There is a difference between an event organized for companies or for the general public and an event organized for bloggers. A significant difference which, when ignored, makes a mess of the intention of the organizers. Unfortunately, the Nokia Apptasting meet was organized without any cognizance of that difference and, thus, turned out to be a disappointment for bloggers like me.
The audience for a meet organized for a company knows each other and probably is only too happy to ignore the others around and concentrate on the stage. In an event organized for the public the audience may not know each other and could not care less if they never got to know each other. Thus, in either case, it is all right for the event to be organized with the entire period of the event being devoted to what is going on stage.
The same, however, cannot be held true of an event organized for bloggers. Bloggers know each other only through their blogs and get to spend little if any time in the company of each other. Thus, they are interested in spending more time with the bloggers they know, in meeting new bloggers and in introducing their blogs to new bloggers. Any event that fails to understand this essential need of bloggers is bound to be less than a success.
The very fact that any such event is called a 'Bloggers Meet' means to the bloggers that they will get to meet each other. If the idea were only to get the bloggers to meet Nokia Apps - wine, food, prizes and T-shirts notwithstanding - one would have found a very sparse attendance of bloggers. Any sponsor needs to understand that most bloggers will not spare the time and the trouble to come over to a meet merely because they are being wined and dined - most of them probably get enough occasions to be wined and dined in the course of their regular routine. The single most important attraction for bloggers to attend a blogger's meet is to meet other bloggers - and any interest of the sponsors can only be served if it is worked around satisfying that need.
The Nokia APPtasting meet failed totally to take into account this need. There was not a single minute of time allowed to the bloggers to interact with each other, other than by ignoring what the organizers were doing on stage. In the event, polite people though we normally are, most of us ended up ignoring what was going on stage totally. Considering that the dinner time was the only time available for interactions and considering that the meet ran late into the night, it was not possible to actually get to know new people at all - other than those at your table - since people were in a hurry to get home.
Further, what was considered as an audience interactive part of the program was also less than captivating because the same ignorance was evident in the construct of the program. Since every blogger knows only a few other bloggers, having contests with a handful of participants is unlikely to have the audience on the edge of their seats praying for any one of them to win. When you are indifferent to the success or failure of any given participant, you are unlikely to be too interested in the proceedings. The Surf people showed better judgment when they made four teams - since when a participant from each of the teams was contesting, the rest of them were all agog about who was going to win.
If you do not satisfy your audience you do not convey your message. Which is why advertisements are interspersed between other programs that is of interest to the audience. This event, unfortunately, seemed to be based on the idea that you could rivet the audience with a continuous stream of advertisements. Needless to say, the audience was less than amused.
The sponsors need to ask themselves whether they are interested in hogging all the air time or giving out their message in a fourth of the time but to a far more receptive audience.
P.S: Forgot to mention the one bright spot! The dinner was excellent.