Kate Feld interviews Chris Killen at the Manchester Blog Awards

The Manchester Blog Awards took place this week and it led me to have to lift a veil of anonymity I’ve enjoyed for a year.

Of course, if any city in the UK was going to have an awards ceremony for blogs it would be Manchester.  As the pioneering city that gave birth to the modern computer and many groundbreaking bands, it’s never been a city to shy away from embracing the new.  Now in its third year, the awards are run as part of Manchester Literature Festival.

With an obvious interest in the local social media scene, I was keen to be there.  There was also the small matter of my two blogs being shortlisted for prizes.  This blog was on the Best New Blog list, while Manchester Buses was up for the Best Neighbourhood Blog prize.  I don’t mention Manchester Buses to many people.  Let’s face it, when compared to to the technology and the internet that I write about here it sounds incredibly sad.  I enjoy writing it and it’s certainly found its niche with lots of regular readers.  I decided that if I did win I’d just have to forget the anonymity and go public.

The night began with readings from all the nominees for the Best Writing prize and a DJ set from local music bloggers.  Then it was on to the prizes.  14sandwiches didn’t win (Best New Blog went to Follow The Yellowbrick Road) but Manchester Buses did win its category!  Having won I found myself having to come out as a bus blogger.  While most people were surprisingly accepting of my odd hobby, my sister did have a look of amused shame on her face when I told her.

On a side note, I decided to use my new Nokia N82 to capture the event. So how did it fare?  Arriving with a full battery at 7pm, I probably took about ten photos and streamed live video via Qik for about 25 minutes. Within two hours the battery was completely flat.  The moral of this story?  Get a spare Nokia battery!

You can find the full winners’ list from the awards over at The Manchizzle.