Kota Kinabalu Bloggers Meet
SharePosted on 16. Jul, 2007 by Gallivanter in Gallivantings
It was JACQ’s idea, and my enthusiasm to make it a reality, with the help of Debbie, we did. Behind the scenes were intense, (Jewelle made an entry on this) mainly because we were separated by distance, and the task of getting 50 people to surface (will-they-won’t-they) was challenging.
Toscani’s was the original venue, and I envisioned at least 20 bloggers. After having spoken to Timothy of Nuffnang, who helped with the mass e-mail, the numbers began to puff up. Toscani’s hesitancy made us change the venue.
Cue Pirates of Borneo! The venue change was last minute but one that had to be made. While I was out in la-la land sitting for my exams, Jacq & Debbie joined forces. The questions were, will bloggers fork out RM50 at the last minute? Will they be okay having it on a cruise ship? I lowered the numbers promised to 30. Why? Because if 30 didn’t show up, Jacq and I would have to pay the differences from our pockets.
44 pax – what a relief! I met up with the Pirates person-in-charge at 3pm prior to the meet, checked out the ship, and then headed off to buy a laptop cable. I frantically spent 3 hours selecting some 200 songs out of 4200 to be used for the meet on the night before. The sound system was pathetic, but Wei Chuen and I got it working after a while (damn that loose cable!).
Then, Jacq rings me to say that there will be an additional charge of RM6 per person for some port charges. So I had to speedy Gonzales over to meet the person-in-charge and I didn’t take no for an answer. And they gave way. Maybe my menacing cock stare with one eyebrow raised got the job done.
By 8pm-ish, the ship was inhabited with bloggers, and I went around mingling as much as I could, though I was under the weather. I was hoping my chitchat would help break the ice. Armed with San Miguel beer, I threw caution to the wind and hosted the meet. I met loads of plebs, 43 to be exact.
The 6 exam papers in 3 days took its toll on me mentally and physically, looking at the photos, I have lost a lot of weight and muscle mass too. Blech.
Nuffnang sponsored some amount (Thanks Tim!), and I took advantage of it by getting Bon Jovi’s LOST HIGHWAY CDs (the album’s number 1 for a third week in a row on the Billboard Rock Charts by the way) as lucky draw prizes. And the rest were 1GB thumbdrives.
Though I didn’t sample the buffet during the meet (except the garish prawns), I spent most of the night socializing. Throw me in a ring with a bunch of strangers and in a few moments we’ll all walk out as friends.
Thank you Sabah bloggers for welcoming me, this event wouldn’t have been a success without you. Now, I wonder how are we gonna top the cruise ship bloggers meet? We have already set the date for the next meet (in July too). There, you have your one year’s notice.
I shall leave you with photos and other entries on the meet.
Mr Badak & Family
Jacq & I (that was the cruise ship behind us)
Jacq, myself & Riduan the man
Loretta & I
Jacq, Galli & Jewelle
Me, Wei Chuen & Julian Sabah
Me & Ned
Donna, Feley, Me & Debbie
Papajoneh & I
Me & Pai
Showing KK Bloggers How KL Bloggers Woo the Ladies (courtesy of Mr Badak)
BED After-Party – Yolanda, Melissa, Me, Papajoneh & Wei Chuen
Jewelle’s KK Bloggers Meet : Jewelle’s Version
Papajoneh’s Sabahan Bloggers Meeting
Jefferi’s Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Bloggers Gathering
Pai’s KK Bloggers Gathering 2007
Mr Badak’s KK Bloggers Meet Update
Melissa’s The KK Bloggers Meet
Julian Sabah’s KK Bloggers Meet
Anthony Lam’s KKBloggers Gathering Rocks!
Nyst.Wyrst’ Having My Dinner at KK Bloggers Meet
Lorna’s Look What I Brought Home from KK Bloggers Meet
papajoneh
Jul 16th, 2007
Oh man, we really have fun after the meeting. Even better, the closing. You come back here soon, ok. Life’s started to get boring… I mean to be kind to my family, started to get routine… kekeke. And here commenting at 5am after just “fixing” my son’s leaking diaper. LOL.
mrBadak
Jul 16th, 2007
hey daniel. Just want to let u know that we appreciate all the hard work and effort from the 3 of you to make it a success. wah i didnt know the pirates tried to get some more $ from us.. but fortunately this west msian pirate meaner than the borneons kekekeke (somehow that makes me worried all of a sudden
)
huei
Jul 16th, 2007
cool! so much fun!!! =D
Tine
Jul 16th, 2007
Wow … looks like a lot of fun. I’m waiting for one like this over here. Then I’m definitely going, at least one of ‘em blogger meets
kellster
Jul 16th, 2007
wow u go for alot of bloggers meet yeah?
so semangat!!
Kay Kastum
Jul 16th, 2007
Sabah people are nice people bah..of course la
visithra
Jul 16th, 2007
darn that looked fun ;p
julian sabah
Jul 16th, 2007
RESPECT man for organising this great event! Really had alot of fun. Also a big thank you for saving our “treasures” from pirates! XD
What? next July is it? gonna mark my calendar now!
sabrina
Jul 16th, 2007
Looks like loads of fun!
Nice shirt
Jewelle
Jul 16th, 2007
Hope you did well in that exam! Next year, get some Peterpan, you hear! :-p
Gallivanter
Jul 16th, 2007
papajoneh I’ll be back definitely, and this time, I’m bringing the sunshine. LOL.
mrBadak Thank you.
And don’t worry, I’m mean for a good purpose.
huei Well, I definitely had a great time in a company of strangers. Coming this weekend?
Tine You’re in luck, there’s one I’m organizing this Saturday, back-to-basics stuff, please do come.
kellster No, not really, this one in KK I was partially involved in it’s organization.
Kay Kastum That is true, you gonna be the same when I see you this weekend, or have you been “westernized”? LOL
visithra Definitely, on a cruise ship has its plus points.
julian sabah Thanks, I couldn’t have done it without Jacq, Debbie and the support of the Sabahan bloggers.
sabrina It was. Thanks, I bought this shirt simply for that meet. LOL.
Jewelle Exam results won’t be out for another month or so. For you, I’ll dress up as Peter Pan.
Kay Kastum
Jul 16th, 2007
A Sabahan is a Sabahan where ever he may be… Amen.
clement
Jul 16th, 2007
Gallivanter
Jul 17th, 2007
Kay Kastum
clement Yeah, I heard. Jacq told me. Well, there’ll always be next year.
penman
Jul 19th, 2007
WOW!!! this is so cool! What a happening event in my hometown!
GREAT JOB, GUYS!!!
Hope I’ll be able to join any KK Bloggers gathering next time, if I’m back visiting home!
^0^
Gallivanter
Jul 19th, 2007
penman Well, we’re already planning one next year, and I’m planning to come down to KK in December. We could meet up you know.
Johnny Ong
Jul 19th, 2007
u travel all over just to meet bloggers here and there?
Gallivanter
Jul 19th, 2007
Johnny Ong No, Sabah trip was planned (early January) way before the idea of the blog meet was thought of (end of May I think).
netster
Jul 22nd, 2007
This is cool! WoW! The most happening bloggers!
Gallivanter
Jul 22nd, 2007
netster It was a memorable evening, there were a lot of really friendly bloggers that night. I’m honored to have met them.
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