Silicon Gulf

The get-together of DigitalFilipino.com Club members and Davao’s IT professionals last 14 May 2008 at Casa Leticia was an eye-opener for many first-timers. There were more than 30 Dabawenyos who attended, most of whom were, before then, uninitiated into this different sort of organization. Janette Toral, initiator and representative of the Club, was delighted to see so many attend the event.

The DigitalFilipino.com Club is a nationwide association of e-commerce practitioners and enthusiasts, IT professionals and companies. It is a business organization, in that its focus is on how to maximize Filipino talent in bringing success to members’ businesses. I have been a member for several years now, and I have directly benefited from my membership. Twice already I have closed business deals with other members, thanks to the networking activities that the Club constantly conducts.

Members get access to valuable research material, the Club’s extensive knowledge base, and the chance to network with entrepreneurs and corporate members.

The meet-up last 14 May was the third leg of Janette’s three-city roadshow. According to her, compared to the ones in Manila and Cebu, the Davao event had the best attendance and participation. In Davao, there are only a handful of members — but hopefully this will change in the coming weeks.

The format of the event was simple and straightforward: a presentation by Janette (which doubled as an update of sorts for Davao-based members), and then a report by yours truly on upcoming IT-related activities. Attendees were also given the chance to introduce themselves and their companies. For the more aggressive, it was an opportunity to let everyone know about their products and services.

Fred Nadela of Brokenshire College, Maria Jose of Apex Innovators, and Bert Barriga, representing one of the newest software development houses here, were some of those who enthusiastically apprised us of the latest developments in their respective companies. Lizabel Holganza of MTC Academy, and president of ICT Davao Inc., announced upcoming events that relate to the IT industry. Janette remarked that the Davao attendees were wonderfully participative.

After the presentations, everybody got the chance to catch up with colleagues and meet new ones. I’m pleased to report that I was able to observe quite a few business deals being initiated during the informal networking session.

We are already planning on a follow-up meeting for Davao members and candidates in August. Hopefully, more Dabawenyos will decide to join the DigitalFilipino.com Club. For information on this, please feel free to contact me, or visit www.e-commercephilippines.com for more information.

As avid WordPress bloggers and developers know very well, WordCamp is the event when it comes to this “state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform”. And we are bringing it to the Philippines!

I normally write about blogging stuff over at Blogie Blog, but this post isn’t about blogging. WordCamp, you see, isn’t like the Mindanao Bloggers Summit or the iBlog Summit. WordCamp’s content is usually more technical in nature. As are many open-source software, this powerful CMS is written in PHP, and so this event will cover plenty of ground on this language, as well as XHTML and other similar topics.

(Doesn’t mean, though, that there won’t be any partying!)

The target audience of WordCamp Philippines will be bloggers, naturally. However, we would like to encourage PHP developers to participate, as well as Web weavers (especially those who are very much into XHTML and CSS) and computer graphics designers.

There will be technical sessions on how to make full use of, and extend, WordPress: these will cover plugins and template development. For the more artistically inclined, there will be presentations and demonstrations on how to create themes for WordPress.

The event will be on 25 October 2008. While it’s true that the core organizers are based in Davao, it has been decided by the group to hold WordCamp Philippines 2008 in Metro Manila. (The actual venue has not yet been decided on.)

Too bad for Dabawenyo PHP coders… Although, I do hope that some of them will be able to make it to the event. Hey, it’s still about 5 months away — time to start saving up for the trip to the capital!

For updates on WordCamp, please subscribe to the official blog’s RSS feed.

After a long spell of being away from Davao, leading e-commerce advocate Janette Toral will be back in town for a long-awaited “eyeball” of DigitalFilipino Club members. In particular, the upcoming event will be the Davao E-Commerce and E-Business Owners Meet-Up, on 14 May 2008 (Wednesday).

Here’s the official press release:

The DigitalFilipino.com Club is organizing a networking event where e-business and e-commerce industry players can catch up and exchange updates in the industry.

Who can attend?
Anyone interested in e-commerce or e-business (entrepreneurs, business/technical decision makers, ad agencies, media advertisers, Internet marketers, payment gateway service providers, bloggers, web developers, web designers, Internet and e-commerce trainers / instructors) are more than welcome to attend.

Why attend?
Meeting local e-commerce entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, service providers, online movers and shakers. Let’s network for fun and professional purposes. Talk about developments in the industry. Any excuse to meet like-minded people on a Wednesday late afternoon.

If you’re interested to know more of the digital world and e-commerce, join us! For more information, please send me a message via my contact form.

This 20 & 21 May 2008, a significant event geared towards the Filipino technopreneur is going to happen in Makati City — how I wish it were here in Davao instead! Janette Toral’s DigitalFilipino.com Club, collaborating with Fiera de Manila Inc, is spearheading the conduct of the much-anticipated Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philipines 2008.

Heavily involved in community-building myself (e.g., MindanaoBloggers.com and the erstwhile IT Society of Davao), I believe I would benefit greatly from the meaty presentations and vigorous discussions that will certainly take place during the Conference.

I have had my small successes in the brave world of networking, but I have had a number of disappointments, too. That is why I’m looking forward to being able to attend this Conference in May: to learn from others. As well, I might just be able to share my experiences with the other participants. It is, after all, a social networking event, which I hope will be brimming with like-minded practitioners.

As a member of the DigitalFilipino.com Club, I’ve been on the receiving end of business deals that have helped push my career forward. It is because of that, and my trust in this organization as an initiator of purposeful educational events, that I would not want to miss the Social Networking and eBusiness Conference.

Up for grabs are invaluable sound bytes of wisdom from the likes of Giovanni Bacareza (Chikka.com), David Jones (Friendster), Jose Carlos Medina (Level-Up Games), Faith Ponte (itzamatch.com), Janette Toral herself, and quite a few more resource speakers.

The Internet of late has become an almost chaotic environment. How do you make sense of it all? If you’re a marketer and eyeing the digital medium, have you considered how best to navigate the tumultuous electronic pathways towards reaching your goals? What is Web2.0 exactly? And just how important is social networking as a marketing tool?

The event is still a month away — plenty of time to prepare for a trip to the capital. Attending the Conference is worth the investment, to be sure.

Social Networking & eBusiness Conference Phils.

• 20 - 21 May 2008
• Hotel Intercontinental, Ayala Ave., Makati City
• For seat reservations & inquiries, please contact:
• Ms. Maricor Tornea or Angie Tuzon, tel.: (2)896-0639, 896-0637, 899-6216
• Email: fiera[at]info.com.ph

The TechnoKapihan session for this month is a no-go. According to ICT Davao Inc.’s Bert Barriga, this monthly powwow will instead be held on the 2nd of April 2008, from 2 to 4 PM. No venue set yet. Whether we’ll have another TechnoKapihan for April, or this rescheduled session will be it, we don’t know yet.

Just to refresh your minds, the TechnoKapihan sa Davao is an informal get-together of IT industry players, supporters and guests. It’s where we can sit down and discuss issues and plans that affect our industry, but in a relaxed setting. For each time, the organizers — ICT Davao and the Davao Chamber — aim to create an atmosphere of openness so that people will be more inclined to share their thoughts. (more…)

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After the 6th Mindanao ICT Congress — and the other IT-related events in Davao City last October — the TechnoKapihan monthly forum is back on track. Here’s a near facsimile of the official announcement.

invites you to

TECHNOKAPIHAN SA DAVAO


               

Broaden your network among Information & Communications Technology players. Meet and match with the right people in the industry. Find out what’s next after the recently-concluded 6th Mindanao ICT Congress last 23-24 October 2007. Or simply share something you think we ought to know.

Be there! Mark that date! You don’t want to miss it!

2:00 PM, 28 November 2007
SM City - Davao

For inquiries contact Angel at telefax: (82)221-7552 or email: aabella@davaochamber.com
Credits

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Next week will be brimming with high-octane activities, all in Davao City. The 6th Mindanao ICT Congress kicks off tomorrow; the 1st BIMP-EAGA ICT Conference will also form part of the MICT Congress; not to mention, the Senior Officials & Ministerial Meeting of the BIMP-EAGA member-nations.

The Internet Café Association of Davao will also hold an event, and there will also be the annual Davao Trade Expo (DATE). And of course, the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit on the 27th. That’s what’s been keeping me preoccupied for the past couple of months. Blogging isn’t necessarily an ICT thing, although of course the technical stuff behind blogs is pure information technology. But I digress. (more…)

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Cubepixels Design Studio’s Ray Rubio has done it again! Last year’s Corel-centric event for graphics designers in Davao is now followed-through by this year’s CorelWORLD in Davao 2007. In cooperation with Canadian software giant, Corel, and WordText Systems Inc. (WSI), Cubepixels has organized another successful event for the benefit of Davao’s graphics designers and animators.

From 5 to 6 October 2007 at the NCCC Mall, CorelWORLD featured poster and logo design contests; technical seminars on the latest in graphics design; and talks by Rubio, Corel’s Ram Kumar (Regional Manager, South East Asia and India), the city government c/o Vice-Mayor Sara Duterte and Maikee Aportadera, WordText’s Jane Orejola, and yours truly. (more…)

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