WANDERLUST; Serendipity and Travel Bloggers Unite ’11

On Thursday evening I was about to get into my bed at my hostel, and an Australian came into my dorm room. In true Australian backpacking style, we got chatting about why we were in Manchester.

Chris (aka The Aussie Nomad) explained he was in Manchester for a travel blogging meet up over the weekend. As a fellow blogger, avid social media lover and PR student my eyes lit up.

Next thing I knew I was at drinks at Walrus nearby in the Northern Quarter, with travel bloggers from all over the world who were in Manchester for the first Travel Bloggers Unite conference. Oliver, the organiser of the conference, and I made a deal – if I helped him out I could attend the conference.

9:30am Friday and I was knocking on Oliver’s apartment door, lacking sleep and with a killer hangover yet still somehow excited about unexpectedly being a part of #TBU11.

Friday night we had the launch of the conference at the People’s History Museum. Whilst getting ready I met Canadian @KellyDunning and we clicked instantly.

My favourite session on Saturday was about wordpress and led UK WordPress team member @johnonolan . I am now going to upgrade to a domain account, so I can further customise my blog by using plug-ins and changing the permalink settings etc.

Saturday evening was the cocktail party at the modern and classy Mint Hotel. I made friends with some babein’ Londoners (two of whom work in PR) – @Ruth_Elizabeth, @SarahBettyStyle and @GeorgieLGodfrey. We hung out all evening, including having a delicious Thai dinner in Chinatown.

Obligatory English Sunday morning tea;

Sunday afternoon was the highlight of #TBU11 for me.

As I sit on both ‘sides of the fence’ – as a blogger and also as a soon to be Public Relations Practitioner – Dru Bryan‘s session about travel PR was educational and inspiring.
The key message of Dru’s presentation was that bloggers must learn that the PRP wants to understand what each bloggers  is looking for, so they can provide targeted information and not waste the bloggers or their own time.

Post conference drinks at Piccadilly Gardens;