Hot Hot July was Hot Hot Hot

Wow! I say again Wow.

What a great night I had at the last London Bloggers Meetup. So great in fact that I’ve had to take two weeks off to recover, hence the incredibly late post.

Actually in truth I had a few weeks holidays already booked and decided it was high time I packed away my laptop for a couple of weeks – I even stopped checking email on my phone!

It’s only right that I say a few words of thanks to everyone invovled in the last LBM who made it such a great evening, notably those brave individuals who were prepared to stand up and say a few words. On first of all was Mr PhileasBlog (Edd) who talked about the travel blogging adventures he’d had with his co-author. Looking rather nervous Edd took to the stage (which was actually behind the bar at the Carpenters Arms pub on Whitfield Street) and gave away some top tips and certainly some inspiration for many. I’d sure like to retrace his steps around the world.

Next up was Eva from Lastminute.com who talked a bit about what  the blog she runs for Lastminute and what they are doing in social media. Actually hats off to Eva, the blog looks great and has some pretty good content on there already considering its only three months old. Oh and because she stepped in at the very Lastminute… I know, rubbish gag but it’s not too far from the truth!

Of course, Lastminute.com were also sponsoring the evening which meant they had some great prizes to give away, along with buying everyone a generous beer or two – now that’s what I call “social” media. There are the regular photos online provided by Peter Marshal and some from LBM regular Pete Stean that are worth a squiz. Congratulations to Ruthy and the other winners of the Lastmiute.com prizes. Do please let us all know which adventures you chose to take up and how you get / got on.

Well, that’s it. Thanks to all who attended and I look forward very much to seeing you all at the next edition. Keep August 4th clear in your diaries.

Cheers,
Andy

Hot Hot July Meetup

Folks, save the date, Tuesday 7th July 2009!

Why? Because it’s the date for the next edition of the world famous London Bloggers Meetup. I say world famous, it could be, you never know. I haven’t asked everyone to be honest…

So what’s the world go to do with anything you might ask?

Well, this meetup is being sponsored by our good friends at Lastminute.com. They will be releasing exclusive details on the summer promotion they are about to launch and in particular would love to meet with any budding travel writers or keen travellers, so please encourage any of your fellow bloggers or friends who might be interested to register and come along to find out more.

However, if you can’t wait until then to hear more, here are some clues…

How often have you sat day-dreaming at your desk wondering what you’d be doing if you didn’t have to put up with the 9-5 grind? Explore the world? Sample the best of global culture? Make the most of good old Great Britain? Lay on a beach in the baking heat without a care in the world? Meet new and interesting people in places you never knew you would visit? Maybe even doing something completely different and trying your hand as a travel writer? Perhaps you’d do all of these things, if only you had the chance…

Say no more LBM’ers, I hope that has got your imagination running. To recap: Lastminute.com, travel, writing, competition… you get the picture.

Of course there will be the usual blend of blog related chat, networking, fun and frivolities. Oh and Lastminute.com are also going to be buying a few beers, so get yourselves along early and enjoy a nice, cold, thirst quenching beverage (beer, wine, coke, whatever you fancy really). It looks like we might even have an interesting talk too, more details TBC.

Hope to see you all on the 7th !!

Andy

Fashion Targets Bloggers

Once again we had a another fantastic London Bloggers Meetup last week. A huge thanks to the crew from Fashion Targets Breast Cancer for supporting our event and helping to make it a smashing evening. The FTBC campaign is truly supporting a worthy cause and it was great to see how and why they are using online communications to reach out to their target audiences. I found the talk really interesting but I was also really pleased to see so many of you walk away with a prize.

Of course, the big prize of £100 worth of Marks & Spencer vouchers was won by Derry who I think was going to buy some lingerie or maybe hit the food hall… For those who need a refresher, here’s the question again and Derry’s winning entry..:

Why should charities use online communications to support their cause?

I think a well-known quote by the cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead can be applied to both charities and to online groups such as bloggers. It reads:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

It is a given that charities engage with any community that can further their cause. There can be no other way. Online communications represent a means to acheiving that goal in communities on the internet, such that they are.

Very Nice Derry. It is fair to say your entry was picked by all of the competition judges. Mind you there were some other great entries from Amethyst, Peter and Chris Rothwell to name but a few.

It was great to speak to a few regulars on the evening and to meet a whole lot of new faces. Peter has taken the usual array of photos of the evening which you can see online. Feel free to drop these onto your blog with an accreditation to Peter Marshall of My London Diary.

Thanks again to all who attended and keep making the LBM’s great Meetups. News coming soon of the next LBM and the annual summer social but, for now, keep blogging.

St Patrick’s Special #LBM

Last Tuesday witnessed a spectacular London Bloggers Meetup, even if a do say so myself. Well, in actual fact everyone that attended seemed to have some pretty good things to say about the night. In case you are wondering, it was the St Patrick’s special LBM sponsored by our friends at Guinness and Bushmills Irish Whiskey.

So what made it a good night?

Well, apart from marvellous cocktails, the lessons on how to pour your own pint of Guinness, the prize draw for two tickets to the Guinness Premiership rugby final, the spacious bar offering free drinks, the delicious canapés, the talk from Drew Davies on behalf of the Equality & Human Rights Commission, there were of course around 50 members of the growing LBM community in attendance. Some regulars, some new faces and some I haven’t seen for a while, all of which made this an interesting night. I enjoyed catching up with Cedric (look forward to the England v France six nations match tomorrow), Tom Dickinson, Daniel, Navin… the list just goes on and on. Thankfully there are some great photos courtesy of Peter Marshall and Splendid for you to enjoy.

For those who want more information on Drew’s talk, head to the Map of Gaps website at http://www.mapofgaps.org. It’s a pretty phenomenal project and I know Drew would to hear your reactions to the campaign. Did you know over 30 million women live in Britain and each year 3 million experience rape, domestic violence, stalking or other violence. However, one in four local authorities do not provide any support to these victims. See what you can do to change this at the mapofgaps.org.

The Equality & Human Right’s Commission is actually sponsoring the next #LBM and Drew will be coming along again to talk about this and other work the Commission is involved in. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn more about all their great work by registering for your place on the 24th March now.

If you are planning on enjoying St Patrick’s on the 17th March (next Tuesday) don’t forget to raise a glass of Guinness, or a Bushmills, in appreciation to Diageo for once again showing the London Blogging Community some real love. I for one, will be enjoying a Guinness Extra cold which in around two weeks time will be consumed from my very own customised Guinness pint pot, simply marvellous.

Andy

PS and I almost forgot to thank Haran, Emma, Chris and team at Splendid for doing a, well, sssuperb job!