IndiBlogger – Product and Community blog

The man who was there at the beginning, and the man we hope will be there at the end. Commitments of an extraordinary nature have kept him from IndiBlogger for a while now; but we’ll never forget that he’s the one who taught us what blogging was all about in the first place! Only recently realized that Saturdays are just as bad as Mondays.

The man who once said – “blogging is the next big thing in India” and started the whole conversation which led to IndiBlogger.in being what it is today. He’s the guy behind the scenes, the one who puts ideas in people’s heads before sitting back to watch what unfolds. He only recently realized that the handlebars on his Royal Enfield were the most atrocious things Bangalore has ever seen.

Our super strict moderator. Everything on IndiBlogger, right from the forum to IndiRank to IndiVine, hinges on what she does; she religiously moderates over a hundred blogs everyday to see if it complies with all our guidelines.  She still hasn’t realized how much power she has in her hands. Let’s hope she never does.

Our event manager who has nothing to say on twitter ’cause she’s too good for the rest of the world. She’s the one who makes the very, very detailed lists on Google docs before every blogger meet, ensuring everybody gets their jobs done on time. She even calls bloggers to make sure they land up on time! Without her, #indimum would have been a lost cause. She only just realized that fish tend to die without food, even if you talk to them everyday.

I’ve known him for far too long to say anything that can be publicly said – expect that he has a nose like a bloodhound and the memory of an elephant. He knows what’s going wrong, long before it becomes apparent to everyone else; and he can recall embarrassing stories about your childhood you blocked out a long time ago. He only recently realized that you never, ever walk out into the middle of a party leaving your pants behind.

You never know what’s going on behind those glasses. He can juggle multiple clients, women and a million other woes in one hand while drinking rum with the other. Reliable as a rock and accepts no praise. Still hasn’t realized that those Nunchucks he carries around everywhere will never be used except in his fantasies.

Always out to prove himself – BG’s the one who will quietly do his thing and lo-and-behold, a few trips later, the job is done; He’s handled the media coverage of IndiBlogger since our very first blogger meet, and the results speak for themselves. Still hasn’t realized that there are some things you just should not roll on an airplane!

Vineet was the blogger who made our Pune Blogger Meet possible. The video he made, dedicated to the blogger in all of us, speaks for the passion he has for blogging and IndiBlogger. He now represents IndiBlogger in Mumbai.  His offer letter was a bottle of whiskey at Bangalore – and thanks to him, we’ve been able to pull off  this great meet at Mumbai. He still hasn’t figured out how to get the point across in 50,000 words or less.

The queen of logistics. If it was not for her (and her OCD) , we would have been running around like headless chickens all through the blogger meet. We really didn’t have much to do except for manual labor, which she graciously allowed us to do. She calls bloggers and tells them what shoes to wear to a blogger meet, and she’s still wondering how many threads there are on the carpet at Sea Princess.

The man who once said “Blogging is boring” – and he’s been paying for it ever since. This newbie blogger is patient, persistent and provides our development team with good Single Malt like a good little soldier. Watch out for him ’cause he’s an upcoming star in the IndiBlogger ranks. Only just realized that Gul probably remembers him as “Coffee Boy”!

The one who is very, very picky about whom she follows on twitter, Shilpa is that little extra ingredient that’s needed at every event. Sharp as a tack, yet insane as a cuckoo clock, she keeps things ticking away with the sound of her voice. She only just realized that there is at least one person in this world who doesn’t want to be hugged by a Shilpa.

The good sport; the go-to person when you need something done, no matter how crazy it is. She would watch the proceedings behind those half-closed eyes and yet know what’s going on better than most of us. #indimum was her first blogger meet, and we hope it’s not her last. Only just realized that airplanes tend to take off even if you’re not on it.

The one you cannot photograph without a smile on her face; this may have been her first blogger meet but you wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t told you so. She can say something that makes you feel good about yourself; 5 minutes later you’ll realize that she was kicking your sorry behind. She only just realized that we all do something other than drinking!

I shut down my first venture in 2004 when I realized that I could do very little by myself.  Three years later, I realized that everything I was looking for has been prancing around in front of me for more than 20 years. It’s a rare occurrence when you can make a “startup” work – it’s a 1000 times more valuable when you can achieve it with people you’ve known since you learnt how to ride a bicycle.