{inspired} portland bloggers

As promised, I want to introduce you to the lovely ladies that attended the Portland Bloggers Summer Social last week.

1. Makaila from Distinctly M, Sarah from Mysterious Object, Amanda from Re-Do and Dorothy Jeane, and Lyn from Two Lovely Spaces

2. Andrea from Seek the Unique, Lydia, and Tate

3. Mandy from Ciao Darling and Mindy from Rindy Mae

4. Kristen from Inspired Whims, Tate from Tate Creates and Lydia from Lydia Lauer

5. Tate and Sarah

6. Katie, from Newcomb Home and Lydia

7. Kristen and Kirsten, from Restored Style

8. Lia from ellinee and Skye from Rose City Bungalow 1913

9. Lia, Amanda, Mindy, Skye and Mandy

Sadly, not pictured, is Danielle from Storypiece. Hi Danielle! I know you were there! Clearly the photographer was off her game, ahem ... go check out Danielle's site! :)

Friends, you should definitely take a few minutes to check out each of these sites! This is a group of incredibly talented women.

After my original post, I had a few questions about how, exactly, you pull together a blogger meetup. I think Kirsten and I took planning for granted, in a way, because we both plan events for our jobs. But, I put together some tips and suggestions if your area doesn't have a blogger meetup and you'd like to pull one together. 

1. Partner with a friend or fellow blogger. I once read on another blogger's site that if you plan a meetup with another blogger and no one else shows, at least you have each other :). You also have a bigger reach then.

2. Pick a location. Kirsten and I were really lucky that we had access to a location that was happy to host us for no cost and has relationship with a {awesome} caterer. This is event planning gold, friends. 

3. Decide what type of event it will be: coffee? dinner? guest lecturer? We opted for dinner because of the caterer relationship.

4. Let people know! Kirsten and I combined our knowledge of Portland bloggers and about three weeks before the event sent out an invite via email. Then a couple days later we both posted the invite on the blog to capture Portland area readers/bloggers that we didn't know.

5. Decor. The fun part! Decide on a color scheme and how you want to decorate. 

6. Communicate. If you're have people rsvp, which I recommend, send them a reminder email the day before. And, make sure to keep in good communication with your event location so they know how many people to expect, what sort of rearranging you'll be doing on the day-of, etc.

I hope this helps! But, if you have questions about planning an event, let me know in the comments and I'll make sure they get answered.