Once again the Fringe Networking event will be taking place in the shadows of WTM. This year it is being held at the Pavillion End Bar on the Monday evening.  As always this event is sure to be a highlight of the week and anyone who’s in London and involved at the grass roots of travel should definitely try and make it along.

In an age where we communicate online so easily and freely it is always a delight to connect with each other in the real world.  The informal atmosphere of a central London bar has proved to be a popular setting for these events.  As more and more gatherings begin to pop up around the city on the fringes of WTM, largely due to our collective power on the internet to organise and come together I think it is with real optimism that we can approach the week ahead.  Ben Colclough of Tourdust put together a handy Alternative Guide to WTM last week that acts as a useful reference.

You can connect with the Fringe Network online follow the event using #rtnet on Twitter.

Of course the monstrosity that is WTM will be bulging at the seams next week, with towering displays of marketing budgets gone wild and industry representatives from all corners of the world making a years worth of deals.  There will be a few bloggers strutting the lengths of Excel busy twittering away and making notes about the experience, I’ll be one of those, but it’s the smaller more intimate events like the Fringe networking event and Travel Blog Camp that I’m looking forward to.