IndiBlogger Weekly Diary | Edition 8
Welcome one and all as we take you through the happenings on IndiBlogger for yet another week! A lot of things have happened this week including some development on the IndiBlogger website, the first IndiBlogger event of the year and the introduction of a new team member!
Will the real IndiName please stand up?
Ok, first thing’s first, how many of you tried to take “Batman” as your IndiName? :-D.
We decided to get out of “numbering” people and let people choose how they wanted their URL to be. We feel that this will help us drive more readers to your blog! It makes promoting and referencing of your blog easier too! However, I have always enjoyed anonymity of a number more than a name. Having said that, the new URLs do give our profiles on IndiBlogger a more polished look and better branding to individual bloggers. We would love to hear your theory behind choosing your IndiName; so comment away!
Another new feature is on the IndiBlogger home page where we can now see top posts from different categories. An update : I had previously mentioned top posts badges would be given to all categories but NO, the top posts will be given only for the popular blog posts of the day.
IndiSpire
We received a very interesting tweet from Oreejit where he gave the suggestion that IndiSpire should cater to all categories. I think that is a wonderful idea. I realize that blogging isn’t really about the number of visitors who flock to your site. It’s more about the varied content and topics that affect people’s life every day in every way. I also agree with Oreejit about most of the topics on IndiSpire being about love and such. These topics definitely have a large audience but do not interest all the audience. I find this feedback really important. Agree or disagree? We will know by the upcoming IndiSpire topics soon 😉 Or you could just share your opinion here.
Why does the #Indispire on @indiblogger mostly discuss mushy topics in the garb of intellectual discussion? #Solitude #soulmates #love #cry
— Oreejit (@Oreejit_G) February 3, 2015
IndiVine Contest
The Garnier campaign closed this week with 435 entries. (God bless those who will be judging these posts!) Not long ago, a Garnier campaign on IndiBlogger was won by Pallavi; who got the chance to meet Deepika Padukone as the prize! Here’s a pic of her with the actor:
Here’s what Karthik imagined happened:
The New Guy in the IndiTeam
A drum roll of a welcome for our new talented recruit, Jesuwin! He has spent most of his years in Dubai and a few in India when he was pursuing his Masters in Strategic Marketing; making him a great asset for IndiBlogger. His creative ideas and analytical skills are sure to contribute to our success in the years to come. He can sing, play guitar, smash the bloody drums, paint and doodle! And NO, we don’t go out there looking for these types but hey, they seem to find us 😀
You can check out one of his tracks on sound cloud and you can even show him some love in the comments below..
And this is Vineet Rajan grooving to the song and Renie giving him a stink eye look that says, WTF??.
Welcome to IndiBlogger!
With “being new” the theme for this week, we decided to list some of the interesting new bloggers to sign up this week!
http://www.lifetippr.com/ – A lifestyle blog with a collection of posts that have reasons to do something or the other.
https://itis420somewhere.wordpress.com/ – An interesting blog with a lot of unique photographs and radical beliefs.
https://muffinsonstyle.wordpress.com/page/2/ – A blog on men’s fashion. Comparatively fewer of this breed around.
http://blog.whatsupnewdelhi.com/ – A blog that talks about everything Delhi!
http://www.minalspiceworld.com/ – A blogger with a lot of posts on food!
http://www.childrights.in/ – A blogger who has dedicated his life towards fighting for the rights of children ** Respect**
https://tokillamimingbird.wordpress.com/ – a nice, personal blog with a tag line that I envy, “I speak to be free and I speak freely”.. Nice!
http://www.indiancurvychic.blogspot.in/ – An adorable blog from a curvy gal.
http://themaraudingmaverick.com/ – A lifestyle blog with the name “Dire Straits”! I mean who doesn’t like Dire Straits, right?
http://gioadventures.blogspot.in/ – An adventure blog with a lot of experiences. When I saw the cover photo, I was taken back to the year 2000 when I trekked through the Himalayas. A life altering experience.
http://indianbirds.thedynamicnature.com/ – This one is for the birds!
https://thestardustelephant.wordpress.com/ – A personal blog with poems and short stories. I love the tagline “The unknown lasts longer than we believe” .. Hmm .. Profound!
http://arowanaconsulting-group.blogspot.in/ – A consulting company that blogs .. hmm .. not the best content but I guess it’s a start.
www.mydailylifetips.com – A blog with some experience on finance among other things.
http://www.security.securethelock.com/ – A blog that talks about online security. I used to be in this field in my past life doing the pre sales for such solutions. Some good info on it in here.
https://meghanarawat.wordpress.com/ – I had to put this one up. The latest post was on Bob Marley 🙂
After going through a lot of the new IndiBloggers, I realized that there is a LOT more talent out there and they are not on IndiBlogger. Not yet anyway 🙂
So there you go, a list of some of the new IndiBloggers. It is an honor that you guys joined us! For a complete list of new sign ups every week, you can look here https://www.indiblogger.in/directory.php
An unforgettable event:
The first event of the IndiBlogger year happened this weekend. It was like the old days. A full house with a relaxed bunch of bloggers! Some from the days of yore and many were new to IndiBlogger events. A great mix of people, lots of laughs and I don’t think anyone wanted to leave.
Jesuwin had a “Light Bulb” moment at the event. Here is what transpired when David Chu the product manager for Asus was addressing the crowd:
David Chu – Here is the new Asus phone (Shows a phone to the audience)
Jesuwin – Hey! That looks like my phone!
David Chu – This is the Zenfone
Jesuwin – Really? My phone is called the Zenfone? (Looks at the back of his phone)
David Chu – It runs on Android
Jesuwin – Really?? Android?? I thought my phone ran on WhatsApp!
After everyone rolled on the floor laughing, we decided to add a couple more items to his training agenda 😀
The bloggers also did skits promoting blogging. Some really great moments there. It’s amazing to see how people who don’t know anything about each other get together and really work their heart out. Their only common denominator is blogging. Heart warming stuff! You can see all of the photos here!
Here are the winners to last weeks question of the week!
Note:- We have shipped the pending prizes for last three weeks so keep a look out for them in your mail box 🙂
This weeks question:
Tell us about your experience of meeting a blogger or bloggers. With an example or two, tell us specific instances of what made meeting a blogger so special and you can win exclusive Blog Now Live Forever magnets!
Until next time, keep blogging!
Had to wait a long time for this entry to arrive! Haha! Anyways, it was worth the wait! Good one Anoop 🙂
Indiname was actually a fun part 😛 I did suggest some amazing ones to people (/writer, /error, /bhai, /photographer, /blogger) until settling for plain and simple /tanishq for myself! 🙂
Unfortunately, could not attend the meet as I reside in Mumbai :/ (Doesn’t matter,I have 12th Boards in 5 days so wouldn’t have been allowed :P) but anyways, looking at pictures it sure shot would have been really good meet.
And yes, meeting a fellow bellow, or a new one for instance is always cherishing for the fact that his experiences make you go more into your blogging spheres and explore more. It is kind of additive property of algebra, exchange of ideas take place and there are way too many things to hold onto, but its always amazing to meet someone with the similar interest 🙂
Anyways, it was a good read this! Waiting for the next one to come soon and be a “weekly” diary only 😛 ahaha, I know it takes a lot of hardwork, kudos! 🙂
Additive property of algebra? You’re preparing too much for your exams. 😛
Boards next week, what else can you expect? 😛
It is amazing to read the weekly diary. I look forward to reading it and also to see what happened the previous week on Indiblogger.
I liked the idea of Indiname and thank IB for giving us bloggers this personal space for our words and creativity. I took amreen.shaikh!
Congrats IB team on the new addition to your team. I hope you guys get more creative with every endeavour 🙂
I felt so special when I received that invitation mail to the Asus Bangalore meet, but unfortunately, I was unable to attend as I stay in Mumbai. I read through the posts of bloggers who attended the meet to only know about the excitement they shared there. I hope to be a part of it in the future.
It is nice to see how the interest for blogging through the ample registrations to IB every week.
Coming to question, meeting a blogger iis definitely like meeting a friend with similar interests. I’ve a few friends of mine who blog and to be with them is indeed inspiring. They help us to grow and perceive different ideas and also how we can perceive a topic in different ways. My blogger friends have only helpehelped me grow in experience and also helped me better my blogging skills.
🙂
This is the first weekly diary I’ve read. You guys are so funny! I loved that part about the Zenfone 😛
That meet was a hell lot of fun! Which brings us to the question. There are some people whom we know because they follow our blogs, or we follow theirs. We “know” them, though we may have not met face to face, because blogging isn’t like facebooking, where you try to look cooler for the sake of whatever. Blogging is way more honest; so bloggers are people we “know” (I can’t think of a better term, sorry). So meeting them is putting a face to the name. It’s exciting! Especially so, when someone remembers a post you might have written ages ago! I have met several bloggers: Jyotsna Bhatia, Preethi Venugopal, Soumya Prasad, Keirthana S, Shailaja V to name a few (whom I previously knew only via their blogs), but I especially wanna mention Indrani Ghose, cos she spoke to me about a post that I wrote in April 2014! When someone remembers a post that’s so old, you just feel exhilarated! It’s a great, great feeling! 🙂
I agree on the Indispire theme issue, all sorts of topic must be there to cater interest of different types.
Great to know about Jesuwin..he is extremely talented and has an impeccable sense of humour ( ASUS Zenphone 😀 )
Read about the ASUS meet in the posts of many fellow bloggers. It was great fun, they all said and I felt nostalgic about the Dove-IB meet which I attended.
The new Indivine features are wonderful and more posts are coming in clear public view. That’s great. Mentioning the new bloggers will definitely boost them up. A newbie needs encouragement and this is a very innovative way to provide that 🙂
I met a number of bloggers in the Dove IB meet. A few of them were virtually known to me through their blogs and some I met for the first time. It was a great feeling meeting them in person. Believe me, I had 14 new friends in my Facebook friend list after the meet. Rekha, Pooja, Mayuri, Zainab and others. We exchanged views about love, life,food,family and just everything on earth 😀 It seemed we knew each other for ages. Blogging makes the bond stronger, I surmise. The small joys and happiness of being a blogger, the problems …the posts, the pictures..we can share everything so easily and without hesitation. It’s a great feeling!
Yaye.. This was my second win in as many diary comments I posted. I’ve always been a great fan of dairy writing and I love he way you give a complete wrap of the events that were.
This time I am here to comment only to say A REALLY BIG THANK YOU because having my couplet cups is no short of an OPERA moment. Now, I can sip hot chocolate and cold coffee in the same cups simultaneously.
“So you now have a chance to win the “Top Post on IndiBlogger” badge for different categories! All the more reason for you to blog, blog, blog!”
—
So, do all posts featured on the home page get a top post badge? There are some categories like ‘Science’ for which the top posts shown on home page have as few as 5-10 votes. But they don’t have a top post badge. Is there a minimum number of votes a post should get to be eligible for top post badge?
Hey Sorry bro! I made a mistake on that one! The badge is only for the popular posts of the day and not any other category.
I definitely trust you to dig into stuff like this! Thanks! 🙂
I’m feeling on cloud nine, That was my first entry and I win. A big thanks to Anoop and IB team. I’m now waiting for the cup’s arrival.
Last week’s diary was the first edition I read. And I like looking forward to it. There’s something in it that connects me with IB with a little more personal touch.
I listened to Jesuwin’s track. He sounds like a star already. I am curious to know if he played at the Bangalore Indimeet. May the man behind the mask? 😛
I blogged for the first few IndiSpire topics. As Oreejit mentioned, I did not find the next few topics inspiring. And now it’s long since I wrote for one. It is a nice platform and I hope it gets utilized for more meaningful causes in the future.
Had a great time at the IB Bangalore meet. Thanks for the voucher. And congrats to the Pirate team!
I have memorable interactions with bloggers virtually but yet to have one in real-time.
I went through the blog post that Urshita Saini had mentioned. Was very touching. My thanks to Urshita! And congrats!
Hello Anoop!
About time for this diary edition. I was waiting for it since the last one.
It was good to meet you at the Bangalore meet and the whole team as well. You have acquired good lead guitar skills since last I met you at the Mumbai HP ConnectedMusic meet back in Feb 2013. Keep up the good hard practice. 🙂
Hurray! The Pirates won! Thank you for the voucher. Ye all shall be blessed with bounty and rum. Hic-hic! *sways*
Now about this week’s question, I have been to two indimeets and both the experiences has been tremendously joyous! I have met and made quite a few friends in these meets, for instance I met two fellow IT professionals from Accenture in last Bangalore meet; Sameer and Sachin, the thing apart from working in the same field and sharing the same hobby of blogging is it gives us a sense of belongingness in this new city with new people. Being part of this community gives me immense happiness. Thanks to whole Team IB for creating such a platform. I also met a very fine lady who introduced herself as Krupa who was generous enough to give her Moov pain relief gel and some hairpins during the getting to know other bloggers game in Bangalore meet in return for my signature on her wrist. 😛 What a great idea, will make anybody feel special. 🙂 Thank you Krupa for the experiences shared! So all these are my special moments of meeting fellow bloggers. 🙂
Just received the magnet. Here is my answer ti your query on meeting other bloggers –https://parwatisingari.wordpress.com/2015/02/07/goa-bloggers-lounge/
Kudos to KArthik’s imagination. Instead of think big he has taken a call to think tall here.
Vineet’s dance reminds me of a desktop dancing doll that came into existence in late nineties who has the similar kind of monotonous style of dancing.
I keep visiting every edition of diary posted by Anoop but it all depends on the topic that prompts me to jump in and post my comment. Else I come and go silently without putting my footprints. 🙂
Here is my post on this week’s question where I have tried how meeting a blogger/bloggers graduates to a long term friendship and how is it proportionate to the duration and location of this event.
http://pebbleinthestillwaters.in/nonfiction/real-life-experience-of-meeting-a-blogger-or-bloggers-indidiary/
Gung Ho!
Wow. That song sounds awesome and that is an equally amazing doodle – hope to see more of his talent live sometime. Please pass my hello to Djesuwin!
If given a choice, I am the kind of person who would rather choose anonymity but these blogger meeting experiences have shown me that stepping out of anonymity is not such a bad thing to do after all. There have been quite a few instances where I have met bloggers – whom I knew only online via blogs or conversations – for real. And each time, the meeting has ended up way more than my expectations.
I still remember how nervous I was when I attended my “first IndiMeet”, Nokia 2012, even tweeting my feelings then. Little did I know, my fears would soon vanish with the warm welcome I were to receive from senior bloggers like Firoze Shakir and Deepak Amembal, the down-to-earth friendly camaraderie by the IndiTeam and the thrill to see some of my friends in real for the first time. The entire experience came out to be phenomenol, one that I am certain to cherish for all of my life.
The best thing about this meet was that it was coming just after my trip of Japan where again, I had the wonderful fortune of meeting 5 of my blogger friends in Nara region of Japan. All of us had been in touch only through our blogs before this trip came along. I was skeptical approaching them about my visit. But just a few mails is all it took for them to open their hearts and soon, I had been offered a homestay, dinner/lunch treats and complete assistance on guiding around.
In the Nokia meet that followed, I had also got some Japanese chocolates to share it with all the IndiFriends. 🙂 Wonder if you remember?
I had also written a post, an open letter of gratitude to all my Nara blogger friends, here’s the link, in case if you would like a read 🙂
>> http://www.myyatradiary.com/2013/03/to-all-my-nara-friends-with-love.html
The meet at Bangalore was truly rocking. Thank you Anoop, Renie, Vineet and others at Inditeam. You guys are seriously good at your music. Does musical talent just gravitate together or Indiblogger is a magnet for musical talent? Who knows but we surely aren’t complaining. The video of Vineet is hilarious, and Renie’s expression is priceless.
I finally got my Indiname. It is perfect just like I wanted.
Meeting bloggers is a special high. After having interacted with them on the blogs and sometimes on our other social media platforms, one does look forward to meeting them in flesh and blood. I have met many bloggers now. Some of them are thick friends. The first time I met bloggers was through the first Indimeet I attended way back in 2012 through the Nokia meet. Janaki Nagaraj, a blogger friend, was visiting Bangalore and was instrumental in making me attend the meet. She, Farida, Vidya, Indrani, Asha and Anamika were the lovely bloggers I met with and bonded during that meet. Since then, any city I visit, a blogger’s meet is inevitable. I have met some truly wonderful bloggers in Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai till now. 🙂
I loved that first meet and meeting Indiblogger team too. I wrote about it here in case you want a read:
http://www.rachnaparmar.com/2012/11/an-evening-to-remember.html
This week’s diary was fun to read. Congrats IB team on the new addition to your team. I got my Indiname too. It’s ‘aysh’.
It was just another hectic day I had tackled at college. When I returned home pondering how badly I need some refreshment in my life, that’s when my dear writer friend Rafaa Dalvi Whatsapped me a link saying ‘Register’! I saw the link, and it was about registering to the HP Android meet organized by IndiBlogger.
A boring person that I am, I told him that I do not interact as such with people so let it be. After a lot of buttering (as he says it) I agreed to register, as the 98th attendee!
Though getting to the venue was a bit taxing, but it seemed all worth it! Being a part of the GenNext we used navigation tools and apps and somehow managed to reach Ave 29! It was my first IndiBlogger meet. I was nervous. But Ave 29 welcomed me with a great ambience, lovely people, good food, great presentations, entertaining games and a lot more to follow. It was a good exposure, building networks, laughs. Great time altogether. Being a Telecom engineer, getting to know of the latest technology was helpful too.
At this meet, I met Rafaa, my college friend – whom I had not met for a long time – so the meet served as a reason to meet or else it would never happen, given our schedules!
I also met many other bloggers who are now friends – Stephen, Vaisakhi, Namrota, Deepti, Ekta, Renu and many more.
Meeting people who have read your work or you have read them in real life is fun. You can know a lot about their passion, interests and their sense of humor. What follows is a lot of healthy interaction and creative discussion. It is always a pleasure to talk to them and share our ideas and outlooks. That meet is one of a ‘happy’ memory 🙂
http://aayeshashewholives.blogspot.in/2013/08/the-hp-android-experience.html
Nice idea,the IndiName!Forgive me for being all sappy,but this kinda gives a nice personal touch to it all!Caring for each blogger,and stuff like that(Too sappy?Nevermind-Its Valentines!)
Meeting a blogger is always an amazing experience!Thanks for giving us the platform to connect with kindred souls!I’ve met many bloggers through IB,and connected -oh-so-well with all of them,but the first acquaintance will always remain special:
It was the UniverCell Sync review meet,and I see this cute li’l munchkin running around the store,chirping away happily!Needless to say,I got along very well with li’l Maanvi (Since,well,I’m a 18 year old toddler myself>_<).Her mum,meghana is a blogger,and an engineer,as well.(#SamePinch).Felt fabulous!
P.s:Welcome,Jesuwin:)
Stay amazing:)
I wish i can too meet the indibloggers but well i reside in delhi, but yes good news is that i got my IndiName , its “simtheblogger” and i share the url on “Contact us” Section of my blog. And seriously god bless to whomever guding the Garnier Contest!!
Nice post Anup, waited for so many days to read this 🙂
I without thinking a much selected vatsalok as my IndiName; it is something which is my own identity and as I asked a few days back that who is more popular – you or your blog, I realized that so far people know about my blog through my name only and hence I decided to go with my name.
Welcome Jesuwin to the IndiTeam, I am sure you will deliver the best.
As far as meeting bloggers and experiences are concerned, I met so many bloggers in IndiMeets and there are not at all a few instances which I can quote as all of the experiences were too good. Though will accept it over here that I met with Vinay Nagaraju, not personally, but virtually only, who became one truest buddy and brother of mine in a very short time. I am thankful to IndiBlogger which allowed me to meet so many versatile bloggers.
What happened to IndiDiary, Anoop? 😛 Its been ages! 😛
Hey.. yes this weeks been a bit late! some unexpected running around! 🙂
I get a kick-ass magnet in the mail today and rush to this post to check if I have been selected. Things are in a pretty bad state at home right now and I haven’t blogged for a long time, but still this managed to lighten me up!
You guys at IB seriously don’t have any idea on how awesome you are ! 🙂
Thanks ! 🙂
Awesome, really IB Rocks..!!