Hooray for my First Blogapalooza
Hi, loves! The past few weeks have gone by with me being so busy with college stuff – exams, quizzes, and fieldworks. But these weeks also have gone by with some exciting and worthwhile moments. One of these is Blogapalooza Horizons 2.0 which happened last November 5, 2016 at the splendid five-star hotel, Novotel Manila in Araneta Center, Cubao.
What is Blogapalooza?According to their website, it is where "bloggers meet their future clients and advertisers". Through connecting and stimulating interaction among businesses and bloggers, businesses ought to lower their costs and bloggers are aided to have more featurables and posts in mind.
This was my first time going to their events and God knows this was one of the most thrilling moments of my life! I went there alone because my blogger friends, Rafter, Ate Mel, and Micki, couldn’t come. I was very anxious of going there alone because I’m honestly awkward with meeting and talking with new people. But I thought, why the hell not go? I survived my first blogging event alone so why couldn’t I survive this, right? Well, as it turned out, I made the right decision in going.
After the registration, I went directly to the sixth floor of the Novotel. This stand, apart from the hotel staff, was the first one that welcomed me. My heart jumped with joy, and probably, I somehow felt victorious, too, because I'm conquering new things on my own. It's something I was proud of.
I didn't expect for the event to happen outside of the hotel though. It was pretty hot because it was 10 AM and the sun was at its brightest. That didn't stop me, though; the last thing I expected to ruin my day would be the sun.As I entered the event venue, I was greeted by the Blogapalooza team with a smile and some tents that sheltered various brands and clients for us, bloggers. I immediately went to the booth in front of the entrance which was the Habitat for Humanity.Habitat for Humanity is an international non-profit organization present in over 80 countries that aims to build safe, sustainable, and affordable homes for those in need of decent housing. They believe that "everyone [should have] a decent place to live". Through their Habitat for Humanity ReStore, they offer new and slightly used furniture, accessories, appliances, and all other to the public in which the proceeds will be used by their organization to build homes, communities, and hope.I admired their organization's vision. As a development communication student from the University of the Philippines, I have a bias for the poor and the marginalized. I believe there should always be equity and building homes for the homeless is something to aid in reaching the development of the country and the people. If you also think what I said is right then I encourage you to check out their site and donate! Your donation will come a long way!
When I came back to their booth that night, I was the third person to solve their puzzle. I won a Coffee Bean gift certificate. Yay! Thank you Habitat for Humanity!After visiting their booth, I, then, checked out some other booths and decided to stop by the booth right at the corner of the venue. I learned that it was MigMe, a social networking site and app where you can meet new friends and get close to latest stars, influencers, and bloggers. Here's the catch, if you're a blogger yourself, the site gives you the chance to connect with your fans and readers more, and apart from that, earn some extra income, too. Cool, right?
Check out and follow me on my Mig.Me profile here! I'd love to talk to you there, loves! You may also give me a gift, which I'd love and appreciate so much! :)
While I was at their booth, I finally received a text message from a blogger, who I am tweeting with, that they're finally here. I met them in the seats on the poolside and I was all hyped when I met them. Because finally, I have some company! And finally, I met new friends! They are Mich of michsantillan.com and Alyssa of weeklyalyssa.com. Before entering the venue again, I also met Nika of wheresnika.com and LA of parapixelife.com. Surprisingly, I met a blogger from the same university as I do, Chardy from chardybaldyosa.wordpress.com. Check out their blog, loves!
We took some photos courtesy of the Blogapalooza team. We also had some photos [which are literally my fave of them all] taken at the booth of Marianas Visitor Authority. I really loved the free mwarmwar that they gave the three of us - REALLY LOVED that I wore it all throughout the event and REALLY LOVED that my Mom started wearing it when we arrived home (my Gahd! hahaha). If you have wanderlust like I do, I swear you won't regret checking out their site!
Alyssa, Mich, and I also went to the booth of GoMoto, an e-hailing app that's very reliable and let's you pick-up or delivers you their service within 30 minutes or less. They told me they are planning to extend their services beyond Manila so we should definitely wait for that! MyCure, on the other side, is also an app that caters to Filipino doctors and patients that aims to maximize their time and resources by using their electronic medical records mobile app. The free tea they served us, which was natural and sugar-free in the sense that the only sugar used was black sugar, is so delicious!
We also dropped by the booth of Vitamin Boost Drink where we played a game and won us some free drinks! I honestly loved how they offered different flavors and functions, expecially the Anti-Stress drink! I need that whenever it's hell week! Hahaha!https://www.instagram.com/p/BMfQnzvAj1b/After having lunch with Mich and Alyssa, we took some break from the event and went outside to have a photoshoot. I had so much fun!
When we arrived at the hotel again, we then dropped by the Klopfer booth, which are drink shooters and a brand that aims to make parties a lot more exciting! Check out their page here.
Some of the brands we've also talked to are:
- Eurotel, where I took some selfies in their booth with their beautiful flowers (hehe). Find their hotel here.
https://twitter.com/myrrazenkate/status/794834590338662400
- Victoria Court, where I shook the ass off of my head just to win their prize (and eventually failed lol)
- Alfox Printing, where I also won their game (yayy!)
- Taisho, where I loved their ramen so much (it was tasty!)
- SanMig Food Ave, where I also totally loved their free snacks, especially that yummy nutella bun!
- Amada's Desserts, where I bought their leche flan that my Mom loved as well!
Also, my Mom and my Tito also dropped by the event to fetch me. She also met Mich and Alyssa! Hihihi.
The three of us also went inside the air-conditioned room where speakers and clients were meant to talk and give some tips for the bloggers. I fel home in there, like those people around me were family because they're bloggers like me, too! It didn't matter where they came from (some even came from Davao), we were all just having fun and learning altogether there! I also stood up and recited why I was a blogger. I felt honored because that was Miss Mafae of Mafae Management I talked to and it also felt thrilling because it was something I did just because I wanted to "just DO it". Her speech was totally inspiring as well!
When the night finally came and the program finished, Blogapalooza team finally spilled what their surprise was! It was about Buzzin, a new site that lets bloggers and brands interact not just every Blogapalooza or any blogging event, or monthly, but 24/7! So nice!
With that, I want to congratulate everyone who made Blogapalooza and LetsBuzzin.com possible! Kudos to you guys for the successful event. Also, to all the brands and sponsors, online influencers, and bloggers I've met and talked to, thank you, thank you, thank you!You can't even imagine how much I appreciated this day and how excited I am for the next event. Until the next Blogapalooza!Yours truly,
