In my 4 years of blogging, I’ve always been “hiding” behind the computer screen – doing the usual blogging thing, updating blog and so on.

That’s the common routine, until Nuffnang’s Blogopolis came along…

Honestly, I would never have imagined myself speaking to a crowd about this hobby. Never.

Little did I know, a call from Nuffnang came through a few months back, and I was invited to be a guest speaker at Nuffnang Malaysia’s first ever Blogopolis.

Well, I was surprised. Like I’ve said, it wasn’t something that I would expect. Speaking about blogging – now that’s definitely something new.

Long story short, the event day approached and I was speaking in the “Idea Sourcing and Content Generation” session alongside food adventurer, KY, and TimeOutKL Editor, Chee Wah.

Prior to that day, I’ve not officially met both the speakers. Despite all 3 of us coming from different perspectives of content publishing (KY the foodie, Chee Wah the serious writer, and yours truly the joker) on the Internet, I was glad with our chemistry on stage.

KY shared some neat ideas such as looking through photos, Chee Wah focused on being prompt and disciplined while writing, while I talked about casual humor blogging.

P/S: Gotta thank Ernest for taking photos for me during my session! ;)

Know what, I was actually trying to be serious, like seriously serious, when talking. ;)

Our session went pretty well, and on a personal note – it was definitely a milestone to stamp onto my mini blogging “career”. Hopefully this is a start to better things to come! :D

After my session (the first one of the day actually) the other speakers took their place on stage and discussed about other aspects of blogging…

Huai Bin from sixthseal.com and Hui Wen from Revel In Me talked about the opportunities they obtained via blogging. One example is being able to go on sponsored leisure trip overseas. Also, to be given recognition for being someone out there.

Well, the opportunities obtained via blogging are always exclusive, something the usual professions can’t offer. #truestory

The next session was on blog design by Eric Cruz from Leo Burnett Malaysia, Firdauz from Netccentric, and Lionel Chin from Ripplewerkz. As experts in web designing, they shared tips and guides on improving blog templates.

A blog’s appearance gives visitors a first impression, and a good one would certainly leave a lasting impression – but make sure your content is good as well lah. :)

After that, Abang Nara from BeautifulNara and Vivy Yusuf from Proudduck discussed about branding with blogging. Having a name (aka brand) that is recognizable is one of the ways to obtain acknowledgement from the community.

It’s like how David Beckham became a brand for football, 1Malaysia as a program to emphasize national unity, and Ken Wooi being known as a boobie-lover/pervert/funnyman.

Oh wait, mine doesn’t sound like a good branding though. Crap!

Anyway, lunch ensued. I ate, and I was so full.

Wait a minute… actually, no one cares what I had for lunch. Oh well.

Blogopolis continued on with Carlos Nizam and Sue Anna Joe speaking on blog photography. This session was somewhat focused on photography, where they shared their views on capturing the “moments” and the general rules when taking photos.

If I may say, images are important on blogs as it gives a visual interpretation rather than mere descriptive words. Therefore, it is vital to create a smooth transition between words and photos in a blog post.

Other points to note are such as keeping the image sizes consistent and ensuring acceptable image quality. :)

The next session was presented by the pink queen of blogging… Xia Xue! In the “Finding Your Own Voice & Staying Relevant” session, she shared blogging tips (pretty much discussed in other sessions) and how to deal with haters.

She also mentioned that when there are haters, it means that your blog sparks interest. Crap, I haven’t had any haters at all recently, so does that mean kenwooi.com is losing interest?

Oh dear… can someone out there hate my blog, please? PLEASE?!

Anyway, the past, present, and future of Malaysian Blogging was discussed in the following session by Malaysia’s blogging pioneer, Kenny Sia, CEO of Malaysiakini.com, Pramesh, and Founder of Nuffnang, Timothy Tiah.

They said that the bloggging industry has come a long way to what it is today. Companies used to be skeptical, but they are now embracing the blogging platform to market their products and services.

Kenny Sia even mentioned that we should promote each other’s blogs to keep everyone going forward. Therefore, I have pledged to promote blogs that I read on my Twitter from now onwards. Would you do the same for kenwooi.com? :)

Last but not least, the “Leverage on Different Platforms” session was led by Maria Elena (on vlogging) and Ernest Ng from Bro, Don’t Like That La, Bro (on illustrations). Maria shared her funny Youtube adventures, while Ernest conveyed the idea that everyone can digitally draw regardless of softwares.

This session was entertaining as Maria was lively throughout, while Ernest was enthusiastic in providing insights into the world of comic blogging and animation.

Well, that concludes the first ever Blogopolis in Malaysia. It was an experience listening to top bloggers share their blogging journey.

Before I wrap up, I would like to make a big shout-out to the organizing committee for pulling up their pants (I don’t know what that means), audience who spent the Saturday there, and to those who’ve approached me and telling me nice stuff. :P

So, to live up to my title as a “humor blogger”, I shall end accordingly…

Hmm… Chee Wah and KY must be thinking that I’m some retarded nutcase smiling gleefully for no particular reason during our session.