Girl’s Essential Checklist for the Problogger Training Day (also great for guys) #pbevent

The Problogger Training Day 2011 is not far away and over 300 bloggers and business owners will converge upon Melbourne to learn from the experts. There are pre-event drinks the night before and the event starts early, finishing with more drinks and networking at the end of the day. It’s going to be BIG!

I read John Young’s essentials checklist and it was very useful. It went something like this:

• A charged phone
• A spare phone battery if you have one
• Business cards and lots of them
• Laptop or tablet
• A notepad and pen if you’re going old school
• Some extra pens in different colours. And highlighters.
• A charged camera
• Snacks

Many of us are there to capture as much information as possible that will help us create valuable content online. John’s checklist is great and will make sure you avoid a “hammy” during the day.

But when I read it, I realised I was preparing in a completely different way.

Prepare your brand image

Sure, I am looking forward to the educational side of the event and I want to wring out as much gold out as I can but I think I am more excited about the networking side of the event. I will be meeting people I’ve only everchattedg to online and also (hopefully) meeting some movers and shakers who, if I’m honest, I’m a little bit in awe of.

So I’m also preparing for the presentation of the Copywrite Matters brand. This is my chance to make a fantastic first impression Or reinforce the impression I’ve made online. I need to make it good.

If you are the face of your business or blog — so do you.

So this is my checklist for the presentation of your brand amongst a group of influential bloggers and business owners:

• A snazzy (or at least neat) haircut
• A hair colour touch up (guys this might not be one for you ;))
• A nice outfit that matches your brand personality. Now your outfit should be comfortable but it should also give off the signals you want your brand to be known for. Are you funky, relaxed, corporate?
• Comfortable shoes. I want to wear my newest pair of amazing shoes but I know that I will regret it and I don’t want to call time on the fun just because my feet hurt.
• Lip Balm or Your Favourite Lippy. You will hopefully be chatting a lot and you want to keep your lips fresh.
• Mints. See above combined with the stale smell of the coffee you’re drinking. Yuk! Bad breath will see you short shifted quicker than the battery life on my phone.
• A decent sized bag. If you are bringing all the things from John’s checklist then choose a decent sized bag for it all. There is nothing more annoying than fishing through a bag that is crammed with stuff.
• Know whom it is you absolutely want to meet. There is going to be a lot of opportunity to mingle and chat and if you really want to meet someone, find out where they are and have them in your sights!

So that’s my girl’s essential checklist to the Problogger Training Day but now that I think of it, it’s more of a guide to the physical presentation of your brand. It applies to any networking event you attend.

Can you think of anything else? Do you think I’m going over the top?

How are you preparing your brand?

Belinda (aka The Copy Detective on other days)