I have been a member of Blogapalooza community since last year but this year have been the first time I was able to actually go to the biggest Blogger to Business event of the Blogapalooza community. My schedule opened up, and finally I was able to attend the said event. I came with Soshi and we were both excited to see more of the blogosphere.


We didn't know what to expect. I was nervous, clutching my newly made business card, hoping I could flaunt my blogs to brands for future collaborations. But as I go through booths of different brands, I relaxed and had fun. Here are some observations I deduced:

What Went Well

There were booths that showcased their brand in a unique way. These are the top booths we enjoyed and had the time of our lives on that day:

Chooks to Go
They have this mini-game that was very interactive. I gulped down my "hiya", went out of my shell and played the game with Soshi. I actually got above 2000points which scored me a whole chicken as a price.

Zing
Zing had prepared a series of mini-games as well. You have to complete each game in a limited amount of time. There are 4-5 levels and you have to finish everything in a minimal amount of time. I was able to go through level 3. I picked the games that I thought would be easier for me (which I really did good, BTW).

Ideal Vision Dance Beat
I've been ogling those Dance Beat machines sprawled across malls but I never had the courage to try them. Ideal Vision had a Dance Beat set-up in their booth that anyone can try. Since everyone was busy browsing through booths, Soshi and I went ahead and gave our best shot at Dance Beat. It was a lot of fun!

There are also brands that were generous and went the extra mile to give out the best freebies to bloggers. Here are some of the booths in which I think are the most generous and gave us bloggers more content material to write:


AMPR gave good goodie bags for bloggers, products that they can review afterwards (more content!)

Ace Water Spa gave a certificate to try either their KTV lounge for an hour or enjoy the majestic view of the Sky Lounge with a free drink on hand.


Other booths that gave out some gift certificates so that we, bloggers can get to experience what the brand has to offer first hand like House of Lasagna, Bioessence and Sample Room,

Food booths that made our tummies happy despite all the fuzz that is happening in the event. Kudos to Yellow Cab for that slice of pizza, Design your own Krispy Kreme donuts and assorted maki and sushi from Chef Noodles


What did I Learn

I was happy because a huge door opened in front of me. I only discovered last year that brands actually reach out to bloggers for help in promoting their products by inviting us to events that will make us learn more about their brands. It made blogging a lot fun. We get to meet fellow bloggers from different corners of the country. The Blogging Community is indeed alive and really kicking!

What I would do Different

I will come in early to go through all the booths. We arrived at 3PM and some of the booths were closed. The program already started so we weren't able to join the activities there as well. Indeed,brands gave out a lot of stuff (and great content material) for bloggers.


I will also try to be more outspoken and outgoing. I am the type who has big ideas but never get to execute them because of "hiya" and doubt. With the Blogapalooza experience, I fully understood that I can pitch in my great ideas with brands that I love and hopefully collaborate with them. I could use more additional skills to make all this work, so I'll start to learn more. I'll be equipped with the right amount of skills so I could be more confident in pitching in my ideas for future partnerships for my blogs (yeah, I manage 3).

Thanks to When in Manila for making this Blogapalooza event this year a success. Looking forward for next year. I'll definitely be more adept to face brands then.