22 January 2009

Geeking OUT !

Geek Attack! As if I haven't geeked out on Sussie Bubble before I keep geeking again and again and again. After reading on her site that she'll be at the London College of Fashion in Oxford Circus at say 5.30 I just happened to be around the corner finishing up from a press event and lunch at Busaba to then merrily walk in and sit next to fellow bloggers and peers to listen to the fashion blogger phenomenon who has about 14,000-16,000 hits a day.


The Apple chat was more chilled out with Susie doing most of the talking about what she does and why she does it. This time around people skipped the formalities and went straight into deep cut questions. The conference room became so full that someone actually had to me almost leaded out when she tried to sneak in to find her saved seat. Akwaaard! People were lining the back of the room with a-many crowding the front of the theatre. Many students and bloggers were recording the conversation which was super insightful. I am excited to share my notes with my fellow readers so indulge yourself below:

Ramblings& Notes from my personal diary:
  • Susie had a dull job in media, only blog a few hours a day, last March she was asked by the editor of Dazed and Confused to be the commissioning editor of Dazed Digital. She recently got her own domain, .co.uk , and she has roughly 14,000-16,000 hits a day.
  • AT one point she was obsessed with google analytics, the majority of her fan base is from the States the second is the UK. She thinks the States has more of a blogging routine.
  • Teen Vogue mentioned her in an issue back in September 06 and she had a massive spike in traffic and US readership since then.
  • Talking about blogs is a hot topic, The Observer pulled in a new audience. She keeps in mind that she chooses to be positive about everything and that allows her to be free and open. Her writing style has not changed, but now she more variety of content for her blog.
  • Dazed has its own style and she has her own.
  • Susie can write up a post in 5 minutes, and doesn't need to think about it.
  • She laughs that she doesn't sleep much , she has 400 blogs on her daily blog roll, and logs on to 30 websites a day, she also reads magazines and tries to widen her media scape.
  • Magazines are more well thought.
  • She has outfit experimentations with her own style. Likes to link with what is happening in fashion which offers a personal connection.
  • "I am worried about what people who think they know me and that worries me."
  • "I used to go on Fashion spot forums. I like the interaction on the internet. People around me don't necessarily love fashion the way I do. So the internet to me is a release and space for me to geek out in fashion."
  • "I started about 10 websites with Geocities on random topics which had no correlation before I discovered typepead."
  • People tend to use Sussie Bubble pages as trend research and forecasting.
  • "In 2007 Chanel and Gucci organized trips for bloggers to tailor made for bloggers, and you can tell they were trying to deal with bloggers in a different manner. It is a certain thing if I feel I could get content off of it that would interest readers then I would go and do it. But I try to show an account of my own experiences. This is what I saw. I don't have to write about them unless its of interest to me."
  • How did you start getting traffic? It all happened in an organic manner, I just asked 3 of my favority bloggers to link to me. But I have already established myself on forums and commentating on other blogs. Style.com also linked to me and it evolved as a natural thing.
  • Buys the Guardian the newspaper because she loves the writing style. Likes thier content and the way they write.
  • Blogs make fashion more accesible and democratic.
  • The relationship between brand and blog is very tricky but again its the way one handles it.
  • It has been a struggle in the last 9 months juggling work and the blog and maintaining it and keeping it updated.
  • I have limited knowledge with HTML and javascript aesthetics. But if I could go back and do it all over again I might have had customized skin for my page. Am not too fussed about pictures but its more about content.
  • Where do you find the motivation to get up at 6 am and cover events like the Angel sale? I have a natural enthusiasm , I would be there anyways, queing and taking photos.
  • I spend 1-2 hours a day blogging nowadays, but I constantly have 20-30 ideas for posts.
  • I try to write openly and freely and not dispute a bitter tone when I feel like I am being attacked, but I do feel like I have a resposibility to fashion bloggers and my readers.
  • The blog is a self reflection of me and a post is done in a state of mind so I don't regret anything I have posted about.
  • I relate to fashion in a different way , I consume it through my blog.

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