Lady Bloggers is a really inspired initiative by Zaahirah Bhamjee to develop a blogging community in South Africa. I've been wanting to be a part of something like this for the longest time as when I began I didn't really know anyone else doing this, especially people my age, except the odd few that seem to be in a totally different and far away plane. You know, the bloggers who've been at it forever like Zaahirah, Aqeelah, Aisha, Thithi and Carlinn (most of whom are all in Cape Town - darn that city and its creatives).
So perhaps you can understand why I was so keen on Lady Bloggers. It meant a chance to see who else is in the community, make friends and learn lots of things along the way.
Last night was the second Lady Bloggers even this year, held at the really charming, well-lit and stylish Walnut Grove (which in all my years, getting lost in Sandton I've never seen but now I'm going to move in). I was really nervous the whole day yesterday thinking about it. What would I wear? Should I match my socks just this once? Would it be bad form to make a Cookie Monster-esque run for the cake? How much time should I spend Instagramming my food versus actually eating it? Do people even do that anymore?Are bloggers nice? And why, why didn't I have business cards?
Decisions, decisions.
Everyone I met was really polite and welcoming and I got meet lots of great people. Melissa Attree was our guest speaker and she's been in social media before social media was social media. Her talk was really insightful. She told us that blogging is actually going to be bigger than ever, that we have to command social media in such a way that we keep people coming back to our platforms and we have to treat ourselves, our blogs as a brand. She also went on to talk about how the most successful bloggers are the ones who give their readers what they need, who've found their online identity, keep their online self the same as their outside self and that you definitely have to set boundaries for yourself and know where you want to go and what you're not prepared to do.
If she had stayed longer, I might have gained the confidence to ask a question. Might have.
All in all, I'm really glad I went. I got to taste my first macaroon (and I understand the obsession now, you win this round Pinterest), meet some of my favourite bloggers like Leanne from Arum Lilea and meet some people who will be starting blogs soon, people who taught me a thing or two about BB Creams, developing a following ("hashtag the
Now I'm gonna spend the rest of the day checking out new blogs like Vision and Vibes, Being Plum and Glam Fashion Princess.
Yours,
Khenzo xx
This looks like it was an amazing event.
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