Saturday 25th April saw around one hundred bloggers gather at The Studio in Birmingham for the Tots 100 Blog Camp. Blog Camp is a free blogging conference – a chance to meet up and socialise with other bloggers, with plenty of workshops and talks to help up your game. The event was sponsored by Cow and Gate.

Blog Camp is the first blogging conference I’ve ever been to. I booked the tickets back in February, and although I have been incredibly excited, I’ve also been really nervous. I’m not too good with massive groups of people, and compared to many, I’m a relative newbie in the blogging world.

I needn’t have worried. I arranged to meet with Zara from Mojo Blogs, who I’ve met before, and Sharon from Teen Tween Toddler, who I’ve been virtual friends with for ages. Knowing I’d be going with some familiar faces put me at ease. We arranged to meet in Costa at New Street Station with a couple of others -, Nikki from Keeping Strong and Moving Forward, Kirsty from Miss Pork Pie and Michaela from Two Little Paines. I jumped on the bus at 8.45am – the benefits of living so close to Birmingham City Centre, and by 9.15am was drinking a latte with Zara. One by one, the group got bigger, and off we set to The Studio.

We grabbed our badges, a coffee and a pastry and plonked ourselves down at a table. We were surrounded by all the usual blogger paraphernalia – notebooks, pens, cameras and the all important mobile phones for tweeting and Instagramming. No one tells you off for being on your phone here – it’s actively encouraged!!

The first session I attended was one on professional blogging. It was incredibly inspiring (yes, that sounds clichéd!) and I came away with a few ideas in my head – watch this space!

We then headed to a product photography session and picked up a couple of useful hints and tips (a spotlight with a blue film over mimics sunlight for photos!)

Then it was time for lunch, which was amazing. Like all good bloggers, we took photos of our food and Instagrammed it (#blogcampuk) before eating.

Over lunch, we sat chatting about our kids and why we started blogging. It was incredible how a group of strangers can click so easily – I felt I’d known those ladies forever!

After lunch we headed off to another photography session, led by Lindy. This one was based around photo styling, and was really hands on. We practised taking photos of various props from different angles.

The next session I went to was on writing, followed by the final session on working with brands. This was particularly interesting as it was led by a panel of professional bloggers and PR’s, all with different opinions. The one thing they all agreed on was the need to be professional!

I came away from the event feeling inspired and full of ideas, but more importantly I came away feeling like I had made some friends!

Thank you to Sally, Lindy and the team at Tots100 for putting on a fantastic event – I can’t wait for the next one!