more my thing anyway.
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| Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
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| There were opportunities to discuss various topics in groups. Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
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| Unicorn smoothie! Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
There were three sessions of workshops with a choice of four for each one but I didn't miss out, all of the sessions were filmed so we can access them at a later date. What a relief as it was hard to choose but before the workshops we were welcomed with a keynote by Natalie Lue....
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| Natalie Lue ~ @baggagereclaim / @natlue Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
"Creativity can't be controlled. Be open, let it go!"
"Take Action - Nothing is Perfect"
"Your Plan is not THE Plan"A moment of clarity and reassurance came when Natalie started talking about how nothing is linear. "By doing A then B and C does not mean X,Y and Z will happen". This is so true, it can be so frustrating when you do all the right things and the outcome you planned for doesn't happen! It's just the way it is sometimes and it happens to everyone at some point.
Natalie's address has made me really look at what I want from my business not what I think I should be doing. I need to believe more in what I do.
What impressed me about all the speakers was they inspired and shared their knowledge without a sales pitch or talking about themselves. The sessions were jam packed with useful information.
Workshops
My first session was creative writing, can you tell?!
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| Greta Solomon ~ @greta_solomon / @Greta.Solomon Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
Next up for me was storytelling through Instagram...
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| Katy English ~ @MissKatyEnglish / @misskatyenglish Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
The other workshop I chose to attend was on self doubt....
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| Sas Petherick ~ @saspetherick Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
OMG! This workshop was designed for me! I am frequently consumed by self doubt which can lead to anxiety. Sas's thoughts on self doubt were so insightful and the exercises she took us through really helped me understand what my fears and self doubt mean.“Self doubt has absolutely nothing to do with your capability”.
The group was great as everyone was sharing their stories and fears (even I had a go on the microphone!). It turns out I'm not alone in the self doubt camp. I'm thinking of doing a post dedicated to this, what do you think?
Closing Keynote was by Emma Gannon.....
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| Emma Gannon ~ @emmagannon / @emmagannonuk Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
We are a generation of more than one skill, Emma is a Blogger / Podcaster / Author, I'm a Designer / Maker / Blogger / Small Business owner, what are you?
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| Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
I loved the attention to detail, the amount of hard work and thought that was put in to make sure it was a quality, enjoyable event. Even in the run up to the event the emails, Twitter chats and blog posts made me feel less nervous as a newbie and I knew what to expect.
The venue was decorated by the talented B of Pop Pop Papier. She filled the space with colourful balloons and streamers that were Intasgram-tastic! It even gave me the opportunity to finally update my profile picture.
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| Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
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| Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
The food was amazing! Lets just take a minute to appreciate these amazing chocolate puddings we had at lunch....
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| Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
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| Image (c) Amber-Rose Photography / Blogtacular |
We were even provided notebooks (this will make it easier to find my notes to refer back to in the future instead of trying to work out which notebook they are in!). My notebook was designed by Katie Moody and Cakes with Faces designed the other one, her website is worth checking out especially this t-shirt which I now own.
As we left we got a goody bag, the print was designed by Judy Andrews ad look at the goodies we got inside....
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| Goodies by Hello Memo, Craftiosity, Crafty Fox Market & Shopping with Soul, Twin Pines, Baking Time Club, Cult Vision and A Spoonful of Sugar Co alongside a Blogtacular planning notepad. |
I think this was the right event at the right time for me. I want to grow creatively as well as grow my business but I haven't felt confident to take the exciting but unknown path. The overall experience made me realise that I've given myself too many parameters to live and work by, but screw that! It's time to go forth and chase those dreams.
Hopefully you are still with me, it's a lengthy post but I couldn't leave anything out!
I can't wait for Blogtacular 2018, will I see you there?
This post contains photos by Amber-Rose Photography who were the professional photographers of the event and Blogtacular who have kindly allowed attendees to use them. I have credited the images that are not mine.
