My First Blogger Meetup Experience

I recently attended my first ever Blogger Meetup in Miami through the South Florida Bloggers.  I’ve followed the group from afar for a few months and finally decided to just go for it.

The theme of the event was travel blogging.  And they had a panel of 3 travel bloggers discussing their experiences and sharing tips on working with brands for travel blog posts. I feel like I learned so much from this event and hope to one day use this info and partner with brands/hotels/etc.

Dress / Shoes

After the panel, we ate lunch provided by Zaytouna.  Their food is made by Syrian refugee women. They help these women settle here through permanent employment.  And their food is absolutely delicious.

Then we took a tour of Miami Ironside.  Its a mix of retail, restaurant, and art space.  You would never know how cool this place is just driving by.  You walk through a breezeway (after parking in their free parking lot) and there’s little boutiques, a pizza restaurant, art gallery and so much more.  They even have pieces from the Berlin Wall.  One store, Krel Wear, makes custom knit wear.  I love her super instagrammable colorful wall. And hope to take one of her classes soon!

Some thoughts from my first event:

I’ve recently started listening to the “A Drink with James” YouTube series from Fohr.co.  (Which PS if you’re interested in blogging I highly recommend his videos – they’re super informative). He answers questions sent in by bloggers/influencers. Someone asked about going to these networking events and how to basically be less intimidated when trying to meet people. He suggested setting a goal of talking to 3 people or 5 people, etc. With focusing more on meeting your specific number goal, you’re taking the focus off your nerves or how awkward it can be.  I think for me right now my goal is to meet and connect with one person every time I go to an event. I know that seems small but just going to these events at all is so out of my comfort zone.

Walking into this event was so intimidating for me.  It seemed like so many people already knew each other.  I was so thankful to be greeted by a friendly face. I love that the officers go out of their way to introduce themselves. And even offered to introduce new comers to other members!

Years ago I was at a conference for my sorority and there was a group discussion with local alumni associations about new members.  Generally new members would be recent college graduates or someone who graduated a long time ago and just never got involved.  We were discussing how to get new members to come to events and get involved.  One woman talked about their first event of the year at a wine bar.  She said all of the officers put a blue ribbon around their wine glass so they would stand out. And the new members could go up to them and introduce themselves.  This sounded SO backwards to me.

When you’re already involved (and so involved that you became an officer), you’re probably already comfortable at the events. Go out of your way to make someone new feel just as comfortable.

I’m excited to attend more events like this one. And hopefully some events a little closer to home!