Bangalore IndiBlogger Meet 2010

Five months after I attended the first Indiblogger meet of my life, in Hyderabad, today I walked in to the seventh floor of Fortune Park JP Celestial, Bangalore to meet Renie and team yet again! The first impression was not as good as what I had in Hyderabad - thanks to the 60 minutes motorcycle ride through the unknown streets of Bangalore, struggling to find our way to the venue. 

It was a pleasure to meet Renie, Anwin, Anoop, Vineet, Bala, Rashmi and the entire team yet again. Was Nafisa in there? :O The reception looked more techie with the presence of gorgeous gadgets with HP label printed on them! The registration counter sure looked better than what we had in Hyderabad and looked lovely with the presence of the bubbly young ladies of the Indiblogger team!

The hall was as expected, crowded. 274 registered entrants - now that's what I call a real offline meet! Being new to the city, the excitement of being with so many fellow bloggers was building up. To add to the excitement, I spotted Vinay, Shravan and Aparna in the crowd. Ive known them only through their blogs, meeting them in flesh and blood was an experience worth mentioning! Abhinav and I found ourselves seated towards the farther row from the screen.

The '30 seconds of fame' made us clap at commendable introductions, laugh at ridiculous self promotions and drool at gorgeous girls. The youngest blogger present was 14 years old and the oldest has seen 62 years of life. I got a chance to meet the brain behind "asklaila.com" and his cute little one. There were professional content writers, creative managers, photographers and a handful of people who respected their work. As an irony, most of the people present described their work as "crap", something which I found sad to hear.

I am still in love with the interface Indiblogger has created lately. This screen inspired me to fiddle with my phone a few times. Amazing is the advancement of technology in the communication arena!

 I took a few minutes break from the session to appreciate this beauty. The HP ePrint web-connected all-in-one cloud printer is a marvel of technology. Think of a situation were you click a photograph with your mobile phone, forward it to an email id and the photograph gets printed on a stand alone printer! No more laptops or software, no restrictions on proximity - printing is a breeze, just like sending an email! I tested this machine personally and verified the quality of the prints. Its amazing!

This time the event was not all about fun. There were a lot of "gyaan" sessions as well. People talked about technology, languages, civic sense and responsibilities, helping RTO find polluting vehicles and what not. The Indiblogger team made sure that the microphone passed hands before the crowd gets bored, something which made the sessions more effective!

The introduction rounds have made people glue to their seat. It was time to take a walk, to meet people and to say 'hi'! Yes, the Interaction round was on its way, with yellow chart papers and sketch pens. When it comes to sketch pens, there is only one name which comes to my mind, Rashmi :)

It was a wonderful experience to meet such a diversified crowd in such a short time! This half day experience has added at least two more names in my friends list - something which I appreciate about such an event.

The tiring interaction session was followed by a coffee break. I had the best coffee in my four months of Bangalore life, thanks to the catering wing of Fortune Park JP Celestial. The samosas weren't bad either! :) 

Thats Abhinav, myself and Shravan sharing a lighter moment. The best thing about any bloggers meet is the awareness it create, the thought that it shares suggesting that there indeed is life among the words shared in the lifeless medium. To meet the person who wrote the poetry which stroke a chord in your heart, to meet some one who shares his/her thoughts with you, to meet some one who made you think you are in love - its an experience enjoyed by blessed souls. Next time you get an opportunity, DO NOT miss it.

This post wouldn't be complete without this photograph. R, if you read this, know that your smile is contagious. It makes the people around you feel good. It wraps you with an aura of friendliness. Thanks for the extra t-shirt :) Bless you!

The major attraction of the event! I loved the wordings in this edition of the t shirt. Quality wise, I would stick to the one I got in Hyderabad. Having said that, I am happy to have received my share of the symbol and I am waiting eagerly for a chance to flaunt it :)

With that its time to ring the closing bells. Time for me to hit the bed! You guys wait, you got to comment before you leave! 

Have a good day folks. Communicate, Smile and Live your life!