So this is a long delayed post as it has been pointed out by most people. I'm sure there are many more reviews up on the site, so I shall keep it short and hopefully sweet ;-P
Firstly: I got there earlier than expected, and found the place easier than I anticipated. So I took a walk around the neighbourhood, to find that the streets are mostly dead ends and the same people kept hanging around outside. For fear of being called a crazy lost person, walking under a very hot sun, I quickly ran back to Kyra, the venue and found the blogger meet.
The Venue: I discovered that there was a fine restaurant-theater that I for some reason never heard about (but I had, but it was presented to me as a place where musical acts perform, not theater and they didn't tell me the place served food!)
The crowd: The first person I spoke with was a sweet lady whose name was Sowmya, that I bumped into in the lift. We kindda hung out together the rest of the afternoon/evening. The first person that smiled at crazy old me was another lady called Sowmya, who'd arrived early too. The first of the meet planners I spoke with was Karthik, who'd recently relocated Chennai and well, made me feel comfortable. Ha ha, when there's a minimal bunch of people & a lot of empty chairs and tables, it's easy to get comfortable. But sadly, I lost a bit of nerve as the crowd started coming in.
It wasn't the crowd, as much as the fact that there were a room full of observers that scared me. More importantly, there were some who were live twittering/blogging right at that moment. It's one thing be a silent observer/noter and another thing to be the subject of such an observation.
Which is why when we had the meet & greet session, I was not surprised that whilst I was proud I recollected tid bits of each person's self introduction: there were more who remembered my brief, rapidly nervous intro. I was in a room of intelligentsia, and it didn't help that I was reading Orwell's 1984 right around the meet. Tsk tsk.
How it all panned out: The beer came, and we drank, as a community. I got my anesthesia, and Big Brother went out the window. And as I spoke to everyone that came around, I met some very intelligent people. Who knew how to crack jokes, and laugh at them when someone else tried. Open minded, willing and talkative. I realized that this blog and myself as it's author has an identity crisis- what's the motive? what's the theme? what's your blog about?
Then came discussion time. We had some laughs, and some debates. Securing your creative output 101, and some debate on monetizing from your blogs. I learnt that this baby, that's been growing for these 5 years is at risk too, of people who do more than just read it. And being the communist that I am, I'd never monetize on my baby.. though I don't think I'd reject the idea of fame :) My last thoughts on those debates though- to each his own. Do what you want. This media is an open, free entity. Let's treat it as such, and impose only creative control.
How it ended: Then almost too quickly, it was time to go. Some rushed out the door, others lingered. I left, and while I was waiting for a friend, another new friend came over and we had a very enlightening chat about life. lol. Nope, it wasn't that, but it was a chat still. And off I went to KFC after that, with contact cards in my bag (maybe I should get a set before my next meet), a sheet of paper with comments and blogs to explore (I've been very bad this week, haven't really browsed) & and a wish to return to the next meet. Which I hope is as soon as possible!
thank you to the blogging team, for a wonderful meet :)
Firstly: I got there earlier than expected, and found the place easier than I anticipated. So I took a walk around the neighbourhood, to find that the streets are mostly dead ends and the same people kept hanging around outside. For fear of being called a crazy lost person, walking under a very hot sun, I quickly ran back to Kyra, the venue and found the blogger meet.
The Venue: I discovered that there was a fine restaurant-theater that I for some reason never heard about (but I had, but it was presented to me as a place where musical acts perform, not theater and they didn't tell me the place served food!)
The crowd: The first person I spoke with was a sweet lady whose name was Sowmya, that I bumped into in the lift. We kindda hung out together the rest of the afternoon/evening. The first person that smiled at crazy old me was another lady called Sowmya, who'd arrived early too. The first of the meet planners I spoke with was Karthik, who'd recently relocated Chennai and well, made me feel comfortable. Ha ha, when there's a minimal bunch of people & a lot of empty chairs and tables, it's easy to get comfortable. But sadly, I lost a bit of nerve as the crowd started coming in.
It wasn't the crowd, as much as the fact that there were a room full of observers that scared me. More importantly, there were some who were live twittering/blogging right at that moment. It's one thing be a silent observer/noter and another thing to be the subject of such an observation.
Which is why when we had the meet & greet session, I was not surprised that whilst I was proud I recollected tid bits of each person's self introduction: there were more who remembered my brief, rapidly nervous intro. I was in a room of intelligentsia, and it didn't help that I was reading Orwell's 1984 right around the meet. Tsk tsk.
How it all panned out: The beer came, and we drank, as a community. I got my anesthesia, and Big Brother went out the window. And as I spoke to everyone that came around, I met some very intelligent people. Who knew how to crack jokes, and laugh at them when someone else tried. Open minded, willing and talkative. I realized that this blog and myself as it's author has an identity crisis- what's the motive? what's the theme? what's your blog about?
Then came discussion time. We had some laughs, and some debates. Securing your creative output 101, and some debate on monetizing from your blogs. I learnt that this baby, that's been growing for these 5 years is at risk too, of people who do more than just read it. And being the communist that I am, I'd never monetize on my baby.. though I don't think I'd reject the idea of fame :) My last thoughts on those debates though- to each his own. Do what you want. This media is an open, free entity. Let's treat it as such, and impose only creative control.
How it ended: Then almost too quickly, it was time to go. Some rushed out the door, others lingered. I left, and while I was waiting for a friend, another new friend came over and we had a very enlightening chat about life. lol. Nope, it wasn't that, but it was a chat still. And off I went to KFC after that, with contact cards in my bag (maybe I should get a set before my next meet), a sheet of paper with comments and blogs to explore (I've been very bad this week, haven't really browsed) & and a wish to return to the next meet. Which I hope is as soon as possible!
thank you to the blogging team, for a wonderful meet :)
Comments
i was there more than one hour earlier...and was calling friends to kill the time... :)
the meet was awesome.....it was the second....i attended and much better than the last one.....
though free beer wasn't for me..... :)
met some really interesting..ppl...you can count yourself as one of them.......
hope to be here again.....
\,,/
even i'm waiting to blabber abt my exp. ther.....it's been more than a week......but better late then never....may i'll do it today...
:)