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Stella’s Joining us for the Summer Party
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No not Stella McCartney, but Stella Artois. That’s right our friends at Stella Artois have decided London’s hard working bloggers deserve some cool, crisp, liquid refreshment and have agreed to sponsor our summer party. They’ve promised to buy everyone a couple of pints of cold Stella, or a glass of wine, or a soft drink as you fancy.
Not only is Stella buying the beers, but they also are running a fabulous competition just for members of the London Bloggers Meetup. The prize is a trip in the Stella Artois: Star Over London airship.. to take in London from above. Currently retailing at £185.00, this really is a fantastic opportunity! Thanks Stella!
So how do you win such a fantastic prize?
It’s simple, in 150 words or less, describe your local pub and what it is that makes you keep going back..?’
Simply post your answer as a comment to this post by close of play on Friday 25th July. The entries will be judged based on entertainment value - the more entertaining the more likely you are to win!
There are SIX places up for grabs!
Well, what are you waiting for..!
We’ll announce the winners at the Summer Social on the 29th. Get writing folks and I’ll see you all on the 29th!
Andy
Blogger Time - That’s a Wrap
Time to wrap up another bloggers meetup and once again I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. I’m always happy to hear feedback, both positive and negative, as it helps me to refine the meetups and provide a forum everyone can get gain some benefit from – whether that’s socially, educationally or simply through enjoying a beer. I tried something new this time by arranging for some presenters - as had been requested by plenty of group members – and I though they all added something of value.
Xavier’s presentation on making people comment was entertaining, valuable and delivered beautifully, check out the slides below if you want a recap - although perhaps the best tip was to promise a Belgian beer in exchange for a comment. Improbulus made a spirited attempt at explaining some of the basics of SEO which was useful and I’m sure some of the newer bloggers would have learned a few tricks. Tony’s introduction to Wordcamp UK was an insight into open source event organising, but aside from those headaches, good to know for any WordPress bloggers at least (shame it’s in Birmingham though Tony…). I have to agree with Peter that I’m more than happy to listen to a sponsor in exchange for a free beer, so thanks to mobile social network ‘M3′ for coming along. If anyone wants a free M3 t-shirt, you just have to send us a note with your thoughts, impressions and general feedback. M3 is a startup in beta and any assistance I’m sure will be gratefully received.
Well, here are Xavier’s slides…
And here are some photos of the night…
As I said, thanks to all of the comments, duly noted. We will rebalance the social / presentation aspect with just one speaker at future events. Also, if anyone has any strong opinions on the involvement of sponsors I’d very much like to hear them. Does it work at the meetups, is it p*ssing you off, are there other types of companies you would like involved etc?? I’m more than happy to explore the options.
Thanks again to everyone who keeps turning up. It’s always great to see the usual suspects, but also so many new faces at each event.
Cheers,
Andy
PS Xavier is interested in hearing about potential work opportunities in case anyone is looking…
Blogger Time Update
I am delighted to announce we have a sponsor for June’s blogger meetup in the form of M3, a mobile social network. They would like to come along and show you what they’ve created to help bloggers (and non-bloggers too to be fair) to get connected and stay in touch with London’s vibrant social scene. I am working on the finer details but it looks as though there will be some free drinks floating around.
You should check them out online to get a real feel for what they’re all about. But essentially they offer a mobile phone led location based service to help you hook up with friends when you’re out and about. Sounds pretty good and I hope I can get some mileage out of it for the meetup. Oh did I mention it was also free (as you’d expect in this day and age really).
Other news is we may well have a presenter coming along too. Someone has volunteered to talk about a new plugin to help drive reader engagement on your blog. More news on that coming soon.
Please don’t forget to RSVP on the meetup page!
Delighted Bloggers
We had another very successful bloggers social last night, back at our old haunt the Camel & Artichoke in Waterloo. Around 40 or so people turned up, all of whom were given a goodie back from event supporters Berocca. I have to admit, I didn’t really understand the link between blogging and Berocca (a vitamin supplement) when they first approached me, but when I heard about an article in the New York Times it all started to make sense.
Apparently us bloggers are working until we drop, putting in long hours and fitting blogging in around full time jobs, or other freelance projects. I can certainly relate to this and probably a lot of you can too.
What’s the link with Berocca then..? Well, the little orange nuggets of Berocca are jam packed full of vitamins to help rejuvenate your tired body and give you a bit of a kick start. Especially useful after a long night writing blog posts before an early morning meeting - trust me, I’ve been trying these little beauties out all week and so far so good. I do however have to point out for those first timers that you will probably notice a bright green colour when you go to the bathroom. Don’t be alarmed, it’s normal (according to Berocca).
For those interested in cocktails, we tried one in a pint of Guinness at the meetup and it wasn’t at all bad. I’m sure Chris and Tom will agree - although perhaps just half a Berocca next time.
What’s next for the bloggers social then?
I got a few comments from bloggers liking the move away from the Coach & Horses (a venue that’s a bit over done now apparently) so we probably won’t be heading back any time soon. I also had some requests for more content at the meetup, much like the legal presentation we had before. Any suggestions are welcome, but I have in mind a talk at some stage about managing content production and I know M@tt from Londonist has agreed to talk about something along these lines before. M@tt?
I’m also in the early stages of talking to a mobile social network about sponsoring the next meetup. This I hope will bring the return of a free drink for us all - I know how everyone likes a tipple every now and then. I will put more information out on this soon. I’m also looking for a good new venue again, preferably with a private room, big screen TV and ideally wheel chair friendly. I’ll let you all know how I get on, but again, any suggestions welcome.
Thanks to everyone who came along on Tuesday, we really are building a vibrant community of bloggers. The comments always reflect what an interesting bunch of people you all are and I hope you will keep coming. New faces are always welcome as are the regulars. Special thanks to Peter, Mex, Andy and the handful of others that have attended every month!
I’ll see you all on the 24th June. In the mean time ‘keep on blogging’, but keep healthy and of course let me know if the Berocca has added that extra little bit of spice..
Cheers,
Andy