A post about the Jozi meetup

 


So I went to the Jozi meetup last Saturday.

I must say, I felt really odd at first, arriving and knowing absolutely no-one. Then I saw Heather and Laura, and later, Sharon, Sam and Funso, and Lebo. And Salome (photographer) who I first met at the event I spoke at in May last year.

I also recognised Wenchy but still haven't actually spoken to her :o



The not knowing people didn't bother me much because I'm an extrovert but it's odd to feel a bit out and yet know that I've been blogging for over 10 years. There's this whole community I'm not a part of so that was interesting. (this is a tip from Big Magic - when you find things "interesting" you turn down the level of drama :))


Anyway, 3 things about the event:


 

1. The venue was amazing. I was so disappointed to not have time to walk around Maboneng afterwards because I had to rush off to another friends date. I would have had more photos if I had more hands to pull out my camera and carry the swag. The lift was gorgeous and the light was absolutely fabulous! 
2. We got such a lot of stuff in the goodie bags that I shared it all with Nanny S. I don't drink wine and we got a bottle of wine. I was going to give it to a friend (!) but D was aghast - how could I do that? So now I need to get rid of it but it feels so wasteful.
3. I used to run workshops in my home and I know how much work it is to organise them, yet they had (for me) such small profit margins. So hats off to Laura and Heather - clearly they have the secret to make these things work. And when I want to next run a Love Languages workshop, they need to organise it :)

 

I realised that there are two types of blogs and bloggers, and I have/ am one of each. One is niched and has its own Instagram and Facebook page, and the other is written for the pure joy of connecting (and therapy!). Except... my Organising Queen blog is like such a baby because I have no idea about when "my people" are online, which brands I resonate with, and all of that jazz.

Honestly, I don't know where these people get the time to be checking all these stats and responding to everything throughout the day. Unless they don't work, or they're faffing around the whole day at work.




Blogging seems like a lot of hard work these days and clearly I'm not interested in doing all of that enough to "stay current".

It's largely because I do have a full-time job that pays me a reasonably good salary so I don't feel that I need to monetize anything.

Best quote: "what do all moms do the whole day? They're on Facebook, of course" and with that, I suddenly felt like, "who are these moms because I'm actually working, but maybe it's an age thing, or a firstborn thing...?



One more thing - brand love. How do you feel about instagramming and blogging for brands just because you received free product?

I posted one pic on IG on Sat from a hamper I won and I fully intended to post another to enter a competition (peer pressure?!), but suddenly I didn't feel right inside. I tend to listen to those feelings so nothing went up. I don't even eat those biscuits and actually, I had my first one this Saturday... and I wasn't wowed. The kids are eating them though!

What makes you post a "brand" pic on Insta or Facebook or your blog? 

For me, I must be wild about the product, so wild I would have paid for it myself. Like I do with stationery :)

Which blog group do you fit into? Were you in one before consciously moving into another?

I have, of course, been blogging about organising, coaching, time management and goals for many, many years, simply because it's my passion, while this blog is my just my stress relief :)

PS don't you love this sewing machine?!