Chennai Express and You

Congrats guys!  And I am envious!

BTW, what is this about? Read it and understood nothing

Entertainment for them and promotion for Chennai Express movie. 

• Mumbai to Chennai in Chennai Express ( train )
• Chennai to Rameswaram in Rameswaram Express 
• Three days stay at resort
• Bye Bye and back to home

Those who have seen the movie might understand it better. ( I don't watch Hindi movies  )

I recieved the mail. Rameshwaram is a nice place with lot of temples.

I would recommend not to take the VIP line when visiting temples people in VIP line are more as compared to general.

Ram setu is a must see you can see Sri Lanka border from there.

Have fun guys Chennai aiai Chennai Express!!!!

VIP line are more as compared to general.

Interesting! 

Yes,  I paid for it and saw that the general line was moving quickly as compared to the VIP one...

Congratulations to the lucky ppl :)

BTW just curious to know when the selection happend for this awesome journey ?

Around 5 days back. An email was sent to some ( or many? ) bloggers asking if they would like to participate in the event. The email mentioned that participants would be selected on first come basis.

I had my exams ( ending today ) , so couldn't accept the invitation. 

Same here. I am more curious to know what was the selection criteria. The mail said - first come first served. I replied within a few minutes, and also wrote a couple of paragraphs about the reason I would love to be a part of this. I only got a reply after 4 days, that people had already been selected.

I didnt get any mail

Never mind that Razi. As if the mail was going to make any difference. :D A couple of days ago huge ruckus happened at BA about the way winners for some contest were selected. And the question was raised by some senior bloggers. Everybody is concerned about the transparency exercised on blogging forums. Disclaimer : This is nothing about the people part of the CE campaign, but the way invitations were handled. 

Let it be Ragini.. lets keep blogging.. ;)

"whats there in a mail../ " - quote by me..

couple of days ago huge ruckus

I like such fights!  Can I get the link? 

And coming to the selection for CE, though they mentioned FCFS, I think there are other factors also.  I might be wrong. 

Ranjith, this BA thing is being popularized on FB. Do your investigation on FB. You will find it. Even though I am not a member of BA, I know about it

Ranjith was hospitalized few weeks because of some fights..

@Ranjith - It was not a 'fight', rather a very well worded concern expressed by a popular senior blogger. So much so that even the people at BA had to come out with explainations. And about the 'other factors' about which your mouth is sealed - well that again can be the social media reach (on twitter?) :) That brings me back to the first point, why send sham invitations then, pick up the people you want to pick. 

@FP - Where on FP now? BA deleted the FB post. :)

RP, it's on the walls of the members who raised the issue. Details are given there. Everybody is sharing that status to spread the awareness. I think some of them have even tagged BA admins (however I can't be sure given that I am not a BA member)!

The invite was only sent to bloggers who blogged about an IndiBlogger meet in the past year or so (we mentioned that in the email!). We needed to select 2 from Mumbai and 2 from Delhi, and apart from meeting basic criteria like having an updated blog, they were chosen on a FCFS basis as said in the email!

Thats a fair reply from Renie..! :)

Ragini, I'm sorry you missed out even though you replied in a few minutes... One issue is that our emails don't reach everyone at the same time - they're sent in a random order, and if you're at the end of the spectrum, there could be a difference of up to 30 minutes in between the first recepient and you. Also, if you use Yahoo! mail, it could be even slower.

@Renie - Thanks for stopping by. :) When I saw Vineet's mail, I thought (?) I met all the criteria, and replied within a couple of minutes. There were two replies in fact - first an expression of interest and another longer mail about why I liked the movie and why I wanted to be a part of the journey. If there was a need to write a blog singing paeans about Chennai Express, I would have done that too. (people did that!) But since the mail said 'reply to this mail....' I just wrote a couple of paragraphs about that.  

I can write a mail about the other concerns and 'the other criteria', since I do not wish to unnecessarily take names here,  but I guess you don't acknowledge all the mails. :) 

Oops, timed out before I could edit my response and add more to it! :P

@Renie - I use gmail. And I am online till late in the night. 

Plus, some bloggers' mail reached you pretty fact. Check with Vineet. Hmm... :D 

That's it. My part of the story. 

I might be wrong. 

I was wrong. 

I would surely tweet to them, but I seriously didn't get what is it all about?

I mean, our tweets would get something or we would just flood our twitter wall with Chennai express hashtags for fun :p

I mean, our tweets would get something or we would just flood our twitter wall with Chennai express hashtags for fun :p

I think the second one. 

of coz u will get something. Otherwise y wud anyone tweet on Chennai Express..of all the things 

lol. This doesn't make any sense to me :P

I didn't even like this movie :/

NSV, I thought the same. But I don't think so that there are any prizes for this one :)

V r giving away lungis, aviators & bands from the movie & U COULD BE ON TV DURING THE PREMIERE! #chennaiexpressandyou pic.twitter.com/5BIMQEqHa0

See this...I think there are some lungis to be won :D

... from the movie 

used ones? 

lol, "lungis", seriously!I don't even know how to tie one :( 

And I hate Twitter

According to the IB page, we need to tweet about our most memorable train journey or our favourite movie moment.

But according to the  AND Pictures twitter page, "Tell us about the one you love - in words, a quote, pictures or video"

I think they both are two different contest, still the hashtag is the same. 

I love Twitter :D

I tweet, tweet, and tweet! 

May be they are using the same hashtag so that it will trend easily. 

I too love twitter provided they give some prizes 

Lungis up for grabs?  Whaaaaaaaattt!! 

Pehli baar ND saaf saaf dekhne ko mili! Congos heroineji I think i'll enjoy this whole tweeting thing! I am loving Twitter these days!

saaf saaf?  

ND ne naah ke photo kiche hai iss liye

Haha...saaf saaf matlab, always seen her with her photoshopped images only

Bushra..people have not seen even you saaf saaf ever...we want to see you saaf saaf...someone who is such a fantastic blogger must be very ...well 

Forgot to say Congrats.  Congrats to Smiley Heroine.  Also to contests king. 

Wow Nandini, finally u made up ur mind to be part of the trip, tried getting in touch with you since yesterday, but couldn't. Enjoy, I really missed this oppertunity.

congrats heroine ji..  and others...!!  Jealousy..:(

Congrats ND, btw the Smiley queen is not to be seen since yesterday, maybe packing her bags to be on the CE 

They are already on the Chennai express! Saw thier tweets

Nice she must be singing kashmir se kanyakumari now

curuously waiting for her "Lungi Dance"

Yup...I met nandini recently and she is quite fun to be with. Hello Miss Deka, hope u will have ot of fun there!

Congratulations allof you :) 

Firstly, this very unique and indeed a wonderful initiative via IB team. Love you IB for this!

Second thing, Yes I did write about an indi meet in last one year but neither for this nor for Tata Motors invite, did I get mail from IB team. I was informed by other bloggers who recived this mail and wanted to check if I am the one. For this meet too, I came to know via few bloggers and contacted Indi Team for the mail and invite.

I responded to that mail asap only to get another similar mail in evening and responded that as well.. It is a lovely concept indeed. I remember sending my hurried reply while being in a moving auto in Mumbai traffic while reaching for a blogging event.

I didn't get selected for this and I am perfectly ok as the slots are limited and there are bound to heartburns as Indi team cannot send more than 4 bloggers no matter how much they love all of us. I was though happy to know in advance that I am not selected for this and I appreciate that gesture.

What I dd not like is that I was not cared to inform about this FIFO initiative directly in spite of being a regular at indiblogger. However, I am ok...so what if I cannot join  [I liked the movie, it fared batter than my already negative expectation and toota foota tamil knoweledge], I still cheer for them! Come on folks, ragini my sweetie, not everybody can be accomodated there, don't hold grudge...smile!

Come on guy lets cheer for Nandini and Mr. Passey [ I do not know other two and when checked Romit' blog, may be I was hallucinating, I barely see much blogposts there].

Renie, do make them wear proper lungi and dance everytime train stops to a station. Seri? :P

@Ekta - Grudge? What?   You are on a different tangent altogether. 

Did you not read all my comments and Renie's reply? There's absolutely no grudge at all.  My concern was about the criteria and the transparency.

Of course, not everyone can be accomadated, like the way not everyone can be awarded in the various contests. I remember you recently 'voicing your concern' on one of the threads about being wary of the many participation prizes you had to contend with and you sounded upset. Also there was your angry comment on BA for not winning the Smart Suraksha contest. That was grudge - when you wrote you would not be participating in their contests anymore. 

And Forum is for voicing our concerns, clearing out doubts, clearing the anomalies, and appreciating each other. Not too sure if the IndiAdmins have the time to answer all the individual mails. 

And yes, Renie has addressed my concern, and I am cool with it.  Let's not flare this up unnecessarily. Days of class monitors are long gone.   

P.S - For the first time I am getting to use smileys other than the 'smile' one.

Ragini, seems you have taken my word in altogther a different tangent and poured all ur anger on me. Why so upset? I read all the discussion here and thot u feel bad [basis the interpretation of language n ur words] and mentioned you there. Ulta u started jumping on me as if I have humiliated you and writing all BA things here? 

U also had an issue on twitter and I heartily supported u there. I did not bring that in our conversation as my intent was to cheer u up. Off course I would have loved to see you there in CE more than anyone I know.

Let's not talk about what remark I put at non IB forum as you do not te background. .I did not complained for not winning but for making that post win prize where the blogger had no blog but just wrote two post for contest and won, an observation/ fraud that I didn't bring but senior bloggers did and were unsure to raise and I started the conversation.

I voiced my concern wherever I feel like. I did not stop u neither...all I was trying to do was to cheer you thinking that you missed that opportunity like me. And I appreciate that you maintain the decorum instead of throwing mud on someone just caused someone asked you to cheer up?  That class monitor thingy is so uncalled for! 

I did all that basis our friendly interaction on twitter but now am so aghast at your response. I have zero time to be class monitor or tolerance for writing for contests where prizes are given without verifying things and that reflects.

I am product manager who offered thousand of prizes for promotions worth lakhs of Ruppees even before I knew about IB, BA, this and that and blogging. and I know what goes in judgement to make it fair and fool proof v/s the slimy ones. SO I appreciate if you do not discuss non IB things here as what I written earlier.

I felt bad seeing your reaction here. 

Ekta, as discussed at Tata Motors event, the invite was sent to bloggers who were part of Xtreme Drive blogger's meet and for CE, which was Zee TV sponsored,  the invite was recieved by bloggers who were part of and had blogged about Conncted Hum Tum and DID4 meet, that is what my understanding, when thy say two bloggers been selected from Mumbai and 2 from Delhi. Had you been part of any of these meets, am sure you would have recieved invites for the events.

Hi Ekta, the intention of my reply was not to hurt you, not in the least. Heartfelt apologies if I inadvertently did that.  I was suprised at your selective interpretation of my replies, and I answered accordingly. Forum and subject particular threads are the place to share our concerns about everything happening at IndiBlogger. And the good thing is that everyone here is given the freedom to voice their opionion and have a say on these threads. One cannot and should not really influence others into thinking that one particular line of thought is the absolute one.

You probably did not notice, but there are a few others too who were unaware as to how the bloggers were selected. Like you say that you have no tolerance for participating in contests where the prizes are given without verifying things, similarily I too wanted to know the details about what went behind the selection process. Isn't that fair? Where does grudge come in here? So when you use words like grudge and talk about taking the things in the right spirit, it sure hits a raw nerve. I was surprised by your reply and the fact that you chose to ignore Renie's replies.

Now let's not waste any more of our time on this futile conversation and cheer for our friends onboard the Chennai Express. :)

And the next time I am in Mumbai, I will treat you to some of your choicest delicacies.

Done?  

Meghana, it says it was extended to ppl who wrote abt any Indimeet in last one year. I too got an invite by them. I have not attended either nor do i see final winners having written. I may be wrong but it doesnt matter as I am not questioning anywhere here.. I am just being a class monitor..lolz!

Ragini trust me sweetie, when I said grudge it was on no other sense but may be for feeling that wish I too could be part of that team. I read his replies also. I clearly saw that no one tells us about the criteria ever. My intention was not to add on ur comments here but just to wrap in my comments thinking that like most of us felt bad for not being selected, no matter the reason, u too felt bad and cheer u up...as no one cheered me up 

Relax, u r too precious for me as human and twitter chatter than animated contests and things! Let there be peace and kiss and make up 

Yes, BA had a major problem reported. I too received a call and mail from their CEO. So what? They are looking into it and hopefully fix it. 

Sadly they may loose some bloggers member but knowing Nirav, I am sure they will resurrect it back. If you find anamoly, report to them directly...why posting at IB forum? 

I don't know. RP mentioned it, Ranjith asked the details and I gave whatever little information I had. Simple.

No prob fairy, this happens!

Check out the new challenges! http://www.indiblogger.in/chennaiexpress/

Renie, just tweeted a challenge for the IB'ers under @AndPicturesIN and that hashtag.

Hope u people and the AND people find it interesting enough. 

me too.,...hope u getting my tweets..I have some real facts there :)

Congrats, Mr. Passey and Nandini. 

This is wonderful contest. I hope one day we have a contest like Hunger Games.

Is this a contest?  And what is it about? I thought it's a promotional gimmick.

Pankti, that was a contest about who sends the reply to the mail first. 

CK, emails were sent to select people. So it was a closed contest?

Still the contest was who replies first, isn't it?

It is not a contest for us - It is a contest for them - like big boss.

TF, oh challenges!

Meghana, ok. That's the contest. Thanks for letting me know.

Congrats to those selected!

But seems things are pretty heated out here.

"Carry a blogger up the stairs of a temple" Whaaaaaat!!

Bechare ladkon ki toh band baj jayegi!

I saved myself..!!

Lol! True Bushra ....that one is sure is the toughest ..btw which temple stairs? Palani ?

They have chosen two oldies for this task...these guys might have taken physical strength tests before being selected...many young men will thank god for being saved..

Í don't like Twitter.  There should be a form on CE page to submit the challenges. 

Ranjith: we sure don't. We like writing long essays, and twitter doesn't let us do that 

Ck, that's your issue.

I think Ranjith shares that with me.

Ranjith is more into infographics 

Now, I like twitter.  There are vouchers for the best tweets. 

@CK I like posting short and cute smileys! 

This thread is way too long to read, but as far as I understand, bloggers were already chosen by the sponsors most likely depending on how much promo moolah they can get. But the 'results' were disclosed so that they can get ideas for challenges and promote this thing????????

You can assume whatever you want.  As you said that you didn't read the entire thread, I am copy pasting what Renie said.

The invite was only sent to bloggers who blogged about an IndiBlogger meet in the past year or so (we mentioned that in the email!). We needed to select 2 from Mumbai and 2 from Delhi, and apart from meeting basic criteria like having an updated blog, they were chosen on a FCFS basis as said in the email!

[...] Our emails don't reach everyone at the same time - they're sent in a random order, and if you're at the end of the spectrum, there could be a difference of up to 30 minutes in between the first recipient and you. Also, if you use Yahoo! mail, it could be even slower. 

 

For carrying girls on the temple stairs they have chosen two oldies.  Hope they don't drop them in between...

Congrats to the team..even though I didn't like the movie chennai express I like the twitter challenge contest