IT was an event that was trending on Twitter by around noon – even before the real party had started. That should give you an idea of what #ChurpOut2013 was all about.

ChurpOut is an annual festival organised by social media community ChurpChurp that brings together popular social media personalities, online boutiques and other random fun activities to get social media addicts to come out and play – and that’s why it never fails to trend on Twitter.

Held at the outdoor park at Setia City Mall, Shah Alam this year, the event was marred by patches of bad weather; but that didn’t stop young people from turning up and having fun.

Personalities like actor Jehan Miskin, Red FM deejay Jeremy Teo, actress Sazzy Falak and YouTuber Reuben Kang made appearances and spoke to fans, who also got to try out a “reverse bungee” ride, shop for clothes and have lots of good food.
The R.AGE team were at the event as well to spread the word on our R.AGE Against Bullying campaign and Instagram contest (check out the sidebar for more information).

Nuffnang co-founder Timothy Tiah, whose company created ChurpChurp, was also at the event. “We wanted #ChurpOut2013 to be a chilled-out event for people, like a street bazaar with food, games and shopping,” he said.
“We were concerned about the location being slightly out of the way, but we liked the venue a lot because it allowed us more space to have games like the darts booth.”

#ChurpOut2013 was also the first event for Tiah’s wife, popular fashion blogger Audrey Ooi, since the birth of their baby boy, Jude.
Baby Jude’s complicated delivery was well-documented by Tiah on social media, where Tiah and Ooi’s huge following held their breath as the baby had to be delivered just 31 weeks into the pregnancy.

“It’s nice to be back because I was lacking the social interaction between people, so yes, it’s great!” said Ooi, who was buzzing around her booth helping customers and talking to fans.

While Ooi is already an established name in the online boutique scene, fashion blogger Bobo Stephanie was making her first venture into the business at #ChurpOut2013.

Having blogged for seven years, Stephanie finally took the leap of faith to set up her own boutique, with #ChurpOut2013 being her first time setting up stall at a bazaar.
“This event isn’t just a platform for me to sell things. It’s also a platform to meet people, and understand how other blog shops run their businesses,” she said.

For the fans, getting a chance to meet people like Tiah, Ooi and all the other personalities was good enough.
Fresh graduate Syuhada Azlan, 23, was there hoping to catch a glimpse of actress Sazzy Falak.

The actress made an appearance at a booth to promote her fashion line.
“I follow Sazzy on Instagram,” she said. “It’s my first time at a ChurpOut event, so I’m a bit surprised to see how happening it is!

“It’s cool how it allows us to just hang around and meet all these awesome people.”