The day is finally here... It's BlogFest!

[BrunoTech]

This here is the all-singing, all-dancing BlogFest Live Blog thread: the place to post all your 'Festy updates if you're joining us in person at Kings Place - and also the place to hang out if you're with us in spirit only , for an hour-by-hour report on the action.

The Bloggers' team will be checking in regularly to give you a sense of the day as it unfolds - but this live blog is most definitely a communal effort, so if you're at BlogFest, please do post your updates here. You can also upload photos - just click on 'choose file' at the bottom of the thread. You have to have IOS 6 or later if you're on an iPhone though, so make sure you download the latest version.

Finally, don't forget you can talk and read about BlogFest on Twitter, using the hashtag #BlogFest.

So, BlogFesters - smartphones/iPads/laptops at the ready, please, and let's get this party Live Blog started

Helen Lewis from The Newstatesman chairs first discussion after lunch: 'Shaping the debate: how blogging and social media can change the world'

Laura Bates @Everydaysexism says if she could go back and do things differently she would 'turn on moderation from day one'

Laura Bates @Everydaysexism says if she could go back and do things differently she would 'turn on moderation from day one'

Oops

Next up: our v own SarahMumsnet chairs 'cracking yarns and tall tales: how to tells better story'. Lionel shriver's pink boots causing quite a stir on twitter. Best tweet of day: 'We Need To Talk about Lionel's Pink Boots'

Here you are, Rachel - for you and Sarah ...

Our authors share their favourite opening lines. Lionel shriver's choice is from Herman koch's The Dinner' - the line: 'we were going out to dinner.' 'it's nice and simple but indicates something is going to go wrong'

'We'll start at the seaside...' AL Kennedy talks about the opening of Moby Dick

Sorry this thread went all quiet - it didn't just stop there - honest ! We've just all been super-busy. There will be a full low-down on the day's events over the next couple of days along with all the official photos - as opposed to our rather amateur efforts from earlier and of course there's a great running commentary on twitter #BlogFest.

I have been reading the tweets all day :) I may actually go next year !

I've been following the tweets and on here too. Sounds great. Next year I'll have to go! Even though I'll know no-one.
Is there any possibility of doing a more Northern one? London not so easy or should I say cheap to get to

Things I feel like doing the day after Blogfest:

1. Lying in a darkened room
2. Taking paracetamol
3. Eventually composing a post about how Toby wants to hate Stella but really he loves her

Things I don't feel like doing the day after Blogfest:

Looking after a bunch of other people's toddlers at church.

I am convinced yesterday didn't happen. It just didn't.

I want to blog about it right now, but all that will come out is just me squealing 'EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!' which is not really an accurate reflection of the day.

But bloody hell. What an incredible group of people. All of us. Speakers, delegates, sponsors and Mumsnet. Just amazing people, quietly changing the world with words.

"quietly changing the world with words"
That is a completely brill strapline sadeyed

I just cried at the bloody John Lewis advert. That's how soft I am after yesterday. I even sobbed a little when blogging about blogfest and what it meant to me.