Since clearly I’m not busy enough between gearing up for the Dwell with Dignity project, and getting ready to deal with a major life change for our family (more on that very soon), I decided to also plan our upcoming Atlanta Bloggers Meeting for this month. I’ve mentioned this in the past, but after the first year of Haven Conference I started a little group for local Home and DIY bloggers to connect online and get together for monthly meetups and events. We also have quarterly meetings where we discuss the business side of blogging.
Well that “little” group has now grown to over 100 members, and our next business meeting is at the end of this month and we are expecting our biggest turnout ever with over 50 RSVPs! What on earth? If you had told me this would happen when I started the group, I would have laughed at you. It has been an amazing experience getting to know so many other ladies who share the same interests as I do, and many have become great friends. It’s also been a great resource as we help promote each other and share advice and information, etc.
Our upcoming meeting will focus on interior photography, as we are always looking to step up our photography skills for our blogs. We have an amazingly talented professional photographer who will be our guest speaker. Her name is Christina Wedge and I’ll tell you more about her later, but for now definitely check out her website to take a peek at her stunning work.
I recently posted this photo on Instagram, and this just shows a fraction of the stuff I will be transporting to the meeting:
Several brands have stepped up to provide swag and prizes for our members, and I am so thankful for that. Here is a brief shout-out to all of them, although you will hear lots more about the sponsors and prizes in an upcoming post after the meeting!
Not even our members know who all of our meeting sponsors are yet, so this is an exclusive preview of what’s to come! (Surprise!)
I have a living room and a garage full of boxes of prizes that I’ll be taking to the meeting, and I can’t wait to give them all away. I love our local blogging community and I’m so excited to be able to plan this meeting for them. (Although I can’t promise such an epic meeting every quarter, sorry ladies!) Also a major shout-out to the members who have helped – Jill of Weathered Pieces for helping us secure a location and Christina from The Frugal Homemaker for recommending our photographer.
If you are a blogger (in any niche or city), I highly recommend either starting or joining a similar group in your area. I cannot stress enough the value of networking and connecting with other bloggers. Aside from forming friendships, it’s a great way to open the door to new opportunities and grow your blog as a business. For example, we share sponsorship info and other opportunities with each other, have done fun things like meet magazine editors together and now many of us will be collaborating on a charity project to give back to our community. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you collaborate and form friendships rather than see each other as competition. I think this is the case in many businesses, not just blogging.
This is going to be our best meeting yet, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it afterwards! Stay tuned.
If you are an Atlanta Home & DIY blogger and you’d like to join our group, or if you have a brand and would like to be considered for future meeting sponsorship, please contact me at [email protected].
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Elizabeth @ Southern Color says
You are awesome!! Thanks for organizing such an exciting meet up. I am so looking forward to meeting up with all the great ATL ladies!
Erin @ DIY on the Cheap says
Thank you, Elizabeth! I’m looking forward to seeing everyone too!
Vidya @ Whats Ur Home Story says
That is wonderful Erin. Would love to start something similar in my area too. Hope you don’t mind if I reach out to you with some questions.
Erin @ DIY on the Cheap says
Thanks, Vidya! Of course, I’d be happy to answer any questions you have!
Heidi @ Decor & More says
SOOO excited for this meeting, Erin — I know it’ll be informative, fun, and I’ve missed seeing everyone. Thanks so much for organizing ~ see you soon!
xo Heidi
Niki says
Wow…now I am even more excited about our meeting….we can’t thank you enough for coordinating the group, the meetings, and now all of these great contributors!