Mallzee Launch Party | Events

On Tuesday I attended my first launch party, my first blogging event. I was terrified! So terrified in fact that I invited my friend Lauren along as my +1 because I knew my anxiety would get the better of me if I went alone! It was of course the Mallzee Launch Party!

Now if you've never heard of Mallzee before, they started off as a website but have now moved into apps. This launch party was specifically for their iPhone app (iPad is next then Android). They want to make shopping fun again. Now I don't know about you but I don't really enjoy shopping all that much these days. Especially if I'm having a bad mental health day, going out is enough of a task never mind trying to go clothes shopping! So the idea of being able to go on my phone and have it know what kinds of clothes I like then show me them (it's a clever app you see), well that sounds much more appealing to my serotonin lacking brain!

You heard me right by the way, as Mallzee themselves say, "The more you tell Mallzee which items you want to see more of and which you don't, the smarter it gets!" So the app actually learns what to show you. I am impatiently awaiting the Android version (I'm in the Samsung family!) You can of course find out more about mallzee by going to their website mallzee.com

Now onto the event. Lauren and I showed up rather early, I'm talking 30-40 minutes early. We hung about outside for a while before heading in. We were greeted as soon as we walked in by some of the lovely staff.  They didn't come across as fake or playing happy, they seemed genuinely happy to see each person show up which I thought was great. I know it can get tiring doing events like this but they all kept a smile on their face! Unlike myself, who whinged on the couch because I did C25K two hours before the event started! I stupidly then wore heels (rookie mistake for which I accept full responsibility for) although my foot dramas didn't act up until I was leaving and walking back to the train station (via McDonalds, I'm sorry but we're all allowed a bit of naughtiness now and then!)

Notice my bulging leg muscles!

Lauren and I were papped which I loved but I seriously need to work on my outfits and poses! I still feel really awkward around what I consider to be fashionable people. I kinda still feel like the fat friend trying to fit in. Have no fear though this feeling didn't stay around long, the lovely Laura was showering me with compliments and made my anxiety fly away in an ego surrounded bubble! I'll get more into that later though.

The Bellini's were flowing from the start of the night and I'll be honest due to my inexperience with events, I was expecting one, maybe two drinks but the refills kept coming as did the food. There were gorgeous cake pops made by Cake-Cetera (I might have come home with 3 in my bag, ssshhh) and there were canapes provided by Bespoke Cuisine which were deeeelicious! I totally did it in the right order, alcohol, cake then canapes. Yes well done Alana! ;) 

After a little bit of mingling, although at this point I was almost crying on the couch from my leg pain, CEO Cally Russell got up and talked us through the app a bit more. He's a passionate man and I could tell he was really excited about what he was talking about. He enjoys his job and doesn't just want to push the product, he wants Mallzee to do well and for people to enjoy it.

Cally giving us his pitch.

During his pitch, Cally showed us their new video which I thought was fabby. The girl in the video was at the event and although I was too shy to approach her, I'll say here that she was great in the video and looked beautiful in that and on the night! After he was finished talking, Cally went round and thanked everyone for coming, he seemed so genuine and happy that people did show up. Such a lovely guy!  For some reason, YouTube/Blogger isn't letting me embed the video but you can find it here.

After his pitch, the mingling resumed, it took a while for me to feel comfortable but I got my ass off that red couch and tried to make an effort. No point sitting on the couch with a scowl on my face, these people were nice enough to invite me here so I just sucked up the pain and got on with it. I might have moaned a wee bit but I was met mostly with comments like, 'I couldn't have done that then come here, well done!' which of course made me feel much better. 

Mingle mingle mingle

So back to Laura, I ended up talking to her for quite a while before I left. I've spoken to Laura a few times on Twitter and we had exchanged a couple emails but I was so happy to meet her in person. She's as lovely in real life as she is online! Laura is the International Engagement Officer at Mallzee, she started off as an intern with the company and is now working with them. Success story! She really made me feel more at ease, I think she could probably tell I was feeling a bit anxious/out of place but she soon squashed those feelings. We spoke about my blog, what Laura does with the company, future ideas for both me and her and I just felt so at ease. I can genuinely see Laura and I becoming good friends.

I managed to chat to a couple other people at the event, I even approached someone I recognised from following their blog (and I didn't burst into flames like my head told me I would if I said anything to her!) but the main thing I'll take away from the night, apart from how fabby the app is, is how great Laura made me feel! Now to work on making myself feel that great every day!

The walk back to the station then from Falkirk station to my house was a bit torturous. I didn't think as I was getting ready and stuck on my usual go to red wedges. I forgot however that my feet swell after exercise (lovely image there I know) and my feet rubbed something awful. I'm talking torn skin, blisters and blood all o'er the joint! Not pretty in the slightest. Add that onto my C25K pain and I was a tad miserable (and tipsy) by the time I got home.

However, all in all this was definitely a positive experience. I'm glad this was my first blogging event and I look forward to getting to play with the app when it lands for Android and seeing the Mallzee gang at the FABBGlasgow event on Oct 5th (still need to pick an outfit for that!)

I totally recommend you download the app (which you can find here) and have a nosey at it yourself. If you like it, let Mallzee know on their Twitter @MallzeeHQ. If you don't like it, tell them what you don't like about it! ;)

I wasn't asked to write this post by Mallzee or anyone that works for Mallzee. All opinions are my own.