I have another interview for you all today – this time, with the lovely Joanne Mortlock, the founder of Love Pop Ups – London!
I met Joanne at the BallieBallerson press night and we immediately bonded over the delicious cocktails, hot bartenders and unique experience of a giant ball pit for adults. When she told me about her website and Facebook group – Love Pop Ups – London, I was immediately intrigued.
Whilst the website reviews various pop-ups around London, the Facebook group has a vibrant community where Joanne shares pop-up news and opportunities for bloggers, reviewers and Instagrammers to attend. I love this idea.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been invited to a press event and have been at a loss of who to invite. I don’t mean it in a braggy way, but as a blogger, I get invites to events in London with plus one’s and although I try and invite my friends, sometimes it’s tough because the events are too early in the evening for my friends to finish work and get to London or we can’t always afford train fare etc. I don’t like attending things alone and often wish I could just auction off a plus-one invite – haha! Nowadays, I often try and invite blogger friends but this group is clearly the way to go. Joanne offers people the chance to join her on quirky events, or enter a competition to experience a London pop-up in return for a review. It’s so cool.
It also works well for companies who approach Joanne because rather than getting just one blogger to write a review, in return, companies often get a small group of bloggers/writers/influencers sharing all about their experiences with tweets, Instagram photos and Facebook tags – meaning tons of influential promotion.
I just had to pick her brain about this unique venture..!
First of all, can you just sum up ‘Love Pop Ups – London’ for me?
‘Love Pop Ups – London’ is set up to publicise new popped-up temporary or permanent new restaurants, bars, events, hotels etc.
What made you come up with the idea of the Facebook community?
I set the community up due to a closure of a well-known review site that closed down the community side in the UK. So to keep everyone together from that London community I set up my own community group but with a slight difference. The difference is that my community is all about promoting new popped-up places, not establishments that have been around for years. It’s also for people that love to blog/review and post on Instagram and who all have a passion for new places plus we can all discuss our experiences or post about any new upcoming events, restaurants, bars etc.
What has the response been to set up the group?
The response to setting up ‘Love Pop Ups – London’ has been very positive and on a number of occasions people have commented/messaged me to say thank you as they never knew about certain pop-up places and are now going to go along as they appealed to them.
I’ve noticed it’s a lot more like a community than just a Facebook group really – many of the events you post about you offer tickets to and you also arrange a lot of get-togethers to said events. Why is this?
I get and give out promotional or press tickets as a competition/giveaway to keep the group appealing plus everyone loves experiencing new places especially if free! Most importantly, it gives the clients new popped-up business social media coverage with them getting in return a blog/review written up and posted on various social sites and photos posted on Instagram.
The get-togethers that I sometimes hold are for people in the community to get together to have a fun time and just to get to know each other.
You’re obviously very on the ball with what’s going on in London – how do you find out about everything happening?
I find out about new popped-up businesses by following lots of various sites, by clients directly and via friends or others in my community.
What has some of your favourite events and pop up’s been so far?
The Magnum pop-up (as I love chocolate and creating), The Crystal Maze (love playing games and loved the TV show back in the day) and Beyond the Waterfall by Bompas and Parr (immersive and very magical with the mermen).
Do you go to all the pop up’s you hear about personally? If so, how do you manage it?
I try to go to most but not all of the pop-ups or new popped-up establishments as they don’t always appeal to me but I post them on my site as it could appeal to others.
What’s your favourite thing about London?
How London is always changing and growing with new pop-ups and popped-up places.
Finally, are there any events or pop-ups/popped-up places we should keep our eyes out for within the next few months?
Jurassic Kingdom Tour, Alice’s Adventures Underground and Tom Kerridge’s new restaurant in Knightsbridge!
Thanks so much for chatting to me Joanne! If you’re a blogger or an influencer interested by some of the opportunities Joanne shares, make sure you visit her Facebook group and request to join. I’ve also bookmarked her website as my go-to source to keep up to date on anything cool going on in London..
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