Social Media Week – London Bloggers Meetup

Last night I attended the first of a week’s worth of events as part of Social Media Week – one of the regular London Bloggers Meetups, organised by Andy Bargery, on the theme of ‘How Blogging Has Changed My Life’.

The evening featured a Q&A with an panel comprising some of London’s best bloggers; Annie Mole from the London Underground Tube Diary, Tom from Tired Of London, Tired of Life, Matt from the Londonist and Sian from Domestic Sluttery. There was also some erotic poetry (!) from London Bloggers regular (and real character) Godwyns who was also there to tell us about the organisation which he has recently established to address the issues facing LGBT people in Africa, ‘Justice For Gay Africans’.

Much of the conversation last night was inspirational – in fact all of these people’s lives have been profoundly affected by their blogging. For example, due to its popularity Matt is now able to run his site as his full-time job as does Sian, who has also got a gig as a columnist at the Times (she is their ‘wedding editor’). Tom has recently had a fantastic book published which has hit the travel books top five, and Annie attributes the last few stages of her career to the widely-read blog she runs on the quirks of London’s underground transport system.

If you’re not already a reader I commend the sites above to you (although if you’re a hirsute male I’m not sure Sian’s site will be that useful – unless you’re into quick and easy cupcake baking or slingbacks that is…) and can I also ask you to check out Godwyns’ site to see whether you can help with their cause. The London Bloggers Meetup runs every month or two throughout the year, and if you’re looking for some blogging inspiration it’s a great night  out – you’re guaranteed to meet some fascinating people and you may well come away with some new ideas.