One of the most commonly heard words in Ostrava last week was FAN-TAS-TIC – closely followed by AWE-SOME. Ostrava was the host city for the TBEX EUROPE 2018 international conference of bloggers and YouTubers – and it was a great adventure for everybody! Some participants came from as far away as Australia, Costa Rica and the Philippines. And some of the speakers – successful bloggers – have hundreds of thousands of followers. Asked what impressions they would take home from Ostrava, the participants all agreed: the wonderful industrial architecture and the warmth and hospitality of the city’s people.

TBEX has been trending high on social networks for several days now thanks to the official conference hashtag #TBEXOstrava2018. Six days after the conference, there are already 1080 posts about TBEX on Instagram – the bloggers’ favourite platform. And some of them reveal fascinating behind-the-scenes insights…

9 things you might not know about the TBEX conference

1. Being a blogger is a profession like any other (even though people often don’t share that opinion), and there are certain risks involved. For example, live streaming isn’t perhaps the best combination with downhill scooter runs in the Beskydy mountains, and one blogger paid the price with a broken collarbone…
2. But every cloud has a silver lining. She was so impressed with the care she received in the local hospital that she shared her experiences with her followers – and especially her American colleagues were amazed at how quick and professional the medical care was!
3. In a democratic vote, the conference delegates chose Radegast as their favourite beer.
4. A Czech Television report on the conference turned one participant into a media star. He wasn’t too keen on the chicken pate, but that’s life. REPORT →.
5. Food and pubs – those were perhaps the most popular topics among the bloggers. We wanted the TBEX crowd to spend as much time as possible here in Ostrava, so we prepared a range of city tours several days before the main event started. The food tour was sold out within two days, and PubToPub bookings filled up almost as quickly.
6. Other cities will be bidding to host TBEX in the future, and one of them isn’t far from Ostrava… Representatives of this potential host city came to Ostrava to ask us about our experiences and to get useful tips and advice. We told them that hosting TBEX is truly something to be recommended!
7. An event like this isn’t just about careful planning – you also need to improvise with creativity and flair. One speaker was delayed by half an hour, other guests got off their train at the wrong station, and the equipment chose the worst possible moment (the opening ceremony) to go on strike! But that’s life – and every problem can be solved.
8. Bloggers are hungry for stories and keen to meet local people. Our strategy was to involve students from Ostrava and Opava as guides in the Gong and in the city as a whole – and it proved to be a huge success! As TBEX CEO Rick Calvert would say: “We created one big TBEX family.”
9. The official mascot of the 2018 TBEX was the Czech lion, but careful observers may have noticed that our furry friend was lacking something rather important – the suppliers forgot to pack his tail!

WATCH OUR VIDEO ABOUT TBEX IN OSTRAVA!!!

You can see – and like individual posts, videos and photos at hashatit.com/hashtags/tbexostrava2018. Have a look – you might see your own favourite place!