#CTMeetUp Wrap Up

We’ve just had our last official #CTMeetUp for the year and it did not disappoint.

As many of you may know, the #CTMeetUp is a bit of a passion project of mine.  It’s an event where a bit of organisation goes on to get a bunch of Cape Towns bloggers into the same room.  No, not to get goody bags (although there is that), we’re actually there to connect, learn and share.  And drink wine, uh, coffee of course.

(By the way – if you weren’t there but want to be the first to know about the next one, SIGN UP TO OUR MAILER HERE – it will add you to the mailing list for the next #CTMeetUp).

Finding a venue is easily the hardest part about trying to host these events.  Finding a nice looking place, that serves delicious food and doesn’t cost the Earth is like trying to wake my kids up in the morning – possible, but only after some strong coffee.  When I landed on Chino’s Coffee House in Kenilworth I knew we hit gold.  Having been there a lot when it was Pink, it was refreshing to walk in there with all the new changes.  It’s so much more open and inviting.  The food was really good (those onion tarts!!) and the staff were so helpful, accommodating and friendly.  Perfect spot for events.

Of course any #CTMeetUp would be absolutely nothing without a whole bunch of amazing Cape Town Bloggers to join me there.  If you haven’t checked out the list of who was there, you better go check it out HERE.  Our bloggers were fortunate enough to get to chat to the ladies from Philips Avent, IvoHealth and Rain Africa about their products, so keep an eye on their blogs to see what they learned.

Then of course, we had our speaker – Abigail K.  This is really what I value the most about our meet ups.  That we can learn from someone that knows things.  Blogging (especially in SA) is still something that’s up and coming, so getting more info from fellow bloggers is how we’re going to keep making it something worth investing in.  Abigail shared a lot of great insight into blogging that even I (as what I would call a seasoned blogger) needed to hear.  Here’s some of her talk that still sticks with me:

• Getting people to read your blog is about building a trust relationship with the reader.  Things like your profile picture, About You page and how you introduce yourself all work towards building that trust.  (i.e. that profile picture that you see over there of me with my kids?  It’s breaking your trust, because I’m SO not blonde anymore…  Who even is that woman?)
• Stealing pictures is a HUGE no go!  It’s safer to learn how to take your own photos.
• Only have three main colours and fonts for your website to make it consistent and to build your brand image.

There was obviously so much more than that, but those definitely stuck out to me the most for my own personal situation.

Now, before I post all of the rest of the photos, there’s something I want you to know…

Some of our very luckiest bloggers got to take somethings home to try, that YOU dear readers can win from them in the next few weeks.  So keep an eye out for those posts on the blogs of these lovely ladies (links below the photos):

PRINTWILD  Tessa – Starting on Saturdays,  Shelley – The Deal Is and Debbie – Live, Love, Blog

MOOMOO KIDS:  Leigh – The Mom Diaries, Chantelle – Mama and Me, Lisa – The Chornicles of Baby Cassidy, Nikki – Nikki and Nicholas and Zayaan – Surviving The Madness.

And now for all of the rest of the pictures 🙂