The team behind the awards put on an amazing night in Odessa Club and Restaurant. We started with bubbles and canapés to settle the nerves, then there was a three course meal where the wine and chat flowed freely, before moving to the rooftop bar for the actual ceremony.
It was a fantastic opportunity to meet up with blogging buddies - some old friends and some new faces.
The talent in the finalist list was truly awe inspiring, with the winners being impossible to call.
I was thrilled to be a finalist in the Best Blog Post of the Year category for this - A Seismic Shift. I didn't win (sorry Mum), but without doubt the winner deserved to. This beautiful post by Minis and Mum 'A mini tale about Downs Syndrome' will leave you with a lump in your throat for sure.
There were a few lessons I took away from the night (apart from my awesome goodie bag):
The big stuff:
1. Parent bloggers are a glamorous bunch. At one point in the night one of the men attending the event looked around the room filled with both stylish girls and elegant ladies and noted that it wasn't what he had really been expecting from a group of 'mummy bloggers'. Lesson: Don't underestimate the mothers!
2. Irish talent is alive and well in everything from writing to activism to crafting to science to photography and lots, lots more. Blogging is an amazing way to showcase these talents.
3. Brands are getting on board. Just like the US and UK before us, brands in Ireland are realising the potential of working with bloggers. Bloggers give an authentic voice, a real influence and a large reach for product recommendations. But we stay true to our blogs and our readers so tend to only get behind the products we genuinely love. If you believe in your product then get the bloggers on board! Glenisk showed their support wonderfully as chief sponsors of the night and proved that they totally 'get' it. Netflix were also brilliantly represented as always by the fabulous Nicola Watkins PR
4. Chatting to all those real people in a real room instead of in a group on Facebook, via an Instagram feed or on Twitter makes you realise that this online world you have going on is just as real as your real life one. And it's not to be underestimated or dismissed just because other people don't understand it.
5. I love blogging.
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| Sums up the night! With double award winner Tric from My Thoughts on a Page |
6. Deb is not in fact an America
7. Sylda should run the country, or possibly the world
8. Jill is the most effortlessly stylish person I've ever met
9. Sinead is a self-confessed wet dream of a daughter in law.
10. Everybody should know all the words of the Kimmy Schmidt theme tune. You just never know when you might need to sing it in public *shudder*
7. Sylda should run the country, or possibly the world
8. Jill is the most effortlessly stylish person I've ever met
9. Sinead is a self-confessed wet dream of a daughter in law.
10. Everybody should know all the words of the Kimmy Schmidt theme tune. You just never know when you might need to sing it in public *shudder*
And that's probably enough lessons for any one night - don't you think?!
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A full list of the winners and the wonderful sponsors can be found here.
Thanks to the lovely Olivia and Sandra for the fab photos of the night.
