Biggest Blogger Event Ever: Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards
Irrespective of who wins, I believe the biggest winner tonight is the blogging culture in the Asia Pacific itself- Ming and Tim, Founders of Nuffnang.com
It’s 1:42 AM and I have just uploaded the photos of the biggest blogger event I have ever attended. I loved it. The event was well organized, food was great, and meeting bloggers from 3 other countries is something different from other blogger events attended so far. The Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards gathered over 400 bloggers from Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Australia. Around 31 Pinoy bloggers flew all the way to Singapore.
Photo via Ada Lajara. Glamorous Filipina bloggers gather at the Link Hotel before proceeding to the Pan Pacific Hotel for the Awards Ceremony
After 2 years of community building, Nuffnang.com presented the first ever Asia-Pacific Blog Awards at the Pan Pacific Hotel.
with Nuffnang co-founder Tim
Honoring the best of the blogosphere in the region, they ran 2 months worth of nominations and campaigning and culminated last night’s award ceremony. It is also the first time to see bloggers dressed in fancy or classy attire.
Anton and I loved the formal wear for once.
But see, the Aussie delegation were even more glamorous.
Meeting a few Malaysian bloggers was interesting. I like their formal wear too.
Of course, the gorgeous Gosengfiao sisters and Jehzeel in black tie affair gave a touch of elegance.
With Alodia Gosiengfiao, Ashley Gosiengfiao, Jehzeel
Photo Credits to Ada Lajara . Philippine Nuffnang President Eric Ramirez with Filipino Bloggers at the Pan Pacific Hotel
Congratulations to Ferdz Decena for winning Best Travel Blog for his ironwulf.net. He also won in the First Philippine Blog Awards. Ferdz is truly a winner.
I know the challenges faced when organizing Blog Awards and one is forever grateful to the sponsors. One of the major sponsors was Pringles which held a viral video contest and gave a prize of 5,000 singapore dollars for the winner. Here is that winning video:
The Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards criteria in determining the winners differ from the criteria that we set for the Philippine Blog Awards which is mostly based on the judges and a set of criteria. I noticed that content was not a main winning criteria (around 40% including relevance to category). Popularity for one was based on the 50% voting from readers. When I asked Xiaxue, the secret of winning three awards (Best Original Blog design, Best Regional blog, Most Influential Blog), she said that she asked her readers to vote for her. Well, but that is only 50% but when I asked her secret for her popularity, she said “just being myself” . I have yet to read her blog entries though.
Video I took of the Asia Pacific Blog Awards
In any case, I still believe that content should be the overall factor in determining a winner. Sure, the blog may not be popular but after the recognition, the blog gains a bit of fame and popularity. I hope Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards give a bit more weight to content rather than popularity in future winners. Is the content making a difference in Asian Pacific region? Owning unique content is more valuable than owning the blog or the design. A blog’s content is even more valuable if one can open it up for broad and creative use and making a difference in the world. Or perhaps just giving value. On the other hand, Filipino bloggers have the distinct advantage of freedom of speech compared to some of our Asian neighbors. There lies the difference in diverse content among our Asian counterparts.
Photos
My Photos of Asia Pacific Blog Awards
Photos from Dustyhawk (Dustyhawk)
Other Entries
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Nuffnang Awards – A View from Serge (Malaysia)
This is about me ( a 
that was fast…
You look great Noemi. That purple dress is beautiful
Dexie´s last blog ..G.I. Joe and Angels & Demons Weekend
thanks dexie. I had it altered because it was an old dress.
They paid for your plane tickets and hotel?
BrianB´s last blog ..Windows 7 Sticker on a Nokia Booklet 3G
yes plane tickets . I think the hotel was sponsored. We had to shoulder travel tax, terminal fee , food for certain times.
They’re doing really well.
Btw, it’s so Asian that they chose black tie instead of semi-formal, but it does look enviable. I didn’t sign up when they first offered but I’m thinking about it now. An outfit that can organize an award’s night like this is worthy of one’s trust. I wish they’d do more tech ads though. U.S. and Europe have a lot of lucrative tech-related ads. Asians buy a lot of cars and LCD TVs.
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blog=money
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wow na wow talaga ang mga Pinoy. You all look gorgeous.
Sarah´s last blog ..Mommy Moments – Tantrums – Tantrums
Noemi, I grabbed our Pinay bloggers pic =) Linked to you!
Topaz Horizon´s last blog ..Buy these shoes!
Hello there! Didn’t get a chance to talk to you in Singapore.
BTW, that is Tim, not Ming.
Huai Bin´s last blog ..Frog leg porridge at Lorong 9 Geylang
thanks for the correction!
Nice video compilation of the event.
LetsGoSago.net´s last blog ..Singapore, Here We Come Lah!
Congrats for a successful Nuffnang Blog Awards in Singapore!
Tyrone | Millionaire Acts´s last blog ..Business Entity: Sole Proprietorship
Wow! Thanks Noems! Great video coverage of the awards night
Ferdz´s last blog ..Ironwulf.net En Route is Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Award’s Best Travel Blog 2009
yay. congrats once again!
i have to say that the pinoy bloggers delegation are a good looking lot hehe!! congrats to you guys and to nuffnang
ang galing ng event!
neva´s last blog ..Baby Einstein Sets the Record Straight
“A blog’s content is even more valuable if one can open it up for broad and creative use and making a difference in the world. Or perhaps just giving value. On the other hand, Filipino bloggers have the distinct advantage of freedom of speech compared to some of our Asian neighbors. There lies the difference in diverse content among our Asian counterparts.”
Have to disagree about this. Nuffnang is a business, and it benefits them to use the most objective criteria they can find: metrics and reader’s votes. Who can argue with that? Personal judgments, on the other hand, always fail on the objective side. Also, you may overwhelm judges that will have to judge between blog posts of vastly different levels of competence and mastery. Do you judge a blog design based on a designer’s credentials? Surely some great blog designs are too subtle for ordinary judges to judge. Do you vote for a blog post written by a multi-awarded writer, a very well-informed journalist, a blogger with vast experience and expertise on said field? Compared to an amateur wannabe with a good heart or a designer who just happens to have good taste?
BrianB´s last blog ..HTC Droid Eris to retail for $99; Bundled with 528MHz processor, Android 1.5
i gave it some thought too and you are right,. Nuffnang is a business where hits and popularity matters and other critieria set by the Nuffnang founders. I was just hoping for just a bit value in some of the winners blog . Most of them were very well-deserved btw.
whoa whoa….. it’s Dustyhawk one word never two words and always spelled either dustyhawk or Dustyhawk the D is either big or small and the rest of it is small
okay will correct it now.
I’m glad you really enjoyed Ms.Noemi. It makes all those sleepless days and nights of hardwork truly worth it. I loved this post. Among all the posts I’ve read in the PH and the rest of the Asia Pacific region, I think this is one of those well written posts. But for the criteria I think we can let it slide don’t you? Being the first multi-regional blog event and all? And for the last comment regarding value, We tried to see if content would be something the people would be interested in. a blog called taxicabdiaries.blogspot.com made it to the finalists. He didn’t serve nuffnang. He doesn’t even have a banner or pictures. It was purely a text blog. But the content was awesome. It was one of the few blogs I read from end to end. But in the end the people voted. Thanks for attending Ms.Noemi!
Carlos´s last blog ..Singapore Hangover
In the age of web 2.0, we shouldn’t put too much weight on design. In the PBA, we gave it a separate award. Things can still improve like we did with the PBA for the past 3 years. Criteria can still improve. Overall, the event was excellent. The organization and execution of the Nuffnang Awards is commendable. It gave Nuffnang much credibility.
BTW, Qtube will feature my video snippets this thursday.
You’ve done great. I guess judges had a hard time in choosing the best blogger award. But it’s worth it.
Bacolod and Beyond´s last blog ..Scenic Sunday
Must have been a very interesting meeting there with a lot of intriguing and successful people. Well done Noemi.
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