Maneuvering through the oxbow of galleries in Le Meridien, a lone wolf seeks to pacify his hunger. A hunger that is not for blood, but to be with a plethora of bloggers who have come in various shapes and sizes from across India in the Indiblogger meet 2014.

He pushes through the gates of the main hall which is filled with almost 400+ bloggers comprising one of the largest gatherings in the history of Indiblogger. He finds a chair for himself trying to figure out what is happening. Everyone seems to know each other with few lone wolves absorbed in their android phones.

There is a storm of thoughts in everyone’s mind; whether to eat the finger-licking lunch that is spread out or to get connected to more and more bloggers or both. I let go of my desire to do everything and resort to pampering my stomach for a while.

Desserts at Indiblogger meet

Branding these days have taken an all new shape with more emphasis on building relationships by activities that are mutually beneficial rather than hard core selling. I liked the concept of Indiblogger and Skyscanner to bring together bloggers under one roof.

The emphasis is more on giving opportunities to use a product and let the audience create an acceptance for it. For example, around the world activity that involved planning the most cost effective trip starting from the Pope’s hat, going through Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas and back to the Pope’s hat gave us the opportunity to use ‘Everywhere‘, a functionality by Skyscanner that alllows a user choose the cheapest way to travel by air without exploring multiple websites online.

Group activity at Indiblogger meet

The initial stiffness in my body has eased out because the event is more of conversational rather than a typical conference where one person speaks and the others have to listen even if they are falling asleep. While we are absorbed in conversations, Indian Housewife is frantically capturing various expressions and emotions in her camera.

Expressions at Indiblogger meet

Our past experiences have given us an inhibition of immediately getting along with anyone and everyone. We tend to judge and analyse before opening the doors to our lives for anyone. When we are asked to click a ‘selfie’ with as many people as we can in most innovative ways, the fear crops up again and many bloggers are frozen in their chairs. The best ‘selfie’ would get a flight ticket from Skyscanner. I do not win but overcome my fear of connecting with new people in a matter of fifteen minutes.

All the upcoming Indiblogger meets will now see me on a chair somewhere among other bloggers for I came in as a lone wolf but I am leaving in a pack that will grow bigger over time.

Gaurav Bhatnagar Travel Writer, Photographer, Public Speaker, Entrepreneur @ www.thefolktales.com