Let’s be real, being a blogger/content creator is hard work. It’s not hard work the same way being a lawyer is or the way being a construction worker is. It’s mentally hard. Until you get going in this industry it’s all up to you, you have to be self-starting, self- motivated, you are it. So when you FINALLY start getting invited to events, it’s like the best affirmation that you are on the right track.
But honestly, this is how they go down when you are first starting out aka. me rn.
You walk into the venue and have to awkwardly find your way to the right room or area, find the PR person who has NO clue who you are. Then you starting working the event. Which lets be brutally honest is cliquey. Not in a high school way, but people have their friends and it’s always awkward in those types of situations.
Events are 100% about networking. People can say what you want about the free stuff and the perks but really you are there for two reasons. First: to meet other creators in your niche, so you can become friends, do lots of shoots together, support each others growth and have a buddy for future PR events. The second, is to meet the PR team behind the event, other PR people who rep brands, industry execs who if they like you will probably work with you and photographers.
The flip side of these events is when they are things like collection preview we do receive product. So there’s a lot of misconception out there about PR packages, gifted product etc. Going to an event and getting a lot of free product is amazing, it’s such an insane opportunity but (creators are broken records on this) free product doesn’t “keep the lights on” and we are still kinda expected to talk about the stuff we got for free or record our attendance at these events. So you go to network in hopes of getting connected to a paid opportunity but are usually still responsible for your transportation costs, outfits etc UNTIL you are going to events with big brands and are working with that big brand… but that’s a differently side to events that I’ll hopefully get to share one day!
xoxo Steph
