As I drove towards the venue, ITC Gardenia, I had my navigation-app voice guide me. For someone who has been directionally challenged for ages, having this app gave me enormous independence.As I entered the plush lobby of ITC Gardenia, I saw several bloggers waiting with anticipation.Some were clearly techies and some were hard core foodies and I wondered at this interesting potpourri of tech and food.I shared a table with some very interesting bloggers – 2 food bloggers, 1 Travel blogger and couple of bloggers with personal blogs and memoirs.
Nokia was represented by their Country head – corporate communications, Poonam Kaul and she made an interesting statement in her opening address – How many of us actually thought apps were still technology ? The import of this became became increasingly clear as the show proceeded.
Soon Rajiv and Vikas made the grand entry amidst roaring applause and they held the audience spell bound – Rajiv through his wit and quick repartee and Vikas through his simplicity and understated elegance.We started with Blogger introductions which was tailored like an elevator pitch on why they blog and amidst a lot of them, I managed to remember a few – An elderly gentleman who spoke about building the ‘character bank’ of India, a young man in striped shirt who got 4 girl friends through his blog, married the 5th and had a child with the 6th :), a 10-year old blogger who blogged to express his personal feelings. Wow, it sure was liberating to see how technology has empowered lives by removing all barriers. Just as I was wondering of how we would get through the 250+ bloggers who were in the room, they announced a cut off after 30 bloggers.Though it was a bit of disappointment not to meet all the bloggers, it was understandable, otherwise we would just be ‘Chaar baj gaye lekin party abhi baki hai..’
What followed next was Nokia apps showcased along with plenty of audience engagement built around it. The apps that were chosen were picked from various categories like entertainment, food, navigation and all of them effectively translated their relevance in current times.
I witnessed an app which makes a funny Charlie Chaplin style video in less than two minutes. Vikas and 2 others from the audience were the chosen bakras for a mock ramp walk which was converted almost immediately to a CC style video in black & white complete with sound effects. An app which suggests the wine based on the food served and the audience was served Sauvignon Blanc wine with fried chicken to check out the app’s suggestion !
An app which gives you an alcohol test and tells you if you are fit enough to drive provided one is not sozzled enough to operate that app ! An app which tutors you to dance in Gangnam style and we saw this in action when a group of audience performed some of Psy’s captivating moves 🙂 though must say even an app cant teach you how to get that expression !
The event would not have been complete without a quiz and so a tech-food quiz was thrown in and lots of prizes won including some Nokia Lumia. The final event ‘Your wish is my app’ was selection of the best app suggestions from the audience. The app which won the prize was the idea of accessory shopper ‘AccsApp’ which would help women spot their favorite accessories and shop for them. I personally liked one which suggested taking pictures of the potholes along with their GPS positions and uploading it on Facebook for gathering likes which could then enable sending alerts to the local MLAs/Contractors.Talk about an app changing the face of citizen involvement in governance !
We then proceeded to have a sumptuous dinner along with a brief tête-à-tête with other bloggers before heading home.
Thanks to Nokia and Indiblogger team for organizing this event !
The Motley Collection 