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August 2015

Inside Hard Rock Cafe Bangalore

Indiblogger meet in Bengaluru hosted by Flipkart’s Image Search

Date: 1 August, 2015

It was time for another Indiblogger meet in Bangalore! This time it was hosted by Flipkart, who was using the opportunity to introduce to bloggers their new Image Search functionality in their mobile app.

Hard Rock cafe Bangalore
The venue was Hard Rock Cafe, on St. Marks road
Inside Hard Rock Cafe Bangalore
As usual, it was a packed house with many familiar faces/bloggers
Indiblogger band Flipkart meet
The ‘show’ began with the Indiblogger guys coming together and jamming to covers of Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right” and Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”

We then began with the usual blogger introductions and some laughs courtesy of Anoop Johnson from Indiblogger. I stood up to introduce myself and then answered when we were asked if we had posts that were more popular than what else we write about. It made people laugh when I told them how my post on how to roast chicken in a convection microwave is now my most popular post when everything I else I write about is my travels. And guess what, I won a Flipkart voucher worth Rs.1500 for my answer! 🙂

Flipkart Indiblogger meet Bangalore
It was now time for the Flipkart guys to take over the show

They began by presenting a video and then demoed the image search functionality by taking photo of a guy who was wearing a black t-shirt and then using the Flipkart mobile app to find similar t-shirts. It’s a nifty idea based on the concept of “Point -> Shoot -> Buy” and an obvious one based on our real world shopping experience (in today’s times). As of now, the tech is still early and Flipkart is currently focusing on fashion, some accessories and shoes.

We were then asked to try it ourselves.

Yellow polo tshirt Flipkart image search
I tried it with a nearby blogger who was wearing a yellow polo neck t-shirt. As you can see, the search results aren’t perfect.
Striped tshirt Flipkart image search
I tried again and this is what I got. It’s not perfect and I guess the search results will vary based on what Flipkart has in stock to match the photo. Also, we were told lighting conditions matter — a lot!

After the demos, we were then given a chance to ask questions to the team at Flipkart behind the image search functionality. Very few stuck to image search-related questions and instead used this opportunity to ask about Flipkart’s recent announcement that they are going app-only! Judging by the tone of the bloggers, they didn’t seem to be be too happy about that move. Neither am I, but this was not the venue to discuss that. That said, there were some silly suggestions amidst some good ones. The Flipkart team assured us they are constantly working on adding improvements to the image search functionality.

Hard Rock Cafe bar Bangalore
After the Q&A session, we hit the bar to get some drinks and munch on the starters they were  serving
Indiblogger meet Bangalore
During the break, the Indiblogger guys introduced two authors who contributed to ’10 Love Stories,’ the first book published under Indiblogger’s Get Published initiative
Group activity Indiblogger meet
We then all re-grouped for a team activity. As usual, we were all divided into large teams and then asked to play game.

After we formed into large teams, two members from each team had to use the Flipkart mobile app’s image search to take photos of clothes, shoes and accessories of bloggers all around and get as many matching products in Flipkart. It was a challenge, but my team managed around 22-24 matches (it was validated by Flipkart staff). But we lost to other teams that managed over 30.

Lunch Hard Rock Cafe Indiblogger event
After the team activity, we all got to eating lunch
Pasta mashed potato chicken Hard Rock Cafe
The buffet menu wasn’t vast, but at this point, I was okay with a light lunch. Garlic bread with mash potato, roast chicken and pasta. For dessert, it was brownie and ice cream.
YMCA dance Hard Rock Cafe Bangalore
The staff at Hard Rock Cafe then came together to perform their signature “YMCA” dance

And that was it. By 3pm, the bloggers slowly started to disperse. We said our goodbyes, and after I wished the team behind the image search functionality “all the best,” I left too. This was another successful, fun and engaging Indiblogger meet, so thanks to Flipkart and Hard Rock Cafe Bangalore for hosting it!

Now about Flipkart going app-only….

Just kidding! 😉

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