In a desperate effort to gain some weird form of validation, I stole an idea for a blog post and begged my readers to ask me a question. And they did. The buggers. Now I have to answer them.
Question 4: Neil follows the lead set by Alex and suggests a title rather than a question (honestly, can’t you people read?) but as both were rather imaginative I’ll let it pass, THIS TIME. So, I’ll have a bash at ‘answering’;
The 15th Guinness, table top dancing, questionable headwear and other fun things to do at a blogmeet.
Actually this might be easier than I think. For starters I wasn’t drinking Guinness at the recent blogmeet, there was no table top dancing, nor questionable headwear so that leaves “other fun things to do at a blogmet”.
But what CAN you do at a blogmeet? Well there are some common topics that tend to crop up amongst all the other miscellany and whatnot.
First up there is usually a round of camera drooling. This can feature all or few of the attendees but always ALWAYS happens. Murmurs of f-stops, double bracketing and “nice lens cap” can be overhead at this point. No, I don’t know what they mean either.
After that there is usually some discussion about blogging. Whether it’s “adverts – good or bad?” or dealing with comment spam, or any number of possible related topics, there is ALWAYS some talk of the mechanics and technicalities of blogging.
Beyond that, well it’s difficult to say really as it largely depends on the people who attend. Life experiences and stories are regaled, alcohol is consumed (by some) and general merriment ensues. And then the really weird thing happens. Time zips forward, in a way that would live Einstein baffled, and it’s time to leave. That, for me at least, is the startling thing about blogmeets; you spend a worried hour or so getting to the venue, worrying that no-one will turn up, and as the first of many unfamiliar faces approach you nervously you wonder what on earth you are doing, meeting complete strangers in a local hotel (bloggers? doggers? the comparison was made at a previous blogmeet). All of a sudden it’s dark outside and people are leaving and all you can really remember is laughing a lot and having what is generally referred to as “a jolly good time”.
That’s the real reason blogmeets work. We all share the same base hobby but, unlike other hobbies, we have such a hugely diverse group of people involved. Meeting fellow bloggers offers the safety of a level of familiarity – we all do this weird blogging thing even if some of us aren’t really sure why – whilst allowing us to interact with people we might not normally get the chance to… unless you are the type who will happily chat to strangers on the bus. In fact, you probably are.
To summarise, and try and find and ending to this rambling nonsense (I’d have given up ages ago, so thanks for reading this far) I’d say that there is one fun thing to do at a blogmeet. Turn up.