Red carpet memories from Pakistan Blog Awards 2010 - Photo: PCWorld Pakistan

It’s happening – It’s happening! The excitement might suggest I am about to become a father but that’s not true. I am excited for the 2nd season of the glorious, umm glamorous and prestigious Star Screen Awards Pakistan Blog Awards.Well the excitement is all about the biggest platform that recognizes the year long efforts of Pakistani bloggers which makes it no less than Oscars for bloggers.

The recent few years haven’t been easy for journalists/bloggers in Pakistan especially keeping in mind the fact how threatened the free speech here. Yet we have something to celebrate i.e. the bravery and courage of Pakistani bloggers who have stood against all odds and have participated in literally all sorts of activism. Not long ago we practically beat the shit out of dictatorship and have stood for democracy, free speech, equal rights and what not!

As matter of fact, I have been nominated this years Best Infotainment Blog category as well, but to be honest, winning or losing doesn’t matter anymore to me. It’s all about celebrating the colours and voices of Pakistan. Blogging practically on all the topics, Pakistan’s blogosphere or in fact the social-media-sphere has come a long way that it now seems to have almost every colour of the rainbow. Be it political activism, human rights activism, humor, entertainment, infotainment or virtually anything! Instead of writing anything fancy as my vote appeal, I’d dedicate this blog post to all the colours of Pakistan’s new media and blogging with a special thank to the organizing/sponsoring bodies of the awards. I’ll drink to all that, cheers!

Here are some details about the event:

Who Can Benefit From Blogging?
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Students: Discover how you can earn your own pocket money
Housewives: Learn how you can earn & support your family while staying at home
Professionals: See how you can enjoy a second income while still doing a full-time job

Event Summary:
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The idea is to encourage Internet users & bloggers to meet offline as well. Senior bloggers get a chance to share knowledge & experience. New wanna-be bloggers can learn from the local success stories and network with leaders & professionals in this field.

Host:
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LUMS IEEE Students Chapter
(in collaboration with CIO Pakistan & Google Pakistan)

Venue:
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Auditorium SC-4 (adjacent to super store), LUMS, DHA, Lahore

Agenda (draft/tentative):
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- Success story: Sizlopedia.com (Saad Hamid)
- Success story: Pinkwool.com (Maryam Nasim)
- Success story: Sizzledcore.com (Haris Nadeem; tentative)
- For Beginners: Blogging & how to start earning from it? (Badar Khushnood)
- For Advanced Users: Tools for professional blogging! (Badar Khushnood)
- Moderated discussion & tea

Requests:
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- Please help spread the word in any way you can
- Lahori Bloggers: please help post about it on your blogs, twitter, FB, Digg, Stumbleupon, etc.
- You may bring your laptops as we hope to have WiFi connectivity there; Enjoy live blogging, twitter, etc.
- Please DON’T be shy at the event to ask even the silliest of questions!