Err… actually, I went to TOWIB!
The timing of The Only Way is Blogging ( TOWIB) was perfect – I had been blogging for exactly one week. An event I thought – Hurrah. Exactly what I need to give me an opportunity to meet other bloggers see some products that I was not familiar with and get some sage advice about the whole blogging malarkey. So… I purchased a ticket and took myself to Tiger Tiger.
On arrival, London Beauty Queen, who organised the event was buzzing around, telling us to sign up for sessions and giving us the agenda for the day. Once I had registered and got myself an orange juice the event got started.
First up was Dr Linda Papadopoulos. I’d seen her on the telly and as a columnist in magazines and even on QVC so it was interesting to see her in person. Her skin is flawless. She spoke passionately about the close relationship between skin and the psyche explaining how many skin conditions are triggered by an emotional response ( Psychodermatology) …and when I think about my ‘interview’ spots, ‘first date’ spots, ‘run down’ dry skin, ‘feeling irritated’ itchy rashes (those are the worst!) etc, it was a theme that really resonated with me.
Next up was Jamie London boy. A very dapper young man with shiny hair. He gave the Photography 101 which was filled with useful hints and tips. I don’t have a super techy SLR camera but my Instagram pics are definitely improving don’t you think?
Representatives (also with flawless skin, they probably use Linda’s range) from KMI brands spoke about brand development and marketing. They gave a really comprehensive overview of the process of taking a skincare range from brand concept, defining its Unique Selling Point (USP), and its place in the market. It takes years from conception to getting a product on the shelves. It was a really interesting insight into the process.
Beauty Mouth herself – Mrs Caroline Hirons, aka instigator of flannelgate (yet more flawlessness… ) is the go to person for many brands that want to turn things around. She describes herself as the woman who tells brands what they don’t want to hear and from the session it was clear that she revels in this critical friend role. She held an impromptu clinic which had us all asking questions about what we should do to improve our skincare regimes. If you have been following me on Instagram, you will know that I now have an arsenal of flannels and I will be sharing my Mrs Hirons approved AM and PM cleansing routine shortly.
There were two Q&A sessions, the first looked at how to make a successful career out of blogging. I’m not planning an immediate career change into PR but it interesting to see how the job market is changing to accommodate digital and social media roles.
The final session of the day was gave those who were attending the opportunity to ask questions on more or less anything and by 5pm when it finished, I have to say I was all blogged out… in a good way. I had absorbed ALOT of information.
Overall, it was a really good day and great value for money. Having to leave the building to get reception on my phone was irritating but not as much as the Tiger Tiger techno techno soundtrack that made it hard to hear some of the speakers throughout the day.
It was great to see Orla Kiely’s move into fragrance there, but a real shame that I could not buy the fig candle that smelt so delicious – I find it hard to resist a good scented candle. I didn’t get to speak to everybody that attended, so it would have been good to have a list of the blogs that were in attendance to facilitate connecting with them .. in the ‘bloggersphere’…’blogville’… ‘blogdom’…
Big hugs to beautypulse_ldn, Dija’s World and all the lovely bloggers who I did connect with on the day, and congrats to London Beauty Queen for a great event – fingers crossed The Only Way is Birmingham does not mean that I’ll be attending Bloggers in the Attic. Bloggeroaks or One Tree Blog (groan) next time!
