Be warned... This is a looong post. *wink*. This post may contain photos not suitable for very young audiences. Parental guidance is advised.
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| My Blogapalooza Badge |
Twas my first time to attend this event, been hearing a lot of good things about it from my new found online friends- both old- timers and newbies. And when I saw my name in the list of bloggers who will join -I was stoked!
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| My "Buwis-buhay" shot of the venue - One Esplanade |
Finally, that day came. Last October 25, held the most-awaited , most-talked about , the grandest bloggers event at One Esplanade - Blogapalooza 2015. I will give you the details of my experience of the event. I arrived before lunch time, you can see the time in the picture :) . No hassle in registering, I just typed in my name in a gadget (tab/ipad) ...voila! I'm already registered. The person in the registration area, gave me my name tag. After which, I dunno where to go. I came in, saw many people inside. I was like... Yes? what to do now? where to go first? Should I call my blogger friends to meet me and be with me? :) I decided to explore the area all by myself.
Here are the booths I visited;
1. The first booth I came across is the
iamcardboardph -man! This booth is really awesome! I got to try their product, but wasn't lucky enough to be chosen as one of their winners. It took me I think 30 mins before I left their booth because I'm still trembling and my knees are still shaking. Can't contain. Best VR kit!
2.
Emporia Philippines - They gave me eco bag, ref magnet and ballpen. Yay!!! What I love about their group is their advocacy - win-win for both consumers and merchants. I was privileged to talk to their CEO/Co-founder Mr. Carlo Lim. I was so impressed that convenience, variety and security are rolled into one. Their greatest concern and top priority is the buyers and sellers security. If you are looking for a variety of dress in one page to mix and match, Emporia is a big help.Thumbs-up! Download their app now!
3.
Chips Delight Cookies - my whole day buddy! Couldn't have lasted for 8hrs without their yummy chips. My favorite cookies since College.Don't ask for my age. Haha. Thank you.
4.
Sydenham Laboratories - They let me sit and answer some sort of survey to know how stressed out I am, while waiting for my result's print out, a lady talked to me. Forgot her name, (she ran out of business card) but she's the one who announced their winners on stage. She told me that my stress level is extremely high, we had a short chit chat about my condition and she gave me 2 caps of
Lactium and even advised me to take 1 capsule of it to last the day. I think it worked. Coz I made it til night, feeling good :)
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| *Panda hug* |
5.
Food Panda - though I wasn't able to get a food stub, I just joined their games, fortunate to win an umbrella. This app caters online food delivery from 1000+ restaurants. Panda hug re-energized me. ;)
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| By the cherry blossom tree |
6.
Cebu Pacific - Our family is a CebPac flyer (domestic). They offer lower rates than the other airlines. so love this booth, I was advised by their staff to swing by every hour because they are giving away different tokens depends on their requirement. Lucky is the guy who won the roundtrip ticket to Japan. Hope to visit Fukuoka Japan, soon! ;)
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| Frosty the Snowman |
7.
Ace Water Spa - Our family's happiest place has brought christmassy feels in the event. Already did a
blogpost about them last June.
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| The STAR of Blogapalooza 2015 |
8.
Manong's Lechon Cebu- finally before I left the venue, I got to try the most sought-after lechon. Twas a long line though, but worth the wait. Their Cebu Lechon, is still crispy even after they exposed it for the 30-min pictorial(Parang Aldub daming fans na nag aabang. lol) All I can say, is that, it's the best lechon I've ever tasted, no sarsa(sauce) needed.
Other booths I visited (L-R clockwise)
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JB Music Philippines with
Urbandub,
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Breakout Philippines with my zombie friends lol
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Project Headshot Clinic - digitized headshots online
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Sosro Fruit Tea PH- my thirst quencher
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Victoria Court - (ssshhh) Feel the Distinction
I wasn't able to go through the other booths because of the long queue.
Observations/ suggestions;
1. I hope next time, we could have a "simple" visa-like, where the participating brands would sign after we visited their booth so that we would know what are the brands and what booths are still to be visited, and not on our name tags :)
2. I was looking for food truck(S) that were mentioned in one of the posts in Blogapalooza's page. Only found 1truck and 2 food stalls (na may oras lang din ng pag serve ng tusok-tusok) :( .
The food stub ran out (argh. Famished). so not all bloggers were able to eat, some are even asking "
oh,really? There's food?! Haha " - that's why I'm so thankful for chips delight and sosro fruit tea for bein my buddies that day. I couldn't survived the event without them and the Lactium capsule as well. The food provider should have anticipated the # of attendees since there's a plus1 allowed for every blogger.
3. As per my veteran blogger friends, the first ever Blogapalooza, is solely for bloggers, it's an avenue to meet bloggers and brands and not their family members or friends coz there's a diff event/venue for that. An anonymous blogger once PMd me, and told me he/she (sorry I really don't know the person until now) is not in the list of bloggers who got the chance to attend the Blogapalooza, when his/her blog was active since 2006. Only to know, non-bloggers were in the event. I should have ask that person to be my companion though but I dont even know his/her name. But then again, I don't like havin' a plus 1 during blogger events in respect of the organizers, even when a plus1 is allowed. It's not a family/friends bonding day. I don't know with the others. But I've been hearing complaints from others as well who are not brave enough to state their piece. It's a bloggers event why have a non blogger there? It should be an exclusive bloggers event.
4. There were speakers in the stage pala? I just found out when I went near the stage (Ace Water Spa booth). Many were unable to listen to the speakers and their featured products. Because everything is happening simultaneously. Unlike the first Blogaplooza event, as per a veteran friend again, there's time for a forum- all bloggers in one place, where one by one the participating brands will introduce their company and brand. Then there's time to eat. And then after, that's the only time the booths will be open for everyone to visit. More organized I think. Too bad I didn't hear any speakers that day :( everybody's busy roaming around.
5. The place is okay, I just hope next time not in an enclosed area where our connections were hampered. I brought my own pocket wifi as advised, but still since we are in a concrete/enclosed place the connection was intermittent.
6. Post event contest - sorry for those who have great entries and really would love to join, but failed to join cause they don't have their data connections and the wifi in the area is very poor. I think some brands are having their post event contests cause I've been receiving emails from different brands. A chance also for those who went home early. And another thing, when announced as winner, give the prize to the winner. Even if she/he is not in the event anymore, coordinate with the person on how to claim the prize. She/he won't be declared as winner if there's nothing special with their entries. What if there's really an important matter to attend to? Saw a friend's post, was announced as winner. But when she said she went home already due to urgent matter, no response from the brand :( Tis the reason why it took me a while to have this posted, coz I'm still waiting for the brand's update to the winner, but to no avail.
7. I hope when a brand is having their games or raffles, announce it on stage, for everybody to know. The winner might be on the other booth having her caricature done. :)
8. Tables and chairs in one area within the venue. I sat on the floor out of exhaustion ( before I took Lactium ).
But all in all, my first experience with Blogapalooza is magnificent. I'm happy to finally meet in person my "online" friends. I was able to meet other bloggers as well and the brilliant mind behind Blogapalooza and founder of
When In Manila, Mr. Vince Golangco. I think that's what really matters. Meet and connect. And got to take home lotsa eco bags and pens! Yay!!!
Kudos to the people behind Blogpalooza 2015. Looking forward for next year's Blogapalooza for Bloggers :)
* Bloggers to Business event.
How was your Blogapalooza experience? Care to share? :)
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