For the second time in a row, I was able to attend a blogger summit. Called iblog4 (its their 4th year), the summit (held at UP’s Malcolm Hall auditorium) brought together bloggers from everywhere and from all walks of life. It was a full day covering a wide spectrum of topics.
Last year, I attended alone, driven only by my growing passion for blogging, and met the bloggers who would change my blogging life. This year, I had the wonderful chance to have Chona, my yoga mate and co-blogger, with me.
The summit was of interest to media. In the morning, it was ABC5. And in the afternoon, the folks from GMA7 (Inquirer.net) came over. The whole place was WIFI-ed so bloggers with laptops were able to blog live. There was also a hook-up on the web that allowed people who were unable to make it to the venue to follow the sessions AND post their questions to the speakers! Woohoo, high tech!
Charo Nuguid covered Blogging 101 (tips for newbie bloggers and maybe a tip or two for more seasoned ones).
Brian Gorrell (yes, the same Aussie blogger who is pursuing the return of his life’s savings from his former Pinoy lover) sent in a vlog with tips on how to maintain one’s blog. Below is the video clip, courtesy of Brian’s YouTube channel.
Juan Carlo Licudine talked about his move from student to problogger as well as the pros and cons of problogging. Hmmm, after he revealed the monetary potentials for problogging, I think it got a lot of the student audience VERRRRYYYY interested!
Juned Sonido covered the world of photoblogs (what it is, what you need, how different is it from photo galleries/albums posted online, etc). Juned amused everyone as he literally unloaded his equipment onto a long table onstage (most of his smaller cams were taken out of several pockets of his cargo pants!).
Jonas Diego updated us on the world of blog comics (or is it comic blogs???). Apparently, it is not always printed comics that get on to the world wide web. In his case, an interested investor saw his blog comics and asked that these be published in print.
Lunch break was a time to fellowship with other bloggers. I found myself having discussions over packed lunches with Noemi, JJ Disini (a leading internet lawyer) and Chona. We got into a discussion about the prospects of libel vs bloggers (with Brian Gorrell’s blog being one of our subjects). Much later, we were joined by Mike Abundo (whom I first met at the Happy Slip Meet-and-Greet) and Azrael Coladilla.
The afternoon sessions were just as interesting as the morning:
Aileen Apolo and Coy Caballes did their presentation on Vlogging (video blogging) and podcasting via what else? A vlog!!!! That was cool! I think this has given me a lot of tips and ideas are now swimming around my brain!
They were followed by several speakers who talked about blogging during the 2010 elections and how we as bloggers can possibly be part of that coverage. They emphasized the importance of bloggers getting involved way ahead of 2010 in preparing different courses of action to get ready to cover the elections. A mini blogging summit covering elections was done last November and Janette said that another one may happen end of 2008.
In the order of their talks on Blogging for 2010 Elections were:
JJ Disini then covered the legal issues surrounding blogging such as copyright infringements, libel, and other such areas. An active open forum ensued as bloggers fielded questions to him and which JJ answered with huge doses of humor.
My dear friend Noemi covered the next topic on Blogging for Advocacy where she spoke about one of her and Dine’s latest advocacies, The Filipina Images: Reshaping the Filipina Image Online, which seeks to improve the Filipina’s image globally by influencing the SEO ranking when people use search engines to find terms such as “Filipina” and direct them to wholesome sites on the Filipina.
Last but definitely not the least was Ria Jose, from Davao City, who was one of a group of bloggers who are taking Mindanao blogging to a different level. I had the chance to chat with them afterwards and exchange contact numbers. You see, Davao City was the city of my childhood. Lots of wonderful memories of that place. Just learning that young bloggers are now talking of one of my favorite cities just brought back waves of memories. I just might hang around their blogs more often…..
There were light moments as well during the entire summit:
Marcelle, upon insistent public demand, performed a magic trick with the help of Sir Martin, his contemporary from that BLUE school where my girls study.
The hilarious guys from Chickenmafia.com had one of them come dressed as a chicken! Hey, heard they won best “Come As Your Blog” entry at the blog parteeh afterwards — which I obviously missed!!! Congrats, chickens! You deserve the award! After all the pains you went to making your props (yup, I read in your blog how you prepared this sans any craftmaking background!)
And of course, nothing was complete without photo ops at the end of it all. If anyone has a picture of the entire group, please please send me one!
The event was not just a chance to know more about blogging trends and tips. It was a great way to see old friends and meet new bloggers as well.
Here’s a shout out to the familiar blogger faces (definition: friends & people I met at iblog3):
And a big NICE TO MEET YOU to bloggers I met and chatted with for the first time:
Martin (Sir Martin Perez to many)
I also got a chance to win a free FilipinaImages.com shirt during Noemi’s trivia portion! Thanks for egging me on, Dine! I’ll be SO PROUD to wear this around! I also want a pink shirt! 🙂
Great job to the entire iblog4 team (you know who you are)!!! And see you next year for iblog5.
Wow! Thanks for posting this. I hope to attend next year!
Jane: I will definitely give you a heads-up, Fr. J!
Thanks Jane for sending me the invitation to this very interesting bloggers’ day! =D
Jane: Chona, THIS is the start of a new phase in your blogging life. Enjoyed the day with you! 🙂
I didn’t even know who won the shirts. Glad you won one shirt. I love the photos. Haha, next year you’re going to be a vlogger. Wanna bet?
Jane: Naku Noems. This was actually one of the ideas swimming around my brain. Scares the hell out of me! hahahaha….but let’s see….
Thanks again for the shirt! Kasyang kasya sa akin! 🙂
high five!
Jane: It was great to meet up and talk with you,MLQ3! And I’ll definitely give you a heads-up on that yoga thing we talked about.
Hi Jane. Glad to see you again. A vlog? Wow! You should! You should!
Jane: OMG! First Noems, now you, Janette! Nakakatakot naman kayo. Teka. Let me get in touch with Aileen & Cokskiblue first, ok? 🙂 hahaha….
Congrats again for a very successful iblog summit. Next year will be even more interesting.
Thanks for the mention. Too bad we didn’t get to chat, but maybe that’s a good thing since we chickens usually spew nonsense anyway 😀
Great to see you too, Jane! 🙂
Hi Jane! Thanks! I’m glad you were able to get a picture with us, too bad you weren’t there at the after party. Hope to chat you up next time!
Hi! Nice to have met you too! I hope you visit Davao soon!
Happy blogging! 🙂
Nice to meet you too, Jane! See you around the blogosphere! 🙂
hi jane!
nice meeting you too.
btw, our group iblog4 pics are now up!
http://azraelsmerryland.blogspot.com/2008/04/iblog4-4th-philippine-blogging-summit_4760.html
vlog about yoga! 😀
Wow, I woke up to a whole slew of comments!!! This deserves a separate comment box!
@chickenmafia.com (joyful chicken & philos) – yes, too bad I was unable to chat with you chickens at the party, or even after iblog (had my nephew in the car waiting). But now that I know where your roost is, I’ll be a-visiting! Keep on clucking!
@Mike Abundo – you had interesting questions there yesterday, Mike! And looks like one of the girls you invited made it after all huh!
@martin – heyyyy! nice of you to drop by. see you around! enjoy the rest of your summer.
@azrael – pics up??? i better go look! btw, small world because it turns out my daughter knows you! she’s into anime and cosplay stuff.
@jester – yoga vlogger? hooboy, pressure, pressure, pressure! 🙂 Aileen, Cokskiblue — HELLLPPPP!
Hi, Mam Jane, nice meeting you. Schumey sends his regards, he he.
Jane: Arbet! It was great to meet and chat with you and Jester. Tell Schumey one day I will finally get to meet him…..:-)
iblog4 is cool. this post is cool! wish i could attend next time (if i am in the philippines by then) so that newbie me could learn more about blogging.
http://milkcashcow.wordpress.com
Jane: Thanks for dropping by, Joe! When you do get to attend an iblog, look me up, ok? I’d love to meet you.
It’s nice to meet a new friend and mom like you at the blogger’s summit. Till our next meeting:)
Jane: Same here! 🙂
Thanks! When is the next meet? Na-excite po tuloy ako. Wala po bang version nyan dito sa HK? 🙂
Jane: Hi Joe. Gee, I don’t know how active the blogging community in HK is or if they already have such summits. Janette might be able to help there. But if I hear of any, will give you a heads up.
Nice to see you again, Jane 🙂
Just today we went to the McDonald’s branch at Strata and Julian said, “Nay, Yoga (something something…)” The tarp on the lobby of the building where you go, or, do you still go there? I have been talking about wanting to try this for some time and Julian knows about it. Of course, I remembered you when I saw that tarp 😉
Hope we can have another one of these meet ups soon, before the schoolyear starts.
Jane: Wow, Julie. THAT is exactly where I practice yoga. I will give you a heads up if and when something I have in mind comes true. Yes, let’s meet up again soon! So wonderful to have seen you at iblog4.
Aww, there’s so much i’ve been missing in the blogoworld! I could have attended this, it’s so near my home… Maybe next year…
Nice to see your photos with friends! Nakakamiss!
Jane: Shucks, Chats! Should have given you a heads up. Kala ko alam mo!