Livin' High and Takin' it Easy

Vote for the World We Want – a United Nations Project

22 May 2013 No Comments

in Advocacy, Other Events, Technology Tags: advocacy, The World We Want, United Nations

I just voted.

And these are what I voted for:

(Yes, I am actually 31 and) the last item on the list checked seems so trivial, but I place quite high value on phone and internet access. That’s me being very, very personal, in my list of priorities. It was either that or better healthcare.

It was nice to know how the world voted, so far.

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New 2012 Magsaysay Awardee Feature Stories Released

21 May 2013 No Comments

in RMAF Tags: Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto, Chen Shu-Jiu, Kulandei Francis, Ramon Magsaysay Award, Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, RMAF, Romulo Davide, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Yang Saing Koma

Six original stories about the lives and work of the 2012 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees have been released and now uploaded to the newly reformatted Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation website, www.rmaf.org.ph.

The feature stories are now available for viewing and sharing. They capture the spirit of awardees Chen Shu-Jiu, Romulo Davide, Kulandei Francis, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Yang Saing Koma, and Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto.  Written by four of the Philippines’ distinguished writers, the stories distill the transformative and sustainable solutions each of them applied to address serious problems in their communities.

While the concerns and their work are divergent—from food security, to education, to environment in six different Asian countries—the stories are strung together by examples of greatness of spirit, the trademark of all Magsaysay laureates.
_ _ _ _ _

“Chen Shu-jiu: Market vendor invests profits in good deeds” by Angelina Goloy starts the feature story thus: “Small change. That’s all she started with. At the end of each day, Chen Shu-jiu of Taitung, Taiwan, would set aside a portion of her modest earnings from selling vegetables. Over the years her small change amounted to a small fortune—seven million Taiwanese dollars (US$320,000). She has given it all away to those who those who need it more. “

“Empowering Farmers through Science,” Lito Viriña’s take on Romulo Davide’s story, opens with success stories of two farmers, Elnard Ymbal and Cirila Cuyacot. Viriña writes: “The ingenuity of [Ymbal and Cuyacot, are just two of the many inspiring stories that have come out from farming communities where the Farmer-Scientist Training Program (FSTP) is in operation. The FSTP, an agricultural research, development and extension (RDE) strategy that aims to bring science and scientific methods of farming to farmers is the brainchild of Academician Professor Dr. Romulo G. Davide, one of this year’s recipients of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award.”

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iBlog9: The 9th Philippine Blogging Summit – May 31-June 1, 2013

04 May 2013 2 Comments

in Digital Filipino, Other Events, Technology Tags: blogging, conference, Digital Filipino, iblog, iblog9, Janette Toral, summit

iBlog9 is a 2-day FREE event. The first day (May 31) is targeted for bloggers, marketers, businesses and entrepreneurs wanting to understand how to tap blogs as a medium to promote their products and services. Also as a means to generate income. Day 1 also tackles advance topics on blogging – taking blogs to the next level. The second day (June 1) is meant to everyone interested about blogging.

iBlog9: The 9th Philippine Blogging Summit (#iblog9) will be on May 31 and June 1, 2013 at the Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law, UP Diliman, Quezon City from 8 am to 5 pm.

The first 300 registered participants to come early (on or before 9 am) will be given food stub and participant kit. Afterwards, remaining food stubs and participant kits shall be given to early walk-ins. So REGISTER now.

Day 1 AGENDA (May 31)

9:00 to 9:20 Flag ceremony, prayer, participant intro (limited)
9:20 – 9:40 Understanding the Blogger Psyche
(Jonel Uy, BloggerCircles.com)

9:50 to 10:10 Blogging as an effective Content Marketing Tool for Businesses
(Ben Francia, http://www.benfrancia.com)

10:20 to 10:35 break
10:35 – 10:55 Empowerment in Digital Marketing
(Grace Bondad Nicolas, www.empoweredgrace.blogspot.com)

11:05 – 11:25 Working with brands either for your business or advocacy, and even both
(Jeoffrey Solas, www.liberatingjepoy.com)

11:35 to 11:55 Sponsor Talk: Sun iMessenger: blog marketing case study
(Louie Oviedo, President & CEO of Greetings Unlimited Inc.)

12:05 to 1:05 Lunch break

1:05 – 1:25 How to Get the Influencers Write About Your Startup
(Jonha Revesencio, http://ijustdid.org)

1:35 – 1:55 Bloggers and political organizations – the road to 2016
(Mark Pere Madrona, rightonthemark.wordpress.com)

2:05 – 2:25 Fighting corruption online and offline
(Angel Bombarda, www.bantay.ph)

2:35 to 2:55 Income & Opportunities through Blogging
(Khoa Bui, www.secretsentrepreneur.com)

3:05 to 3:20 BREAK

3:20 to 3:40 Bloggers as Digital Influencers
(Janette Toral, DigitalFilipino.com)

4:00 sponsor raffle, shirts raffle, and group photo
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The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation’s Lucky 55th Anniversary Contest

02 May 2013 No Comments

in RMAF Tags: Lucky 55th Anniversary, Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, RMAF, The Great Medallion Hunt

This year marks the 55th Anniversary of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, 55 years of celebratingGreatness of Spirit, and along with that, has launched the new look of its website at www.rmaf.org.ph. The new website is designed to enable the use of social media by integrating popular platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, making sharing of materials and information easier.

Also, RMAF has a few things up its sleeve, including online contests for its friends, fans and followers.

Here is the mechanics for the Lucky 55th Anniversary contest:

And up and coming is The Great Medallion Hunt, details to be released soon.

Stay tuned for updates.

Check out the (new) RMAF website at www.rmaf.org.ph

And check them out on these social networks:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rmafoundation
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rmafoundation
Instagram: instagram.com/rmafoundation
Tumblr: http://rmafoundation.tumblr.com

Earth Day/Week on Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation

28 Apr 2013 No Comments

in RMAF Tags: Earth Day, Earth Day 2013, Earth Week, Ramon Magsaysay Award, Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, RMAF

At Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation’s social network sites, Earth Day was not only celebrated for one day, but for a week! These posts, from RMAF’s Instagram appeared on April 22-26, 2013. Kudos to the foundation’s social media team!

Sithiporn Kridakara (Thailand), Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service, 1967.

Angel Alcala (Philippines), Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service, 1992, for his pioneering scientific leadership in rehabilitating the coral reefs of the Philippines and in sustaining for Filipinos the natural abundance of their country’s marine life.

Chandi Prasad Bhatt (India), Ramon Magysaysay Awardee for Community Leadership, 1982.

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UP Film Center and Animahenasyon – April 2013

25 Apr 2013 No Comments

in Design, Movies, Other Events Tags: Animahenasyon, animation, movies, University of the Philippines Diliman, UP Film Center

If you are:

1. Near University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, you may wanna catch the following, which are on for the rest of the month of April,

2. A fan of animation and would like to support Filipino animators,

head over to the UP Film Center for these:

The SM Cartoon Fest Launch at SM City Fairview

12 Apr 2013 No Comments

in Family, Other Events Tags: Ballerina Barbie, cartoons, Dora the Explorer, family, kids, Lia, SM Cartoon Fest, SM City Fairview, sponsored

The SM City Fairview Annex Atrium was jam packed with moms, dads, kids, kids-at-heart, babies in strollers, mascots, as well as all kinds of cartoon character goodies this Friday afternoon. We quickly circled the entire area to find entrances, and to get an idea of the event’s general lay out, so we knew what we needed to do in that sea of people. Stage and audience area on one end, the booths and play centers in the middle, and the gift shop on the other end, next to the registration booth and main entrance to the cartoon fest. Check!

We went around the booths as the characters were being introduced one by one onstage and the booths were still empty. We found a booth that Lia loved at first sight: the Barbie Ballerina booth, where there was a table for coloring pages and activity books, as well as a table where she could get her nails painted. My 4-year old daughter did not like the idea of having her nails painted, but took a seat without a moment’s hesitation on the activity table and started coloring Barbie pages.

She had to stop coloring when Spongebob went onstage and shrieked with delight upon the explosion of the confetti. Confetti that kids would love throwing onstage, up in the air, and at each other, afterwards.

At five o’clock, the characters went to their respective booths one by one so kids could come meet them, or have their photos taken with them. Lia, upon going through all the booths, also one by one, and overwhelmed with the mascots’ sizes, said they were all scary so we went around the shop instead. And here is where she found the most joy, amidst the Barbies.

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SM Cartoon Fest Launch, SM Fairview, April 12, 2013

11 Apr 2013 No Comments

in Other Events Tags: cartoons, family, kids, SM, SM Cartoon Fest

The SM Cartoon Fest is launching this coming Friday at SM Fairview from 4pm onwards. Go and bring the kids and the kids at heart!

Expecting a deluge of kids and kids-at-heart with their families at the SM Supermalls this summer, the country’s largest chain of malls is launching the biggest and only gathering of 38 cartoon characters in 44 malls nationwide on April 12. Dubbed “ SM Toonfest”, the summer-long festival that ends May 31 will feature a never-seen-before number of activities and cartoon-related toys and interesting finds for the whole family and the cartoon-lover to enjoy.

Mayon 360 – A 50 Mile Run – April 6, 2013

02 Apr 2013 No Comments

in Albay, Other Events Tags: Albay, events, Mayon360, running, sports

Mayon 360°

The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2013 Experience – Part 1: La Union

19 Mar 2013 3 Comments

in Entrepreneurship, La Union, Other Events Tags: Ben Francia, Digital Filipino, Digital Influencers Marketing Summit, DIM2013, Janette Toral, Joma Giron, Juana Change, La Union, Nick Fontanilla, Poro Point, seminar, summit, Team Spyder, Thunderbird Resorts, Tof Salcedo, Vanj Padilla, Vincent Tabor

Sometimes, fate has a way of allowing you to find the people you need the most. That is how I view my experience on those two fateful weekends that I spent in Thunderbird Resorts – Poro Point in La Union, and Binangonan, Rizal.

To be honest, I never thought I would find myself in such a summit – the Digital Influencers Marketing Summit – because for a time, I disliked the word “marketing” and everything associated with it. I felt that I did not have the required guts to be involved in anything related to “selling.”

But after years in theater and events, and a full year at a rock bar where I did pretty much everything myself, I realized I have been doing marketing without really knowing it.

When I needed customers to come to my bar and other events, I did marketing. When I needed sponsors for my events, I did marketing. When I met with my suppliers, I did marketing.

I have been doing marketing ever since I have been traveling, “marketing” the places I go to by posting my experiences, my photos and any information related to these places. I have been doing marketing since I put that online retail shop, Kikayism, with my good friend from graduate school PJ Valenciano, now designer and owner of Palamuti- a line of handmade accessories made for women. I have been doing a lot of marketing and I never actually realized it.

I found out about the summit from my friend Ana Locsin, the woman behind Pitaka Lifestyle Billfold, a line of tarpaulin wallets with adhoc Filipino designs, who shared the summit’s poster on her wall. At first I was really just interested in being able to come see Thunderbird Resorts.

There were two venues on two different weekends. One was for February 2, at Thunderbird Rizal, which was quite close to where I lived. Another was for January 26, at Thunderbird Poro Point in La Union – less than an hour away from the surfing capital that is San Juan. At first thought I decided I was going to the one in Rizal because of the proximity. On second thought, I thought going to La Union was also a good excuse to come out there to do some surfing.

I compared the two schedules, modules and speakers and found that they were not too similar, and that I could benefit from attending both. And so I did.

Part 1: DIM Thunderbird Poro Point

The Journey:
I took the 6-hr bus ride from El Nido to Puerto Princesa, flew in to Manila, and took the 5 hr-bus ride all the way to La Union, from Thursday til Saturday. I arrived in San Fernando very early in the morning, quite freezing and very sleepy, but very happy to be there. I got to see the sunrise and had delicious coffee with the view of the San Fernando sea.

I was the very first to arrive at the resort and was perhaps, the first one too to the coffee table. I needed it.

The Speakers:
The speakers were varied, but I loved them all. From the honesty of Vanj Padilla of Pangalatalk.com, admitting how she found it hard to switch from traditional to new media, and how difficult single motherhood was (and how I loved her in every way!)

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