Social Media & Digital Marketing in Singapore

Event Coverage: HP Pavilion dv2 Entertainment Notebook PC Launch

On the 26^th of March, I was invited to Supperclub at Odeon Towers to check out the new laptop from HP, the HP Pavilion dv2 entertainment notebook pc. If you’ve been reading this blog you probably know I don’t usually talk a lot about the gadget itself but more on the communications efforts behind it, but this time I’ll say this is one gadget I really do like.

In terms of what a laptop is, no biggie, it’s a regular laptop. Moderate processor, 12.1 screen, no cd drive. But the big plus points for me: It’s 1.6kg and its’ price starts at $1,299. I mean seriously, I bought my current laptop for double that. I think in the current day and age where mobility is a huge factor, the HP Pavilion dv2 stands out. Why would I buy a $800-$900 netbook and squint my eyes out at a 8 to 10 inch screen, when I could shell out a few more hundred bucks and get a proper laptop? It’s quite a no brainer.

The other thing that’s awesome is a width. Check out the picture below and you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s less than one inch thin. Oh, and it has a HDMI port too. Another thing my current laptop doesn’t have.

HP Pavilion dv2

The event itself was one of the more intimate ones, and that’s a good thing. I make it a point these days to try not to attend events that are shared with mainstream media, simply because it’s just too difficult to get someone’s attention and a demo of the product. With this event, no problem. Within three minutes (literally) of stepping into the room, I had a drink and a product manager letting me have a hands-on go at the Pavilion dv2, while he was there to handle any questions. I think the premise behind this is simple: The more the blogger plays with the product, the more he/she can talk about it.

One thing I will say (and I’m being cheeky here) with regards to the communication effort. I wanted to say that not having a cd drive isn’t a dealbreaker these days because seriously, how often does one use it anyway? Then I realised all the press materials they handed out were on a cd. It would’ve been nice to emphasise that cds are really not that important anymore with a small thumbdrive, sd card, or just a downloadable link!

All in all, if I were in the market for a second, backup laptop for school or travel, this would be it. Sure, it doesn’t have the gaming power that my current laptop does, but there are some days when I’m heading out for just a three hour class or I want to sit somewhere and just blog (like I’m doing now), and on those days, a lighter, slimmer laptop like the dv2 would just be awesome.

Tags: blogger outreach, bloggers, cd drive, communications efforts, downloadable link, entertainment notebook, event coverage, gadget, hdmi, hp, hp pavilion dv2, lightweight laptop, mainstream media, netbook, odeon towers, school, sd card, supperclub, thumbdrive, travel

Posted in Events, Singapore, blogger outreach | 1 Comment »

Event Coverage: True Blood With HBO – A Bloody Good Time

True Blood

A couple of weeks ago, Ingrid and I had the privilege of being invited to HBO Asia’s blogger event for their new show, True Blood, with the promise of a bloody good time.

One thing that was obvious about this event, was that we certainly weren’t invited just to hear about True Blood and be treated to an exclusive screening of the first episode (though that certainly happened too), but there was really a nice mix of activities the first of which was to mimic the pose of the True Blood poster pictured above.

After some food, Karen from HBO told us a little bit more about True Blood as well as Max, the channel on which it will be airing:

After that and a preview of the show, an interesting segment came up, where a bartender took the stage to show us how to “make” Tru Blood, a drink that the vampires in the show drink. Incidentally, Tru Blood was a true *ahem* viral campaign that ran in the US prior to the airing of True Blood there.

Tru Blood

Following this, three volunteers were asked to replicate the drink, and Claudia, Ben and Nadia gamely stepped up to the plate, with Claudia winning.

Overall this was a pretty fun event and I really liked the fact that the HBO team brought a mixed bag of activities to the event, rather than the normal “thanks for coming, here’s our product” drill that we seem to get all the time.

True Blood airs tonight (April 9th) here in Asia at 9pm on Max, so don’t forget to fight for the remote!

Tags: blogger event, blogger outreach, bloody good, claudia, eok, event coverage, hbo asia, iammyy, ingrid mak, max, nadnut, tru blood, true blood

Posted in Events, Fun, Singapore, blogger outreach | 4 Comments »