Tags
#Huawiesnapys, Dublin, Huawei, Instagram Awards, Ireland, photography, Sprink Breaks, Vouge Williams
After the wonderful Irish Blog Awards back in September I had high hopes for the #Huaweisnapys (Independent Awards for the Instagram Community) last night. Sadly the event didn’t live up to its promise as it was all a bit of a let down.
Luckily I won some free tickets so I wasn’t put out for having to pay in and not get much out of it but for all of those who did, even the shortlisted Instagrammers had to pay in, I can’t help but feel a little annoyed.
The award ceremony was cold, no attempt was made to engage with those in the room – most of whom were bloggers, snapchatters, integrammers – and was mainly advertising how great the Huawei phone is. The massive screen in the Mansion House wasn’t utilized to benefit those who were shortlisted and the Instagram photos that won never really got a chance to be seen. But Huawei was everywhere, blocking everything else with it’s blockbuster-eque grandiosity. And it really wouldn’t have been difficult to have a live tweet run down the side of the screen, have a few competitions to keep people engaged, and basically just be generous with space and time to allow those who won to shine – after all the event was meant to be all about them.
The MC of the night was Irish actress/comedian Deirdre O’Kane who tried her best to get a bit of atmosphere going, but the mood was off from the get go. This didn’t really change thorough the awards, and the choice of having Vouge Williams DJ (not my taste in music but I was told she did a good job) before the Spring Breaks came on didn’t help either as many just left once the awards were handed out. By the time the band- and I presume they were meant to be the highlight of the night – came on the evening had petered out, more than half had left. While they did their best to get people up and dancing room was to empty by then to really lift the spirits.
Another thing that was a bit curios was how stingy Huawei was with the free drink. Of course there was no expectation of a free bar (which seemingly the VIPs – and who they were I do not know as the Instegrammers sat in the main room and not on the balcony- did have) but it would have been nice if they had provided at least one glass of bubbly for each guest – instead every now and then only a few trays made it out into the main room, maybe enough for a third of the audience, causing odd surges of activity and lots of unhappy, left-out looks on many of the audiences faces.
And while of course you can’t expect a goodie bag it would have been nice to get one, especially since the event was sponsored by so many big names and Huawei kept banging on about how much their market shares have grown and how well they are doing. Maybe that was why so many left so early with a dissatisfied look on their faces.
Over all the #Huaweisnapys really just felt like a massive marketing event for a product that may be great but showed little to no interest in connecting with those in the room – in my books a failed event that didn’t showcase how great many Instagram photos are and was more interested promoting product instead of talent.
the intermission entertainment was a stunning light show
the best bit of the night 80s music with Spring Breaks
jensinewall 