Surviving your first BritMums Live

I’m really looking forward to attending #BML16; it will be my third time attending, and I know I’ll really enjoy it. The first one I went to was also my first blogging event. I’d never met any other bloggers before, and had no idea what to expect. I ended up feeling entirely overwhelmed and missing a lot of what was going on. 

Here then, are my 10 top tips for surviving (and hopefully enjoying) your first BML – with a bonus one at the bottom, because maths never was a strong point for me.

1. Arrange to meet a friend outside the venue. Before going, I stupidly thought “oh, I know most of the people who are going, and I’ll recognise them from their Twitter profile pictures.” Nope. Even if you’re the most sociable blogger that ever did live, Twitter profile pictures are very small – and squawking crowds of bloggers who all seem to know each other already are very large! It’s very intimidating to arrive at The Brewery and see tons of people who already seem to be best buddies, while you’re trying to find one face you recognise!
2. Bring water. There are refreshments in the main room, and the conference rooms have jugs of water – but chattering to brands and each other is thirsty work! If you get dehydrated, you’ll never make it through the awards ceremony later with all that free wine!
3. Bring pain killers, too. There’s a Tesco over the road – but once you’re inside the venue you won’t want to miss a minute. Better to come prepared!
4. Leave your heels at home. You’re looking at a day of walking around stands, standing about chatting to brands, more walking, more standing, and then when the day is over, probably a walk to a restaurant with friends. Not to mention walking around tube stations with your goodie bag. BML is no place for impractical footwear!
5. If you’re staying overnight, leave space in your suitcase. The first year I went, one of the brands was giving away a big bucket and spade set. Wonderful fun for my daughter; not so much fun to try and carry home on the tube along with my goodie bag, my suitcase and lots of other bits and bobs. 
6. Plan your day. Think about what you’re hoping to get out of the day: do you want to build relationships with brands and collect freebies? To meet and chat to as many bloggers as possible? Or to attend sessions and learn as much as possible? You can’t do all three, but if you know what your priority is, you’ll find it easier to let the other two go. For example, if you’re there just to socialise, does it matter if you miss one or two sessions? And if you’re there only for the sessions you don’t really need to spend much time schmoozing with the brands!
7. Remember everyone doesn’t already know each other! As I said before, it’s really intimidating when you’re faced with this massive crowd of people who all seem to know each other. They don’t, I promise. There are at least 50 people there who don’t know anyone. Just take a deep breath, smile and introduce yourself. You’ll both be glad you did!
8. It’s ok to be unsociable! I’m a massive introvert, and whenever I go to any event I get to a point in the day where I just need to be on my own. That doesn’t make me a bad person, grumpy or a bitch – it makes me an introvert who is tired out by constant company. It’s fine to take a break in one of the outside areas, or even to go for a walk outside the hotel grounds to get a bit of air and space. Once you get outside, you’ll find lots of people are doing the same as you.
9. Decide who you really want to meet beforehand – and arrange it with them! Once you get there, you’ll be faced with a big crowd of bloggers and it’s hard to spot one face in the crowd. I bumped into loads of people I hadn’t arranged to meet last year, and it was fab – but there were several more I would have loved to meet up with, but didn’t arrange it. And although I know they were there, I didn’t see them at all. Not even a glimpse! It’s entirely possible to miss that one person you wanted to meet up with, if you don’t specifically arrange something.
10. Consider a t shirt, a hat or a badge with your blog name on. Last year I had a t shirt with “Single Mother Ahoy” written across the back, and I spoke to so many more people! Just don’t do what I did, forget it’s there and wonder how everyone knows your name. Durr.

Bonus tip number 11: just have fun! Don’t worry about whether you’re wearing the right outfit, whether you’ve taken enough notes, spoken to enough brands, handed out enough business cards. Do whatever makes you feel good while you’re there (except that – don’t do that in public), and you’ll leave without regret.

Do you have any tips to add for this year’s newbies? Let us know in the comments.

Plus you can book your place at #BML16 here!