Blogstock 2014: The Recap

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Blogstock 2014 was the world’s first blogging festival, held in the green pastures of Elstree, Hertfordshire. Bloggers and leading names from travel, fashion and food descended on Hertfordshire at the beginning of August to meet, greet, network and share tips on blogging and working with PR folk.

No festival is complete without music and drinking too, of course.

Blogstock is run by the brilliant Traverse team, and given it was the first of its kind, the inaugural blogging festival was a huge success.

Blogstock 2014 - Blogging Festival Recap

The team at Hertz were a big presence at the festival, so when they invited me to spend two nights in one of their luxurious tipis, I jumped at the chance. Big, spacious, comfy and certain to keep out the rain!

My Hertz tipi - Blogstock 2014

Lovely and spacious inside my Hertz tipi!

There were a few sessions on the Friday evening, but for me, it was a time to catch up with fellow bloggers, network, and sink a few beers.

Me with Vicky Flipflop Travels
Me and Vicky. Official photo from the lovely Macca Sherifi.

Travel bloggers at Blogstock 2014
Travel bloggers enjoying the sunshine. Official pic from Macca Sherifi.

Ocean and Kasha enjoying their Mailchimp hats!
Ocean and Kasha enjoying their Mailchimp hats!

The team at Lonely Planet set up a photo booth for the evening, of which I was a guinea pig tester to make sure everything worked. I’m pretty chuffed my photos from 4pm don’t look too dissimilar from the ones at 10pm!

Saturday arrived, and the main blogging event kicked off, with blogger tip sessions taking place in a marquee and a tipi, and debates taking place in another area across the field.

A full house for A Lady In London's blogging session
A full house for A Lady In London‘s session

Marquee Session - Blogstock 2014
Marquee session. Official pic by Macca Sherifi

Blogstock schedule
Blogstock schedule. Official pic by Macca Sherifi

Photography session - Blogstock 2014
iPhone photography session. Official pic by Macca Sherifi

Some of the best sessions were about how bloggers can monetise their blog, how they can get brands to notice their blog, and tips for working with brands and PR agencies. I picked up a lot of great tips and information from the speakers, which I will try to roll out across this blog over the coming weeks.

There was also a big focus on video blogging (vlogging). This is something I’ve only really dipped my toe into, but as many speakers mentioned, there is a big opportunity in the travel space for bloggers creating great video content to showcase destinations, hotels and trips. Ceara McEvoy gave a great talk about ‘entering the vlogosphere’, which one of the best tipi sessions. No surprise there were bodies packed into the tipi!

Ceara McEvoy's vlogging tipi session - Blogstock 2014

Aside from all the sessions in the marquee and tipi, there was also a lot of fun to be had. There was a bouncy castle. There was a coconut shy. There was a go-kart track. And ice cream. And cocktails.

Safe to say, aside from being very useful, Blogstock was also a lot of fun!

Simon and official photograher Macca Sherifi
A selfie with the Hertz crew and official photographer Macca Sherifi.

3 Blondes And A Brunette at Blogstock 2014
Virginia, Jess, Kirsten and moi enjoying cocktails in the sun

And when it pours down with rain, where should you seek shelter? That’s right, the bar.

Hats off to the Traverse team – Blogstock was a top event, and I’d recommend it to any travel, fashion or food bloggers looking to take their blog to the next level. It was great to finally put faces to Twitter names, and chat with fellow bloggers and digital marketing folk.

For more official photos, head to the Blogstock Facebook album, and keep an eye on the Traverse site for Blogstock updates.

I get a sense Blogstock 2015 will be bigger, bolder and even better. Keep your eyes peeled!

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