As most of you know, I’m relatively new to the blog world. While I’ve been a publicist for 6 years and have been working with bloggers that entire time, I’ve only been blogging myself for 7 months. I hadn’t had an opportunity to attend a Vancouver blogger meetup… until now.
My friend Heather from Mother Your Business was nominated as one of the Top 30 Vancouver Mom Bloggers. Because of this wonderful honor she has been getting invited to some fabulous soirees. The most recent event she was invited to was Vancouver Blogger Meetup YVRLearn13 and she was kind enough to snag little old me an invitation to attend as well.
Being my very first blogger event I showed up with a bit of apprehension. These women are all big deals. Most of them (if not all of them) have been nominated as one of the Top 30 Vancouver Mom bloggers at one time or another. That being said my mind was soon set at ease and I had a great time.
Our Vancouver Blogger Meetup YVRLearn13 organizers.
The evening was organized by Eschelle from Mumfection, Raj from Pink Chai Style, Kerry from Crunchy Carpets and Rebecca Coleman.
The venue- The Mac Shack at 5395 West Boulevard in Vancouver
The Mac Shack was our host… oh and what lovely hosts they were. Delicious Mac and Cheese, a fabulous venue and all the beverages we could drink. Has it been mentioned that us mom bloggers like wine? Yes we do. If you live in Vancouver and want to find a nice neighborhood dinner spot I highly recommend it. Perfect for a night out with the hubs or more lively family dinner with the kids. Delicious comfort food that you can order from their pre-designed menu or that you can custom order with your own ingredients (fillings like lobster, caramelized onion and truffle oil for the more refined pallets or hot dog, orange cheese and Buffalo Hot Wing Sauce for the kids at heart) and for those on special diets they also have glueten free quinoa pasta and lactose free cheese options!
Fellow bloggers filling up their plates with delicious Mac Shack Mac and Cheese.
Soon it was time to get started with the learning portion of the evening. The conversation started with Team Notey talking to us about Notey.com a fabulous new interest network that is a bit like Facebook meets Pinterest. It lets you discover new things based upon your interests. I’m going to sign up Sew Creative soon and I’ll let you all know what I think of it. I took tons of notes in my self decorated Moleskine notebook while I sipped my wine and ate my Mac Shack Mac and Cheese.
Food, wine and note taking at YVRLearn13
After Team Notey finished up we heard from Kerry from Crunchy Carpets who talked to us about monetizing your blog and partnerships and sponsorships. She gave us so much great information from her years of blogging experience. I took a full page of notes and have a lot to ponder and digest after hearing Kerry speak. My favorite quote from her talk was “My resume is better for having been a blogger.”
Kerry from Crunchy Carpets talking about monetizing your blog.
Next up the fabulous (and oh so fashionable) Raj from Pink Chai Style talked about building your brand, figuring out what your blog’s niche is and about being authentic. Again I came home with so much to think about after hearing Raj talk.
Raj from Pink Chai Style talking about building your brand and finding your blog’s niche.
Soon the evening was over, The Mac Shack was closing and we were hitting the streets. Heather and I decided to go and have tea with a few of the other bloggers. It was really nice to connect with them and talk about our thoughts from the evening and plans for the future.
YVRLearn13 Gift Bag
We were also given these lovely gift bags which included an adorable little key chain wet wipe holder from Guilford Town Centre and the most delicious macarons from Soirette Macarons and Tea. It was such a fabulous night. I can’t wait for my next blogger event!
Mararons from Soirette Macarons and Tea
Tell me… have you ever attended a blogger conference or meetup?