UPDATE: It seems that the OLPC deal is still nearing agreement with Don Bosco. I just find it odd that an announcement was made to all the members of the OLPC Facebook page.
Charles Chen made an announcement over the OLPC Facebook page that they have become successful in partnering with PBSP (Philippine Business for Social Progress) to launch a pilot OLPC XO program in Manila. The pilot program will involve OLPC XO, PBSP and Don Bosco Technical College in the primary school level.
This is a breakthrough for OLPC to finally pilot something big and make their debut in the Philippines. More programs will definitely be rolled out in the future with this pilot serving as the test bed for the little laptop that could.
The OLPC XO is actually here in the Philippines, but not available for retail. Check out the eServices conference photos at SMX. It should be interesting to see the dynamic that happens with the OLPC here in the Philippines. A lot of criticism has been made about the ultra cheap laptop being undercut by other manufacturers (like the already famous ASUS eee). The OLPC, at least in my opinion, shouldn’t be looked at from a hardware perspective, but from the view of the entire program that includes the education tools such as the open source curriculum and teacher training.
Argh, not only does Don Bosco get free OLPC’s, but they get the really good Amici gelato and pizza as well. Lucky bastards 
Congratulations to Sandeep and Charles!
Philippine Art Awards eBook Supplement
Philip Morris bagged a ton of awards during the Anvils. One of the more unique Merit awards they received was for a supplement interactive eBook to their Philip Morris Philippine Art Award (PAA). It is a nicely packaged CD ROM that contains the electronic version of the Coffee Table Book which is given to patrons on a limited “print” run.
There are art competitions and art competitions. Then there’s the Philip Morris Art Competition, officially known as Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards (PAA). Within a span of a decade, the PAA has established itself as the most prestigious and most-awaited art event and competition in the country. What puts PAA above the rest of the art competitions that even established artists have accepted the challenge to compete in this art arena? What so uplifts the status of the PAA that those previously unheard of, upon winning, turn into artistic luminaries overnight?
Electronic magazine design has been prolific for quite some time now. These designs are usually applied to web samplers of magazines such as Electronic Gaming Monthly. You can use your mouse pointer to flip virtual pages onto a flash application. That’s what this entry is. You can scroll through a virtual book with the visuals of the entries and credits.
Just one thing though. Although the eBook is a supplement that definitely goes in the right direction, the CD ROM didn’t contain high resolution versions of the entries. Well, this could have been for copyright reasons but it’s hard to appreciate a painting that’s reduced to 400 x 300.
Congratulations Philip Morris!
I am lucky to have been a involved as a juror for the 43th Anvil Awards. As one of the judges of the Interactive Media category I was able to have a rare glimpse into the current state of Philippine public relations and marketing campaigns, specifically in the Online Tools of PR division.
This is the first of several afterthoughts on winning noteworthy marketing campaigns worth sharing with everyone.
Experience Philippines: Department of Tourism
What it is:
The Department of Tourism issues 250 free round trip tickets to the Philippines for 3rd and 4th generation Filipinos in the USA. The objective is to get them to explore, enjoy, fly home, and come back dragging more friends to see the many wonders this country has to offer.
Why it is notable:
It is quite a feat to have a government arm thinking of something quite of the box. Amidst the many government controversies we’re hearing, the DOT is doing amazing “non-dinosaur” things that directly promotes the country’s tourism. For bloggers, the most notable event was when the DOT shipped Christine “HappySlip” Gambito for a meet and greet and had her serve as an ambassador for the Experience Philippines campaign.
FInal thoughts:
Although the website obviously needs some work, I’d still say that it isn’t about how you do it, but more about the results. The Experience Philippines campaign is still a good example of how we can think of out of the box ways to promote our sexy country. Special thanks to Yehey! for doing a lot of the legwork to make this a reality.
The European Food Festival at Serendra. It was like a fashion show but we had trays of food parading the stage.
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A moment with Lourd de Veyra on Rock Ed Radio. Here’s a tidbit. Blog and Soul is patterned after Gang Badoy’s Rock Ed Philippines… In fact, you can go as far as saying that Blog and Soul supports Rock Ed’s advocacy which is the spirit of volunteer work.
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