#BLOGGERCONF ’15 – The Business of Blogging: IRELAND’S FIRST Dedicated Blogger Conference!

#BLOGGERCONF

Walking up to the main entrance of The salubrious Five *Marker Hotel on a chilly but glorious morning in Dublin my heart skipped a beat. I was overjoyed and slightly overwhelmed by the sense of achievement and just how far I have come in the blogging world – here I was walking into the biggest Blogger Conference Ireland has ever seen and I was featuring on a Showcase Panel.

I paused, casting my face upwards towards the winter sun, closed my eyes and let the feelings wash over me, settle and spurn me on to taking another step in my writing and blogging journey.

The Location: The Marker Hotel, Grand Canal, Dublin.

The Date: November 22nd 2015.

The Event: BLOGGERCONF

BLOGGERCONF is Ireland’s First dedicated Blogger Conference and has solidified itself as a credible, major player and hugely respected conference based on its reputation, incredible feedback and sell-out success on this, its ‘maiden voyage’.

Founded by stellar business woman Emma O’Farrell and welcoming all influencers in tech, business, blogging, social media and digital the conference gives Bloggers and Brands the chance to connect, network and engage in a relaxed environment.

BLOGGERCONF was held in conjunction with Life’s2Good and saw a host of other fabulous sponsors join us such as Canon, Rachel Dalton Communications, Fáilte Ireland, Evoke.ie, Deliveroo and The Marker Hotel.

Xposé also attended in the afternoon to cover the conference and interview some people, including Founder Emma O’Farrell.

Our MC for the event was the delightful and often hilarious James Butler, stylist and Fashion Ed at MFI Magazine and blogger at Jus de James.

The Line-up:

The line-up was phemomenal with not one but Two Showcase Q&A Panels –

○My panel Fashion /Beauty/Lifestyle and a
○Travel/Fitness/Food Panel.

○Presentations included: those from businesses and brands such as Rachel of Rachel Dalton Communications, Jenny Taafe from I-Zest Marketing, William Fry Solicitors and Blogger Anouska Proetta Brandon.
○Masterclasses came from Simeon Quarrie of Canon, Google and The Tweeting Goddess, Samntha Kelly.

{Meeting the lovely Anouska, fellow content creator – predominantly Instagram focused (for good reason, her Insta is gorge!) We had some fun after hours with Simeon Quarrie of Canon and Anouska loves my laugh…which I’m known for. What a compliment, thanks girlie!}

The hype surrounding the highly anticipated BLOGGERCONF was intense and it wasn’t long before #BLOGGERCONF was trending on Twitter!

My Q&A Showcase Panel:

The Showcase Panel I was on speaking on about Fashion/Beauty/Lifestyle took place in the morning and consisted of:
☆James Butler of Jus de James.
☆Sinead of Beauttruth.
☆Tara of TarMarz YouTube channel/blog.
☆Niamh Webb O’Rourke of LoveLife Blog.

Time to Shine:

I was the newbie blogger on the panel (I’m blogging 11 months) but the respect from my fellow bloggers on panel and in general has been amazing. To get such validation as an influencer and content creator to speak at such an event has been incredible and I truly appreciate it every day!
I’ve had a tremendous amount of positive feedback at and since, BLOGGERCONF regarding the fact that in a year I’ve gone from being an attendeè at a previous conference for bloggers, to being an Award Nominated Blogger and on the bill at Ireland’s First Dedicated Blogger Conference this year! I cannot fathom what an incredible achievement that is for me!

Just some of the positive feedback I got after panel: delegates and fellow bloggers approaching to congratulate me and say that:

○they loved my blog and style of writing, loved hearing about everything I’ve accomplished in this short amount of time and admired my attitude towards blogging.

○ They liked that I was included on panel with some high profile bloggers.
Delegates approached me and said they admired the fact that such an acclaimed conference had “acknowledged an up and coming blogger (such as myself) who is relatable and inspiring” to them – relatable in that I am in the process of building my blog and brand and that they were in the audience and thought, “that could be me, I could make something of my blog.”

I cannot tell you the impact these words had on me, only to say I was floored and quite emotional on the inside which I struggled to conceal.

It’s so lovely to meet people you don’t know/haven’t met before and hear they read your blog content, it is such a humbling experience!
To hear that your passion, dedication and actions inspire others has a powerful impact and will stay with me forever.

{Pictured: with fellow Panelist and Blogger James Butler. I’m wearing Penneys/Primark Soft Knit Embellished Sweater and Burgundy Suede Wedge Ankle Boots, River Island Faux Leather Snakeskin skinnies and jewels from Accessorize and Arnotts. Make-up is predominatly Urban Decay. I gotta get this ‘posing’ stuff down guys…people make it look so easy!}

Showcase Panel 2: Travel/Fitness/Food included Fitness Bloggers Sarah Murphy and Rob Lipsett and Food Blogger Niamh of Gourmet Grazing Blog whom I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time!

A networking lunch provided a fantastic opportunity for brands, businesses, industry related folk and bloggers to connect, complete with delicious food from The Marker Hotel, even catering for various food requirements!

Several brands had stands at the event allowing delegates to casually peruse their wares during intervals, such fabulous brands as Caravelle New York, Beutifi, So Fragrances, Declare, Connector.ie, MeeMaw Bags and Athlone Town Centre.

{Caravelle New York: I fell in love at BLOGGERCONF – with Caravelle New York and this Rose Gold beaut…}

{BEUTIFI.com stand were I was kindly gifted this Redken Shine Spray – love this stuff – thanks guys!}

{The Canon stand at BLOGGERCONF were I perused the best of the best camera equipment – every must have in a Blogger’s arsenal of tools! I have my eye of some nifty gadgets thanks to some YouTubers I watch, as well as Simeon Quarrie and Anouska!}

{Declare’s newest release their “Essential Eye Lifting Serum” was showcased at BLOGGERCONF!}

{A great selection of clutches and a beautiful “Dreamcatcher” chain, caught my eye at the Mee Maw stand at BLOGGERCONF.}

{So…? Fragrances – Sponsors of The Fashion/Beauty/Lifestyle Panel also had a stand, to the delight of delegates and were on hand to offer guidance on their new Couture Range of scents. I was lucky enough to attend the launch of The So…? Couture Range earlier this year!}

A truly fantastic event from the organisation, to speakers and masterclasses, to the panels and Q&A sessions, a chance to meet like minded people all with lunch and a jam-packed goody bag included!

If you attended BLOGGERCONF tell me I’d love to know!
Comment below or:
Tweet me: @DublinGail or Tag me on Instagram: @littlegforce leave a comment on the GlamForce blog by Gail O’Connor Facebook page!

Thank You Notes:

A massive thank you to organiser and founder of BLOGGERCONF Emma O’Farrell for believing in me and my abilities. I can’t thank you enough Emma and have loved being part of the BLOGGERCONF Family!
Also thank you to: Life’s 2 Good for being our headline sponsor.
Our Masterclass speakers Google, Simeon Quarrie of Canon and Samantha Kelly, The Tweeting Goddess.
All of our other phenomenal industry related speakers.
Thank you to So Fragrance for sponsoring the Beauty/Fashion/LifeStyle Showcase Panel.
All delegates who attended brands, businesses and bloggers for making it a truly memorable experience.

Thanks for stopping by guys!
I hope you enjoyed this post and are excited for BLOGGERCONF ’16 – I know I am!

Gail. Xx
Photography: All images © of Gail O’Connor, Nicolette Spelic Photography,
Patrick O’Leary Photography and
BLOGGERCONF.

Siam Thai Restaurant Turns 21! #Siam21

An Evening with Siam Thai: #Siam21

An invitation to Siam Thai Restaurant and Cocktail bar recently, saw me immersed in an evening of food heaven with curry and cocktails by candlelight.

The Event:

Siam Thai’s 21st Birthday Bash!

The Date:

Wednesday, October 21st 2015.

The Location:

The Candlelight Bar – Siam Thai, Dundrum Town Centre, Co. Dublin.

Siam Thai is a renowned Thai restaurant in Ireland. Family owned and run, it was the first Thai restaurant to open in Dublin twenty one years ago and one of the first to open in Ireland! The original restaurant was the Malahide branch which put the company on the map and was so successful, it was inevitable that the family would open more. The Candlelight Bar in Dundrum was the brain child of current owner Eoin Flanaghan and his sister and is home to some of the best cocktails around and authentic Thai chefs. The restaurant boasts an outdoor terraced area to enjoy some fine food, intimate chats and delectable drinks.

The event was impeccably executed by the über professional Emma O’Farrell and the lovely Avila Lipsett, who on arrival, welcomed guests on the chilly evening with a warm greeting and the invitation to a glass of prosecco!

The atmospheric entry-way at Siam Thai Dundrum.

The Candlelight Bar: Siam Thai, Dundrum Town Centre.

I absolutely loved the Halloween vibe that Siam Thai had going on in the venue on the night!

The venue had various decorative features littered around the room for Halloween – skulls with a voodoo-esque style, crystal balls, ghoulish ghosts and spider webbing, all softly illuminated by flickering candlelight (obviously).

The Candlelight Bar oozes decadence with dark wooden floors, ambient lighting from stunning chandeliers and aforementioned candlelight from statement candelabra, decorative wine decanters and luxurious seating.
The room has the perfect vibe for anyone wanting a more intimate dining experience be it dinner for two or an exclusive event, such as this one!

Speech Time: Owner Eoin Flanaghan sharing anecdotes about the family business and thanking guests for attending and celebrating with him and his team. 

The Menu:

Trays of a variety of delicious curries were dispatched to every table and guests anxiously selected their chosen dish. Thai Green Curry, Chicken Cashew and Beef Massaman were some of the dishes on the menu. I went with the Thai Green Curry which was incredibly tasty and fragrant whilst being mild on the spices. A best-seller, this dish is tantalising on the taste buds, plentiful in authentic Thai flavour, fresh and vibrant, and left me wanting more and more and…(you get the drift!)

Prosecco flowed freely with complimentary cocktails, such as Coconut Shy and Loop the Loop and it tasted like – you guessed it, it tasted like the popular ice-pop…chocolatey goodness and all! The cocktails came via award-winning mixologist Darren Geraghty and it’s clear why he has this claim to fame, as the cocktails were delicious!

Any foodies out there? If you’re on the hunt for a beautiful venue for the upcoming Christmas party season or just visiting Dublin in general – I highly recommend checking out any of the Siam Thai restaurants for an authentic taste of Thailand, right here in the Emerald Isle! I’ll definitely be back soon!

Happy birthday Siam Thai!

Thanks go to Emma O’Farrell and Avila Lipsett for both the invitation and organising a thoroughly enjoyable night and Eoin Flanaghan and his team for an evening of fine food, fun and frolics!

As usual, thanks so much to my readers for stopping by, really appreciate it guys!

Gail.Xx
Photography: © Gail O’Connor.
Opening first image via: Siam Thai.