On the “National” Bloggers Association

This is my personal statement regarding the formation and organization of the supposed "National Bloggers Association." This is not the formal statement or position of the Mindanao New Media Group nor of the Davao Bloggers Group. About a week ago, I was informed of the existence of a "Bloggers' Manifesto" that was forwarded to a selected group of bloggers. After asking around, I was forwarded the manifesto which was tagged as "Not for circulation." After the manifesto, there was a solicitation for feedback. The manifesto was forwarded to bloggers by Tonyo Cruz. In the email, there was no mention of who the authors of the draft manifesto are and who the convenors of the National Bloggers Association are. Since it was supposedly a manifesto supporting the formation of a "National Bloggers Association," I immediately consulted the officers of several bloggers' groups in Visayas and Mindanao. I consulted them the same day I was forwarded a copy of the manifesto. That was March 2. Of the twenty persons I consulted, only 2 of them have received a copy of the manifesto. Among those who didn't receive a copy of the manifesto are: Marie Claire Bretaña Ponsaran, President of Iloilo Bloggers, Junelle…

State of the Philippine Blogosphere

The last of the major blogging events for this year was the BlogFest Soccsksargen held at General Santos City on December 11, 2010. It was successfully organized by the Sox Bloggers in only 3 weeks. Avel Manansala gave me the task of opening the BlogFest with a talk on the "State of the Philippine Blogosphere." I had a hard time gathering my thoughts and inputs while I made my presentation. I depended on Ratified data and the input of many Filipino bloggers before I finalized my talk. Here is the slide show presentation that accompanied my talk: State of the Philippine BlogosphereView more presentations from Avatar Media. I divided my talk into three parts focusing on current trends, the development of blogging communities, and the landmark blogging events of 2010. 30 minutes is definitely not enough to summarize how vibrant and controversial the Philippine Blogosphere has been in 2010. I refused to focus on the controversies and divisive issues and highlighted the best moments of the Filipino bloggers and Philippine blogs. Surprisingly, the theme of my talk coincided with the theme of the Philippine Blog Awards 2010, which is "Beyond Blogging." Most of the other speakers during BlogFest also emphasized…

VBS Talk: The Role of Bloggers as New Media

I was anxious to present my talk at the Visayas Blogging Summit. I was tasked to talk on the Role of Bloggers as New Media, a topic I am familiar with but haven't done a presentation about yet. I was a bit nervous but I think I delivered well. I hope. I was glad that a couple of participants asked questions after my talk, and several approached me after the event. Somebody event quoted me during the PBA Visayas Awards Night 2010. Here are the slides I used for my talk: The Role of Bloggers as New MediaView more presentations from Avatar Media. Hope you find it useful and informative. Madamo gid na salamat sa organizers, participants, and other speakers of the very successful First Visayas Blogging Summit! :) Live. Love. Learn.

WordCamp Philippines 2010 Opening Remarks

I am still too tired to blog about my WordCamp Philippines 2010 experience but I would like to share here the Opening Remarks which I delivered to kick off the event held at the College of St. Benilde on October 2, 2010. After almost 11 months of planning, countless meetings, email exchanges, phone calls and SMS, we are finally here today. Mr. Matt Mullenweg, speakers, organizers, volunteers, campers, and guests, good morning and welcome to WordCamp Philippines 2010! WordCamp was conceptualized and has grown popular with the idea of building and strengthening the community of users and developers of WordPress. Through events such as this, users and developers learn new techniques, build networks with like-minded individuals, and come up with new and exciting ideas. With the vision of a bigger, better, more productive, and more interactive WordCamp Philippines, this year’s organizers, with two years of WordCamps under their belt, took on the challenge of offering something new and exciting to the Philippine WordPress community. Though some faces may seem the same, the Philippine blogosphere and WordPress community has changed a lot since WordCamp Philippines 2008. We had to think up of something fresh, unique, and exciting. In order to meet…

International NKYR Academy for Massage Therapists

Early this month, the Internation NKYR Academy (INA) had their press conference in Davao City. While they don't have an institution in Mindanao yet, they held the press conference in a bid to promote better awareness of their facilities and programs. The INA was established to answer the need for DOH Accredited institutions for training massage therapists. Every massage clinic is required to have a licensed massage therapist. And INA is one of few institutions in the country that offers training for therapists who are vying for a license. To expand their reach, INA has opened a branch at Cebu City to answer the need for a training center in the Visayas and Mindanao areas. They offer Wat Po Training Courses and the DOH Licensure Course, among others. In Cebu, they are located at M-111 Dona Luisa Building, Fuente Osmena, Cebu City. They may also be reached at +6332-2388744 or through their website at www.nkyracademy.com.

Podcast 1: Cebu Blog Camp

I have been blogging for more than six years. (I know, right?) After attending the Cebu Blog Camp last weekend, I became more inspired to improve as a blogger. I decided to finally do something I have never tried: PODCAST. My first podcast was as a guest in the Pakbet Podkast last Sunday which was so sabog and funny. I did mention the Cebu Blog Camp there but we also talked about a lot of other things. I decided that I would start my own podcast. And since I am not sure yet what my podcasts are going to be about and how I am going to structure and direct it, I decided to make a test podcast with Cebu Blog Camp as a topic. You can download the podcast at this link. I know it's not much but I tried. :P Here are some important links: Cebu Blog Camp Site The Organizers Speakers and their Topics Info on Blogger Template Designer Jayvee Fernandez's YouTube Channel My Presentation Slides on "Blogging in the Community, for the Community" Once again, thank you to Winston Almendras for the invitation, Chiq Montes for the accommodations, and to John Mendoza and the rest of…