Here's Everything Awesome That Went Down At The So Delhi Confluence 2017

August the 5th dawned crisp and slightly overcast. The stage was set, the lights up and pretty seats set around a space that was to host the biggest blogger event seen in Dilli - it was finally time to begin the So Delhi Confluence 2017! Flinging open doors of the opulent The Lalit New Delhi, glitzy and glam bloggers streamed in through the doors and queued up for registrations, happily gabbing away and checking out all the unconventional and always-chic outfits proudly flaunted by others in attendance.

The event was hosted by Mehar Luthra, Editorial Head of So Delhi and part-time orator and the fashionably chic Devyani Kapoor, founder of popular blog Breviloquent.

Beginning with a bang, the Confluence was kickstarted by So Delhi founder and the man behind the confluence itself, Digant Sharma who discoursed on the blogger landscape as it stood and welcomed all the confluencers aboard. Digant Sharma proudly declared "From 150 select bloggers participating at our first edition to more than 1,000 bloggers in attendance this time around, we have seen tremendous growth over the past three years."

How To Get Brands To Pay For Your Travel

After much squirming in anticipation, our first panel discussion of the day - 'How To Make Brands Pay For Your Travel' was flagged off by the one and only Ajay Jain, founder of Kunzum Travel Cafe and one of the first travel bloggers in India. Proud panelists also included Ajay Sood (founder of Travelure.in), Instagram sensation - Himanshu Sehgal of My Yellow Plate and Philippa Kaye, travel blogger extraordinaire of MemsahibInIndia.com. “I really enjoyed myself at the event. It was an ideal opportunity to meet up with brands, bloggers and other influencers where we made new friends and exchanged notes. It was also a time to learn new things - covering technology, platforms, business models and trends. Not only from those with experience, but from even young people and start-ups who have their own knowledge and perspectives to share. Most importantly, it is the energy in the room that makes it so important to be at such events.” said Ajay Jain.

Answering The Most Asked Questions About Instagram

After much rousing discussions and a spirited Q&A sesh, we then moved on to our second panel discussion, hosted by the Insta guru Tara Bedi who took us through nuanced tips and tricks and answered a volley of questions lobbed at her by budding and experienced Instagrammers alike, which was most illuminating and riveting, to say the least!

Social Media Sensation - Pammi Aunty In The House!

Boasting of the most hilarious viral videos out there today, we were happy to welcome Pammi Aunty AKA Ssumier S Pasricha up on stage for some Pammi Aunty-level gyan and low-down on how to make your videos explode all over social media. Donning a terrific colourful waistcoat, Ssumier slipped into his Pammi Aunty avatar seamlessly and literally took the audience on a hilarious, honest and real ride!

Coming Into Focus Was InFocus

Happily taking us through the history and impressive credentials of this 20-year old experienced pioneer in visual collaboration technology, InFocus reaffirmed its oath to helping people communicate, collaborate, create, and be more effective every single day. They also unveiled their latest offerings - the InFocus Turbo 5 smartphone which was super sleek and enticed us with the tagline of 'Charge less and do more'. Way to go InFocus!

Travel Everywhere, Anytime AND Get Paid

Unleashing a revolutionary new platform, we were given a sneak peak into OYO Rooms latest venture, a little something called OYOnauts! Ayush Mathur, VP, Business Development, at OYO Rooms took us through this marvellous new platform that'll handily pay for your travel in exchange for well-researched and good travelogues that'll be published on OYOnauts. Cool, eh?!

Video Content - The Next Big Thing

To take us on this little journey, we had Aakriti Rana Gill and Shaurya Sanadhya, proud founders of the popular YouTube channel Pretty Little Things. They spoke at length about the importance of consistently churning out good, useful and relevant video content and about coping with all the struggles that entails. Happily regaling us with the humble beginnings of their vlog, they showed us how grit and determination always win the day!

Food Blogging In All Its Zesty Glory

Ooh, this session was super meaty (pun intended)! The session was moderated by Sahiba Gursahaney of The Tasting Fork and we had on-board Gurpreet Tikku, founder of the lovable blog Mister Tikku, Anahita Dhondy the master chef behind the amazing SodaBottleOpenerwala; Ashish Kapur, owner of Whisky Samba, Delhi's current fave hotspot and The Wine Company and lastly Karishma Gupte, invaluable member of PR Pundit for the past 12 years. Needless to say, the panelists all held their own and bombarded the audience with their relevant and clear-cut opinions on food blogging.

How To Put A Value To Your Posts

By far one of THE most enlightening, masaledaar, revealing and entertaining panel discussions of the day, this one was spearheaded by the inimitable blogger giant Naina Redhu who held nothing back when it came to bestowing gyaan on exactly how to handle difficult clients and PR agencies, and said “ Juhi Godambe, founder of Arabella also jumped into the fray with her own anecdotes and Anjali Batra (co-founder of Food Talk India) happily regaled us with her story, accompanied by Mehak Sagar Shahani, founder of Peaches and Blush blog. Last but not the least, That Desi Girl herself, Pallavi Chaturvedi laid down the law on exactly how to put a price on your posts. “It was wonderful to be on a panel with some of the brightest, most hard-working entrepreneurs in India in the online space. The girls were inspiring powerhouses & I learned a thing or two about pricing in this crazy, nascent industry. The number of young, upcoming entrepreneurs who reached out to me with their support, after the SoDelhi Confluence, has been overwhelming. We need to talk about pricing and work practices & we need to be more transparent if we want this industry to grow exponentially. Really looking forward to the So Delhi Confluence next year already!” exclaimed Naina Redhu, luxury blogger extraordinaire.

The Girl Who Has No Home: Travel Blogging Done Right

Shivya Nath quit her cushy corporate job at the age of 23 (back in 2011) to start her blog called The Shooting Star and travel the world and ever since then, there's been no looking back! She regaled us about her work with secluded and small Himalayan villages, her part in the discovery of India's first 'Instagram Village' and about how travelling is way more than just checking into a luxury hotel. Way to go girl!

Fashion Diva Awards

During this peppy segment, Keshav Suri, the youngest Executive Director at The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group and Digant Sharma, founder of So Delhi presented the Fashion Diva awards to a bevy of chic fashionistas including Juhi Godambe, Aakriti Rana Gill, Shaurya Sanadhya, Naina Redhu, Pallavi Chaturvedi and lots of other influencers.

Here's giving a shoutout to our title sponsor - InFocus, our hospitality sponsor, The Lalit New Delhi, powered by OYOnauts; our beverage partner - Happy By Thirsty, our associate sponsors - Sangam Courtyard, T&T Motors; Apostrophe Communications who was our communications partner, Logicuff, our wardrobe partner, our gift partner - HandMadeWorld, our wine partner - Grover Vineyards and lastly our digital and photography partners - Webcontxt and World of Frames, respectively. 

After a rousing closing address delivered by Priyanka Sharma, co-founder of So Delhi who regaled us with all the quirky finds placed in the heaping goodie bags, our confluence 2017 came to a resounding close.

Until next year fellow confluencers!