#sgtweetup ended with mixed thoughts from those who were there that night. So what happened? Was it good? Could it have been better? And what’s the difference between #smbsg #websg #sgtweetup and Tweet! Tuesday? Let see my analysis of them all. *takes out magnifying glass*

First lets see what’s a tweetup. In my own words, its a mashed-up for meet-up that happens for people using Twitter. Hence tweetup. Simple right? So when I came to know about the first sgtweetup by @CarlGriffith, my immediate impression was, “Yeah! I’m going to meet more new people!” And that’s what happened. (For me!) I got to catch up with old friends, especially nice seeing @emoh whom I knew back in my days at Made With Love, and I met lots of new ones too! *waves!!* I regretted not getting to meet everyone there. There will be a next one I’m sure! In fact @inrsoul has already started the next tweetup with beer and tapas on 21 May! (Sorry guys, can’t make it for this one. Heading to BKK the next day.)

Recently I spent a little too much time on facebook games. Every night, at least an hour is devoted to clicking on my mouse on clearing crystals from Bejeweled Blitz. I tried to conquer the score board, but it just seems impossible. After much cursing and swearing playing, I’m still always being ranked right at the bottom among my other friends in facebook. I felt frustrated and this kept me playing and the harder I try to push myself by clicking faster and trying to get as many hits as possible, the worst I perform. Than I became bored and will eventually give up.

Bejeweled Blitz is quite a popular game amongst my list of friends in facebook. And because of the number of competitors you’ve got to beat in order to rank high up in the score board, the harder it is for you to reach there. After many nights of playing, you might also just give up and not want to continue anymore.

Just last night, I saw a friend’s scoring in another game call Chain Rxn in facebook. Out of curiosity, I went to check the game out. And after less than thirty minutes of play, I’m ranked 4th among my friends who are playing! That of course makes me happy.

Because there were lesser friends playing Chain Rxn, my chance of getting bumped up the score board is much easier. Just like in, for example, a golf tournament. An average female player gets to bring home the trophy because there were only four other players competing. So the chance of winning is much higher.

Than the thought of blogging came to mind. There have been much talks and thoughts going on on blogging and how much better the blog will perform if its content is focused and niche. The rarer and lesser people blogs about that topic, the better your blog will perform. And for all topics, no matter how rare or niche, there *will* be a community out there who are interested in it. You just need to keep the faith of sharing about that niche topic which you’re knowledgeable and passionate about, one day you will be noticed and you will succeed.

And because of the rarity of these content, people who knows about your existence will be more active in participating in the discussions on your blog, helping you spread the words to those they know, and the journey to being known in this community as a thought leader is also shorter. Of course, the initial struggle will be hard to pass, but good things always come to those who wait.

Are you waiting to be discovered? Or have you already succeeded in your small but niche community?

My thoughts and reflection on SMB6, this time round, from a participant point of view instead.

Total of about 60-70 close to 100 people turned up at SMB6 held at Tangs Island Cafe. There were the usual social media breakfast participants, bloggers, practitioners, and also a handful of first timers. Having talked to a few of them who were there for the first time, they were quite puzzled at what was happening and everyone behind couldn’t hear nor see what the panel was discussing. Even if everyone were to remain quiet, those standing behind the pillar will not be able to see nor hear anything. That’s perhaps why everyone choose to talk among themselves instead. I’m guilty for this too. But really, this cannot be blamed. What do you expect those behind to do? Also saw a handful of people who came and walked away soon after as the place was overcrowded. If you were one of them, apologize for the lack of space. Hope to meet you at future social media gatherings.

After five successful SMBs and good feedback, this one came as quite a punch to the team (including myself). So what really went wrong?

The Venue
Tangs being located at Orchard seems like an ideal place to hold such gathering. Everyone knows exactly where Tangs is and getting there isn’t much of a hassle. But when there’s a space constrain for an expected crowd of 50 (at least), the venue might not be the most suitable. Add on a panel and launching of the Tangs Secondlife store, the venue is surely not appropriate.

The Agenda
To be very honest, I have no idea what happened on the other side of the room. I tried hard to listen and see what was going on, but I couldn’t hear nor see a thing. By the time I went in after helping at the registration, all the seats were taken and the limited standing space (to see the panel) was already cluttered with people. This means SMB is growing and many people are really interested in the discussions and knowledge sharing, but this also means we’ll need a much bigger venue for future SMBs! Its hard to find a suitable location and with our zero budget, the challenge is surely there.

Would really love to hear from those who were seated in front to share about your thoughts about the discussions. Looks like it was a chatter about consumers on facebook and loyalty card program.

Earth Hour
When the lights went off, half the crowd was gone! Wasn’t it supposed to be a networking and catch up time instead? But seriously, not easy walking around in the dark and introducing yourself. There were people tripping on other’s feet! Good thing no one got hurt.

SMB6 sure is a good learning point for the team. And really thankful to those who stuck by us after so long and for your understanding and feedback. The team is always learning and growing. So we need your feedback! Please spend 2 minutes with SMB6 feedback form. Or drop your comments below…

Here are the updated slides which I shared during Blogout! 2009 last Saturday at 8Q SAM.

My first encounter with Barcamp was Barcamp SG II in May 2008. No posting found in this blog on that because that event didn’t interest me enough for me to share? Nope. I didn’t blog about it because I left within an hour after arriving. It was one that targeted at the developers and I kinda got lost in there.

Good thing we’ve Preetam onboard this time round, with his experience with many Barcamp sessions from different countries, we know this was going to be a great one. And it was!

Here’s my experience, breaking down into 1) as a planner, 2) as a speaker and 3) as a participant.

The once static and not-so-attractive Yesterday.sg has got a major overhaul! The new Yesterday.sg has brought mix thoughts and sentiments for me.

Started my blogging journey with them in September last year and had contributed a little ever since. But it sure was an experience that any blogger should at least try once. (Or more because once is never enough with the new facelift!)

We were all once a child before. Some of you already having your own. So what I am going to share, is nothing new to you. And all I hope you will do, is to give a little support to these children who need your help. This is a call for your pledge for more hope for these children.

I may not have seen the worst, but I have seen enough…

1. The parent who couldn’t afford to buy a proper meal for their children.
2. The parent who can’t accept the reality that their child is autistic.
3. The parent who can’t understand why their perfect child isn’t able to learn like other children.
4. The single mother who is trying to get ends meet, had to make her 10-year-old daughter to work with her at the coffee shop serving beer to the uncles and men.
5. The child who has no one to turn to at home because her parents are always no way in sight.

All these and much much more. There are simply too many problems, family and children in need. Most of the times, the children in these cases are innocent and were brought to the situation by the lack of love, concern, care and support from their parents and family. But there is still hope. You can help them!

Singapore Children’s Society – http://www.childrensociety.org.sg

M.I.L.K – Mainly I Love Kids – http://www.milk.org.sg

The above are two local initiatives who are here to help these children. But it takes more than just their love, support, time and programme to spread out to so many children out there. Yes, there are fund raising events, flag day, donation drives and charity runs organised to help raise funds and awareness. But now, there is one more way for you to help…

Samsung has set aside USD700,000 for total of 21 beneficiaries from 5 countries. All of them already will receive a base sum set by Samsung. But now, you can help Samsung decide how they can distribute the remaining sum. Help them by pledging your hope at Samsung Hopes Take Off.

I have made my pledge. Have you?

If you have a blog too, you can help spread the words out…

Wear a badge of support (Simply copy and paste this code into your blog)

<center><a href="http://www.samsunghope.org/"><br /> <img src="http://www.samsunghope.org/img/badges/200x80-HopeTakesOff-button.gif" width="200" height="80" alt="Hope Takes Off !" /> </a></center>