Mich Café: Blogs

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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Mich Café, Best Lifestyle Blog at Beirut SMAs

Thank you, thank you, and thank you…

Mich Café has won the Beirut Social Media Award for Best Lifestyle Blog.

Thank you to all those who voted for the blog, read it, come back and believe in it.Thank you also for all the messages I have been receiving on Twitter and Facebook.

And thank you also to all the judges.

I couldn’t make it to Beirut for the ceremony last night, but followed it on Twitter and celebrated with friends in Dubai.

Celebrating in Dubai!

Liliane, Samer, Figo, Kinan, Khaled, Kamal, Abderrahman, Bahaa, George, Mher and Maisa were there to cheer me on.

Ambassador Tom Fletcher presents my award to Youssef Chaker

I was also honored to learn through his tweet that British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher had “virtually” presented me with the award and overwhelmed me by his kind words.

Mich Cafe had also been nominated in the Blog of the Year category, which was won by my friend Najib Mitri for his BlogBaladi.

I think the biggest winner is Social Media in Lebanon, which is doing wonders for the community and the country. With better and faster Internet, it could do even more.

The Social Media Awards (SMA) allow the Lebanese online community to nominate, vote for and award bloggers, journalists, content creators, community managers, public figures, social media users and celebrities for their efforts in communication and online creation.

The SMA is the brainchild of the American University of Beirut’s Online Collaborative (AUBOC) in partnership with Beirut popular RAGMAG Magazine to honor individuals and organizations that demonstrated an exceptional presence in social media in Lebanon. (You can view the full list of nominees on RAGMAG's website.)

The SMAs can only get bigger and better.

Congratulations to the AUBOC team and to RAGMAG Magazine and I already look forward to next year’s second edition!

The Social Media Awards site said the total number of votes cast during the month was 100,947.

In the hope of winning an award, I had sent the SMA team the following video:

Watching my video at the SMAs (Photo by Yasmine Hajjar)

Congratulations to everyone who was nominated and to all the winners:

1. Best Business Blog: Wamda
2. Best Commercial District on Social Media: ABC
3. Best Start-up on Social Media: Tickle My Brain
4. Best Facebook Application: Novo
5. Best Facebook Campaign/Page: Lebanese Memes
6. Most Creative Instagram Account: LiveLoveBeirut
7. Most Engaging Diplomat/Politician on Twitter: Ziad Baroud
8. Best Lifestyle Blog: Mich Café
9. Best Food & Beverage Brand: Almaza
10. Best Pub/bar on Social Media: Feb30
11. Best NGO/Organization on Twitter: Donner Sang Compter
12. Best Design for a Social Media Campaign: Almaza
13. Best Fashion Brand on Social Media: Vero Moda ME
14. Best Food Blog: No Garlic No Onions
15. Best Fashion Blog: PlushBeirut
16. Most Engaging Person on Twitter: Anis Tabet
17. Best Technology Blog: Microsoftoholic
18. Most Engaging YouTube Channel: Cheyef 7alak
19. Most Engaging Media Personality on Twitter: Neshan
20. Best News Blog: Beirut Spring
21. Most Engaging YouTube Video: Beirut Duty Free Flash Mob
22. Best NGO/Community on Social Media: Lebanese Memes
23. Best Non-Arabic Vocal Artist: Anthony Touma
24. Best Restaurant, Café or Bakery on Social Media: Roadster Diner
25. Best Band on Social Media: Mashrou3 Leila
26. Best Personal Blog: Gino’s Blog
27. Best Hotel on Social Media: Phoenicia Hotel
28. Most Engaging Celebrity on Twitter: Haifa Wehbe
29. Best Media Personality on Social Media: Zaven
30. Best Business on Social Media: Roadster Diner
31. Best Integrated Campaign: Cheyef 7alak
32. Blog of the Year: BlogBaladi
33. Social Campaigning Magnet Award: Lana El Sahley’s L’Armoire De Lana

Related posts:

Beirut SMAs: Did you vote for Mich Café? – March 29, 2013

Mich Café up for 2 Social Media awards – April 12, 2013

Friday, April 12, 2013

Beirut SMAs: Did you vote for Mich Café?

Did you vote yet? What? You don’t know?

Mich Café was nominated in two out of 33 categories at the Beirut Social Media Awards 2013. (See Mich Café up for 2 Social Media awards)

It is a great honor to be recognized by the virtual community and I am so proud to be a finalist in the Blog of the Year and Lifestyle Blog groups:

Blog of the Year (Category #1)

Blog Baladi -- www.blogbaladi.com
Gino's Blog -- www.ginosblog.com
Beirut Spring -- www.beirutspring.com
Hummus Nation -- www.hummusnation.net
Separate State of Mind -- www.stateofmind13.com
Mich Café -- michcafe.blogspot.com
Beirut Boy -- guymeetsworld.wordpress.com

Best Lifestyle Blog (Category #4)

Mich Café | michcafe.blogspot.com
Let's tlk abt movies -- www.tlkabtmovies.com
Homos Libnani -- homoslibnani.wordpress.com
Nads Reviews -- www.nadsreviews.com
Architecture Lab -- www.architecturelab.net
If the bag Fits -- www.ifthebagfits.com

Online voting for the finalists goes on until April 25. You can vote via Facebook or Twitter at www.smabeirut.com.

The awards ceremony takes place at the Phoenicia Hotel on April 29.

With Jen on our road trip to Sidon (11/2010)

Unfortunately, I can’t travel to Beirut for what promises to be an exciting gala. My friend Jennifer Haddad (@Jennhaddad), will represent me in case Mich Café makes it to the finals.

Jen is very much part of Mich Café. Some of my favorite posts about Lebanon were written thanks to her taking me on road trips across Lebanon – to Sidon, Tripoli, Byblos, Oyoun al-Samak and Ain Anoub.

The Social Media Awards allow the online community to nominate, vote for and award bloggers, journalists, content creators, community managers, public personalities, social media users and celebrities for their efforts in communication and online creation.

As I always say, it is mostly thanks to the vibrant, active, friendly and imaginative Lebanese online community that I started Mich Café.

While the competition is stiff in both categories, I would like to believe Mich Café has a strong chance because it is a journey of love and passion for the people, places and topics I care about.

Mich Café is I, and as it says on all my social media bios: “Just happy… the rest is not important!” That is precisely how I feel and exactly how this is reflected in Mich Café.

This blog is also about reflecting on issues outwith the local and regional box and spreading my wings further afield -- for instance: to lobby for education, protest against SOPA/PIPA, back Internet freedom in Jordan, and campaign on behalf of prisoners of conscience in Syria, against female genital mutilation, violence against women, and especially rape, because rape is rape!

Some of my favorite posts were written during my annual trips to Lebanon.

One post in particular, “Beirut: Walking in Burj Hammoud,” published in December 2010, has been viewed at least 30 times every single day since.

In Love is blind... I list, as much as I can, the reasons why I love Beirut. I could add one or two every 24 hours.

While visiting, I try to cover as many places and events as I can so as to acquaint my Lebanese, Emirati, American, British, Norwegian, German, French, Turkish, Canadian and other readers with the Lebanon I love.

These posts include:

The places, people and stories in these posts, reflect the beauty of Lebanon, its people, its culture and its food. It is the Lebanon I love and hope to go back to, while most are trying to leave it.

Mich Café is also a place I celebrate my family and friends:

Dubai, my new home is also top of the list:

The Social Media Awards 2013 is the brainchild of the American University of Beirut’s Online Collaborative (AUBOC) in partnership with Beirut popular RAGMAG Magazine.

The awards are meant to honor individuals and organizations that have demonstrated an exceptional presence in social media in Lebanon. (You can view the full list of nominees on RAGMAG's website.)

Do exercise your right to vote in the “Republic of Social Media.”

Thank you in advance to the Social Media Awards and AUBOC team as well as to RAGMAG Magazine and the judges.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Lebanon’s 2012 Twitter honor list

There are so many lists that come out at this time of year -- looking back at 2011 and ahead into 2012. The one I always look forward to is Youssef Alam’s on his blog Joe’s Box.

For the second year running, I am there, under my twitter handle @mich1mich. It’s like being on the Queen’s Honor List! Queen Elizabeth’s honors are bestowed twice a year -- at New Year's and on the British monarch's official birthday in June. Most of the honors go to people who are not in the limelight, for services to community or industry, but they also reward a sprinkling of famous faces.

Joe gives a rundown of people to follow on social media platform Twitter. He says in his blog post on January 2:

New to Twitter? You don’t know who to follow? Here are some of my favorite tweeps with different interests. They share information, positive energy, interesting and funny stuff…

This year make sure to follow 12 “Lebanese Birds” who tweet regularly and make the timeline special and 100 percent Lebanese:

Funky bird: @funkyozzi Serious Funky girl tweeting about technology, communication and writer of many interesting blogs.
Designer bird: @mayametni Visual communication consultant and creative director twitting only creativity.
Artist Bird: @Halamoubarak Activist with an artist’s touch. Make sure to follow her blog.
Friendly Bird: @mich1mich spreading only kindness and positive energy.
Beirut bird: @beirutspring Tweeting everything about Lebanon, including politics.
Marketing bird:@sdarine Tweeting interesting marketing links.
Funny bird: @Uxsoup Tweeting technology tips, tricks, trends and some (R-18) quotes.
Social Media bird:@pas_M Tweeting very interesting social media and marketing links.
Photographer bird :@Footnem Nice photography tweets.
Smart bird: @_Archangelus_ Smart and funniest tweets.
Intellectual bird: @NasriAtallah Our man in Beirut.
Hummus bird: @Hummusnation Takes daily Lebanon news by the ankles and dangles it from the highest floor in Burj el-Murr until it cries for mercy.

I would definitely add Joe to this list and make it a lucky 13!

You can check out Joe’s 2011 List "11 Birds to Follow in 2011" and add your views and comments on his blog, at @JoesBox on twitter, or JoesBox on Facebook.

Thanks Joe, it’s a real honor to be on the list and in such good company!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Jailed Syrian teen defines terror

Tal al-Mallouhi

Guest post by veteran Middle East publisher F. Najia

A special Syrian security court this week jailed a teenaged blogger for five years on charges of spying for a foreign country, despite U.S. calls for her release.

Tal al-Mallouhi, born 4 January 1991, is a high school student and a Syrian blogger from Homs. She is considered the World's youngest Prisoner of Conscience. She was sentenced February 15 but has been under arrest since 2009.

Tal published her writings in three blogs. One is listed as Mudawenati, Arabic for "My Blog." Another is titled "Latters" -- probably a misspelling of Letters – and features a series of 35 messages. All are titled "Messages to Man in this World" and conclude with the footer: “I won’t bid you farewell because I’ll always be with you.” Tal's third blog is dubbed "Palestinian Villages."

The 12th of her 33 messages, dated 7 November 2008 and posted before she turned 18, tackles the controversial definition of terrorism. She hoped it would be read to world leaders at the United Nations "for them to know that terrorism in the world is not only the killing of innocent people through booby-trapped cars and trains and the obliteration of towers. Terrorism takes other shapes and colors that plague every human being on Earth. Tackling the consequential types of terrorism would help us eradicate terror by individuals and groups.”

Tal lists this set of 24 serious terrorist activities:

-- Absence of judicial independence

-- Deception of the public

-- Denial of freedom of expression and creative thought dissemination

-- Abuse of antiquities, sanctities and places of worship

-- Possession of nuclear arms and development of weapons of mass destruction

-- Collection of taxes from the public to wage fictitious wars

-- Manipulation of state policies by multinationals

-- Packing state institutions with crammers

-- Monopolization of key medication

-- Driving people to dread their future

-- Shunning agreements to protect the environment