Last Saturday, I found myself on a panel discussion with Bertha Henson and Surender Dhaletta at the Singapore Writers Festival.
The discussion was about blogging – content creation, monetisation, dealing with trolls, etc.
But WOW! Me! At the Singapore Writers Festival!!! *gasp*
Let’s just say it was a pretty surreal 1 hour, being seated in a room full of people and bright lights, at the Glass Hall of the Singapore Art Museum. :D That day is definitely going onto my list of “Best Moments in 2014″ :D
*Group Picture for poly students*
How It Went
[Pre-event] We were told to come by half an hour before the session starts but only Bertha and I were punctual. The organizer was panicking when the moderator, Carolyn Camoens, was nowhere to be found when there were less than 5 minutes to go. And strangely enough, the only one who was apologetic was the organizer. ;)
Surender arrived fashionably late too.
Bertha and I had thought we would be interviewing each other as the moderator and our fellow panelist did not show up on time. LOL.
[During the session] I found myself sandwiched between a panelist who had really strong views against blog monetisation and another who is ok with monetisation but leaves it to his readers to decide if they want to believe everything in the ‘Advertorial’.
I had to put my views across without being snarky, defensive or combative. Not easy for me, but I pulled it off. Anyone who knows me knows I love a good debate. But I was happy to let the other 2 panelists air their concerns. No point making enemies when I’m getting the same fee whether I engage in a debate or not.
~
I was really concerned, though, that there were probably 50 people or so in that room and only 2 had questions for us during Q&A. Seriously?!
I charge people hundreds of dollars for blogging workshops and you get to ask me a question for FREE and you don’t? Wow.
Either that 1 hour was super insightful or Singaporeans are just plain unaccustomed to asking questions.
Still, amazing experience. I can’t believe that just one book got me speaking at the Singapore Writers Festival. When you follow your dreams, the doors and windows of opportunity just open on their own! :D
Happy Happy Monday!
