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| Image courtesy of Steve Keenan |
Travel bloggers are a diverse bunch. There are some who are globe-trotting with a backpack, tasting independence for the first time before settling down. At the other end of the spectrum, some are selling their businesses to travel the world, seeking thrills and visiting the must-see locations in the world. In between there are parent travel bloggers who essentially write about going on their holidays.
This was the gist of Jen Howze’s opening statement at a parent travel bloggers ‘think tank’ held in conjunction with BritMums, the parent blogging network run by Jen and Susanna Scott, and Travel Perspective, a digital editorial agency run by Steve Keenan and Mark Frary.
As a family travel blogger who fills in time between holidays writing about ‘other stuff’ it can sometimes be difficult to feel part of the wider travel blogging community. I was delighted, therefore, to be invited to London to discuss issues with some like-minded writers and professionals in the field of travel.
This inaugural meeting, with just a small number of bloggers, gave me the opportunity to learn what’s new in the travel writing business. I found out what other bloggers are doing to link with brands, I learned the pros and cons of self-publishing with expert tips from Terry Lee of LiveShareTravel and was able to discover, from Steve Keenan, former Times and Sunday Times online and print travel editor, the challenges travel writers now have as the shift moves from print to digital.
I couldn’t fail to be inspired by the effervescent character of Jaume Marin, marketing director of the Costa Brava Tourist Board. If ever there was a man to enthuse and engage an audience, Jaume is your man. Never mind about your Klout score and your Twitter reach, Jaume wants bloggers to create reliable content with unique stories and life experiences. This made me happy. When I write a travel post I try to find the funny moments in the trip, the bizarre sights, the situations which have made me laugh or my heart sing. I may make fun of my husband, his penchant for fixing things with duct tape and our constant car conflicts, I may moan about having to partake in energetic activities when we are on holiday, but hopefully I give my readers a taste of a location which they might remember when choosing their own trips.
The family bloggers who attended the day – Lucy, Kirstie, Gretta, Sarah and Selena, with Jen and Susanna – I am sure took away some valuable pointers as I did. We hope to have future meetings to discuss creative writing, technology and how to create media packs. But most of all, we want to build on the connections and friendships which began to develop in one day of conversation, coffee and cake.
Wasn't it a great day? I really enjoyed meeting everybody, and learnt so much. I loved the venue too, especially the cake!
It was excellent – very intimate which meant we were all involved. I'm going to write about The Royal Horseguards hotel in a separate post: all the photos of cake were distracting me!
I would love to attend something like that!
I hope you can find something similar in the States. As Jen also comments, if you lived over here you could come to the next one!
That sounds brilliant! Glad you got to go! Congrats on the MADS finalist position too! Emma 🙂
It was a great event – small and relevant. Hope it continues.
Bit gutted you aren't there with me this year for the MADs 🙁
but we do have Britmums!! 🙂
Indeed we do! Looking forward to the conference when I eventually get to meet you!
Trish, a great summation of the day. I found it inspiring and exciting to hear what everyone is doing and how they are thinking about travel.
And Sonja — too bad you are in the States or you could come to our next one!
Thanks for organising the day, Jen. Lots to think about.
Thanks Trish. As Jaume said, this is the year of the niche travel blogger – unless you're a professional travel writer constantly on the road with a clutch of commissions. Look forward to meeting up with you again soon!
Many thanks to you and Mark for linking up with BritMums to organise the day. Looking forward to settling into my niche.
No details about the train journey, the underground trip or taxi. What to pack for a day trip to London? No mention of how Bradshaw's journey back in eighteen fish and chips compared. Call yourself a travel writer! 😉
Dammit Troy, go away, I'm trying to be very grown-up here….
Will do a separate post on me going to the smoke and stealing sweeties from the buffet.
"Never mind about your Klout score and your Twitter reach, Jaume wants bloggers to create reliable content with unique stories and life experiences."
Here speaks an incredibly wise man! Glad you had a great time meeting up with like minded folk. x
You would have liked Jaume a lot, Wendy. Pop up the coast and have a chat with him sometime! He has had a very successful time with niche bloggers interested in nature, the environment and food to show the world the different aspects of the Costa Brava. Very passionate about his country.
I think I'm starting to have Senior Moments, because I swear I left a comment on this post last night….I wonder if I'm being diverted to Spam? In any case, congratulations and it sounds like it was wonderful – especially the coffee and cake part!
I don't think so. I am doing comment moderation now to stop lots of spam being published but this is the first comment from you. What time is it with you in Seoul. The post was published about lunchtime GMT.
More on the cake in another post x
Trish,
Terrific coverage of the day! You definitely captured everything that was so great about our meeting. Thanks so much for getting me there. I can't wait to see you at Brit Mums!
xoxo
Selena
It will be great to catch up at BritMums Live. Maybe I can sneakily join in with the Expat meal out afterwards like I did last year?!
Sounds like a great day, very useful and nice to meet other parent bloggers. Not sure if I've ever met any in person! I love the idea that parent travel blogging has its own niche – very gratifying. The Spanish chap sounds like he did a wonderful job of selling his patch, and I love his comments about sod the SM statistics, feel the quality editorial. Congrats on getting to the MADS finals, I didn't get my act together this year, but will be trying for the BiBs.
Thanks for the comments and for retweeting the link, Fiona. You'll see the twitter names for Travel Perspective and Jaume Marin in that tweet if you want to follow them. Certainly Jaume had some interesting things to say, as did all of the group. Made me feel less worried about the social media stuff.
Thanks for the congrats. Yes, the BiBs will be opening for voting soon – good luck!
Sounds like a fab and interesting day!
You forgot to mention that you also like to share with us the rude-sounding names you come across during your adventures… ;o)
Your posts are always well written, fun and informative. So much so that I have send the link to your Sweden posts to family members who will be holidaying there this summer. xx
Ah yes, the rude hotel names. Hee hee! I sometimes think when I book holidays now, a part of me must make a subconscious decision to seek out good blog fodder.
I hope your family enjoy Sweden – let me know where they are going.
Thanks for sharing some of the insights from the day. Sounds fascinating. It can be tricky sometimes when you feel you don't necessarily fit into any particular category of blogger terribly well (personally speaking) so it's always interesting to hear other perspectives. Congrats on making it to the finals of the MADS again too!
I sometimes wonder whether we are all worrying where we fit in and, in fact, because blogs are personal spaces, we are all unique anyway. Even within the small group of bloggers there, some were very media savvy and were already working well with brands. For me, knowing there were people in the business keen on content and storytelling, was great to know.