Hello everyone! I’ve finally sorted through a bunch of photographs and made some time to pull together a few images from our Meet The Blogger event in Amsterdam this past Saturday. I have a million photos in this post to share, but there are nearly 200 more in this flickr album… First of all, it was a huge success and exceeded my expectations as I think was the case for all who attended. The space was packed with stylish, inspiring lifestyle bloggers from various parts of Europe so together we had over 120 (mostly ladies) gathered to listen to lectures, eat cupcakes and have a glass a wine but the focus of course, was to mix and mingle and walk away feeling confident and ready to take on the world! How did Meet The Blogger come to be? I’d had meet ups in Europe before in places like Berlin, Stockholm, London and Amsterdam but hadn’t hosted a meet up in awhile and wanted to do one again now that I’m living in Germany. I just needed a little push… And wasn’t sure where to even begin as I’m in the midst of so much right now in my life.
But then, out of nowhere, that push came from the lovely and organized Lise, who has a job in corporate by day but who blogs by night over on the Urban Style Vibes blog in the Netherlands, and she too was dreaming of pulling together a meet up for bloggers. I’d not known Lise until she contacted me so I had no idea we shared a similar dream to host a blogger’s event. She was a bit farther ahead in her dream than I, she already had chosen a name (Meet The Blogger) and talked about the idea to hold the first event in Stockholm or maybe Amsterdam. I guess we can call this kismet because she had heard about the launch of my book, Decorate, and so she emailed me to see if I wanted to get involved in something she had only just started to plan called Meet The Blogger. I had no clue what it was about, but she told me some of her ideas and then I shared some of my own and Lise had a logo created and started to set the whole thing into motion because I wanted to do another book launch party and a blogger’s meet up combined, only this time in Amsterdam since my book is sold there in English at the American Book Center.
Since then, Lise and I have talked a lot since February to work out how this event would run – it didn’t come together overnight! She was so easy to work with though at times it was tricky as we had to do everything by phone and email. That’s why when Lise flew up to London to meet me in person at the Decorate Liberty launch party in April, the whole idea of working with her made me much more comfortable. I thought it was very kind of her to connect with me so personally. While Lise and I were busy behind-the-scenes planning Meet The Blogger, we decided to pull in some sponsors so our guests wouldn’t have to pay for the event and we thought a goody bag would be a nice incentive to get everyone there – who doesn’t want free stuff?
As our ideas grew, Lise connected a fellow blogger, Janneke Romijn, who got involved — she happens to be a writer and publicist. Janneke is another amazing woman. I got to know more about her recently and she really inspired me with her personal story, she is such a determined woman and very strong and I admire this so much. So between Lise, Janneke and I this dream to host a blogger’s event started to take shape.
I worked on finding a location for the event, at first Lise found something outside of the city but my eye was on doing it in the city to encourage people to come. The location sort of fell into my lap because The American Book Center wanted to get involved and since they are friendly with Hotel V thanks to Rick Lightstone (Rick you’re the best!), they were able to get us that space for the event at no charge to us. Great!
Once we had the location it all felt very real and exciting and Lise and Janneke met with the hotel to work on the details while I made it my mission to tell everyone about the event so that we’d have lots of people invited and involved — who wants to host an event and have no one show up? So I literally told the whole entire internet. And people responded and before we knew it, we had sold out and had to actually turn people away as the space couldn’t hold everyone comfortably otherwise.
As one domino fell, effortlessly pushing the next, we started to pull together our sponsors. In the end, British designer Kelly Hoppen sponsored all of our drinks (sadly, she wasn’t there but her lovely publicist came) and Lily’s Cupcakes kept us all saturated in sugary sweet goodness. Flavourites came to talk about their blog and business and we had Dutch designer Mariska Meijers give everyone a lovely bookmark for their very own copy of Decorate (placed in our goody bags) and Dutch interiors magazine 101 Woonideeën gave everyone a few copies of their magazine and talked about the event on their blog too (here). The name tags that everyone wore came from Wolfie and the Sneak. The American Book Center gave away a few copies of Decorate and co-author Joanna Copestick, also attended which made me so, so happy as she was such a huge part of making Decorate come to life and though she’s shy about attending signings, I’m just so happy she flew in from London to be a part of it all. I even got her to sign some books with me not only at Meet The Blogger but at The American Book Center later that day.
I was personally thrilled to have VTWonen as an official sponsor, their editor-in-chief, Monique de Ruiter, attended Meet The Blogger and that really impressed me and I enjoyed meeting her very much. VTWonen so generously gave us our own photographer, Jurriaan Hoefsmit, for the day to shoot the event and they gave everyone a copy of VTWonen as well. They also announced the event in their magazine before the event and gave us a wonderful shout out on their blog yesterday, which we are so grateful for. My husband, Thorsten Becker, also took photos which was great.
The event was so wonderful, I really enjoyed meeting so many bloggers in this part of the world and it really impressed upon me the need to get bloggers over here together again in the future because they certainly are interested in these events and many asked us when the next blogger’s networking event will take place! That’s exciting! I’ll announce something on decor8 in the near future as I’m looking at BERLIN, GERMANY for an event in October and that one will really rock as I love Berlin and already have a few great sponsors on board for that one. Yay for bloggers in Europe, what an inspirational bunch of people who came out on Saturday, it was so encouraging and lovely for me but also for all – the buzz in the air was contagious and the vibe was so positive.
If you missed this event I hope that you’ll come out to Berlin in October for another blogging event to network and learn — the date will be announced on decor8 sometime this summer so you can get it on your calendar. It will also be in conjunction with Callwey Verlag, a huge German publishing house who will be releasing Decorate in German around that time with the title, Lust auf Wohnen, so I’ll have copies of it available in German at the next event which will be really fun for me to share!
By the way… I wanted to add captions to all of the photos with everyone’s names but I just cannot remember all of the wonderful people I met so I decided to not list anyone because some I do know but I felt like it would be unfair to list them without listing everyone. I hope that you understand. If you are shown in any of the photos above, please comment and say hello so people know who you are!
And well finally I need to point out the real reason behind a mix + mingle for blogger’s like this. I want people online to make lasting connections. I’m a connector, and through my online Blogging Your Way class that I teach along with Leslie Shewring and Thorsten Becker, I’ve always taught my students to not be scared of taking risks and to try to meet up with fellow bloggers in their own cities from time-to-time just to solidify those online relationships. I believe that relationships can only deepen when people take their virtual friendships offline for a bit to share, connect, laugh and run around with their cameras snapping a zillion photographs as you simply cannot get two blogger friends in the same room without cameras click, click, clicking!
I love sharing my book with everyone, I’ve had so many ask me to share it and sign their copies and events like this allow me to connect with people, which I love. It means a lot to me to be part of your life, offline too, as a personal friend and even a bit of mentor because I want to encourage women to just go for it when it comes to realizing their dreams and I want to help them to see a way out if they are currently stuck. So I hope this blogger’s event, the book signings that I do, classes that I teach both on and offline, continue to encourage and motivate people to connect, mingle, share and to learn and grow together.
To conclude this super long post, I want to thank all of our sponsors and also to my partners-in-crime, Lise and Janneke. I’m happy that together we were able to put Meet The Blogger into motion! We love you Amsterdam!
Update: A VERY special thank you to our volunteers for helping us to set up the event and for registering our guests as they arrived: Kate Baxter, Carole King, Jantine Vaartjes and Caroline Sleijffers.
(Photography: Jurriaan Hoefsmit, Thorsten Becker and Holly Becker.)
June 28th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Looks like a fantastic time – I´d love to join something like that one day! :-)
June 28th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
Holly, what a great piece about the blogger event and nice to have met you!
You are an inspiration…
June 28th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Looks like a BLAST!
lisa
June 28th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Nice to see the pictures from meet the blogger! Really enjoyed reading your blogpost! Xoxo
June 28th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Hi Holly,
What a super round up post about the lovely meet the blogger event! I had such a wonderful day for of meeting friends online in real life, hearing so many inspiring stories, and you signing my fresh copy of Decorate ;)
Love to see you and all the interior bloggers soon, maybe in Berlin?
xo Franca
June 28th, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Seems like such a cool event…All these bloggers united in a common purpose…to educate and inspire! Love this…we should definitely get something going on here in SoCal!
xo-Julie
Peace. Love. LOL!
June 28th, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Waah it looks awesome! So sad I missed it!
June 28th, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Not to get all schmoopy, but it is so fantastic to see so many women hanging out together- short hair, long hair; old, middle aged, young; heavy, slim; short tall; hip, traditional- it seems that it’s something that is so rare- maybe just in America?
June 28th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
wow what a lovely round up – perfectly portrays the amazing vibe that was there! I loved every moment of it and it was so nice to interact with like minded people! cant wait ii you organise the one in Berlin – I’m so there ;)
June 28th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
wow, book signing, your blog, launching your book in new countries and organizing this event! how do you take out those energies Holly? I admire your work and passion! cheers!
June 28th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Oh Holly, this SO captures the afternoon. It was wonderful that you were there and that I could connect with you in three dimensions for a short moment. And I am happy I could establish you are just as warm, lively and funny as I thought you would be. Hope we will meet again one day.
x Iris
ps and that is me, in the last picture, standing top left with the flowery cardigan…
ps hope poor Thorsten is feeling a bit better…
June 28th, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Now that looks like my kinda thing! Would love to be apart of something like it in the near future. :)
June 28th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Looks like a fun day to me! It always so great to meet “online friends” face to face. I’m sure lots of inspiration was exchanged and friendships made.
June 28th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
I so enjoyed ready this, it looks like it was a great event! I agree it’s so important to make ‘real life’ connections away from the online world. It just so happens I will be in Berlin the first week of October, I am so crossing my fingers that the next Meet The Blogger will be then!
Jen x
June 28th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Oh Holly…this sounds all so exciting and i will definitly try to come to Berlin in October…wow…this would be so great to be there…all these inspiring people…i´m so sad that i hadn´t the time for coming to Amsterdam to meet some of the blogger from BYW…but i´m so glad for you and your friends that it was a big sucess…yeah…so i´m looking forward to your event in Germany…;)…and wish you all the best for your upcoming book tour in America…oh, lady, good to have you here…always…cheers and a big hug…i…
June 28th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Wow..that looked like an amazing day!
June 28th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Great pics! Looks like an amazing event. Congrats!
XOXO,
Kim
June 28th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
very nice pictures -looks like a fantastic event!
June 28th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Thank you Holly and other speakers/organizers, for the inspiring and lovely day.
June 28th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
Looks like it was an amazing day. Can’t wait to meet you in NYC.
June 28th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
MTB and Berlin: great combination!
June 28th, 2011 at 11:40 pm
Lovely pictures of the event! Actually it was indeed a fabulous one!
Thank you for having included some of mine as well and most of all thank you for being such an inspiration and a trully warmhearted person.
I had a fabulous weekend thanks to you, all the people who organised the event & of course getting to know some bloggers personally.
To more to come! :)
xo, Iro
June 29th, 2011 at 12:11 am
Wow Your post just says it all.. it was a truly great event and I love to have been taken part in it and to have meet you and the happy bunch of bloggers we are. Thanks to everyone who organized and participated.. See you at the next event ;)
Desiree
June 29th, 2011 at 12:18 am
I was invited by her to this event but sadly could not make it….i’d have to close shop for like 5 days or more…because i would have loved to get to know the city as well and that would take awhile! Maybe another time.
Thanks for sharing!! :))
June 29th, 2011 at 12:59 am
fabulous round up Holly, and such beautiful photographs! you’ve captured the essence of the event so well. thank you so much for your inspiring talk, i’ve heard you talk about your route intot blogging a few times before but every time i still find inspiration and hope.
all the best and hope to see you again soon,
Kate x
June 29th, 2011 at 5:33 am
Holly this is AMAZING! What an incredible event and a way to build community. Love it!
June 29th, 2011 at 8:23 am
Thanks so much, Holly, for this great recap!
And ofcourse: thanks so much for your inspiring talk, it made me think back of my ‘crying in the conference room moment’ – and that made me extra thankful for not being in that situation anymore! It’s always a good thing to remember the risks you took and realise things turned out pretty well after all…
June 29th, 2011 at 11:21 am
Dear Holly,
how wonderful it must have been!
May beginners come to the next event in Berlin? I will be starting to blog this summer since I study & work at the university in Braunschweig.
Am so happy for you, really.
Thanks for decor8ing! Enjoy the sun and the success,
Lara
June 29th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Very nice pictures!!!
June 29th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
Wow, Holly, what a great post that says it all so well!! You really captured the spirit and atmosphere of the event. It was everything we hoped for and more! To have that many inspiriational bloggers in one room, at a great location, with the wonderful help of all our sponsors. And I’m so happy to have finally met you! Thanks a ton for all your help in making this event such a succes. Good luck with your upcoming book tour and I’m sure we’ll meet again!
xo
Janneke
June 29th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Oh, what fun! Definitely get in touch if you need help planning your Berlin event.
June 29th, 2011 at 5:49 pm
What a superb round up post. It says it all! :) It was a fantastic day. Many thanks to you and everyone else who participated and organized the whole thing. Lots of love, Nathalie
June 29th, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Congrats Holly, what a successful event for you! I was looking for you in every photo and caught just a glimpse, do you have any nice snaps of you enjoying yourself? Wish I could have transported myself there!
June 29th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
No we didn’t get any :(
June 29th, 2011 at 11:36 pm
Hi Holly, what lovely pictures!!! A very great day!
I’ve seen my FB friend Ilaria from Idainteriorlifestyle blog, so happy and so smiley! A sussessful event for all of you!
Vale
June 30th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
What a lovely recap of the event!!! This story puts a big smile on my face. I’m looking forward to pulling this event to the next level athough it won’t be easy to exeed our own expectations again but I love this challenge!!! What about you?
June 30th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
@Lise – We can definitely make it happen in Berlin. I already have people interested. I think we should shoot for October 14th in the evening or on the 15th….
July 1st, 2011 at 11:58 am
I am selfishly putting in a vote for the week before the 14th…I’ll be in Berlin all the way from bonny Scotland then :)
July 1st, 2011 at 1:55 pm
@Holly October 15th sounds great to me! I prefer a Saturday for all the international guests joining us. They can combine the meeting then with a weekend trip to Berlin:-) I will call you on Monday to discuss!
July 1st, 2011 at 2:02 pm
@Lise – Sounds great! I’ll let my publicist at Callwey know.
July 1st, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Hi Holly, it was lovely meeting you at the event, I found it very entertaining and inspiring. I absolutely love your book, it’s a fantastic guide on interior decoration. It’s great to see you’ve posted a few pictures of me here and on facebook! (blue shirt, I have an LV bag on my lap on one of the photos). Hope to see you again in person someday, but above all keep up the fantastic work and inspiring us all more and more everyday. Have a lovely weekend x.
July 1st, 2011 at 3:09 pm
@Sara – I remember you so well, I told you how pretty you were. ha ha! Thank you for stopping by, I wondered what your name was and where you blogged so now I know. And I’m very happy that you like my book, that’s very nice! :)
July 4th, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Hi there, is there any difference in the two editions of Decorate before I purchase one. thanks x
July 5th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
Kate – the English is different, American vs. British English – but that’s about it – and the covers are different – but the reprints of Decorate in the US have the same quotes in the jacket as the UK book, the previous US version did not.
August 12th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
I would love to go to a meeting like this… I was just talking the other day about making a trip to Berlin this summer. how do I find out more?
November 17th, 2011 at 1:39 am
Incredible! This event looks like it was a huge success – bravo!
November 17th, 2011 at 2:07 am
Really great event… but where are all the men? :-(