The invitation to Indiblogger's by-invite-only Indiblogger Berger meet was prefectly timed.
I felt Yay! For more than one reason.
Berger Paints is a brand close to my heart and I'll tell you why:
- It has been a while since Indiblogger had a meet in Bangalore
- I was hoping to rope my son in to accompany me, since he's an Indiblogger too . . . in fact, a Hindiblogger now.
- It was scheduled for Saturday, Dec 10, from 12.30 to 4 - super convenient timing
- Meeting friends is always wonderful
- Love the Indiblogger Team-they are fantastic at giving us a good time
- The venue was not far - added bonus
See? And so on and so forth.
As it happened, my son opted not to go and preferred to spend time with his Dad-and I couldn't really argue with that choice.
So let me tell you why Berger Paints is close to my heartBack in 2004, when my husband was away for 3 months, I decided to surprise him with a freshly painted home. Very lofty goal, because the cost made me faint. But never to be bogged down by obstacles, I thought, why hire someone? Why not do it myself? And the DIY-er in me rejoiced. Super-excited, my Mom and I set about planning, little knowing what we were setting ourselves up for. Moreover, my son was 6 years old and, had his specific preferences.
To cut a long story short, we laboriously emptied one room at a time, since the walls had to be sanded, cleaned and primed before applying the new paint. Here's what happened:
- I'd keep running out of paint just when a little painting was left.
- The route from my place to the hardware store saw a crazy-looking woman running back and forth, often with streaks of paint on her.
- We learned many lessons the hard way.
- We painted my son's room strawberry pink, mom's room a toned down lemon yellow, the kitchen peach, and the living room-I absolutely put my foot down here-ivory. My bedroom, I just freshened it up with the same ivory because I was too tired by then.
- Each time I'd go up the ladder, my son would immediately want something that only I could do. Ha!
8 days later, we had a freshly painted house. And we were now ready to make new curtains-which were finally ready and up just an hour before my husband arrived home-but that's irrelevant to this post.
Point is I used Berger Paints, recommended by my hardware store. I learned a lot about painting - still have the excess sandpaper, roller and paintbrushes, as fond memories. Anyway, the walls still look good.
Then, when our apartment complex was due for external painting, a couple of years ago, it was Berger paints we chose, after talking to a number of major paints manufacturers. They did a great job! We also recommended them to a couple of apartment complexes that were looking to hire painters.
Back to the present!I remembered all this when Mr Chandranath Banerjee, Service Head, Express Painting, from Berger Paints made his presentation at the meet. He explained the meticulous process followed by their team of painters, both for interior and exterior painting.
But wait!I've jumped the gun and let my thoughts meander as usual. Let me begin at the beginning!
Sid and I arrived at the venue together, looking forward to the rather nice agenda in store.
A few minutes later, my heart warmed over to see coffee and tea being served. What a great way to start! As we enjoyed our favorite beverages, and chatted with friends, the Berger team got busy looking for sound bytes and handing out a badge and product brochure. After two minutes with the mike, I got back to jollying with friends, enjoying the photo sessions and "networking".
Lunch soon followed, and after satisfying the rumbling tummy, we trooped into the hall and registered and received a balloon and thread each. Curious!
The lively Anoop from Indiblogger was waiting for us with a warm welcome. To stop us from getting into a post-lunch stupor, he called Karthik to show us some Zen moves that involved some....zen moves!
Once we were even more warmed up, we were instructed to blow our balloons and tie them to our feet.
We were now ready to play the game of "Whoever-has-their-balloon-intact-at-the-end-of-the-game-wins". A fun few minutes followed with each one trying to destroy the other's balloon-all in good spirit. Great fun!
It was now time for Berger Paint's Service Head, Express Painting, Mr Chandranath Banerjee to take the stage.
He gave us a very interesting presentation. Berger Paints is a respected brand, ranking among the top 10, and has a presence across 95 cities including Tier 1/2/3 cities.
Here's my favorite quote from him:
"Our innovation is not about selling tools. It is about delivering hassle free house painting to our customers." Chandranath Banerjee.
"Products like Easy Clean & WeatherCoat Anti-Dust, & service Berger Express Painting are a result of our efforts for innovation"
He kept us enthralled, explaining:
What is Express Painting?Berger Express Painting is a revolutionary concept of painting homes with automatic machines to give faster, cleaner, and better results every time, as compared to the traditional manual process of painting. Express painting is also an advanced and modern process complimenting the needs of today's home. The high speed tools complete the entire home painting job in half the time, in a dust-free manner, making it comfortable and convenient.Why is it faster cleaner better? Why is it dust-free painting? What tools are used? What process is followed?
Painters use mechanized sanders with inbuilt vacuum suction, reducing dust generated in the sanding process. Mechanized tools help in better surface preparation and better finish-finish the job 40-50% faster than the manual method. Take a look at how it works!
Is it affordable? Costs involved How can one avail the service?Dust-free faster painting with automatic machines at no extra cost.
To avail the service, SMS XP to 56767 Can I paint one room or is it mandatory to paint the entire house?Yes!
This was followed by a three video ads demonstrating exactly how Berger Express Painting is different from the traditional process. I was happy to learn that the superior service is priced almost the same as the usual scrub-a-dub-dub covered in dust process-except that the results are much better. Aptly titled "Painting ka T20"!
We also saw some great customer testimonials.
Better service + lesser time = Cost effective!"Along with mechanization, quick service & professionalism by #BergerXp team saved almost 70% of our time"
Sigh. I really wish I had express painting back when I took on the job of painting my house-I was thinking of my Mom with her chronic lung disease and my son with his wheezing problem.
With BergerXP, messy can be clean with the machine used to sand the wall while suctioning the dust simultaneously, up to 50% faster.
Berger Express Painting -
Tools make it Faster
Dust-free process makes it Cleaner
Trained professionals make it Better! #BergerXp- Berger Paints (@BergerPaintsInd) December 10, 2016
After the wonderful presentation, there was a lively Q&A session, with Mr Banerjee fielding questions and doubts with ease. Very informative.
Time to get our hands dirtyNext on the agenda was getting to know, firsthand, exactly how a surface is prepared for painting, as teams.
My team and I, aka the Berger BFFs, donned masks, caps and gloves and looked like a surgical team as we went to work.
Our task was to sand a surface smooth, without actually removing the putty applied on it to seal the crevices and scratches. The resulting surface would be ready for painting. I think we did a good-ish job!
Then, the next activity in store was creating art around a theme, using Berger Paints.
Mr Banerjee demonstrated how colors are mixed: diluting the base paint with water and then using the color tint to arrive at the final paint that goes on the surface to be painted. I must admit I had fond memories of that time I painted my kitchen-in two shades of peach.
Next activity in line explained by Chandranath Banerjee himself at #BergerXp event - Paint Mixing! pic.twitter.com/FErDUWYlRO
- Berger Paints (@BergerPaintsInd) December 10, 2016
After the demo, the teams regrouped to unleash their creativity. We had exactly 20 minutes to finish. Choosing the theme Colors of India, the colors of India as our theme we quickly decided on the elements of our easel. I was personally thrilled to see the table laid for us with a set of brushes, palettes for mixing colors, paints, colors, and an easel.
In beautiful synchronization, we worked in tandem amid much laughter, playing with the paint to produce this masterpiece "Incredible Colors of India" . . .
. . . which we presented with the other teams.
This team named themselves Berger BFFS! #SoCool #BergerXp pic.twitter.com/dyL6DWyfsh
- Berger Paints (@BergerPaintsInd) December 10, 2016
Everyone did a great job-with wonderful messages conveyed via their canvases and teamwork.
While the organisers put their heads together to determine the winning team, we stepped out for a well-deserved coffee served with cookies.
We returned to applaud the prizewinners of the artwork and social media activity - there were contests throughout the meet!
The final act of the day was the Mannequin Challenge. For a whole minute, we struck poses, while the photographers went around capturing the stillness.
This was followed by the mandatory group photo-something we can treasure and keep in our nostalgia zone.
Soon it was time to say "au revoir", collect our gifts and head back home.
But the real takeaway now is this. My house is just about ready for another coat of painting. I was thrilled to hear from Mr.Banerjee that their service comes at the same cost as conventional painting methods, considering the sophisticated tools and trained personnel they deploy to prepare the walls, and apply the fresh coat - AND - clean up after themselves. They even help move, cover and later, rearrange the furniture after they're done. I asked if there was a warranty on the job, and yes, there is, depending on the package one opts for. It was especially interesting to learn that they take on even a one-wall job. Which is great for those that do not want the entire house painted, or even the entire room. For example, I am coveting a textured wall in my living room and I would love for them to do it.
♥
Came back home with that happy feeling that only Indiblogger events can bring-so well-orchestrated, engaging, and fun!And I am so impressed that they uploaded almost 300 photos on their Facebook page right away! The photos that are not mine in this post, are courtesy Indiblogger!
Love the Berger Paints brand, love Indiblogger, loved the event!
And looking forward to the next one!
In the meantime, if you want to play, go check out the virtual painter on the Berger site. So much fun!
And . . . if you are still reading this, gimme a high-five! ♥
Writer, editor, blogger, social media enthusiast. Love DIY, Coffee, Music, Reading, Photography, Family, Friends and Life. Mantra: Happiness is a DIY Project. In my free time I play with my dust bunnies and show my diabetes who's boss. Tweet as @vidyasury
