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Monday 13 February 2017

Happy Times with #BergerXP Indiblogger meet

It was my first ever Indiblogger meet and I was thrilled to receive an invite to the #BergerXP Indiblogger meet at Taj Vivanta, Mumbai. I was looking forward to meet so many Mumbai bloggers, some whom I knew online through social media but had never actually met them! It was a pleasant surprise to see a couple of dear blogger friends who'd come to the event all the way from Pune, after all Indiblogger did mention a chance to meet bloggers within a 400km radius! 


We got our Indiblogger badges with our own twitter handles and registration was just a savvy QR code scan, cool!! 
We early birds got clicking selfies and groupies while the Indicrew recorded video bytes from the invitees. 


In due course the venue started filling up and we had a perfectly wonderful time welcoming known faces and getting acquainted with new ones. A buffet lunch was waiting for us and that done, we were ready for the action to begin.
Indiblogger host Anoop pepped up the atmosphere with his cheerful welcome and though the veteran bloggers promised to rag newbies, Anoop wasn't that mean; just a few new bloggers were invited to introduce themselves and speak about their blog. 

To get us warmed up we had a quirky version of musical chairs and I was one of the winners, yayy!

All through the day, umpteen gift vouchers were given by Berger Paints India for the best tweets, best pictures tweeted during the event tagging #BergerXP and I must tell you that sure motivated the bloggers to go trigger happy with their phones!

This was followed by a presentation by Mr Chandranath Banerjee, Services Head, Express Painting of Berger Paints on their newly launched Berger Express Painting service.

Being an Interior Designer, I was very keen to know more about the service. I must commend Berger Paints for their in-depth client research. Very rightly, they have analyzed the reasons why people shy away from regularly painting their homes. 
More than the monetary aspect
  • People are wary of the mess, the time spent and ultimately after enduring all that, they may not get the desired finish.
Berger Express Painting's service mantra is all about being:
FASTER, CLEANER, BETTER
Mr Banerjee explained the importance of having trained and skilled painters for the operation.
Berger Express Painting's USP is uplifting the traditional painting technique with some breakthrough tools that take the sweat and hustle out of painting. Berger Paints is in fact a pioneer in the country to launch this kind of a service.

The sanding machine with inbuilt vacuum function is one of the best innovations to cut down the dust and mess inevitable during the sanding process. Other tools include the multipurpose mixer for paint mixing, the fantastic airless paint sprayer, auto roller and high pressure washer. These gadgets will honestly be a boon to complete painting projects well before time, with less mess and with better precision and finish.These tools were all on display at the event.
Berger Paints assures you of the following: 


You could read more about it at Xpress Painting.

Following the very impressive and extempore presentation by Mr Banerjee, including a couple of videos showing the service in action, the floor was thrown open to a Q&A round. The questions were deftly and clearly answered. 

For instance I was keen to know,
1) Was Berger Paints conducting training workshops for painters and contractors regarding the new service and tools?
2) Could the tools be made available for hire?
I was informed that Berger was already covering this aspect by training small groups of painters city to city, reaching out to retail outlets and was finding good acceptance in the markets. Training centers across the country are also being set up. 
Also the tools are not too expensive, kind of like a one time investment that would help the contractor/painter break-even pretty soon; simply because by using these tools they would be able to save time and thereby labor costs - Labor costs comprise 50-60% of the overall estimate in traditional painting.

Berger's express painting service is just an SMS away: XP to 56767!
No mess, No fuss, On Time, Perfect Finish guaranteed! Awesome isn't it?
The Berger Paints website has some really smart painting help like Virtual Painter, Paint Calculator, Color Horoscope and lots more!

Well, after that eye-opening session it was time for some actual work!
Teams had to gear up to treat some prepared boards to some sandpaper action and boy did we kick up some dust in record time!! If a small board could generate this much dust, imagine how much dust would be generated while sanding the entire house!!
Paint doctors in action!
After this, it was time for some tea and refreshments. But no gain without pain...so we were busy plotting and planning for the next round! The Art Attack - painting contest!
Our team - Shade Yantra decided on the theme: The Spirit of Mumbai and we racked our brains for a creative take on the theme.

With ideas buzzing we were ready to take on the challenge, while Mr Banerjee explained how to mix/dilute the paints and stainers for our challenge.

And what happened next was the most fun I've had in a while! Getting my hands dirty and working in unison with my super team was so much fun!

Our team worked end to end, seamlessly and I am proud to say we created a fantastic kaleidoscope of the Spirit of Mumbai in just 35 minutes
All of us couldn't stop beaming ear-to-ear at our handiwork
The other teams had created awesome pictures too. 
It was soon time to present our painting and I think we did pretty good. 


At the end of presentation from all the teams, the winners were announced. 
It was also the end of a wonderful day and amidst much bonhomie and cheer we queued up for the groupie, hurr-hurring and waving with big smiles all the way!


The lovely hamper from Berger Paints was a kit comprising some wonderful catalogs, detailing all one needs to know about interior/exterior painting, color, texture schemes and more.
I left the venue bidding farewell to my blogger friends, happy to have struck many new friendships and reveling in the good time I'd had that day! 
Happy Times with Colors of Fun!!
A big thank you to Indiblogger team Anoop, Renie, Nihaal, Avantika and others and of course Berger Paints India for making this such a learning yet fun experience for all of us!
And now after that colorful experience, the walls of my home beckon my attention! 
I assure them of some Tender Loving Care and pampering as I've made up my mind to try out Berger Express Painting service for my home!


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Image source: Self, Saumy Nagayach and Indiblogger


Product images and details: Berger Paints India media kit

I am happy to announce that the above blogpost won the blogging contest sponsored by BergerPaints and the prize was an Illusions special effects wall makeover!! Woohoo!
Here's my Illusions wall!! Aint't it wow?

 



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