The Only Way Is Blogging (TOWIB)

So yesterday, I attended TOWIB's third event (my first ever experience attending a blogger event). I'm not sure of exactly how many bloggers attended, but there was definitely over 100! When we first arrived, there was a chance for us to get to know everyone else in the room, have some tea and biscuits, and a competition for collecting the most blog url's. I managed to get quite a few blog url's
on my little piece of paper which I'll be adding to my blogroll.

Blogger bonding session

Numera, Sam, Abeer and Safiyah with their rather large camera's!

(in comparison to my tiny digital one)

All of us seated during the PR panel talk

I learnt a lot from the PR panel about the relationship between bloggers and PR, and how different brands/companies have a more specific criteria when looking at bloggers to work with. They stated that most of the time its the PR that approach a blogger, but it's not impossible for the blogger to approach PR (they just have to be professional, passionatate and sell themselves to PR). There were also lots of other little facts about how PR don't only look at page views and blog stats, but also at how engaged the readers are (i.e comments) and whether there are other ways to interact through social media (such as facebook and twitter). The most important point I think that was made was that it's okay to write about prodcust that you don't have a particularly good experience with (but it is good practise to let the company/PR know your thoughts before publishing the blogpost). The PR panel also included information about what makes a good blog (easy to read, simple layout, passionate about the area, update frequently/regularly, express own opinions rather than copying a press release).

The talk from ebuzzing was not particularly relevant for me, as I don't have an interest in making money from my blog at the moment, but it was nice to get some information about monetising your blog, which might come in handy in the future.
Unfortunately, I didn't stay for the talk by Annabelle's Wigs as a few of us were quite hungry (so we popped off to Pret) and also, it's not really something that interests me (I doubt I will be wearing a wig any time soon or in the future!).

Other extra things that I learnt at the event is that it is important to have business cards for your blog (no matter if you're a new blogger or an established one) and this is something I am currently looking into. Also, it's a good idea to make yourself known to other bloggers and to PR, and to build relationships through regular contact, rather than it being a one-off meeting. Honestly, there was so much more information that I wrote down, and now have to try and read through (bad handwriting + felt tip pen = illegible notes!)

The venue was a hotel near Russell Square station, and the actual hall that we were in was pretty big (although with all the chairs it didn't look like it was!) There were also mirrors all the way around the room, which made the room feel bigger, but also gave us a great place to take pictures!

Mirrors

Time for a group photo! (only I forgot to turn off the flash)

And for the final picture, here's my outfit of the day =)

Abaya-Seven Gifts (bought at Noor-ul Islam funday stall)

Hijab- Green Street

Lace underscarf- ZamZam International (Green Street)

Shoes (which cannot be seen)- Deichmann

Hijab pins (which also can't be seen)-Skyla pins from Dramafree

Overall I enjoyed my day, got to meet lots of bloggers and learn something new! Did anyone else attend TOWIB? Let me know what you thought of the event =)