Posts Tagged "Cybermummy"

Post CyberMummy Disorder- The Aftermath

Posted by cafebebemama on Jun 28, 2011 in Blogger Love, Blogging, Cybermummy 2011 | 5 comments

This past weekend was CyberMummy2011. I am now suffering from Post CyberMummy Disorder (PCMD). You know that feeling, don’t you? That you are a balloon that has just been pricked  and all of the air is slowly leaking from you which will leave you as a wrinkled, shriveled lump on the floor. Yeah, that.

I was proud to be a part of the CyberMummy team. A behind the scenes-administrative-social media maven-giant bump sort of team member. To have been a delegate at the first CyberMummy in 2010 and to see the growth and development of CyberMummy 2011 into a force to be reckoned with has been truly special. 400 bloggers, sponsors, brands, PR’s and celebrities were in attendance at this year’s event and at times, just looking around the rooms made my heart swell. I stood on the balcony of CyberMummy 1 room for the opening sessions and just grinned at the result of some incredibly hard work from CyberMummy co-founders Jen, Susanna and Sian. It was a very special day.

I got to use my American hugs on a LOT of bloggers who are friends and who I’ve gotten to know over the last year through Twitter and other blogging events. I suppose in all, I knew about half of the bloggers in attendance which isn’t so bad! I spent the day running around from room to room, session to session, blogger to blogger and loo to lift. My belly bump was on display for all to see (and touch) and although I felt like the Hindenburg, I was assured by many that I was “glowing” which was rather nice to hear. I was proud to see a few of my video blogs on display both in the opening welcome and the video blogging session and was pleased as punch to be able to answer questions from confused delegates and help out where I could. It was definitely a “feel good” sort of day.

I do have a few regrets though…

• I didn’t get to TALK properly to most of my blogger friends. There was a lot of “OMG! Hi! We’ll catch up later” that was uttered throughout the morning but by the end of the day there just wasn’t any time to actually sit down and chat to anyone.
• I didn’t get to check out any of the sponsor stalls except for Crocs who were kind enough to give me a mini-pedicure and some lovely flip-flops and kids Crocs for Ella. It was one of the few times in the day that I sat down. (By the way, did you know that they have 200+ styles of Crocs?? Amazing stuff…we’ll happily be a Crocbassador family!)
• I didn’t get to partake in the plethora of cupcakes and tasty goodies on offer because none of them were gluten-free. I was feeling decidedly famished by lunch time…weep. Thanks need to go out to Kat at 3 Bedroom Bungalow who graciously transported a bag of Cheetos all the way from Ely. I spent one workshop session munching as quietly as possibly on their orangey goodness to take the edge off. You saved me, Kat!
• I did take a few minutes to have a wee makeover at the Max Factor counter in the P&G Recharge Room courtesy of their makeup artist Caroline. I’ve never seen my eyes pop out so much! In a good way, mind you. I definitely felt pretty after Caroline worked her magic. But I missed out on the massage therapists, hairstylist extraordinaire Michael Douglas (no not the American actor) and the glorious couches that I had dreamt of spending some quality time on.

CyberMummy 2011 was spectacular. I loved every minute. I loved everyone oohing and aaahing over my bump (and not having to say, “No, I’m not pregnant, I’m just fat!”). I loved the goodies that I did manage to come away with despite my not getting around to every stall (Dodo Pads anyone?!). I loved seeing the looks on bloggers faces, the smiles, the hugs, the laughter and tears. CyberMummy 2011 was inspirational and fulfilling all wrapped up into one. My only challenge right now is overcoming my post CyberMummy disorder and finding my blogging mojo again. The Bebe family is off to the seaside this weekend with family…perhaps I’ll find it there in the bottom of a bucket?

Massive thank you’s to my CyberMummy sponsor, Lego-Duplo, for making my weekend feasible. Huge hugs and kudos to my friends Jen, Susanna and Sian. Here’s to next year…onward and upward!

Silent Sunday

Posted by cafebebemama on Jun 26, 2011 in Blogger Love, Cybermummy 2011, Silent Sunday | 12 comments

Cybermummy 2011

Posted by cafebebemama on Nov 22, 2010 in Cybermummy 2011 | 9 comments

Last year I attended the FIRST EVER blogging conference in the UK, Cybermummy. Cybermummy 2010 was such a phenominal success that Cybermummy 2011 is already in the diary. Saturday, June 25, 2011, loads of bloggers will descend upon central London en masse to learn, laugh, network and celebrate. Cybermummy 2011 is going to rock!

The venue this year? The Brewery! Yes, that’s right! A former brewery for a bunch of rowdy bloggers. Perfect selection I would say! There will be workshops, networking opportunities, sponsors, food and beverage (possibly beer related??) and making new friendships and renewing old!

As the date and subsequent information was released bloggers all over the UK started planning and plotting! Everyone looked at their bank accounts and tried to figure out if they could afford it themselves. A lot of bloggers began preparing “media guides” to request sponsorship from major brands, PR’s and companies. This became quite popular for the last Cybermummy conference so everyone is ready for this year.

Last year I put myself forward for sponsorship, if you’ll recall. Suddenly at the last minute, a generous “anonymous benefactor” came forward to send me to Cybermummy 2010. I still have no idea who was so generous as to send Cafe Bebe to the “ball” but I thank you. I’ve been contemplating sponsorship this year and have started to worry that maybe everyone would be sponsored before I even got a chance to put together my media pack.

I needn’t have worried though. Without so much as a vlog appeal, I received an email in the inbox today from the lovely PR representing Lego/Duplo. You see, along with several other outstanding bloggers, I have been enlisted as a Leg0/Duplo Expert…as you do! I’ll be bringing you the latest and greatest in Lego and Duplo products from the Little Miss perspective. I am envisioning the Flip camera being dusted off for a few VLOG reviews. Anyway, I digress.

Lego/Duplo have generously agreed to sponsor the Lego/Duplo Experts for Cybermummy 2011! That’s right folks, I’m going to Cybermummy! How very, very exciting! I plan to bring you loads of reports in the months leading up to Cybermummy & will be reporting (and maybe live blogging) from the event itself. You won’t have to miss a second. I know, you’re thrilled aren’t you?! Well, I am and that’s all that matters!

So thank you very kindly to Lego/Duplo! I have spelled out my thanks in Lego/Duplo blocks and characters on our living room carpet. Please admire my creativity once again!

Cybermummy 2010- In the company of friends

Posted by cafebebemama on Jul 5, 2010 in Blogger Love, Motherhood | 14 comments

I kissed my daughter and husband goodbye on Saturday morning to travel down to London for the first Cybermummy conference and what a day it was!

I sat on the train behind a ridiculously annoying child whose voice was the only one to be heard on the carriage and tried to tweet from my ridiculously archaeic mobile phone.  I can’t even download an “app” to allow me to follow Twitter properly like a grown up.  Bah.

I felt the butterflies beginning to grow in my stomach which weren’t helped by the lack of any brekkie or tea as a result of arriving at the Peterborough Train Station with only minutes to spare.  I had told my husband that I was nervous and he said “Why?  You’re just going down to meet some friends and talk!  No big deal!”  He was right…it wasn’t like I was PRESENTING or anything (maybe one day??).

I got off the train and joined up with New Mummy Carol and Mummy’s Shoes Carly (they’d been in 1st Class!) and we made our way to the Tube to catch the Piccadilly line to Earl’s Court.  Thankfully the Piccadilly Line was one of but a few tube lines that were not closed due to rail works.  We found two other bloggers and continued on our merry way…almost like Pied Pipers…collecting bloggers as we went.

Entering the Ibis Hotel Earl’s Court was like wandering into a bee hive!  All the buzzing, all the flitting about…but thankfully, none of the honey.  We were collecting our goody bags, getting our name badges and meeting bloggers we’d only known through our blogs but had never met in person.  There was a lot of hugging going on.

There was an impressive array of sponsor stalls in the social area outside the conference rooms and I felt a bit like a kid in a candy shop…what to go to first?  I struggle with stalls…a bit of stranger anxiety; not wanting to get drawn into something I don’t want; not wanting to appear to be a “swag hag”.  There were more goody bags and free things from every stall and oh, were there cupcakes!  Obviously these sponsors know the way to a blogger’s heart…food!

It was wonderful to find old friends (not that they’re old, mind you) and share in the excitement of what was about to unfold.  There was more hugging.  But at Cybermummy 2010, I was in the company of friends…many of whom I had NEVER met in person before.  How bizarre really??  I read these lovely bloggers posts regularly, chat with them on Twitter, share ups and downs and possibly know more about them than some of their friends in real life.  Yet, we’ve never actually met!  Everyone lived up to their billing however and many of them were a lot taller than I had pictured in my head.

The conference kicked off with a welcome from Susanna, Sian and Jen who organised the hell out of the very first Cybermummy.  Around 200 bloggers (including 1 very special Daddy Blogger) sat and listened and learned and tweeted and iPad-ed and live blogged all of the proceedings.  It was amazing.  I can’t say that my knowledge was massively enhanced but my faith in the blogging community has been restored and I find myself with a new energy and excitement for the future.  Blogging, whether Mummy or Daddy, is an amazing thing and I’m proud to count myself as one.

So thank you lovely UK bloggers, for including me in the fold, for allowing me to make new friends and create my own little niche that’s JUST MINE.  And as for Cybermummy 2011…look out world!  There’s bound to be some amazing things on offer next year.  And for the record, I’m staying overnight next year…there was too much fun that I missed after lugging my 30lbs of swag home on the train at the end of the night.

To read more about other bloggers experiences please visit A Modern Mother , Mummy Tips , and the Flickr Cybermummy 2010 Pool.

Cybermummy Here I Come

Posted by cafebebemama on Apr 17, 2010 in Blogger Love | 21 comments

I’M GOING TO CYBERMUMMY!!!  As many of you know, I have been looking for a sponsor to send me to Cybermummy, without a lot of success.  I was getting a bit down in the dumps about the whole thing, to tell you the truth.  I vlogged, I begged, I nearly offered to make cake!  You may say, “Oh, Cafe Bebe (sometimes I think that’s my name), you can afford £80-100!”  “Oh, Cafe Bebe, just sell a few of those pushchairs and you can go!”  Well, you’re not entirely wrong…I could sell a few pushchairs.  But I also truly can’t afford it.  We, like many other families, are living on one income while I try to bring in dribs and drabs to give us a little extra.  It’s not fair for me to take £100 from our lives and our bills to attend a conference.

But I REALLY wanted to go!  I want to see my blogging friends, meet people who have been inspirations to me and have mentored me; I want to learn new things and have a bit of blogging fun!  Hence, the appeal to the great PR Gods and Goddesses.  Well, apparently I have a Fairy Godmother or Godfather.  I received a call from Cybermummy organiser and Stokke PR goddess Sian To this morning telling me that she had an ANONYMOUS donation for one ticket to Cybermummy in the name of Cafe Bebe (well, I think they probably used my real name…what is my real name again?)!  What the…???  Someone loves me…they really love me (channeling Sally Field from her agonising Oscar speech)!!

I don’t know who this amazing BENEFACTOR is but I must say, a thousand times, THANK YOU!!!  You don’t know how much this means to me.  Well, maybe you do but truly, I am touched.  It’s an extremely generous thing to do and I am so appreciative.  If I knew who you were I could thank you in person but I certainly respect your anonymity.  Rest assured that I will do you proud at Cybermummy on 3 July and will blog about the experience in full (whether you like it or not).  And if, fair benefactor, you should wish to reveal yourself, I’ll be happy to bake you cup cakes and/or buy you a drink at Cybermummy (will you be there?).

So, who’s up for drinks at Cybermummy?  First round’s on me!

Cafe Bebe & Little Miss say "THANK YOU!"