You’d think that I have enough on my plate, but somehow I managed to pull off an event in Umhlanga, survived an aspiration, the waiting for good news and a 6.5 hour drive with Lexa!
When I booked the coffee shop, Iwantmycoffee, a few months ago I was worried that the venue might be too big… but then the event rolled around and it was almost too small!
The talk part
I had organized lovely speakers for this year’s event. There was Verushka that gave blogger tips; Nelisiwe from Conversation Lab that shared how agencies identified influencers; Sharla from MUD; and Ryan from Rain.
What I loved about the speakers was that there was variety. You could learn from 2, discover a new brand or product and revel in the delicious luxury of Rain.
In-between the talks I also ran competitions to win goodies from sponsors on my Instagram and Twitter. A few very lucky bloggers walked away with really awesome prizes.
The sponsors
I cannot begin to thank each and every sponsor enough for each product that made its way to the event. I would like to thank:
Conversation Lab for organising products from Environ. I love that it is a South African product. I have tried it out in the past, so will definitely be using the opportunity to reacquaint.
Rain for giving spot prizes and a gift to each attendee – plus for sending Ryan to join us for the day. Rain’s home may well be Swellendam, but my Rain goodies have a new home and I can’t wait to show my sister… and make her jealous.
MUD, for spoiling the bloggers with something new to try. I haven’t tried MUD blush before… so next time you see me it might be with rosy cheeks from MUD.
Vita Liberata – I’m sure Lisa from Forts and Fairies will be enjoying her luxury tan voucher! It is such a lovely prize and just in time for Spring and beach time.
Milk Solutions for the delicious products! With flavours such as grapefruit & pomegranate and soya milk & quince. I’m sure we are going to get along just fine when everything smells beautiful!
Dr. Dermal for the consultation vouchers! This is sure to get many bloggers to make their appointments. I’m borrowing a pic from Disney Mom Blog 🙂
Elle Kay Fabrics… I can only say that the room was suitably impressed when the two spot prize winners showed off their goodies. How lucky was it that Alison won green that went perfectly with her house? Siobhan was the other lucky winner. Thank you for adding much excitement to the day Luhanda!
Dupe Factorie for sponsoring a makeup brush for each blogger. I have been to the Melville store and thought the products were good value for money…and that in today’s economy your pricing makes it possible for anyone to own beautiful products.
Forever Aloe products from Alison that we could try out. I am currently using the Forever Aloe Lips with Jojoba to try and get my lips ready for the hotter months…so far, I have seen more moisture and no flakiness after 4 days.
…and for last I have left Origin Bespoke Stationery – I love what you chose for me. My stationery perfectly suits my laptop bag and document folder from Lou Harvey! I’m sure that all the bloggers will love their gifts as much as I love mine. Thank you to Francie who personally delivered the goodies to me in Ballito. PS I actually still write Thank You cards 🙂
The bloggers
The event could never be a success without all the wonderful bloggers. I hope to see you all again next year – and that we will have many more bloggers attending.
As a special mention, Asha Singh that drove all the way from Port Shepstone! … the bloggers that attended both last and this year: Camilla, Siobhan and Lungi, you guys rock!
What this event means to me
KZN is near to my heart as I’m trying to make it home the times we are here. I don’t know if I will ever give up Jozi, or my roots in Limpopo… but it is sure nice to meet all the interesting bloggers out here.
I want the KZN meetup to be that once a year event where we meet and learn from eachother. I hope that going forward we will all support eachother, share a post or tweet…
