BlogOn

I wasn’t sure if I should attend BlogOn or not, as my husband and I had our wedding anniversary exactly that weekend. He said we can celebrate after the conference and insisted that I buy my ticket, if I want to. I did, so I got my ticket with only 1 ticket to spare, and I’m glad I did.

We could have got to Hotel Football in Manchester by 9 for the event. As I was bringing a cake for BlogOnBakeOff, it took me longer to leave home, so I arrived at around 9.40. I dropped off my cake, got my goodie bag and went to the car to leave it with my husband.
The welcome and keynotes started soon after.

How amazing is this? Having so many options is really fantastic. I’ve only had coffee with coconut milk, as I’m reducing my dairy intake.

I didn’t go to any of the sessions, but decided to go and see the brands in the Brands Den. It was a good choice as there weren’t as many bloggers in the Brands den and I got the chance to have a chat with most of the brands. There were some pretty amazing things there and I hope it will lead to some lovely collaborations in the future.

Lush was there and I had a chat with them. The shop in Manchester is completely plastic free and she said that in other Lush shops you can chose if you are getting the products in plastic or not. She told me that the new Lush store in Liverpool is their biggest one.
I’ve passed by it, but it was late, my husband and I were going somewhere for the evening, so I didn’t go in. Now I’m very curious to check it out.

There were lots of brands with toys and other fab gadgets, but I forgot to take pictures. I forgot to take a picture of the publishing house stand, from where I got a book to read and review. So, I’m only sharing a couple more pictures, from the stands I did remember to take pictures of.

An energy ball subscription box, how lovely does this sound? I love energy balls, so much that I can only make a few or I’m going to overeat them. Love the idea of the subscription box, sounds really lovely.

I don’t like Coca Cola, but I liked Green Cola a lot. Not only when it comes to brand ethos, as they are a small company, based in UK (including production) and making a drink that is sweetened with stevia, such a great alternative to sugar, but more expensive that artificial sweeteners. I also loved the taste. I’m going to buy Green Cola, that is for sure.

The guys from Co-op made pizza in brands den. How fab is that? Their vegetarian pizza sounded really good and it was, with spinach and ricotta.

I’m still talking about food, but there were lots of other brands. As a foodie, I just had to talk about them.

For the first time, BlogOn had its own Bake Off. These are all the cakes, before judging.

I’ve made my dark chocolate and orange cake, one that I’ve made before, for a Bake Off challenge, a few years ago.

I got 2nd place! I was so happy seeing people enjoying my cake.

Besides all the food, BlogOn is about seminars and learning from other bloggers and brands. I went to three seminars:
Be more visible, create more opportunities with Claire Gamble
3 Common Site Mistakes that make a huge impact on SEO… and how to fix them with Cerys Parker
Pitch like a Pro with Lee Benecke

I learned from each seminar, but the one that made the most impact, for me, was the one about SEO. I’m going to make a plan and change at first one blog, to see the results. After that I’m going to change the other two. I love learning about SEO.

This is what I did at BlogOn. I did mention the goodies.

Here is the goodie bag, including some samples I got from the brands (just a couple) and the book I was offered to review. There are lots of interesting things in the goodie bag and I’m really excited to try them.

I didn’t stay for the raffle, nor the party afterwords as my husband and I had plans for the evening. I did have a great time, as always.