For the love of phone photography and food, Qatar’s spirited Instagramming community descended upon The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa in droves for half a day over the weekend to make it the biggest InstaMeet in Qatar yet.
As Instagram announced September 17 and 18 Sept as dates for the Worldwide InstaMeet 14 (WWIM14) and declared the theme to be food, the doors of The Westin, who also sponsored the InstaMeet, were thrown open to close to 80 Instagramers, who fanned out throughout the property in search of cool shots. “The hashtags for the event were #InstaMeetDoha #WWIM14 and the hotels hashtags #WestinDoha #WestinWellfie,” Muhammad Nasir @moawesomesauce, one of the organisers of the event, told Community.
The event started off with people registering and getting their name tags and a few other goodies. This was followed by a brief introduction about what the day’s programme would comprise — like the Treasure Hunt, in which participants were given a puzzle to solve at the beginning to see where they should start first and complete a task at each restaurant in the hotel. Upon completion of each task, they would be given a clue that would lead them to the next restaurant, and so on.
It goes without saying that the Instagramming element was embedded into this hunt. Participants were to take pictures during the hunt, of the restaurants, the lavish spread of food and also the hotel environs.
Real-world meetups of a virtual community, InstaMeets have been instrumental in bringing together “people who share a love and curiosity for Instagram”. Instagram explains, “Since the earliest days of Instagram, people have been meeting up to take photos and videos together. As the community has grown around the world, so too has the occurrence of InstaMeets: gatherings of people coming together to connect, explore, and celebrate their creativity.”
The partners for the event were DohaTweetups (@dohatweetups), Zomato Qatar (@zomatoqa), Urban Point Doha (@urbanpointdoha), Grand Mart, and Qatar Living (@qatarliving). Community asked some of the Instagramers about their experience and here’s what they had to say:
 
Nashira Abdul Hameed @nashplateful: This time around, I was part of the organising committee, too. We had a huge turnout and it is the biggest InstaMeet held in Doha so far. As a food blogger with a passion for food styling and photography, I was quite thrilled when Instagram announced food as the theme for WWIM14. It was nice to socialise with the vibrant Doha Instagramers community — the very community that you connect daily over social media platforms. Meeting in person some of the most influential Instagram accounts was very exciting. The five-star venue added to the charm of the event, thanks to the generous hospitality of The Westin Doha. The meet-up was packed with delicious conversations over beautifully framed videos and pictures of food, friends, and lots of fun moments. The attendees enjoyed the treasure hunt and the generous gifts by our sponsors. It was a lovely wrap-up to the week-long Eid break.
 
Andrea Buenafe @buenafotos: My love for photography started through Instagram. It sure is an overwhelming experience that as I grow my passion for photography, my friends with the same interests shared through Instagram also grow. Although I am not good at taking pictures of food, which was the theme of the WWIM14, I went anyway and was surprised to find the various fun activities that were planned and also, this let me explore my favourite hotel in Doha.
 
Sharice Tan @sharicetan: Being a blogger, I’m always privileged to be invited to different types of events here in Doha. However, I can happily say that this InstaMeet is definitely one of the best events I have ever attended. Among other things, it gave us the opportunity to learn and capture the philosophy of The Westin Hotel. The WWIM14 theme of food, along with the love of photography, is what made us connect with each other all through the event. Meeting new people is always fun but it’s always more fun when the event is well-organised and full of activities. The organisers had put in so much effort and the event was definitely a success.
 
Muhammad Nasir @moawesomesauce: I must thank @this.is.maria @n_u_n_z @nashplateful, @mshalaco, @oneshotlatte, @saifqazi and @suzainga for the immense support during the meet. An amazing crowd of people showed up and everyone readily participated in the activities. Plenty of pictures were shared online within the day. Many are keen to see more InstaMeets happening, and the team and I are looking at doing a few mini InstaMeets over the upcoming winter season.
 
Amr Saleh @amrrr_saleh: I managed to capture a lot of photographs. I started by taking pictures of The Westin lobby, which is quite a sight. I tried getting pictures from a wide angle, by incorporating the beautiful flowers, the reflection of the water and interesting light distribution, into my frame. After this, I went to four restaurants and snapped many pictures of the food and sweets that were laid out there. It was the first time that I took food pictures and I learned more about food photography. Meeting fellow Instagramers was a lot of fun. Everything about this InstaMeet clicked, thanks to the good planning and arrangements.

Mau Cruz @amcrux11: InstaMeetDoha has opened so many things for the community and it has helped introduce me to the creative and the talented people of Qatar. For me, the InstaMeet is more than just a gathering of people; it’s about following the things you love to do, believing in your passion, and being proud of your work and being able to present it to the whole world. Photography is your unique perspective in expressing and showing how you see the beauty in the everyday. So we need to keep capturing moments that we can have with us forever.
 
Joseph Suasin @jeyeyjey: This was my first an InstaMeet. From what I have discovered, InstaMeet is a fun community of people from different walks of life who gather together and have fun taking photos with their phones. I met bloggers, editors, professionals, a father and son duo, and made friends. InstaMeet is the only place where it’s okay to take a hundred photos of my food before eating it without getting frowned upon — because everyone else is doing it too! Of course, we didn’t take just photos of the hotel’s delicious food but also had the chance to take photos of The Westin Doha’s classy interiors and facade. The best part of the InstaMeet is the people. More power to the InstaMeet organising team!