Bloggers' Buzz, 2013, an event recap

Bloggers' Buzz, the event we were all working towards, was on the 23rd of Feb and I am proud to say, in spite of a few glitches, it was a success. We had a whopping 24 attendees and was a day full of fun. Although the 4 of us Nupur, Preeti, me (and Suchi in spirit) had to run around doing most of the things, we were happy to have hosted a bunch of enthusiastic, non fussy bloggers from all over UK and Europe. Thanks to our fabulous sponsors and speakers, without whom we wouldn't have been able to do justice to the event.

The event kick started at 10am with breakfast, sponsored by Total Greek Yoghurt. Their fabulous yoghurt pots with fruit compote, chocolate and blueberry muffins and fruit juice were thoroughly enjoyed by all. Whittard of Chelsea sponsored our tea and coffee for the day and so there was a never ending supply of both. The favourite among a lot of bloggers were the peppermint tea, which was smelling so lovely when taken out of the packet. So you can imagine how it would have tasted. The breakfast session was followed by an informal introduction where all the bloggers introduced themselves and their blogs. We were then ready for Jeanne of Cook Sister who did a presentation on "the basics in photography". 

 

All of us came prepared with our camera manuals and some even with their dslr's. The power point presentation was informative on a whole lot of levels. Although some of the technical details were going over our heads, I am sure, at the end of the day we did take home some valuable information on how to shoot in manual mode. Jeanne was kind enough to answer all our doubts and she even showed us a presentation she had prepared earlier regarding post processing photographs. This I think was a very interesting session and I hope we get Jeanne to do it in detail for us another time. Thank you Jeanne for being a sport and guiding us amateurs in a lot of ways. 

She also announced the winner of the Hotel Chocolat sponsored giveaway we had hosted and Shweta of Merry Tummy won the hamper for her innovative French Crepe cake layered with blueberry sauce and topped with mango mousse. I'm sure she's enjoying the hamper to the max. 

 

After a long lunch of aloo bondas, aloo parathas, a veg pulao and paneer tikka masala sponsored by Sri Krishna Vada Pav, we were all happy and fulfilled. The fact that lunch was pre-packed in a convenient plastic box was a saving grace for us, as it helped us reheat them in the microwave and hand them over to the invitees without any fuss of serving and such. The only problem was, the microwave was rubbish and we couldn't heat them up well. Nonetheless, I guess everyone enjoyed lunch. Thank you SKVP for providing us with yummy food.

 

The most awaited session for the afternoon...the macaron making demo by the lovely Dora of BoBo Macarons was a big hit. Macaron obsession is something we food bloggers pride about and Dora, with her wit and humour, made the demo so much fun. She taught us all how to mix and whisk and pipe and even better, most of got a chance to try our hand at these. She also brought some of her signature flavoured macarons to try out and boy we all freaked out on those yummy lil things. Thanks to Dora for taking time off her busy schedule to come and teach us a thing or two about macaron making. Do check out her fabulous website for more details on orders and flavours and such.

We then went on to Glam Media's session on monetising blogs through ad networks. Charlotte did a short talk on Glam media and how it can help bloggers, followed by a question and answer session where all of us had a bunch of doubts to ask and clear. I mean why wouldn't we want to make a bit of pocket money from our hobby right? Glam Media helps us in doing so and we thank Charlotte and Glam media for doing this session for us. 

(with Charlotte of Glam Media)

 

By around 4.30 we were all exhausted after a long day of food, photography, master classes and networking. But wait, we still had some yummy cutlets sponsored by Urban Tadka to make its way through. That and some hot tea and coffee put an end to an eventful day. The bloggers were sent home with a goody bag full of products sponsored by various brands. They included:

Signature sweet box from Devnaa

Cooler bag from Total Greek Yoghurt

Assortment of Silver Spoon products, Nielsen Massey Vanilla Extract, Billingtons sugar products and a Baking Mad recipe book

Online cake decorating voucher from Dream Cakes

Discount voucher from Avedna Ayurveda

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A special thanks to Ilovesabji.com and Avedna Ayurveda for part sponsoring the venue, PromoSourcery for sponsoring the bags for goody bag and our photographer for the day Abhijeet for managing to capture all those wonderful moments. Last but not the least, all those who attended the event and made it a success.