I can’t believe it has come around so quickly. It feels like only a few weeks ago that I bought a super early bird ticket but in fact it was 11 months ago. Where has this year gone?
I know a lot of people are feeling really shy about Britmums and they don’t really know what to expect so I thought I would give you a few tips that I have learned from last years expedition.
1) A liquid lunch in the pub with Northernmum on the Friday might seem like a good idea at the time but make sure you have something a bit more substantial too. There is not much food on the Friday night and the tiny morsels of food and teh free booze will soon have you feeling more than tipsy. Also hangovers on the Saturday are not fun and it will mean you miss out on a fantastic day of sessions.
2) Do not pack as though you are moving house. Last year I had a huge holdall with lots of different outfits and makeup and laptop and goodness knows what else. This meant I had no room to store my freebies. This year I will be on bare minimum of clothes, pj’s (sharing a room naked is not a good idea) and toiletries. I am however putting this all in a very large mostly empty suitcase. Which will come in very handy by the end of the weekend.
3) What to carry in your bag. You do not want to carry everything with you and there is a cloakroom for placing your coats and luggage so take advantage of this. Have a smaller bag with a few immediate essentials. Include in these your camera, phone, charger, mints (if like me you panic about your breathe when in social situations), makeup to refresh yourself for the evening and most importantly some deodorant and perfume. You will not regret packing those as the day is long and the rooms get hot. You could take your tablet, you could take your laptop and you could end up feeling like a pack mule after a long day climbing a mountain. There is so much going on you wont have much chance to get online and do that much anyway so use your phone where you can.
4) There will be people there you recognise but you don’t know their name, there will be people you do not have a clue who they are and there will be people who will talk to you as if they have known you for years. Remember these people read your life day in and day out they more than likely know more about you that that friend you have known for years. Wear your badge with pride, stare at everyone’s boobs to learn theirs and don’t be afraid to politely ask who someone is. No-one will be offended and you might just find that person next to you is someone you have been chatting to for ages on twitter but has a silly duck as an avatar so you have no idea who they are.
5) Relax enjoy yourself, speak to the brands that interest you, attend the sesions that grab your attention but most of all enjoy socialising and mingling with your peers because we are all bloggers and 99% of us are absolutely bloody amazing!
Make sure you come and say hi to me too because I would love to talk to you.