Pub?? Yeh bloggers ki meet hai ya daaru party? Kahaan phas
gaye? Yehi jagah mili thi inhein?
These were the same exact thoughts running through
my mind when I first heard about the indiblogger meet at bluefrog. Although
blogging for years now, but it was my first chance since joining a blogging
website Indiblogger so that I could meet other bloggers and also increase the visibility
of my blog. Last few meets were Saturday scheduled and with no off for me ,
this was a blessing in disguise as it was held on Sunday. I checked it once
again with indiblogger on twitter whether my pocket would take a hit or not…the
good news, no entry fees
I didn’t knew what to expect, what all happened in these
meets…was a bit nervous as hell. So i started thinking that i`ll not expect anything
and just go there…maybe something serious would happen..afterall, bloggers seem
intellectuals. Reconfirming the timing and venue from the place , I started off
to qutab. Once down and with plenty of time in hand , had a dandi march to the
venue, asking directions, getting lost in history as I passed by qutab minar. Temptation
tempted me to go in but suddenly I realized that its my day to meet new people,
history can wait another day. A billboard welcomed me to the venue with the lines
“Microsoft and Indiblogger welcomes Bloggers”… That was cool. Had a talk with a
few people there as we waited to enter into the main venue. Apart from being
greeted by the beautiful and stunning beauties at bluefrog, what I witnessed
before my eyes was totally new.
Laptops up and running..Check in with your email id. Well
what I got was a personalized welcome…and the t shirt came next. Adjusting my
eyes to the dark world of a pub ( a place unknown to me), I choose a seat and
looked at the screen. Technology staring right at me, I saw tweets flying thick
and fast, automatic checkins being displayed…wow.. Staring at my mobile phone I
thanked god that I had enough battery to go tweeting and last the whole session
of this meet. Even my tweet got an instant reply from Microsoft. Luckily, I made
a few friends in the few minutes I had been there so was not feeling awkward as
when I had stepped in to the venue. When it all started, I felt just like a kid
at the first day at school…not knowing what will happen and how it would go..As
Anoop started the proceedings, I felt that it was going to be different because
the agenda written on the paper was rejected…I knew instantaneous things go
well and also knew that quite a few of other ones were also first timers at the
meet. Ek hi thaaili ke chattey battey. The way 15 seconds of fame progressed, it
took me sometime to figure everything out. Then came the diversity of people
writing on various topics….food, technology, poems, hindi, poetry, random stuff…Although
chances of me getting a chance were remote, but it sure did help me find people
from one particular field of service I respect from the bottom of my heart and
almost worship- Defence. Felt like just like a small child in a toy shop. Not one but
3 ex defence people…2 from the army and one from the navy…Damn my fav. Air
force was missing J . Number calling took up the surprise slot. People actually winning hard cash,
free beer, mouse, tshirts and all such stuff doing virtually nothing. Wearing a
striped shirt that day got me a shirt. How cool is that....
Things went smoothly until I knew something boring would
come up- Microsoft 365. Although it was a sponsor but I was not really in the
mood to hear about software on my off day. Gaming consoles might have been
another story…Far cry, Max Payne, Xbox 360….hmmm..tempting. The heart then said
that atleast listen. Little did I knew that it would surprise me at the end.
Listened to the features, queries by others and all and then all broke off for
refreshments. There I made up a few more friends, talked at length about blogs
and stuff. People winning money there also for performing impromptu tasks. I took
a step ahead but my doctor`s advice halted me.. “ Beta, you`ve just got off
with a fractured leg, wanna risk it again for money”? So, I decided to play it
safe and enjoy the evening. Finally after sometime I headed back inside again
for what I called it a “return to base” call. All this while I noticed that
there were veteran bloggers, ladies, girls..people from all walks of life.
Finally I knew that `Beauty with brains` are a reality. Now twitter made its
appearance. Asked one feature of 365 helping in enterprise and told to tweet, I
went forward and made a tweet. Not expecting anything, surprise…surprise…anoop
read it and I won a Microsoft mouse out of nowhere. Now this was ultra awesome.
I had come in empty handed and now I was sitting with 3 goodies in a matter of
just 4 hours. My new found friends were surprised and happy and I was dumb
struck, but beeming. With Microsoft india cloud services head, Ritu Chaturvedi
joining us after the break I considered her the lady luck.
The whole team from indiblogger was faboulous. Be it Anoop,
Prateek and the others too who made my
day and evening memorable. When we finally wrapped up after the group pic and
meet and I walked down with my friend Abhishek to the metro station talking, I knew
that I carried home a lot more friends, new and happy memories, something new,
and the luck which I knew would make me stand infront of all of them and make
me introduce myself, in my own style…Little did I knew that the wish would be
granted so soon…in Gurgaon....
looks like indibloggers had a gala time !!
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