Maria Grazhina Chaplin about World Bloggers Award 2019: idea, plans, accounts to follow

• How you came up with an idea to organize World Bloggers Award event? How long did you plan and prepare for this event?

 Honestly, for many years I went to such a large project in my life. 20 years of experience in various fields from an official assistant to the State Duma of the Russian Federation at the age of 20, followed by the organizer of different events in Russia and Ukraine (from beauty contests to golf tournaments). Well, and most importantly: working on federal TV channels in Russia (from journalist to leading), and then creating their own international media company. All this led me to the fact that it was ripe in my head for many years. Why is this particular event?
Now, this is the most relevant and, at the same time, unstudied topic, requiring a lot of analytical work - this is what concerns the most recent profession of bloggers. And at the same time, this is an absolutely promising event from the point of view of show business, as bloggers gradually become celebrities on a level with actors and actors.

• How were the nominees selected?

Over half of the year, bloggers and influencers have applied and received invitations from the World Bloggers Awards organizing committee to participate in the contest.
During the last month, the jury has been studying the account history of each participant and evaluating the achievements in different categories. About 50 bloggers distinguished by their professionalism in their respective field have reached the World Bloggers Awards Final

Criteria of selection:

Number of followers
Professionalism (quality of the posts, authenticity, etc.)
Genuineness of the influencer (activity, relationships with followers, etc.)
Fans engagement (numbers of comments)
Influence ability (according to qualitative analysis of the comments)
Sustainability

• No doubt that organizing is very stressful, how you manage to cope with stress? What are your beauty and lifestyle secrets and lifehacks to remain your youth?

A successful event – is a positive emotions and energy that help to keep youth and beauty!

• What are your plans for next year/ couple of year?

We have plans to create a community of influencers and a lot of work on the right message for the entire population of our planet. After all, who else but they will be able to make a lifestyle that will save our ecology, make society more  conscious and healthy.

• Are you planning to make World Blogger Award an annual event?

Yes of course. Next year we are considering two cities: London and Miami. At the moment, our organizing committee is leaning towards the location point - London. Since, in my opinion, it is the capital of the world. Because our event in the field of blogging is a global event, I believe it should take place in the main city of the world. But if not in 2020, then in 2021, we will definitely do it in London. 

• What is you prediction about “blogger” industry? Do you think it will prosper? Who si for you a successful blogger?

Definitely, I believe that the blogosphere will not only flourish, but the Influencers themselves will control many processes. The world of youth is completely gone on the social network. People who have beautiful and successful pages on social networks are becoming more and more interesting to society. I think that in 10 years without a beautiful and successful profile you are unlikely to be considered a member of society.

The bloggers are not yet aware that they are no longer just basic people. They no longer belong to themselves. They are the property of society. Millions listen to them. Already today they must think about what they are writing about and what promise they bring to society. These people are simply obliged to work on the depth of their messages and promote a sustainable lifestyle. These people can influence and change our world for the better.

Probably the most successful are those influencers who are known even to those who are not really into social networks. Among them, of course, is Gian Luca Vacchi, who is known to the whole world for his absolutely positive videos with dances, and also as a successful DJ. Nusret, who won the hearts with his culinary videos and turned the process of cooking meat and salting procedures into the show. Chiara Ferragni, the blond leader of the fashion world, a style icon for millions of subscribers. Probably, these are the three loudest names and we are proud that two of them have won the WBA prize. Chiara, unfortunately, was unable to attend because of the schedule, but, obviously, we are waiting for her next year.

• Top 5 accounts you are following

I mainly follow the pages of my friends, but if we are talking about bloggers, it is interesting for me to watch the world of bloggers who are far from my usual life, to learn something new and watch people who are followed by millions. I subscribed this year to pages that have become a discovery for me. One of them is our winner Sasha Chistova, who, at such a young age, became the idol of millions. #chifamily is a huge family of teenager followers who literally live Sasha's life. She is very open and sincere with her audience. In a personal conversation, I also noted that she really loves her subscribers, worries about everyone and appreciates their love. It is very important that the girl, who is already so popular, remains faithful to her subscribers and lives for them. Sasha has a great future.