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!
The Open Room was held today at Ogilvy with the tagline “where brands and bloggers connect”. I was one of the privileged bloggers to be invited, and I have to say I had a blast.
The Open Room was a great event for me as a blogger. I got to meet people I met previously from Social Media Breakfast: Singapore like Sheylara, Supriya, Jean, Ridz, Rinaz, Nicholas, Michael Netzley and Aaron, as well as some bloggers I know of online but never really met in person like the Tech 65 crew, Ian on the red dot, Sabrina, Plaktoz and Nadia, as well as a ton of people from Ogilvy. (I’m sure I’ve missed people out, let me know so I can add your link!)
The one thing that I felt was replicated from the IDC Conference was that the companies involved seemed a little unsure about what to do when meeting bloggers. We were identified clearly by our magenta tags (they had green), but yet the two groups never really mingled. I don’t think this is the “fault” of anyone in particular, just that this new social media space and community marketing concept are something corporations are just figuring out right now. I definitely hope this changes soon. I don’t want to be pitched by companies at events like these, but it would be nice to talk to them and find out more about them.
Y’know, start a conversation, have a relationship. Like real people.
For example, I was checking out the new Canon models (because my sister took my camera), but there wasn’t really anyone there I could talk to about it. In fact, most of the “green tags” were gone by 6:30pm. (Probably considered as overtime for them).
I think the issue here is simple: Bloggers have taken a step forward. Companies like Ogilvy have taken a very important step forward by organising something like The Open Room. Now the companies, the very people who the bloggers and agencies are trying to help and engage, need to take that step forward and be a part of the conversation, part of the community too.
After all, at the end of the day, for the bloggers it’s a blogger social event, but the companies should at least go back with something to show for it, be it a new blogger relation or a referral. Because otherwise, the time was wasted wasn’t it?
Edit: Forgot to insert the picture, but we got some swag from the event! Nice touch I must say. Anyone needs the PSP case? I don’t have one so feel free to ask for it. Don’t even think about the Nokia N-gage thumbdrive though!
Big thanks to Brian and Tania for inviting me, looking to future events!
Remember the chance to win a Wii? How many of you brushed it off and didn’t join it? Well, Nadia (the person I was voting for) and Claudia (the person I found it out from) both walked away happy, winning the Australia trip and Wii respectively. (Damn I’m jealous).
Obviously this is great news to those who won, but here’s a big question: Who remembers the company who organised the event?
I ask because I don’t. Even though I voted every day for a week.
Is such an online campaign considered successful if it’s largely popular and social, but people can’t remember much beyond the prizes and prize destination? What metrics should marketers and/or communicators use to determine the success or failure of such a campaign? Would love to hear from all of you who are smarter than me. (A considerable lot!)
Now that I have your attention, this post is an add on to Claud’s post on a the Unexpected Australia challenge.
Essentially it’s a traditional competition where you have a few contestants, and the public votes for them to win. Of course, the public gets to win a Wii or a Macbook Air or a Nikon D60. All rather attractive prizes!
What’s amazing is the way one participant, Nadia, is using social media to get some votes and support via both her blog and other bloggers.
Are we finally seeing how someone in Singapore (even if it’s a Meepok blogger), actually “get” social media?
