Debut in Scandinavia

Lola A.Åkerström shares a few notes and photos from Stockholm’s first Travel Massive.

Photo by Finnish travel blogger Veera Papinoja Ten of Finland’s top travel and lifestyle bloggers cruised over to Stockholm courtesy of Silja Line to come join other Stockholm (and Oslo-based) travel bloggers, writers, and travel industry reps for our first ever Travel Massive in Scandinavia. It is a networking event currently held in 32 cities around the world and aims to connect people in the travel industry through informal and semi-formal events to brainstorm, network, build relationships, and have fun. The spirit behind the concept of Travel Massive is that it remains free to attend and open to everyone who works or is affiliated with the travel industry in an active way. So by bringing in partners and sponsors who graciously host events, we’ve been able to keep the brand going strong all over the world. All photos by author Stockholm Travel Massive kicked off with two events. First was a complimentary networking breakfast which was hosted by VisitStockholm and Rica Hotel at the newly renovated Grand Café Klara where we were treated to fresh orange juice, croissants, pastries, sandwiches, as well as the café’s signature homemade granola and yogurt. It was a great opportunity for attendees to introduce themselves, say hello, brainstorm, and network. For our first event, we invited a small selection of bloggers and travel industry representatives and we hope future events can accommodate a larger number of guests. Helsinki – Anna Koskela, Leena-Mari Laukkanen, Suvi Höyden, Pauliina Pakkanen,Amanda Roine, Veera Papinoja, Maisa-Liisa Sofia Harju, Kea Soza, Katja Presnal, and Satu Vänskä-Westgarth. Stockholm – Lola Akinmade Åkerström, Sandra Carpenter, Sean Naughton, Jeroen Gulickx, Christian von Essen, and Sofia Zetterqvist. Oslo – Anne-Sophie Redisch After breakfast, we got a quick tour of some of the Rica Hotel’s new renovations such as the vibrantly colored atrium reminiscent of Gamla stan and its historic buildings that frame Stortorget, its main square as well as a golden trimmed mural inspired by the ceiling at Stockholm’s beautiful Dramaten Theatre. The second part of Stockholm Travel Massive was an Instagram photo walk where we met up with a few local photographers and photography enthusiasts to stroll through town and take a few interesting shots of the city exploring it through different eyes.

Photos – #RicaStockholm and #TravelMassive

All attending bloggers were sharing photos and notes all over their social media channels – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+. Here’s a quick snapshot of photos posted on Instagram: http://statigr.am/viewer.php#/tag/ricastockholm/ You can view more photos under the following hashtags – #RicaStockholm,#KlaraStockholm, and #TravelMassive.

Special Thanks

We want to specially thank the following sponsors: VisitStockholm for helping us secure a location and providing our bloggers with free Stockholm cards to get around and explore the city, Rica Hotel Stockholm and Grand Cafe Klara for hosting a complimentary continental breakfast for our attendees, as well as Silja Line for hosting and bringing the Finnish travel and lifestyle bloggers over from Helsinki. Looking forward to our next Travel Massive meetup in April 2014.

Lola Akinmade Åkerström is an award-winning writer, photographer, and travel blogger. She is the Founder of Slow Travel Stockholm and Chapter Leader of Stockhom Travel Massive. She tweets at @LolaAkinmade.