Of Bloggers, Tweeples and Company's Conscience

The string of events and happenings after the Nokia event and an incident in Saturday's Digi D'tour had me thinking about this for some time before i decide to blog it out here. If you don't know what happened at the Nokia X6 Launch go HERE. About the Digi event which was excellent, there is a session where the staff shared that there were blogger events where bloggers are invited to attend and one of the participants actually asked if the bloggers were somehow paid to write only good things about a particular company. At least the participant now knows that there are still bloggers who blogs with a clear conscience. At least this is what he said about me.

Well I would say not all bloggers can be bought by money or items. At least I know I am not one of them. If an event/product is really good, I would write good reviews and also praise it even when I need to fork out money to get it. If an event/product is bad, don't expect me to write good stuff about it even if you pay me or give me some products. Yes this is me as I told the group of Tweeples who called me a Troll, No gratitude, Freeloader, Modern Day Robin Hood and a Digital beggar. Among this group is someone who works for Nokia(direct or indirect I am not really too sure but I meet this person who is one of the organizers in the Nokia Music Explorer event).

Yes one of these words coming from one of the staff(which I am not going to name who)? What do you expect from them? Then I get an anonymous comment on the Nokia X6 launch post from someone I am definitely sure is from the same group. Actually I did specify that in my profile that "Remember you have a choice not to be here. There is always the option of clicking the X in the red box at the top right corner.". Yes I didn't put a gun on your head to read my blog. If you don't like it you can leave. Posting anonymous comments wouldn't get your comments published. I only approve those who have at least a name to address to. Be it good or bad I will approve. This is because I believe in a discussion. Not someone who does not even have the guts put his/her name down.

Let's start with the freeloader, troll and digital beggar accusation. I was accused of always asking for free stuff and thus labeled as a free loader. This was when I am asking the D'tour organizers for the carpooling gift which I did on behalf of my driver friend(who hurt her leg before the event) who drove 4 passengers(her friend, me, my bro and my gf) to the event. Yes. That's when all those name callings start. So getting gifts for others which are rightfully theirs are considered as freeloaders, troll and a digital beggar but filling up an internet form in hope of getting a phone is all fine and fair? Is that so?

Let me tell you this. There are so called Brand ambassadors cum bloggers who were given benefits and stuff to write good about a certain event, shop, food, or review gadgets. Some had been having problems with the gadgets they are given yet still endorse those brands in hope that they would get future benefits but No! I am not one of those bloggers. They don't feel the responsibility to their readers but I do. I don't lie to my readers just so I could get free stuff and invites only to have them blame me for things which went wrong. Yes I may kill future prospects from companies which might give me items and free stuffs to write on but this is my principle when I blog, blog the truth or don't blog at all.

One tweeple from the group also mentioned about the Samsung/Nuffnang and RapidKL post which I did earlier. I guess you missed one, the Krispy Kreme post. You know what's the difference between the first, Nokia and the other 2? The Samsung/Nuffnang post is because it involves the whole team of 20 people and there are those who are with me when we asked the game judge(paintball marshals). It's not about me because I don't bloody need the phone. It's just that the organizers had acted unfairly to the whole group and till this very day they dare not accept my challenge in setting up a recorded meeting with both teams, both the organizers and the marshal.

After all the shit I had went through in the Nokia X6 launch, all the communications manager, Hazel could reply is to thank me for the points raised which could be used in future events. Not even a bloody apology. This coming from an International, Multinational, Ranked No 1 mobile phone company?? I am really disappointed. Even a small chain like Krispy Kreme with only 4 stores currently in Malaysia could have their then Senior Operations Manager apologize and from then on my experience with them was never the same again. I do drop by often to buy doughnuts and at the same time made friends with the store staffs. Fine, you may say KK is based in US so they might be different. What about RapidKL? A Malaysian company. The Group Communications Manager emailed and get the staff to apologize to me. And I did see some changes in them.

Now compare how Nokia handled the complain with the rest. Maybe this only happens with mobile phone companies since the other is Samsung but in the case the organizers are mostly from Nuffnang which is a Malaysian internet ads company. About me being a modern day Robin Hood, I think I didn't rob from the rich but the rich did rob from the poor by getting those unethical bloggers in their service. I only screw them when they did badly but I do also praise good ones like the Astro B.yond event and soon upcoming posts on Digi'd D'tour and Wacoal Sensuala event. So now you can't say I only write bad stuffs about companies.

The anonymous comment said the companies are polite enough to "layan" me but I throw shit right back at them and I don't deserve to be given courtesy at all. Let me tell you what, I throw shit right back at them because they DESERVE it. Courtesy or not, an apology can actually be suffice but to have insults hurled back and call those replies as "layan" instead of a sincere apology, I think I wouldn't even want those courtesy as these companies wouldn't go far at all. He/she also added that no one asked me to queue hours before the launch started. Apparently this idiot is either blind or just ignorant of my post before when it is said that the organizers gave out the ballots away.

You may say I went for the phone instead of the concert which to you is the main attraction. Guess you didn't read that we were too cold to had stayed longer because we were all wet to stay for long. With that also we all went sick for about a week. If I only went for the phone, I would had left at 7 when I didn't get a single ballot paper instead of staying till about 9-10. "To say the event was a complete failure is unfair to the organizers". Where did you see the word "complete"? I said launch fail as in failure to ensure the safety of event goers where some were injured without the proper facility or expertise around on standby to help. As one of the commenters said "Nokia can be sued for negligence for breach of duty of care in civil law in not providing reasonable safety concerns such as a first aid booth".

As for the comment which says I feel no gratitude. You are actually right. I don't feel gratitude towards some company whose mistakes and negligence caused injuries, losses and also put my family member and my life at risk. Tell me if your loved ones get hurt in an event organized by some company and the company give you back a phone as "reimbursement" then give you a thank you email that they will use the incident to "improve on future events". If you can still feel grateful, then bravo for you, You are real great and compassionate to the company but not to your family.

Maybe let's have it the other way in this context. Company gives you a phone, invites you and your family for an event which during the event your family and your life is risked, or making you all sick, injured and worse of all lied to you. Can you feel the gratitude now? I am sorry if I may not be as forgiving as you are. Maybe for you, you can sell your soul for some benefits in return but for me, I wouldn't do that. Fell all the gratitude you want. "Whatever rocks your boat" as you said but don't judge me when you don't even know what I went through. For me it's only fair when you give me shit that I pass it back to you. No exceptions.