Right, let’s get this straight from the start. I am not confident. Not. At. All. Yes, I am the BritMums Live! Ambassador for this year’s blogger conference, but the main reason I have taken on that role is as an attempt to fight fire with fire.
I had a blog conference disaster last year. It was my first ever blogger conference, I was completely out of my depth, nerves got the better of me and when I called my husband for some reassurance and he told me Aleyna had a temperature, I took it as my cue to scarper. I have always regretted that decision, especially as I realised after the event that probably 70% (I love to make up stats) of the attendees felt exactly the same as me.
So how exactly do we get over those nerves? It is so easy to say “Oh everyone feels the same” but when you walk into a room full of women and the odd man “squeeeee-ing” and hugging, of course you automatically think they have known each other for years and wonder how on earth you are going to fit in.
Granted some of those people may have met before, but 75% (there I go again) are meeting people in the flesh for the first time.
So what is it that is actually so blimmin’ scary?
We probably all have different reasons for our butterflies but for me it was:
Once I walk in and have registered, what do I do, where do I go, will I be walking around looking lost? What if no one talks to me? What if they do talk to me and don’t like me?
And having asked around, some other concerns include:
What if I start to fumble and don’t come across nearly as eloquent/lovely/hilarious as I do in my blog? What if I start to feel really uncomfortable and out of my depth? What if people don’t know my blog and don’t want to talk to me?
BritMums Live! Butterflies
At BritMums Live! 2012 we have a little plan to attempt to lessen those nervy feelings.
We have gathered together a group of 4 quite different bloggers and we will be doing our bit to make sure any new or just plain nervous bloggers have a port of call at any point during the day.
The group named “BritMums Butterflies“* is made up of:
Clare from Seasider in the City
Gemma from Hello it’s Gemma
Penny from Alexander Residence
Alex from Doing it all for Aleyna (me!)
How we plan to help
- The BritMums Butterflies will be there to run to if anyone is feeling overwhelmed, nervous, out of their depth, or just doesn’t have anyone to play with.
- We will have our own area in the lounge, conveniently stationed next to the tea and coffee and will all be waiting with open arms at registration and at lunchtime.
- Over the course of the conference, there will always be someone there from the group, so you can come and have a little breather at any point during the day.
- We don’t want anyone to feel how I felt last year so the aim of BritMums Butterflies is to help alleviate some of the fears.
- Add the hashtag #butterflies to your Tweetdeck and join in our conversations over the next 3 months. Of course we would welcome any ideas.
Next week I will be posting on how to overcome blogger conference nerves.
*Do not expect us to be wearing sparkly wings, the butterflies refers to the nervy side of things!
And don’t forget…
You can still check out the two day schedule, see who the speakers will be and register for BritMums Live!
You can join the BritMums Live! 2012 Group and start chatting with others who are taking the plunge too.
You can join the BritMums Live! meet and greet with Stepford Wifey.
And there is also a non-exhaustive FAQ page, which should help answer some of your questions.
However if there is anything you would like further information, or indeed any other question that you may have (there are no silly questions) then please contact me via my Twitter handle @allforaleyna
Finally, we would be delighted if you could add one of our Badges to your blog.
About Susanna Scott
Susanna Scott founded the BritMums social network in 2008 after a career in marketing. She wanted to create a space for parent bloggers to network, and share ideas and opportunities. She is often quoted as a pioneer in the UK Mum Blogging space, and has been named a top female entrepreneur. She has been featured in The Times, The FT, The Independent, The Guardian, The Sun, Technorati, She, Primo Baby and Red magazine, amongst others. She speaks frequently about blogging, social networking and the BritMums community at industry events. Her blog A Modern Mother ranks in the UK’s top 10 Family Tarvel Blogs. Follow her on @amodernmother.
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Expat Mum
Wednesday 11th of April 2012
This is a great idea. I would add though that since we're probably all going to be wearing our badges and feeling the lurve, anyone should feel comfortable in walking up to another lone blogger or a group of people and receiving a warm welcome. We should all be butterflies-by-proxy.
It takes some work on both sides though - if you sit by yourself, people may not come up to you, but if you approach someone else with a smile, they're going to look ar your badge, mentally register who you are, and then swoop you up.
If you don't know who to sit with, just approach a table and say "Is this seat taken?". Within minutes you'll be chatting with everyone you can reach and you may hang with them for the rest of the conference.
Years ago I went to a conference in Houston (I live in the USA) on my own, knowing no one. (OK, in retorspect, and knowing the group now, that took some nerve.) I ended up sitting next to a nice woman, chatting for ages, then when she looked like she was going to stand up and leave I actually said "Oh god, please can I tag along, I don't know anyone", and she took me along to the mini-meeting she had scheduled. Four years later we are still friends.