rmtxjshibjdb g: Around The Table

>> This should have gone up yesterday and some of you may have seen Grazia Daily's ickle videos of a few of us Brit bloggers being filmed saying some ridiculous things (speaking for myself here...) on a Flip camera but how to begin... well err... basically Arcadia organised a 'round table' dinner party of bloggers and print journalists to connect the two together.

Not that we are different species that need interbreeding but I did find it quite novel that a brand like Arcadia felt it necessary to do some intermediary connections especially as they weren't really pushing any product per se. Tbe gist of it is that they well and truly don't see why there should be any conflict between the bloggers and 'print' journalists and in the name of 'integration', they thought they'd throw a wee get together.

So who woz der... the list included Paula Reed, editor style director* of Grazia, Clare Coulson of Harper's Bazaar, Claudia Croft from The Sunday Times' Style, David Lamb of GW and also the newly-wed Melanie Rickey of Grazia who really crosses over between both print and blog also popped in. Bloggers included myself, Steve of Style Salvage, Disneyrollergirl, Laetitia of Mademoiselle Robot, Liberty London Girl, Kristin of The Clothes Whisper and Yvan of Facehunter as official photographer.

We, zee bloggers basically knew most of each other and whilst it was good to have a catch-up natter, the whole point was 'integration'. Of course,Monster Beats Miles Davis Tribut, I have spoken with parties from the 'other side' before,coach bags on sale, but this time round I personally got sat next to Susan Riley, deputy editor** of Stylist magazine (Stylist is a UK-based free publication - if you do know of it, don't you just look forward to it on Thurs...? I do...) who hadn't heard of my blog. We wound up chatting about the free publication model and we sort of ended up concluding that in a way, blogs and the free pubs model were quite similar in many ways. Connection. Made. So apparently we can all be in the same room together without making out like we're Montagues and Capulets (except there are no star-crossed lovers... maybe Melanie Rickey encompasses that couple...).

Of course, for the most part, it is a silly myth perpetuated by catty news pieces that there is an animosity between online and print. I'm not saying that genuine mistrust or dislike doesn't exist either. Perhaps all of that was well hidden and politely tucked away on the night. Whether it exists or doesn't exist, events like this are certainly most welcome. You can luck out a dinner party and go home with a good connection with someone or perhaps awkward silence will prevail. What I'm really saying with that cheesy metaphor, is that a few more 'round tables' like these can only really help the two different practitioners of their media relate to one another. If it doesn't happen, then you've had some yummy food and your tummy is full (hmmm...check out some food porn on my new Snappetite food journal...). No biggie. I'll take tender lamb chops any day...

Alright, it being Arcadia, perhaps there was a bit of subtle prodding. I promise his will be of interest to the majority of you guys though. Perhaps some of you have seen the new Topshop website design, which is also applied to other Arcadia brand sites. Apparently only 20% of peeps can see it as it's in soft launch period. Basically it makes for a cleaner,discount coach handbags, clearer and prettier shopping experience. We browsed about the sites on iPads and iMacs. Pretty pretty...