#BNLF, An Experience to Cherish Forever!

· by · in Website & Product Reviews. ·

When I started blogging two years ago, I never thought that it would become a passion for me, so much that I wouldn’t mind travelling almost 2000 km to attend a bloggers meet! Yes, I’m talking about #BNLF (Blog Now Live Forever), the two-day-long biggest congregation of bloggers that happened at The Lalit hotel in Mumbai last week.

The #BNLF has been solely conceptualized and organized by the biggest platform of bloggers in India, Indiblogger. The event was managed with great panache; after all, an event where more than 600 bloggers from different parts of the country (and some from outside India) have turned up is not an easy thing to get with. But, they did it and, they did it successfully.


Well, I am a bit disoriented as where or what to start with. The event begins with the cheerful and energetic in-house band performance of Indiblogger. The chic Nadisha Thomas did jazz up the show and vitalized it with her voice. All the bloggers participated with much enthusiasm and lent their voice occasionally to the band making it louder.

One of the main objectives on the part of the organizers was to make people learn seriously about blogging. To make them aware of the various aspects of blogging so that they can channelize their efforts through the right ducts. Keeping this in mind, they have invited some of the most interesting personalities and entrepreneurs who spoke about blogging. Yes, there was no sponsors who made us nod our heads while preaching vehemently about a myriad of products! It was purely about blogging.

Purba Ray, a blogger who always makes me smile with her sharp satirical blows and caustic humour, was the first speaker. And, she delivered a delightfully ravishing speech. Another Bengali blogger-turned-author, Arnab Roy, rightfully pointed out the risk-averse standpoint of Bengalis even when it comes to blogging! ( Being a Bengali, I could relate and that is obvious). Christoph Trappe, a great name in the field of content marketing enriched us on writing great content and making authentic stories to which the readers can relate.

Kanan Gill, the known face in stand-up comedy started his journey as a video blogger or vlogging as we call it. He, in his usual jovial tone, gave us the tidbits of his journey. I immensely enjoyed his session. Anshul Tewari stated the stories behind his site Youth Ki Awaaz, where public speaks the last. Her endeavour and journey were inspiring enough to make us rethink the way we look at blogging. The story of Preeti Shenoy was  almost unbelievable as she told that she faced rejection 39 times before her first book saw the light of the earth. It made me a bit nostalgic because my first book review on this blog was that first book of hers, Life Is What You Make It.

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Jeff Bullas provided us with some great insights on how to make the site more interesting by reaching a larger number of readers. After all, ‘traffic’ is a much-coveted word in the blogosphere. It is like, traffic? Terrific! No traffic? Horrific!

Bruce Dickinson, the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden gave a mesmerizing speech. His impeccable sense of humour made it all the more happening.

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I attended an interactive cooking session on Day 2 with some other fellow bloggers. It felt heavenly when I tasted Ricotta Spinach filled Tortellini on the bed of mushrooms made just in front of us by Chef Rajeev. The gastronomical extravaganza though perhaps did little to improve my culinary skill, but it immensely satisfied my taste buds. Anyway, I definitely gathered a considerable amount of knowledge on Italian cuisines.

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It was not the end. There were sumptuous lunch and endless chatting with friends, meeting some old friends and making some new. It was discovering some blogger and greeting him like a long-lost friend. It was making new connections and conduits. It was a session of listening and learning and sharing the thoughts, it was admitting the sanctitude of blogging as a religion. It was the feeling of blissfulness of being a blogger.

80 responses to “#BNLF, An Experience to Cherish Forever!”

  2. Pingback: The Liebster Returns | The Tea Cerebrations·

  3. Hi Maniparna , It was wonderful meeting you in person. #BNLF rocked due to the collective Hearts of Team IndiBloggers, IndiCrew, The concept, Blunder in The Code , Purba Ray , Bruce Dickinson, Arnab Ray , Christoph Trapp, Anshul Tewari , ClearTrip, StayZilla , The Lalit Hotel and most of all the Bloggers.

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  6. Looks like you had a rollicking time out there, Mani, from the racy account here of the jamboree. I have to go through the motions of signing up for membership and then think of participating in the next event. Hope to do so to see the stars in blogging firmament, you included…

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  8. Loved reading about this special meeting and the many wonderful relationships built upon blogging. So glad you got to participate Maniparna, a beautiful person for all to appreciate even more. Thank you for being part of my blogging family.

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    • Hi Sanjukta, No, the members of Indiblogger didn’t need to pay a dime for attending the event. Of course, those who travelled from cities other than Mumbai had to bear their expenses on their own.

      0 years is a great feat! Congrats on that and, I would request you to sign up on Indiblogger if you are not a member yet… 🙂 You’ll get updates on all such events and many other blogging related things.

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      • Actually I am on Indiblogger. I in fact know the founders from their very first meet back in Bangalore, attended the first meet, had drinks with them. But they have become big fish now, and I am off the radar 🙂 I guess I should talk to Renie. Bloggers meet are a thing of the past for me, we did them with much enthusiasm in 2005, 06, 07. Then there was barcamp bangalore where i was the bloggers collective leader. Fun days, but I lost touch with the guys. I am bad at keeping in touch. Its pretty amazing that this event was completely free… so there were sponsors? I mean what was the catch?

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      • In that case, I think you should talk to Renie. I’m sure you have lots of stories to tell and experiences to share about your blogging journey.

        I understand the bad at ‘keeping in touch’ thing because I’m a bird of the same flock. Typical Bengali laziness I guess 😀

        IB arranged this event on their own…apparently there were no sponsors except Stayzilla and Cleartrip… 🙂

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  20. I’m a new entry in the blogging world and this was my first experience of any such blogging event. I wasn’t used to the raw energy flowing through the crowd and the easy and relaxed way they used to mix with celebrities as well as newbies indiscriminately. Learned a lot about blogging and met many people, whom I’d only read and admired! Including you. It was as if a starstruck teenager is introduced to a Bollywood party! 😀

    So glad that I attended!

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  21. A beautiful round-up of the events, dear Mani, it was so good to catch up with fellow bloggers whom we have only read online, in person. It was absolutely lovely meeting you and here’s hoping to see you sometime again in the future 🙂

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  27. I see you had an amazing time. Travelling 2000 kms for attending this was some decision. Reminds me of some of the impulsive decisions that I have taken in my life. 😛 Well done, it is something to remember.

    Glad to see some blogger meets happening. I still do not call myself a blogger, but someday I’ll attend one of those meets to catch up with people here 🙂

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  31. A lovely recollection of the wonderful events at #BNLF. With so many bloggers from all over the country coming together, this surely marks an increase in visibility that blogging is gaining in the country. While all speakers were good, I absolutely enjoyed listening to Bruce Dickinson as he very nicely drew parallels between the approach for engaging audiences with blogging as with music, and yet making business sense out of it. His 0+0=1 case studies can easily be termed as one of the best talks in strategy. But more than anything else getting to meet fellow bloggers in person was the best perk of BNLF.

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