BlogOn Conference Spring 2017

We did it! Yeeay! I've been quiet on the blog because I was incredibly busy helping to prepare for BlogOn Conference at the Museum Of Science and Industry in Manchester, but it's all over for now (4 months until the next one!).

Huge thanks to everyone who attended - I hope you also thought it was friendly and welcoming - as well as hopefully a good laugh. It was awesome to see so many PR's, brands and bloggers in person.

I checked people in with Sim when you arrived, and handed out goody bags at the end, but in between I did manage to take some photos...

BlogOn kicked off the evening beforehand with a #PaladoneParty - an evening out sponsored by the people who make most of the daft party games and novelty gifts which I spend so much on at Christmas. I was sensible and half an hour away, so I drove... others did not.

The precise moment Jen Mymummyspennies realises just how inebriated Rachel Vintage Folly is.

The Paladone guys were very good at Beer Pong - but the one who played all night did start to suffer some lack of co-ordination after a while, which only made him lose more. It's a slippery slope...

The reason that room was so empty was because someone had cleverly installed a sink in the foyer/hallway thingie. It was also where the food and drink was. All the best parties end up in the kitchen.

It may seem unlikely, but no-one got truly slaughtered and made a tit of themselves - clearly all hoping for a hangover-free Sunday...

Sunday morning started very early. Thankfully I only had to get up at 7.30am to run around panicking with the rest of the BlogOn team before the punters arrived at 10am. We had a couple of special brand happenings which added excitement - Swizzels Drumstick Lollies were celebrating their 60th birthday and PlaytimePR were launching their Blogger Board Game Club in collaboration with Esdevium Games.

Vegetarian Drumstick chewy sweets! The future is now.

Playtime PR - Definitely the coolest and most chilled room in the building.

For those of you who never believe us when we say 'bring a case'...it's all true.

Helen 'Casa Costello' there. She bakes awesome cakes
and her daughter is a world class sportswoman.
Coincidence? I think not. 

There were loads of PR's there who I knew - it was really lovely putting faces to several of my favourite names, and talking a couple into letting my boys review something awesome.

As well as a room full of games, PlaytimePR had a photobooth which I shared with Emma Cheshire Wife - thankfully I wasn't sent into space when I put the Donald trump mask on... (In-joke there for 3/4 of the people who filled in the icebreaker linky).

And of course there was food! And drink. I have to confess I had 4 glasses of wine in the end. It was lovely. I had to try both the Mr Gladstone's Pineapple Cube and the Strawberry BonBon... Those last few glasses were sat on the table for ages looking lonely... I was tidying up.

We can't fail to mention the cake. It was amazing. Not only was it a Swizzels Drumstick design, it also tasted of Swizzels Drumsticks. I have no photos, I was elsewhere, but this was my slice...

Voted easily best dressed of the day was Dawn Mummyslittlepeeps' 5 month old charmer. I love any excuse to talk to a baby and thankfully he reserved any vomit for his Mum and not Simone Simslife.

There were more brands! There were loads of brands actually, I went home with a Penguin Pile Up game review from Ravensburger, a Tangle Angel Comb and a selection of children's magazines handed to me by genuine Beano writers!

You could even get your nails done by Visibilis, as Lisa Hollybobbs demonstrates. These photos also clearly demonstrate the infectious power of a great smile. Becky Cowley has the best smile ever and a mere whiff of her causes people nearby to crack a grin. I love her. I could have followed her for ages more, but I was worried she might wee. She's one of my biggest heroes.

There were tons of sessions by some amazing bloggers - but I had jobs to do and I was melting, so I missed most. I had really wanted to go to Advanced Blogging Sh1te, so I'm hoping someone took good notes in that one.  

It was a long day for everyone, and Colette We'reGoingOnAnAdventure.
hadn't yet the stamina to hold her eyelids open as long as Alice LifeAsAlice.

Seeing everyone in the main room is pretty impressive - 200 really varied bloggers, including lots of blokes this time. Beauty, lifestyle, parent, gadget, photography, fitness and all sorts represented.

This year the money raised from the Tombola and Raffle into a BlogOn Comunity Fund. This will be used to help people from the blogging community facing an emergency or a crisis.

In the last 5 years I've had a partner fall ill with Meningitis, lost a child, had a child spend an extended period of time in hospital - and rescued the world's most poorly-endowed cat. I can genuinely say it all cripples you financially. I think it's an awesome idea and I'll cry every time we have to hand some out I'm sure, but it'll be with relief that we've been able to do something, however small a help.

This year the Spring BlogOn Conference Raffle and Tombola raised £1553.80. Thank you everyone. I hope you won something awesome. Or hilarious. Or both.

Huge thanks to Laura, who makes it all possible. Her oft-suffering family. Alex, The Hoff and James. Alice and the rest of the BlogOn Team. Thanks to all of the brands who make it such a lot of fun, and to the bloggers, without whom BlogOn wouldn't exist.

I won't tell you about the goody bags, I packed 400 of them. My arms will barely lift beyond my waist and much as I actually love that Seventh Generation Washing Liquid, I can't yet look at a Bananagrams Bag without wincing. Someone else will tell you all about all 3 of the bags, I'm sure. There's bound to be a linky for BlogOn Spring 2017 posts somewhere...

See you in September! BlogOn: The Christmas Edition.