This September I celebrated my blog anniversary but was too busy planning for my daughter's birthday and christening (held last October 11) therefore I wasn't able to have any sort of celebration (eg. giveaways) which I originally looked forward to.
Fortunately, the Blogapalooza happened on October 25, just in time for me to celebrate blogging and to breath from months of preparation, not too mention my week long dengue inflicted hospitalization a day after my baby's birthday.
So what is blogapalooza? and why I was excited to be part of it?
Blogapalooza is a community of Bloggers and Online Influencers wanting to feature and connect with Businesses - blogapalooza.ph
For me, it is the best opportunity to create and build networks especially for a newbie like me; to know different brands and products that will get my interest for future feature or much better review in my blog; to get first dibs on products that will soon be out in the market; to meet fellow bloggers especially those that I've been following for years and to ,of course (as I heard and read), have fun and try samples and of course, freebies.
Bloggers Meet Future Clients And Advertisers.
We connect Businesses and Bloggers directly, helping lower costs for Businesses and increase profit and give new up for the Bloggers. Organizing events that stimulate interaction and publicity for businesses and things to feature for Bloggers.
- blogapalooza.ph
Registration ahead of time is needed for those bloggers who wanted to attend this annual event to secure a slot. I read a lot of pretty good reviews on the past blogapaloozas that added much into my anticipation. I even had an idea of what to bring to the event, so I prepared the things I needed but forgot to bring the most important of all, calling cards (haha, I did bring my DIY soft copy but wasn't able to print it. I was planning to drop to any computer shop along the way to the venue but my anticipation had gotten into me)
BLOGAPALOOZA 2015:
Now on it's fourth year, the Business to Bloggers celebration themed as #ResponsibleMedia was held on October 25 at the One Esplanade, SM Central Business Park (few streets before SM MoA when you came from the G.Puyat Station jeepneys). The venue was artistically decorated with 4 arcs per area representing the four "Seasons". It opened at 10am but I went there at 2pm as I had to do mommy duties in the morning,
When I got there, I didn't know where the exact entrance was. Since there were many doors, I just paved my way into one of them and realized I was on the other side from the entrance. (This proves that I really don't have any sense of direction.).
But guess what, it was a blessing in disguise because the first blogger that I recognized was for me one of the few most compelling writers here in the Philippines, it was Rattus Yu of ladyrattus.com.
I didn't waste anytime, I followed, approached and told her that I am referring her to a group of MassCom student in PLM for their case study and thesis as they recently asked me if I know someone who I think is an enthralling and a convicting person and without second thoughts, I referred them her page.
She is really accommodating and she gave me a calling card which I eventually shared to the students who asked me. And of course, I asked her for a twofie (For documentation purposes. hehe.. and to show it to my sister who is also her avid follower. I finally met her. fanmode on talaga ako, grabe! hehe).
Also, I met Tinsley of alapaap08.wordpress.com and Ate Reylen of madeitthroughmum.com who handed me some of my tokens from posting PR materials.
I had a great start on the Blogapalooza that literally added up to my excitement (and power ^_^ ) for the rest of the day.
Next, I am sharing with you the top brands and booths of the event (listed in order) in terms of good advertising and marketing strategy and with friendly staffs who never got tired of explaining who and what they are and those that caught my personal interest.
MY TOP FAVORITE BRANDS/BOOTHS:
1. JB MUSIC
As a music and musical instrument enthusiast particularly string instruments (I play banduria, violin and guitar), the JB Music was the best for me. Their set up was very eye catching, who wouldn't love to have that white electric guitar. hihi!
I threw a lot of questions regarding different types of guitar tuner to the girl who was mainly doing the product marketing at their booth. You might think that I can do it in any other JB Music branches, but maybe because I wasn't expecting them to be there that gave me much enthusiasm to talk to their staff.
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| Oh this is me, trying to play some chords while waiting for Urbandub (they were late). They allowed me to try this guitar as I promised to take care for it for some minutes. |
Since I am an avid fan of OPM band, this was the booth that I kept on checking because they invited bands for photo booth sessions with the attendees at different timeslots. The Rivermaya slot at 2pm to 3pm was something I regret missing and the Kamikazee that followed them (but that's okay with me for I have already loads of photos with Jay the vocalist for during my college years I was following them in almost all of their gigs).
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| With Ebe Dancel |
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| Ohhhh mi loves: Urbandub! |
Luckily, I had the chance to have little chitchats and photos with Ebe Dancel (former vocalist of Sugarfree who had gone soloist) and of course Urbandub. Mission accomplished!
2. BREAKOUT PHILIPPINES
Breakout Philippines, they are the premiere in giving "The Real Escape Room" challenges to those who want to be detectives for a day. All you have to do is in 45 minutes you have to try to escape the rooms that you will be trapped into and solve the puzzles by looking for clues inside and survive the fright of the horrific scenery you are in and the actors that scare you and distract you from solving the puzzles.
With their goal to give unique experience to their fans, the environment to breakout from where made realistic and sophisticated just like what they did during the event. They had actor zombies who tries to scare and attract visitors at the same time which was a very effective marketing and advertising strategy.
As a zombie movie and series lover, it was one of my "to go-visit" booth. I really wanted to experience their upcoming event this November 7 at Victoria Court Malate that's why I did try my best to solve the puzzle they provided in their booth but I got no luck that day.
But I am very grateful that my friend Bea of itsybeatsybea08.wordpress.com won a VIP pass that night and I was invited. That's the gift of friendship!
3. NIGHTFALL ESCAPE
It's true that a gamer will always be a gamer that's why the Nightfall booth is third on my list. Though their booth was pretty simple and small they had provided an on-site feels of how the game will be. I was not able to take any photos as I was too engaged with the discussion provided by their staff and enjoyed trying out the game.
Let me introduce you briefly to it. Zeenoh Inc, a software company who develops and publishes most of the first Filipino themed mobile and online games, is now bringing us NIGHTFALL:Escape. This is basically a first person survival game. Think of Counter Strike, Clock Tower and Resident Evil combined in one game but this time the antagonists are based on Filipino folklores like aswang, kapre, tiyanak, paring pugot (beheaded priest), white lady and other scary characters from Filipino elders stories, those we often saw and hear from them during our childhood.
I am eager to know more about it and will 100% download it on my laptop once it was fully released to the market. haha! I find it really intriguing and addictive. More sleepless nights to come!
4. IAMCARDBOARD
The first booth from the entrance was really engaging as the marketers were very well informed of their products and were generous to discuss their brand and answer quiries. It's very nice to have a booth like this as the first stop.
I Am Cardboard, brings on-hand virtual reality through their viewer-headsets that are basically made of high quality hard cardboard material. They offer different types of VR headsets that fit the different handset gadgets that are out in the market. I tried putting my Samsung S4 on the gadget slot and check its screen, indeed the photo did look like in 3D.
Their staffs were really assisting the bloggers and their guests including the naming and downloading of some applications that best suit their VR headsets capability. Though I love games and Iamcardboard offers a very promising experience for gamers, the VR headset is certainly not for me. I don't watch 3D films because I am near sighted coupled with astigmatism. I have literally high eyesight grade that's why this is not applicable and advisable for me. (that's the sad part though)
5. BREVILLE PHILIPPINES
Breville Philippines is the sole distributor of Australian owned culinary products Breville here in the Philippines.
Having a booth in Blogapalooza that had a counter like set up with their sophisticated juice maker and blenders that offers free taste of their all natural creations that later that day had a bar tending show was enough for Breville Philippines to attract bloggers attention for special feature in their post event write ups.
6. SOSRO FRUIT TEA
Sosro Fruit Tea is finally here in the Philippines. This is the number one tea drink in Indonesia and is one of the world's first bottled tea drink. The brand's mantra is to #ChooseYourBottles from their cool flavors that are in Apple, Guava, Strawberry and Freeze.
Being a strawberry addict I chose this flavor as a booth freebie. I did love how it taste and how it had the right balance of sweetness and sourness of strawberry flavor and the light taste of tea,
My list was supposed to be a 5 TOP Picks list, but when I was writing this I remembered my first ever caricature experience which I got a little conscious of. I really want to give credits not just to the artist who drew me but for all the 3 artists. I know how hard it was to draw faces for the whole day. I bet they had a very tiring "raket". Kudos to this guy who gave me another first that day. He seemed really tired as he massaged his hands before starting his work for me.
***Since it was my first time to attend Blogapalooza, I don't have any blogger gathering event that can be a point of comparison as to what other seasoned bloggers had experienced.
But personally, here are the points for improvements that the organizers can refer to:
a. A more organized booth subdivision placements -
For the bloggers to easily find which brand that suits their niches. I suggest that the booths should be grouped according to the usual blogger categories (eg lifestyle, food, beauty, technology etc). I somehow find the booths scattered. (Kawawa naman kaming walang sense of direction, mas naguluhan sa pag iikot. hihi).
b. A map of the venue -
Though one esplanade is not as big as other event venues I recommend, after registration, the bloggers and the guests will be given a flyer of the booths location. This can help bloggers easily locate the brands that interest them.
c. More seats where bloggers can take rest in between booth visits and activities -
I went to the event in the afternoon but with all the activities and roaming back and forth from one booth to another, I got tired and found myself seating on the floor with fellow bloggers near the JB music booth. I do hope. more seats will be provided or a larger venue for the seats to be accommodated.
d. A free reliable wifi connection that can be provided by the venue -
Most of the brands require us to post photos of their products through our social media accounts and One Esplanade is a covered venue and it did took us time to walk out from the booth to near the doors in order to have a rather decent data connection and promote them online. Other brands even required us to blog about them during the event and it time consuming to look for signals. Therefore, if possible, I suggest that Blogapaloozas should be done in a venue that somehow offers reliable free wifi connection that will let us enjoy more of the activities and the event proper.
e. Brands should send their most willing and knowledgeable staffs during events like this -
What's the use of eye catching booths if the staffs assigned were not accommodating. As marketers and promoters of their brands, they should send or assigned staffs that are very much willing to discuss their products and not just to be seated in the event advising each visitors to drop their calling cards and write their names and give out flyers or freebies that are totally not related to the products they have. I observed this in most of the booths. I really found them quite unwelcoming to quiries and product discussions.
There's Always A First Time
As I had said, this was my first ever Blogapalooza. Though I had pointed out rooms for improvement for future blogger gatherings, all in all, this year's celebration is something I should treasure as this had given me opportunities to know more products that I can write about and possibly partnered with and to have the feeling that people inside the venue share the same passion as yours, which is writing/blogging and have them as friends.
The Blogapalooza is still a success and the team behind this event deserves a big "THANK YOU!"
See you in Blogapalooza 2016!!!
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--- Lovelots ---
xtal
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