Socksargen Blogfest 2010

I have not seen so many bloggers in one location until I attended the BlogFest SOCCSKSARGEN 2010 last December 11 in East Asia Royale Hotel in Gensan.  And even though I could not remember my first blogpost, I could still remember why I decided to have one.  It was therapeutic for me.  It helps me stay put and it kills idle time.  Needless to say, I blogged about -- ME ME ME.  But now my concept of blogging has developed into something bigger than I.  And its not only me who is realizing this.

Blogs nowadays do not only contain the author's emo moments.  It now speaks of technology, tourism, politics, entertainment and more.  Blogs have morphed from personal to business.  And why not?  Blogs create good networks and thus creates more opportunities.  It can even get you a job or make self-employment easier.

It is apparent that across the globe, being online has been a part of many people's lives.  We have managed to merge our daily lives with our online personas.  We engage in blog-like activities like status updates in our social networking pages and we post photos to share for our online community to see.  We get news online, and sometimes, the internet is faster in delivering tidbits of what's happened than the media.  Communication has never been so easy and fast...sometimes, it beats real time.

With these things happening, Blogfest Organizer Avel Manansala did not waste time in coming up with an event that will help existing bloggers in their blogging career.  It was also, in a way, for me, a matter of re-organizing my goals and my perspective on why blogging is good for everyone.  Avel shared his reason why he blogged and a noble reason it was:  He sees blogging as a way to send good news to people abroad about the Philippines and he wanted to help paint a better picture of Mindanao.

Sad but true, a lot of people still think that we live primitively in the south.  Their expectations of our way of life here is somewhat short to barbaric -- warring tribes and all.  They'd be surprise to know that during the Blogfest Festival, the registration was a breeze and that it was all digital.  even the ID's were printed on the spot.  A one day blogfest with around ten experts as speakers from different parts of the globe to share their knowledge and expertise.

They were great, they talk of a lot of things-- some I'm familiar with, some are just amazing discoveries.  Things that I know, things I've never heard of and things I should  remember often.  Davao Bloggers' very own Ms. Ria Jose made the opening address and Ms. Janet Toral flew to GenSan from Manila to share her insights about blogging and business, to name a few.  But my favorite speaker was Bobby Soriano.  He was great at his presentation --Internet Security...and boy! how he made people freeze in their seats when he showed them his hacks of their online activities.

Simply put, the blogfest was a raving success.  It was not only informative, it was fun! especially when the-ganda-ever-so-much-queen Orman took the stage and shared that through his blog madaming nagladlad.  Shows how powerful some posts have become.

The digital platform has become another world and people are slowly discovering its sweet spots.  I've found my space in my blog, others in their social networks and friends...where's yours?

Congratulations Socksargen Bloggers for a job well done :) 

View Socksargen Blogfest 2011 Album

Mr. Bobby Soriano and Mr. Avel Manansala

Ms. Janet Toral of Digital Filipino

Kevin Pacquet with his "admirer"

wehehehe

Blogfest 2010 Socksarkgen Gold Sponsors: East Asia Royale Hotel, Sagittarius Mines, Smart Communications, Dolores Hotels and Resorts, Gaisano Mall of GenSan

Empowered Filipina Activity

We had the EFA last night and was so thankful the Zerdon and Amanda VS was there to assist me in setting up the place and putting things in order.  I was happy to see Sir Seth cruise in whilst we prepare.  I thought he was just there to take photos but surprise! surprise! he took the time to be in the workshop till it ended.  Angie have been raving about Sir Seth, we are so glad he was able to attend *clap clap clap.  

Our resource speaker for that night is another empowered filipina, Ms. Mae Fe Ancheta Templa.  She is one of the strongest women I've known.  She was actually my first executive director in my first job in an NGO years before.  It was generous of her to attend even if she was informed in short notice.  She is currently Kyabaan's managing director. 

The girls who attended last night were all beautiful.  It was exciting to see that they have come to the workshop with the goal to make themselves better.  The value of beauty as it all started starts from the physical but Tita Mae Fe encouraged them to look at their self concept if they are already at the stage beyond the physical concept of one's self and if they are not, are they ready to leap?

I'm glad to hear them say yes.

This activity is spearheaded by 13thWiTCH Design Studio. 

Special Thanks to Anniepie for hosting us.  

We also extend our heartfelt thanks to 

Klea Fifth, Davao Bloggers, Amanda VS, Zerdon King, and Sir Seth.

Impressions @ SuperSale Bazaar in Rockwell Grove

posing with dra while setting up the booth =)

on the floor trying to wax the zippers!

Premium area @ Rockwell Grove

Impressions Display...me with Doktora!
she is such a gifted jewelry designer

setting up! ^.^

It was so cool to see the lights at night in rockwell Grove.

I always find an excuse to go buy something to drink

or harass the coffee lady at night just to

have an excuse to sigh at the lights ^.^

Pinoy Global Bazaar

I was at Rockwell last November 6-7 for the Pinoy Global Bazaar! It was a blast! Yes, as usual, I have some shortcomings that only a trusty assistant can fill in, but nonetheless my pieces were sold! I haven't sold all of them but the number of pieces I was able to sell was not bad for my first bazaar try ^.^

I shared the booth with Ethnu and Jacinto and Lirio.  The girls from these companies are so cool and quiet...They also are very nice ^.^ I wish I had my camera working at the bazaar but I was too busy selling. Oh well, next time =D

To all who came by the booth, thank you guys!

with mariposa of Jacinto and Lirio

Noreen of Jacinto and Lirio

Noreen and I

Impressions is my little jewelry venture.  Please find me in Rockwell Grove on Nov 19-21.  I would also be displaying my jewelry pieces at Tin Bersola's Christmas Bazaar in World Trade on November 17-21.

Smart Presscon

Before the concert of Itchyworm with
Luningning, Jopay, and Princess Ryan, Smart,
a major sponsor of GenSan's Tuna Festival held a
press conference around one pm. Davao Bloggers and
Socksargen Bloggers were there to ask a few questions
regarding their show later and SMART's promo mechanics
and prizes that they would be giving away at the concert.

 Avel Manansala did a livestream of the presscon.

Avel with SMART

Princess Ryan, Jopay, Luningning

Photography by Olan emboscado

After the official presscon, it was Socksargen Bloggers' time
to be in the limelight ^.^

Jopay goofing off with Avel

goofy face

A part of my Tuna Festival experience.  General Santos, as Ria and Brendel would say is their happy place.  Now I know why ^.^  People are warm and friendly and food is fantastic!  It was so much fun and I was so lucky to be part of it.  Smart Presscon was held at the same building where we had our great  Mongolian BBQ ^.^

During the Presscon, it seems as if the stars had this notion that this part of Mindanao is in disarray.  That it is not peaceful nor does it have the potential of progress.  Much to their surprise, General Santos is not only peaceful and warm, but abundant, generous, and so much fun!

The presscon ended with them saying, they would be back in the Tuna City again.

The Philippine Six Sigma Conference 2010

Mr. Amante Araneta Aguilar, Consultant, Supply Chain Management

Builiding a Culture of Continuous Improvement and
Quality excellence in Organizations

Many thanks to Digital Filipino for my delegate pass to The Philippine Six Sigma Conference 2010 held last Aug 4-5 at the Intercontinental Manila.  The conference ran a full two days of talking about strategic management.  It was two days of packed information on how to run your company strategically – and they already started showing the charts the first day…It made me dizzy…that was one of the early clues that they were really serious about what they are talking about…sheeesh.  


I applaud the Speakers in their brilliance of defining Six Sigma by pointing to what Six Sigma is not, and thus unconsciously breaking down the prejudices that I have.  A brilliant strategy, I think, for they clearly defined what Six Sigma is by pointing out the factors that aren’t.  In return, it swept my head of early pre-conceptions of what it is that would have misguided me in understanding fully the inputs of the conference. 

So let me start by saying, if you are steering a people-oriented organization, then Six Sigma may not be for you.  It circles around forming great leaders to make the great decisions.  I don’t think it can transform a bureaucratic organization to an open or learning system.  If you aim to improve your active-adaptive org, the managing consultants would say, other methodology might be more apt for you to achieve your goal.  So unless you find a way to effectively integrate Six Sigma in it, don’t even think about it.  Six Sigma is a top-down level management where all crucial decisions come the executive level. 

Before attending the conference, I did my little research and what I found raised my bar of curiosity.  As far as I know, Six Sigma never existed in my life until now. 

Six Sigma initially is a business system management strategy that effects change.  One of the things it makes you do is that it forces you to prioritize and makes you tap the best people and makes you recognize the best things they are doing.  According to the speakers, as a data driven management strat, you have to know your level of improvement before you can implement improvement itself.  


It is critical that you were able to diagnose your organization’s problem correctly, otherwise, you would be likened to a doctor giving his patients the wrong medicine.  No matter how good the solution is, if it is not the right solution, it will do your organization no good.  


A Six Sigma project fails because it is being implemented on projects that don’t need it. 

I remember a friend teaching me this and my four years in college earning that philosophy degree kicked right in…we call it, in not so layman’s term, Critical Thinking.  

The right answers don’t matter, what is critical, is that, you ask the right questions.

 Something the Speakers in the first day kept reiterating by talking about the problematic factors in corporations or organizations.  


They gave examples of where problems might initially lie and they mentioned corruption, inefficiency, and the unsophisticated production process amongst other things.  These factors, for example, often lead to over or under supply, errors in financial analysis, wrong investment decisions, communication glitches, even to the incomplete procurement of needed materials.  Some factors may not be quantitative, and that is, as they said, the tricky part. 

Things can be found when you start to look for them, but you will never find them in places they are not in...and how about you finding something you are not looking for?  It sometimes bump you in the forehead unexpectedly and makes you crash on your feet.  Sometimes, it’s sweet when that happens, it usually does during anniversaries, but anniversaries only happen once a year.  Enough said.


Statistics is also an integral part of Six Sigma...but not necessarily in its brutal raw appearance of calculated graphs.  Because Six Sigma pushes one to do data-driven decisions, one needs to understand and know the variables involved and their interpretations.  Believe me, looking at the graph and understanding its legends is easier and less time consuming than reading a 100-page report.

Mr. Jeff Meija made a good point in saying, If it’s something your common sense cannot solve, then you need Six Sigma. And mind you,  common sense can solve a lot of things. 

The structured methodology will require you to test your common sense first.  Stupidity is the primary error it will ask you to eliminate even before you consider implementing it.  There lies the biggest challenge; we humans are commonly stupid…

Ahh, that’s where the consultants come in.  *wink.

Mr. Dan Lachica, President, CEO of First Philec Solar Corporation
"Creating a Culture of Operational Excellence - The Six Sigma Way"

The Philippine Six Sigma Conference delegates

View the Philippine Six Sigma Speakers 

View full Album

VavaVrooom Party by Colt 45

It's nice to be back in Davao again and hang out. Last night was Colt 45's Vavavroom Party...0f course, moi decided to go to take a peek at the beautiful Christine Reyes. I didn't really know that Colt 45 rebranded and did some reformulation. The new taste is actually very nice. I like it. The only brand I've been into for years is red horse...guess I have two favorite drinks now ^.^

The night started with a press conference with Christine Reyes in Damosa's "A taste of Malaysia" Restaurant. Even if I was late, I was seated in front, ok i stole the seat and ended up chatting with the KBP President...coolness.

and I won a cup...wahahhaah! **ang babaw ng kaligayahan...nyahahah! scroll down for some fun shots below ^.^

I was with Doc Charles of Why Not Coconut and Kevin of Pinoy Teens  Richard, and Mark.

One of the best photographers of Davao, Rene Lumawag (or tatay as we call him) caught my attention when he dropped his lens...good thing it did not broke =)...the usual ABS-CBN and GMA people are there also.

But what really surprised me was to find out that a friend of mine, LILY, was one of the organizers and is the one handling the COLT 45 Event. *double weeeh! Okay imagine me in my truck rushing, a.k.a. driving carelessly, towards the last spot in front of the restaurant... all disheveled, clutching my camera and trying to fix my hair only to shriek because I unexpectedly saw a friend...and to double shriek after she told me that she is part of the organizing committee....*laughs.

I am sooo stupid sometimes.I thought she was only doing gourmet ice cream! Didn't know she is into advertising! Oh and her ice cream is superb! She came from the family who started the "dirty ice cream" business in the Philippines. Will have to feature it in my blog soon ^.^

W were given VIP Passes after the conference weeeeh! Ate Neng was super glad to know Raimund Marasigan of Sandwich will be there as well as the one year old band, Hilera.  I was tasked to ask for his shirt...hehe. I did not dare ask...but i coordinated with certain people to steal it for me...told them to send it to me via parcel...**crossing fingers. Hope it arrives soon! hahaha!

Nice to see old friends and familiar faces. 

Nice to be back in Davao ^.^

Needless to say, I had a great night!

worshiping the beer tower with lily

Ms. Christine Reyes, Presscon

Lily with Colt 45 Brand Manager and fellow organizers

Colt 45 Girls

Colt45 Girls

Hilera

kawat ang food

with maritini

with manong brando, bodyguard of the night ^.^

with colt 45 brand manager joseph consul

waaaaah! eeeeh! hahahaha!

negra with the mestiza ahaha!

we love you beer tower!

we love you beer cases! haha!

Valentines and such

I've never been a big fan of Valentines and the cooing and wooing that comes with it.  I don't like going out because it's happy hearts day, the horizontal extravagance that comes with the celebration is almost always too much to bear.  Roses and other flowers' prices are way beyond reason and chocolates and cakes have suddenly become too special for normal prices when in fact, all they added was a heart and card.  The marketing scheme happening is making my head pound... but logically speaking -- not because of Valentines, but becuase of what happens when its Valentines.  

Do you notice how ceilings are flocked with paper hearts in red sprinkled with gold glitters and stitched with ribbons on the side? I mean can we not make something new?!!!!! is Valentine's officially that corny???!!!!

May I suggest another way of celebrating Valentines? 

like flocking all single ladies and single men together for a dating game ---- NO COUPLES ALLOWED! oooohhh!  

A mixer party for single men and women.  Ohhh...If something like this happens next year... it would be fun...Maybe I'll do one like this next year... no couples allowed...a LOVAPALOOZA of single men and women, mixing to find a partner to kiss at midnight! oh yeah... perfect. An Outdoor party with crazy lights, funky music and free glitters to put on the body to indicate you've been on to this party. 

With a team of make up artists and hair stylists to pretty you up before we gush you to the dancefloor... the main statement is : NOBODY is allowed to be ugly tonight... 

Either u come beautiful or we force beauty on you hahaha!

Anyways, we kinda sorta partied with some friends at Felis last 14.  The band, NOMANCAN, is great. A three-man-band of different nationalites.  The drummer is Filipino, The Bass is American, and the Lead and Vocals is German...

Imagine my amusement when the German Lead sang Bamboo's "Pinoy Ako" -- And he did a very good rendition, if I may add -- but  the irony of having to hear someone foreign sing that song to an almost perfection is just giving me goosebumps.  I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of it... I used to hear  my old neighbors trying to sing that song... the Filipino Blood in them is not helping hahaha!

See more photos in Flickr but mugshots of Lovers are available in our photoblog.