Elber finds out Krispy Kreme GC’s are just as good as the donuts themselves
A lot of people asked about why the need for all the technorai tagging and other hassles to become part of this event. Well the short and sincere answer is that – this was to satisfy two things: (1) this event was obviously an “experiment” being the fitst party we organized. As a sponsor and member of the organizing committee I can tell you that we have had no prior experience in events organizing.
According to Duncan Riley, “Some of the worlds best as yet undiscovered bloggers reside in the Philippines.”
What then makes the Filipino Blogger Competitive in this International Industry? I have cited a few items here:
Good Command of Written and Spoken English
The Philippines has two national languages – the local Filipino and English. There are many other dialects spread throughout the islands but English has always been the “modern” language which Filipinos “spake” ever since the American occupation. The medium of instruction at schools is English and there has been, for some reason, a strict compliance to good grammar and language.
EDIT: I guess when I wrote about a strict compliance to English, I was referring more to a generation before the GenTXT craze. I remember back in grade school and high school we went through rigorous classes in grammar, penmanship, English and Filipino literature as well as composition classes. But maybe this was an isolated case since the schools I went to were very strong in the Humanities (we took 4 years of Latin) but a little poor on the Math and Sciences.
Affinity to Technology
The Philippines is the “SMS Capital of the World.” Probably next to Japan in terms of the cellphone craze, we are years ahead of the west when it comes to technology services. Several foreign companies set camp in the Philippines and hire them as programmers, network administrators and operations managers. The technology scene in the Philippines is quickly becoming a mainstream item as most Filipinos always want a new phone or computer every four months.
Good Compensation
Filipinos who start to work with blog networks are motivated to perform because of the cheaper cost of living here. As Darren Rowse once told me in a quick chat, your US dollar goes a long way when you’re in the Philippines.
Several months ago, I ventured into the blogging industry in the same way that you drive down a dark road with your headlights on: you don’t see the entire road, but the lights in front reassure you that you’re on the right road. And on that journey I met several others who were learning the very same ropes of the international and local blogging scene, SEO optimization and the business model behind blogging. By the metaphysical rules of attraction, goodness tends to attract what is alike. So now we come to the crux of the matter.
We have an idea. Do you want to be a part of it?
What?
On the last week of January, we are planning to organize a huge blogger meet up. This is similar to the first Blogcon we held back in 2006, where we had a very good attendance. It is a follow up from the first meet where we can focus more on community building.
Why?
Several groups (media and PR) have been asking me personally if “your group” would be open to campaigns. “My group?” I don’t have a group. It just so happens that the ladder ranking system of blogs will by its very nature have more people being in the forefront of things. But I believe that this should trickle to other Filipino bloggers who produce content just as good or even better than those who are already known.
Who?
All bloggers who are open to meeting up with fellow bloggers. As Abraham put it, you are opento have your own agenda in these blogging meets, but the overall goal is to learn, share and have fun meeting the people behind the blogs. We want to see what we have, what we can do, and how we can do things. Vague, yes. But we have to start from somewhere.
How?
We have organizing committees which we have set during the Christmas blogger meet up. The criteria is simple: you should be an active blogger and you should have time to set this up. I will be heading the “find a venue” committee. If you won’t have time to help out in the logistics, maybe you can help donate logistics in the form of cash, raffle prizes, or a venue preferably in the Makati or Ortigas area.
Do you have a personal agenda?
Don’t we all? But honestly, yes! Let us say that I am in the market for finding good bloggers. More on this soon.
I don’t recall much of what happened after Beercon 2006. I could describe the night to be a waxy blur accentuated by shots of tequila and overflowing tenderloin tips sauteed with garlic. Some of the things I do remember:
the next SEO Philippines 2006 Part II keyword for search engine ranking is ituloy angsulong(no quotation marks). More details of the contest is located here. Prizes up for grabs are worth over P300,000.00.
Google Philippines consultant Aileen Apolo talked about what it is like inside the Google campus. There are about 50 Filipinos on campus, all unified in Google’s vision for world domination. I salute thee!
There was blind item gossip (oh my gosh!) of a couple who are now happily together because of blogging. If I could post the camera that blogging bought, they can post, “the love that blogging brought”
