The housewife goes to Blogapalooza 2014
Blogapalooza 2014 was hands-down the most anticipated blogger event of the year, BOW! Seriously, almost everyone from Mommy Bloggers Philippines who signed up couldn’t contain our excitement. We talked, planned and prepared for it. Expectations ran high especially for the first-timers, hearing what fellow bloggers who had gone to last year’s had to say about it. One of the things I like about the event was that the venue was just walking distance from where I live. My hubby and I, along with our kids, frequent SM Aura, so I’m pretty much familiar with that mall.
The good stuff!
The good points include having a good number of mainstream brands as exhibitors. Crocs, Dr.Kong, Flawless, Globe, Krispy Kreme, Acer, Canon, Chips Ahoy, Max’s, NIU by Viking’s, Globe and Sky Cable were there.
There were a lot of booths that cater to fashion and beauty bloggers, so good for them! I signed up for a few brands that fit my blog theme and will be writing about their products and services in the coming weeks. I signed up for a couple of slimming products for obvious reasons, haha!
Techie limits…
I signed up for Fukuda and Canon but held myself back from signing up for anything too techie because I’m not really a tech blogger. Fukuda is a brand I’m already familiar with because we’ve purchased a couple of appliances from them. In fact, our current burner stove is Fukuda. We’re also gearing to buy a Canon camera come December because our son needs it for some of his projects, and I want to upgrade on my gear as a blogger.Taking pictures happens to be one of my favorite things about blogging.
I won an Acer smartphone before the event wrapped up, which is good because now, as an end user, I will have something to write about. Winning that smartphone was one of the highlights of my first Blogapalooza experience.
Some things I didn’t like…
No event is perfect, I guess. I have my fair share of disappointments about Blogapalooza. For instance, there were people manning booths whom I felt were not very friendly.
I admit, I waited until the bloggers disperse from booths before coming back because I didn’t want elbow my way through crowds. I wanted to get to know brands a bit more, but sadly, when I came back, the people at some of these booths didn’t seem to care about sharing anything to me anymore.
I understand that they’ve run out of freebies, but in my opinion, they can at least talk me up on what’s new with their brand and all that since I signed up anyway.
Twice, I tried asking what I needed to do, to jumpstart a conversation, but a couple of people in charge of these booths wordlessly just pointed to the sign up sheet and appeared uninterested.
There was also this one brand that asked me to sign up, handed me a freebie that had nothing to do with their service, told me to take a picture at their booth, then sent me off with a “blog about us, ha!” She didn’t tell me anything about the company or their promos, so I’m not really sure on what to blog about. I have to commend the people in charge of the booths for Look it’s about me, Eat Manila, View Park Hotel, NIU by Vikings and My Shopping Box for a job well done. They entertained questions and took the initiative to come up to us and explain about their services.
The band was good but….
Having come from the band circuit, I recognise a good band when I hear one. Climax’s lineup (of songs) was fresh and have managed to maintain class, but the volume was a bit too loud and distracting. I was moving like Jagger more than concentrating on the booths when they were playing.
The woman at ‘Look It’s about me’ tried to orient me about their product but we could barely hear each other above the music, so I just assured her that I’m interested in her product and that I’ll be looking up their website soon so I can try it out and talk about it. On a side note, I would know that voice anywhere because Eman Omaga is one of the vocalists whom my husband and I have worked with a few years ago. He’s also a friend. My husband have also worked with Stanley, the drummer, back in the medieval ages!
This little thing called freebie
Okay, I’ve read a blog about how other bloggers seemed to have only come for the freebies. This blogger is pointing out that we shouldn’t be after the freebies and that the brands should be able to trust us to blog about them, freebie or no freebie.
I agree, we shouldn’t have primarily gone to Blogapalooza for the freebies, but I’ll be lying if I say I didn’t want to bring home some, and let me tell you why.
Some of the brands I signed up for just gave 10% discount or Php 100 OFF vouchers, and that’s okay. In fact, I prefer those over cute tokens. I’m grateful to these brands because they make their products or services more accessible to bloggers like me.
You see, I have not written a single review on a product or service, nor have recommended any that I have not tried. A 10% discount is already a huge help on my pocket.
I brought home a couple of sachets of Nice Day coffee and Delite herbal tea, and even though I have my preferences with coffee, I drank the giveaway so I can write an honest blog about it.
Of course I can refer to the flyers on the benefits of these products, but people don’t just want to know the benefits. They want to know how they taste, too! They want to know how it works and if it does for others, before even considering purchasing the product themselves.
I do online marketing as a profession outside being a blogger and I’m not claiming to be an expert, but I know this much — that I cannot help brands with their marketing by only coming up with a cold, rephrased version of another person’s write-up, or by pretending to know about it when I know nothing at all.
The best reviews are borne out of genuine, first-hand experiences.
Sure, I’ve written about things that I spent for. A blogger’s a blogger, my radar’s always up and alert for new and exciting (or dismal) things. Although I choose to recommend more good stuff, rather than rant about the bad ones.
The best part of it all is….
The best part is that I got to spend the day and enjoy it with other Mommy Bloggers from Mommy Bloggers Philippines. I’ve already met many of them in other events like at the home schooling conference and marketing workshops, but some of them that I had been interacting with a lot online, I only got to meet in person at Blogapalooza.
Despite a few disappointments, I’m still looking forward to Blogapalooza 2015. I still think it was a success, so congratulations to Vince Golangco of When in Manila, Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet and to those who helped organised this event.
I’ll be more prepared next time and will wear flats instead of wedges. I promised The Happy WAHM that I’ll Kinect dance with her next time, so maybe I’ll lose some of these flabs so I won’t look so bearish when I jiggy it with her next year. Until then!
54 Comments
work@homeMillie
Hahaha! Oo nga, wala akong kasama maglaro nyan! Anyway, I love how you expressed your honest thoughts about Blogapalooza. I haven’t written mine yet, but would probably gather my thoughts soon. I am looking forward to Blogapalooza 2015 as well!
May De Jesus-Palacpac
I had a great time, but I was a bit disappointed lang because I really wanted to “partner” with these brands.
Serene Shikukeza
I love Nice Day coffee but for some reason, I can’t seem to find where to buy it which is sad. I also love receiving pens, notebooks and umbrella! Haha! Probably because I know it is something I can use. Sad thing, I didn’t come early last Saturday.
Oh wait, please please tell me that you aren’t wearing wedges while dancing at the Chooks-to-go booth? Hahaha.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Haha, I was! I wanted to look longer….oh you know what I mean, girl! hahaha.
Here’s the link on where to buy Nice coffee.
Serene Shikukeza
Thanksss! That explains it! I go to shopwise and Snr for my grocery. SM is quite far from me.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Just pass by the nearest Mercury drugstore when you go out. 🙂
The Monching
Nice to hear na nakapunta po kayo to that event 😀 Sadly, I had a date with a special someone (not to mention that SM Aura was far from our place).
I could relate to the part where companies don’t actually talk about their products to interested people, parang yung bloggers pa yung may obligation na basta na lang mag-post ng press release. But that booth you mentioned that simply told you to “blog about us” was just crass.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Bakit “sadly”, diba dapat “yihee” kasi date? hehe.
The Monching
Di kami umabot sa SM Aura – masyado pong malayo eh =))
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Aaaah…next year! 🙂
Michelle Solee (@michisolee)
Now I know what to expect if ever I join next year. Congrats on your winning. 🙂
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Looking forward to seeing you at Blogapalooza next year. 🙂
Erica Redrico
It was nice meeting you, May! Sayang, we didn’t have the chance to sit down and chat. Hehe. You’re right. The event was bigger than last year. Pero, mas intimate yung last year. Viewpark guy can still remember me. Hahaha. Yung mga ganun, yung iba talang deadma eh. 🙁
May De Jesus-Palacpac
I love the View Park hotel guy! I really sensed that he was eager to talk about their hotel, natuwa ako sa kanya. They didn’t give any discount ano? But I’m already telling my hubby I want to go and try their hotel soon. 🙂
The Vanilla Housewife
We have the same feedback about blogapalooza but I thing the good ones outweighs the not so good and I will definitely be back next year. I just hope they will invite more partner brands in the cooking department. 🙂 It was really nice meeting and chatting with you. Thank you soooo much!
May De Jesus-Palacpac
I agree! We’ll be more prepared for next year and will probably enjoy it even more then. It was great to finally meet the hands-down most popular Mommy Blogger (next to mommy Lani Lyutz). I can now say a celebrity stayed over my place, heehee! 😛
BTW, did you notice that you’re in almost all my pictures? hahaha
Gracie Maulion
Ay sayang hindi ko kayo nakita mommy May 🙂
May De Jesus-Palacpac
You were there? Sayang naman we didn’t meet. We stayed till the end of the event.
Michelle Roldan
I was there, too, but I didn’t get to see the mommy bloggers. Sayang. Congrats on your winning the Acer Phone. 🙂 I arrived around lunch and by that time, may ibang booths na naubusan na ng PR kits. I agree that some booths just tell you to sign up tapos wala na, no explanation about their product and service. But the others were nice and talked about their products thoroughly. All in all, it was a fairly good experience for a first-timer like me. 🙂
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Yes still is a good one.
These people at the booths naman, they’re not really the owners or managers, but representatives.
Ma.Me.Mi.Mommy
It was nice seeing you there 🙂 Noticed you from your badge hehe. Congrats also for winning the Acer phone. 🙂 I’d have to agree with you that some brands were really NR. I’m also wondering how some brands can expect a writeup just by giving away pens or other tokens with their logos. I’m glad for the experience though. I didn’t expect much so I wasn’t quite disappointed.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
You know, brands were presenting onstage..I was glad to have listened to some of them — Easy Taxi, the Habitat thing, NIU, Caronia… but a lot of bloggers have already left.
I think that was one of the things that the organisers could’ve changed– the entertainment should’ve been later in the day, maybe the morning should’ve been more on presentations and bloggers were invited to sit down first to listen to the exhibitors.
It was nice to see you too! Thank you for saying ‘hi’. 🙂 I appreciate that.
Ma.Me.Mi.Mommy
I was actually sad when they had to take a break after BrainFit presented. That was the time that I actually got to know the brands more.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
It was easy to miss that part because we were all so busy going around booths and catching up with other bloggers. It was only much later that I sat down and started really paying attention to what’s happening onstage. The band wasn’t easy to miss, but the rest of it …. I didn’t even know there was a game held there!
Anna “Mommy Anna” Plaida
I wished I arrived early and meet some of you, I was not able to wake up early. Hope will me you on Saturday if you are going in the Halloween event for MBP.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
I hope to meet you too, soon! 🙂
Rackell Lumberio-Villareal
Ang saya naman. Nanghihinayang tuloy ako kung bakit di kami dyan pumunta ni hubby, e di sana na meet ko narin yung fellow mommy bloggers.. Di bale may next time pa naman eh, promise sa 2015 pupunta na ko..
I read lots of post about Blogapalooza and most of them talagang nag enjoy sa freebies and btw, I love the Official Gilas Pilipinas tumbler from Max’s.. ^_^
May De Jesus-Palacpac
The freebies that had something to do with the product or service of the brand, useful talaga. 🙂 See you next year!
Audric's Mom
Kaya dapat yung mga inaassign ng companies sa booths, dapat well-trained atsaka yung mga walang attitude. Hahahaha! 😀
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Maybe it will be different next year. We’ll see. It’s just a minor setback, the rest of the things about the event were great naman. 🙂 Enjoy pa rin.
Maan
Inggit blogger here! Kailan kaya ako makakapunta? Yeah, some people think blogging is just lifting a press release and publishing it. Marami sigurong ganun but not the bloggers who really interact with their community and feel responsible to give them honest reviews. And kawawa the brands that hired the people who didn’t entertain you because they were ill-represented. Tsk2.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Yes, ill-represented is the right term. 🙁
Nicole Cuerdo
I’m not sure if you remember bumping into me at the Ace Water Spa booth. I saw you sign your name and realized who you were! It was nice seeing you. I have to agree about how some of the people manning the booths didn’t bother selling their brand. I approached one booth and picked up a flyer and said “Hi”.. dedma! I still tried to have a conversation because I felt that their brand was relevant to my blog, I tried asking questions, and the lady just dismissed me and said “Andyan na lahat sa flyer”. A guy from another booth naman gave a huge sigh before talking to me, as if napipilitan lang. I felt like I was not worth their time!
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Yes! Yes, I do. Thank you so much for saying ‘hi’. I tried to say hi to everyone I recognized but the crowd can get so overwhelming din.
There were a couple of booths na na-sad talaga ako kasi wala lang. They just made me sign up lang. Parang when naubos ang giveaways nila, wala na silang pakelam. Gustong gusto ko pa naman yung brands, kaya nadisappoint talaga ako.
A lot of the booths I went to, ubos na talaga ang freebies nila but that would’ve been okay. They can always email me naman and coordinate with me, diba?
lally
Waaah, now ko lang na realize, wala pala tayong picture Mommy May..toinks.. For me, one of the highlights talaga ng Blogapalooza is meeting other Mommy Bloggers..I actually can’t wait for Blogapalooza 2015. hehe. See you on other events Mommy May! 😀
May De Jesus-Palacpac
You know narealize ko yan when I saw Jhanis’ set of pics! 🙁 Next time, unahin na kita, picture na tayo agad, haha.
Mitch Ryan
To win a cellphone is really nice, but to win a branded cellphone is fantastic. I wish I have this kind of luck.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
took me years of waiting to experience winning anything, haha. 🙂
Janice / The Roller Coaster Ride
Hello, you DON’T look bearish at all! And wow, you won a phone! So lucky! I hope you’re planning to do a review of that soon. I’m looking for a new phone already. It was really nice hanging out with you at the event even for just a little while. It really sucks that I had to leave early.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
I knowww right? It’s so nice to spend time with fellow WAHMies and Mommy Bloggers even for only a few minutes. 🙂
One of these days, we’ll find longer time to chat, haha. 😉 Take care Janice!
Celerhina Aubrey
Sayang I was not able to finish the event. Dapat pala I stayed longer kaso kasi pagod na ko. 🙂 And I agree dun sa mga brands na basta nalang nag abot ng pens and flyers and then that’s it. At the back of my head, I was like…hanep! Anong sasabihin ko sa blog ko about sa brand nyo? hihihihi..
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Josephine of My Simple Joys
I agree about the convenience of the venue since I just live nearby too! 🙂
It’s so nice meeting you sis! Sayang, we did not win the TV! Lol
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Haha, oo nga! Next time! 🙂
MommyPehpot
I am so inggit with all blogapalooza experience! Sana next year, makasama na ako 🙂
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Wala ka pala? I thought hindi lang tayo nagkita. Kasi there were a lot of Mommy Bloggers there that I didn’t get to meet too. Next time 🙂
Mommy Peach
Sayang I missed Blogapalooza this year ! It looked like such a fun event. Promise I won’t miss it next year.
MommyPehpot
hmmm…. ang dami ko na miss! specially the free ballpens! LOL
seriously, sayang talaga..sana naka attend ako at nakasama kayo 🙁
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