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Mar162008
IndiBlogger Bloggers’ Meet At Pune
Firstly, I would like to say that this was my first ever bloggers’ meet. I had never been to such a meet before, and therefore, I didn’t know what such a meet would be like. At the end of it all, I must say that it was a great experience and I hope that such meets are held in the future too.
The venue for this meet was the Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning. At the very beginning of the meet, there was this great video shown to us which defines a blog. I guess it was made by Vineet (the organiser of the meet). It was a great video, dude. Keep it up! I have embedded the video too, hope you guys like it.
After the customary introductions by the IndiBlogger team and a lady called Sandhya Rajan representing Microsoft it was time for ‘1 minute of Fame’, where every blogger was supposed to introduce his/her blog(s). Here I came to know about quite a few great blogs which are worth a mention here.
First there was a ProBlogger called Karamveer Singh. He has a software company called Ayush Software and he claims to own about 200 websites. And what were his earnings for February 2008? A mind-boggling $55000! I am sure he is one of the highest earners in the blogosphere. Probably the most surprising thing was the presence in the meet of quite a few regional language bloggers (bloggers who blog in Marathi, Hindi etc). This surely is testimony to the fact that the Indian blogosphere is now maturing. And yes, I also met two fellow mutineers Harsha and Maltesh. Then there was Ketan Pandit who has launched a campaign against female foeticide, through his blog. Noble campaign dude, I wish you the very best of luck!
The next item was ‘How well do you know your readers?’, where the IndiBlogger team would read out a comment and you have to recognise whether that comment is from your blog. And if it is, you have to do what is called ‘The IndiBlogger Jig’. Unfortunately, the second comment read out was from my blog and I had to do that jig! Of course, I botched it up, but I promise to do a better jig the next time around.
After dinner, which consisted of pizzas (which were quite good) and some Coke, it was time for the skit. I had volunteered for this skit and, honestly, though it didn’t make much sense, it was great fun to participate in. The skit was about how a blogger writes a post which is appreciated by a few visitors. But when his blog starts getting spammed, he starts losing visitors, his page-rank goes down and in the end, Akismet (the great anti-spam plugin for Wordpress) saves the day.
Then there was the inevitable Microsoft LiveWriter presentation. One incredible fact I discovered here was that LiveWriter is a freeware. Heh. No one was ready to believe it, but after repeated assurances from Sandhya that it was indeed a freeware, we sort of came to terms with this (grim) reality!
As for the discussions that took place during the meet, I must mention here Vineet’s tips on starting your own self-hosted blog by spending only Rs. 200. He has also written a post on this topic on his blog. Then there was Karamveer Singh doling out tips on how to monetise your blog. And yes, not to forget, there were around four guys from BarCamp who announced that there is a BlogCamp and simultaneously a BarCamp in Mumbai on the 29th of March, 2008 at IIT Powai. Heck, I don’t think I will be able to attend it because of the damned college submissions. Sorry, guys.
Finally, I wold like to thank Vineet and the Indiblogger team for organising this bloggers’ meet. You guys did a great job!
OK, I guess that’s it. If there is anything that I have missed out on, you guys can just drop in a comment. Happy Blogging!
The views expressed in this post are those of the writer and are not necessarily endorsed by Mutiny.in
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Anwin
001
6:38 pm
Hey, nice meeting you at the meet. And awesome review
And of course, thanks for the volunteering for the skit.
Vinita Deshmukh
002
8:53 pm
Dear Kris,
this is vinita deshmukh, editor, Intelligent Pune, a popular and well-respected weekly tabloid from Pune. Would like to use your posting on the bloggers meet in the weekly. Can I? Do reply
cheers and warm rgds
vinita
2S
003
8:54 am
Oh, they made you do that silly little jig too? Fun isn’t it? Glad you met the other folks from Mutiny, and Ketan Pandit too. His is the kind of blog I nudge people towards everytime they say blogging is useless or dangerous to soceity, just to rubbish their thoughts.
Kris
004
11:15 am
@ Anwin
Hey, it’s great to hear that you liked my review. It was great meeting you guys.
@ Vinita Deshmukh
It would be great if you can feature this review in Intelligent Pune. I will feel honored. I have read that tabloid a few times and I must say that it rocks!
@ 2S
Hell yes, now that I think I about that jig, I too feel that it’s great fun indeed.
Kris
005
12:20 pm
@ Vinita Deshmukh
And yes, just in case you attribute that article to me (which I am sure you will!), the name is Krishna Aradhi (not Kris).
If you need any more info about the meet, you can write in to me at krisblogs[at]gmail[dot]com.
Maltesh Ashrit
006
8:15 pm
Thats was a good brief Kris, meanwhile here are the pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maltesh/2343393518/
and more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/maltesh/
Vinita Deshmukh
007
4:28 am
thanks Kris - will use ur article for the March 28 issue of Intelligent Pune. Writing to you on your email for more details and pics if possible. Noted ur ful name and glad that you like Intelligent Pune.
cheers and warm rgds
vinita
Vinita Deshmukh
008
4:31 am
Dear Kris,
also, just saw the pic uploaded by Maltesh - think i can use it and other pics too? pl let me know,
cheers and warm rgds
vinita
Maltesh Ashrit
009
9:58 am
Sure Vinita you can use the pic, but with due credits for the pic.
Thanks.
Gauri Ghatnekar
010
10:19 am
halo krishna aradhi,
i dont know just what was the bloggers meet all about? how should i proceed if i want more information on the same? cud u mail me the proceeds and the list of contributors? also pls add what was published in intelligent pune and the media coverage that it received.
thanks and warm regards
kris
gauri