NEWBIE is a WINNER at 1LaBS

Am I being superstitious?

When something is meant for you, it will be yours, no matter what. So goes the saying! Does it mean then that blogging is for me? Well, it's too early to say, but what was scheduled on August when I was not available was moved to September 27-28, 2012 so I was able to attend the First Blogging Summit in Laguna dubbed as 1LaBS. Program said the event would start at eight o'clock, but confirmation on my registration stated that I had to be there at 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon so I went there as I was told. Venue was Cultural Center of Laguna at the Capitol Building Compound in Sta. Cruz.

"1st" is always one historical event 

Alvin Dakis, a nurse who blogs on health matters, opened the afternoon session. Wenchie Flores Sabban followed, she talked about Social Media in Good Governance and Advocacy. I am not so much into the health issues and good governance, so the third topic was more interesting for me: What to do with Money from Blogging, by Engr. Fitz Gerald Villafuerte. I am merely a newbie in this field but who wouldn't want to listen to a topic like that? According to the organizer, his website is among the top 100 personal finance blogs in the world.

Saving is still the best secret, 

but this is Fitz Gerald's suggestion

COMELEC Dir. James Jimenez discussed the Impact of Social Media on Voters Education. He defined voter education as giving all voters enough information to make intelligent decision. Political ads usually do not show the whole picture, so it is best to know the candidates by conversation. Jimenez likewise discussed the importance of social media to its office, even the success of EPAL Watch. 

"Social networks aren't about websites, 

they're about experiences."-Mike DeLorenzo 

The next two speakers were most entertaining: Voice Artist Pocholo Gonzales who discussed Personal Branding a.k.a. Pochology 101, and Motivational Speaker Lloyd Luna with Internet Marketing. While the former said "Lead your dream, unahan nyo na," the latter said social media can be a tool for personal development. ---"Blog yourself." 

Attendees were amazed at how talented Pocholo was when he performed. He particularly mentioned how he looked up to Jose Rizal as a role model. He wrapped up his talk by saying, "Personal Branding is about getting the employer to see you as the only solution to their problem."

Loyd Luna on the other hand, ended his talk by telling the anecdote of the bottled water. In one of his speaking engagements, he asked for a bottled water when he arrived but he was refused because the person he approached said, "Sorry, but this is for our speaker." When he was already on stage, he jokingly said, "Now, can I have my bottled water?" He continued with his story, saying that he was praying that nothing bad happens on this summit. But just as he arrived, a student approached, handing him the camera, and requested him to take their picture. It was embarrassing but he turned the atmosphere into a comic mode by saying, there are just some truths that have to be accepted. By which he meant he didn't look like the speaker! It should not be taken negatively though, because he just turned 30 and he's already achieved a lot. Not to mention his financial success.
      
During the open forum, I asked LL how one becomes a motivational speaker, because I noticed that the audience was attentively listening to every word that he said. We didn't even notice that the time was up. It was like we wanted to hear more of what he had to say. To this he answered something like: If you can come up with a beautiful story about your life, you can become a motivational speaker. People will come to you because they were inspired by your story. They will invite you to talk. And I guess his statement justified what happened on this event, leaving the audience wanting for more. Not that they were unsatisfied but he spoke that good! 

STI students were so delighted to have photo op 

with inspiring speakers--- and I joined them

Pocholo noticed my Rizal shirt and 

told me he designed his own 

(Rizal Monument in Luneta)

 
First day of the summit concluded with Benjamin Vergel De Dios' awarding of Certificate of Appreciation to Engr. Grace Bondad Nicolas, Chief Organizer, for the support in CHED's Tracer Study.

Sitting with the media group, I was beside Lawrence Chan, Tour Guide of the Postal Heritage Walking Tour in Manila. Dexter Paglinawan offered to share his video footage/photographs by giving out his business card. (It's not yet available at the time of this blog so bear with my photographs). With new learning, new acquaintances, new network, yummy snacks and bread pabaon, plus collateral materials about Laguna Tourism and a blogger's handbook by Tony Ahn, well, I was more than satisfied. This event was free, even transportation was provided for!      

TECHIE DAY 

Engr. Grace led me to my seat on the second day.   I was with the bloggers from different places in the country. I sat between two alumni of UPLB, Cris from Los Baños and Dr. Wyatt, a Vet who's a food blogger from Angeles City, Pampanga. Later on, however, Doc Wyatt and myself transferred to the table for Laguna Provincial  Government because BM Neil Andrew Nocon asked us to stay there as we conversed on a lot of topics. (The Board Member left for a while for another event at UPLB but came back to be with the bloggers). 

When I mentioned Southern Luzon Association of Museums to 

BM Neil Andrew Nocon, he smiled and said, "SLAM!" 

We were welcomed by PIA Regional Director and the president of Laguna State Polytechnic University (LSPU). Jinkee Umali, creator of calambaonline.com, was the first speaker. She discussed the Practical Guide on How to Make Blog Knockout Design. Most of the topics for this session were highly technical like Mark Acsay III's Actionable Startup SEO Blogging Strategies, underwater photography through Jayvee Fernandez's Marine Life Advocacy, Jaypee David's Travel + Shoot + Blog. Also tackled were Politics in Blogging by Janette Toral. Dean Jeorge Bocobo on the otherhand, discussed the State of Education in the Philippines. 

I just realized one thing as I looked at Jaypee David: the young are now the ones who teach us, generations ahead of them. And we are catching up with these young generation of speakers. 

When the importance of putting watermark on photographs was asked during the open forum, I found myself remembering that time when I saw my pictures from Lopez Quezon's account to different LQ personal accounts and even two of Quezon Province's pages.They were downloaded and claimed as the plagiarist's own. I just saw good comments commending the plagiarist who enjoyed the popularity. Hah! I always feel bad whenever I remember those times. Going back to the question, Jaypee answered that he used to be so willing to share his photos without watermark. However, one of his fbf saw it as somebody else's entry to the photo competition of national geographic magazine. From then on, he has learned his lesson.    

One of the interesting parts of the summit was the raffle. I volunteered to ask one question for the students to answer. Students present were from LSPU, STI, and Lipa. My question was, "In one of the towns here in Laguna, Diccionario de Lengua Tagala by Fr. Pedro de San Buenaventura was printed by Domingo Loag and Tomas Pinpin in the year 1613. From which town (or barangay) did that town originate?" One answered Pila, so that's wrong. After a few more wrong guesses, one finally guessed it right, that's in Victoria. Because Pila started from Brgy. Pagalangan in Victoria, Laguna. It was fun and the summit was a real success! Kudos to the organizers led by Engr. Grace. But guess what was the surprise of this event as far as I'm concerned? I won a web hosting! So I'm already excited to have my own domain...