The first of a kind social media festival HashtagLive Kuching (#LiveKCH) ended with plenty to shout about.
Reviews of the festival which was organized by Sarawak Bloggers Society and managed by Events Horizon Management were very positive both offline and on social media. Thousands came to participate in this one of a kind social media festival in Malaysia with the hashtag ‘#LiveKCH’ trending on the Malaysian twitter timeline last 12 September.
The event kicked off with a social media talk done in a relaxed atmosphere with President of Sarawak Bloggers, Cyril Dason urging bloggers to improve their content so that the society can help promote them for better opportunities.
Chuah Kee Man later thrilled the audiences with a talk on how social media users should engage their followers on twitter, and the talk session was wrapped up by an interview session with popular YouTube sensation Nanasheme.
At 1:30PM, Saufi thrilled the crowd with amazing sape tunes which started the #LiveStage area.
This area saw sensational performances by local Kuching Youtube talents such as Sasha Ningkan, Joyce Khoo, Eric Goh, Ashrun Zikri, Azwan Juperi, Dzul Izzat, Syamel Izwan, NAKAMA, Soul Dance, Ryan Han and popular Nanasheme. A surprise performances was also made by young 15-year old Aidania, delighting the crowd that gathered to enjoy the live performances.
Elsewhere, the gamers battled it hard in the Inter-Varsity DoTA2 competition as shouts of victory and cries of defeat emerge from the dedicated section for e-Sports. The competition managed by e-Sports Malaysia (Sarawak) saw huge e-sports fans gather to watch epic battles between the best of the best in DoTA2. Several other games such as FIFA15 were also played with a participating fee of RM5 charged by the gamers.
Outside the gamers section, the indie booths saw encouraging business as people from all walks of life browsed through their products with some having to re-stock their sales.
Just behind the indie booths, a new game known as the Big Bad Bouncer saw giggles and shouts filling the air as man and women in large balls ran at each other to win simple and short fun game made specially for the Big Bad Bouncer.
And last but not least, the social media sections were pleasantly interactive with everyone making full use of the sections. The twitter section which had the live feed of the #LiveKCH twitter timeline saw strangers seat side by side tweeting, while photography was definitely alive at the Instagram section where many couldn’t resist the temptations to capture a photo to be uploaded.
At the Facebook area, scribbles, doodles and drawings kept the ‘live walls’ filled with the volunteers constantly needing to erase or refill papers to create room.
The Events Horizon booth also captivated many as they featured numerous photobooth which many seem to enjoy. At the registration counter, the ‘Sarawak wish wall’ saw hundreds of wishes pasted up with some taking the opportunity to look for jobs, and make new friends.
According to the information we obtained, #LiveKCH also saw some 30 volunteers from local colleges and universities help out during the event with many of those coming saying they have made new friends and gained new experiences.
Others that came were glad an event such as #LiveKCH had started in Kuching and hoped to see it continue next year.
Regardless however, Sarawak Bloggers has started something good here, and it it hoped that more exciting things will come when #LiveKCH returns next year.
