Blog Camp Manchester

It was quite nerve wracking heading to Manchester to meet up with a bunch of people I've only ever met in cyber space! I've been blogging since 2008 and on Twitter almost as long and some of these ladies I'd known the whole time but never had a chance to really see.

The Blog Camp organised by Tots100 gave me a chance to meet up as well as learning ways to make my blog better. A few of us met up at Manchester Piccadilly station so that we arrived together. The first 30 minutes was spent in matching our name labels to our online photos (some look more like their's than others!). Then we got down to business.

First up was Cathy from Nurture Store who gave us great tips on how to properly use our Facebook pages and Pintrest to grow traffic and attract new readers. Lots of things for me to try and find time to do!

Then it was Ruth from Geek Mummy on vlogging and podcasting. Have to admit I hate hearing my voice and seeing myself on camera but I'm trying to include more on here. Sounds like it just takes practice and confidences plus some little tips...

Over a lovely buffet we got a chance to check out the wacky recycled art work made from lost property:

The last big session was on photography by Tom and Becky from Ar-Blog. He is a pro photographer and they shared tips on general photography and using smartphones too. Think I need a newer iPhone as mine couldn't do half of it!

Finally we had a panel of bloggers discussing what tips they had for getting blogposts done plus any useful apps. Interestingly most of them reckoned on a notepad and pen! They were all mums so know what it's like to fit in blogging around the needs of a family.

Afterwards I was easily persuaded to head out for a few drinks with some of my new best blogging buddies:

A fantastic day and I hope I can get to go again and to meet up with these lovely ladies (and gents).