Never mind Wimbledon, Royal Ascot and Henley Regatta – the highlight of the summer season comes on June 25th as hundreds of parent bloggers will descend on London for #BML16 (the conference formerly known as BritMums Live).
Being outnumbered by women 70-to-1 last year failed to scare me off and the restraining order no longer applies, so I’ll be back for a second time.
As part of the run-up to the event, attendees are being encouraged to write a personal introduction to help everyone get to know some of our fellow bloggers in advance.
So here’s me.
My name: Tim Liew
My blog: Slouching towards Thatcham. I also host the weekly Meet the Parents podcast, which you can find here.
Find me on social media at: Well, here …
How I look: As one of the small number of dads who will be at BML16 – there were just 11 of us last year – I won’t be difficult to spot in the crowd, although I won’t be in black tie like in my header image. I’m more likely to be scruffed down and looking like this (minus the children).
Other than that, I’m of average height, I aspire to be of average weight (oh, if only!) and obviously of Oriental origin (my parents are Malaysian). There’s not much chance of mistaking me for anyone else.
Is this my first blogging event? No. Last year’s BritMums Live was the first blogging event of any kind I had ever been to but since then I’ve also attended Blogfest and one of the smaller Blog On events. I guess that makes me something of a veteran now.
I will be wearing … Enough clothing to prevent me being arrested for indecent exposure. Come on, I’m a bloke. I don’t know what I’m going to be wearing tomorrow, let alone next month.
What I hope to gain from #BML16: Nothing in particular other than the chance to catch up with existing friends and meeting some new ones. From a workshop perspective, I’m most interested in developing and gaining inspiration for my writing rather than some of the more general blogging/social media topics – I’m a social media manager for a large multinational business, so I’m okay on that front – but that’s just me.
My tips for a great conference: Relax and go for it.
My biggest fear before attending last year was that I would end up hiding petrified in a corner pretending to take a really important call on my phone – so much so that I almost turned around and went home after arriving in London. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. If this is your first blogging event, don’t worry as you won’t be alone. The vast majority of people will happily chat with you if you approach them – after all, we are all there because we have something in common. Introduce yourself politely to people with your name, your blog name and your Twitter handle and take it from there.
It can help if you’ve buddied up with someone beforehand and, if you’re the sort of person who likes lists, have a hit-list of bloggers you want to speak to. The day passes quickly!
The technical sessions are good, especially for relatively inexperienced bloggers. But the social side of it is what many of us go for. So don’t spend the entire day with your head in a notebook. Go for it. Come and say hi in the flesh to all the people you’ve been interacting with and getting to know online.
So that’s me. If you see me during BML16 – I’ll be around both the evening before and after as well as during the day – do come and say hi. I’m pretty easy to spot!
I’ve added this post to the I’m going to #BML16 linky, where you’ll find introductory posts from many of the other attendees. I look forward to meeting many of you there,
I have been shortlisted in the Readers’ Choice category for the BritMums Brilliance in Blogging (BiB) Awards. Click here (or on the badge below) to vote in both this and the 11 other categories in this year’s awards. The polls close at midnight on Wednesday 18th May.
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