Keep Calm and Blog On - Blog On MOSI 2015

A couple of weeks ago I attended a fantastic blogging conference that was arranged by Laura from Tired Mummy of Two, Blog On MOSI.

As the conference started at 9am in Manchester I decided to go the night before and stay the night. This also meant that I could attend the pre conference night out! After a stressful journey, missing my train and waiting for an hour for the next one I arrived and met my roomie Becky from Diary of a Fat Bottomed Girl. Even though we had never met in person we got on great and headed off to the Hard Rock Cafe Manchester. Being a rock chick this was the perfect place for a night out. We all enjoyed a night of cocktails, food, more cocktails and so many laughs.

After lots of giggles Becky and I along with Ally from Messed Up Mum, Rachel from Its Just Me and My Life, Tor from Teacuptoria, Steph from Seeing Spots and Evette from Bizzimummy decided to go and get some food before heading back to the hotel.

The following morning started bright and early and we headed off the Museum of Science and Industry for the conference. When we arrived I was amazed by the number of people that were there and it was lovely to be able to put a person to the blog. After reading blogs I felt like I already knew a lot of them so it was lovely to be able to say hi in person.

There were different talks throughout the day. We started off with a Time Management talk by Nickie O'Hara. I came away with so many great tips and how to prioritise my work load. I am now using my diary a lot more to schedule different posts and need to invest in a BOAT book (Book Of All Things!).

Next we were split into two groups and had either a You Tube talk or a Photography talk. The photography talk was one that I had been looking forward to the most. This was run by Jenny from Cheetah In My Shoes. After a fantastic talk we were let loose to explore the fascinating museum. My only regret was that we did not have longer to explore. I loved being able to walk round just me and my camera. I tried to use as many tips as possible. The results of the talk, tips and my exploration walk around are the pictures below. I do feel proud of them and am looking forward to developing my photography further.

After I managed to pull myself away from the exhibitions it was lunch time. During the lunch time I also managed to speak to some of the brands and Pr's that were there to talk to bloggers. They included James Villas, Hotter Shoes, Black Sheep Wools, Swizzels Matlow Sweets, DW Fitness, Thinking Slimmer, QVS Beauty and Little More Drinks.

Along with connecting with brands and Pr's I loved talking to some blogging friends. They included Helen from Casa Costello, Alice from Life As Alice, Philippa from Sounding Like My Mother, Alyssa from Mum to a Monster, Zena from Zena's Suitcase and Rachel from The Melton House to name but a few!

After the next talk, advanced blogging, it was time for cake, thanks to Hungry House and prosecco, thanks to The Co-operative!

While we were all tucking into cake and wine the raffle was drawn. During the event there was a tombola, lucky dip and a raffle to raise money for Super Shoes. Super Shoes are a non profit organisation who help put a smile on the faces of seriously ill and disabled children by getting them a dream pair of shoes. A whopping £798.80p was raised during the event. I was over the moon to win a Zoku Ice Pop Maker!

After all of the excitement of the raffle it was back to business and the last talk of the day, which was the niche sessions. I, naturally, went to the food session which was hosted by Jo from Jo's Kitchen who gave some fantastic tips on photographing food and Keeley from Phat Cupcake who was sharing her tips and advice about restaurant reviews.

It was soon time for all of the goodbyes and dashing off to catch the train home. I only just managed to catch my train thanks to Jaime from The Oliver's Madhouse, Susan from Susan K Mann and Jo from Mummy's Knee. Without their help I am sure I would have missed my train again! I was just disappointed that I was not able to join them for a bite to eat before dashing off.

All in all Blog On MOSI was a fantastic experience and Laura did an amazing job organising it all.

Thank you Laura and everyone who hosted the talks throughout the day.

Here's to Blog On MOSI 2016!