From Where I Work: QT Gold Coast for Problogger

The flight in was a little bumpy. According to the news the Gold Coast has been experiencing some ‘wild weather’ and the wind sure made its presence known on our decent into the Gold Coast this afternoon. But kudos to the Captain who rode it out and bought us down safely, even if a few of the younger passengers were letting out startled whoops.

I immediately like my surroundings at the QT though. This hotel has quirky/cool down to an art form. My bedside lamp is a cockatoo (I google imaged to make sure) – could it get any more Aussie-arty than that? There are heaps of trendy details throughout the hotel in fact – glamourous ladies in hallways and lifts, a monochrome shower and thongs (the Aussie version) hanging on the bedroom wall. But more on the hotel another time..

A cockatoo at QT Gold Coast

The reason for my visit to the Gold Coast is the Problogger event. Literally a gathering of professional bloggers, herded together by Darren Rowse (the original Problogger) and his super-efficient team, the 2 day agenda includes talks from the blogging industry’s brightest on everything from SEO, to monetization, video strategy and making your audience fall in love with you (What do you mean you don’t already?! You’re breaking my heart 😛). Every session is essential learning for any blogger wanting to turn their site into a professional business but I am particularly keen to hear from the likes of Pat Flynn (The Smart Passive Income Blog), Rank Fishkin (SEO Moz) and Darren Rowse himself.

After the conference in Surfers Paradise I’m off to Brisbane for a few days to sniff out the hip side Lonely Planet recently declared it had.

Dramatic sky at Surfers Paradise

Expect an update on key learnings from the conference as well as posts about my time exploring Surfers/Brisbane to follow shortly.

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