Buddy Blogs

The start of the program was signaled by a voice over welcoming everyone to the event.

The Lupang Hinirang was played. The organizers opted not to have a prayer/invocation. This is to stay away from any possible issues like what happened during the Philippine Blog Awards. And also, Davao is a city of mixed religion.. so if ever we had a prayer as part of the program, maybe we’ll have representatives from different religious sectors (Christians, Muslims, from tribes).

I introduced myself as host of the event (yes, i was also the voice over - Blogie, i’ll send you the bill). During the start of the event, only half of the venue was full.. But as the event progressed, participants (pre-registrants and walk-ins) started coming in.

The first to speak and formally welcome everyone was Oliver “Blogie” Robillio of Ang Dabawenyo. I hope he’ll post Here is a copy of his speech. He also introduced the keynote speech and guest speaker Councilor Peter Laviña who gave a talk on Blogging and participative governance. (pic below from abe)

During Councilor Pete’s talk, we were preparing for the prizes to be given during the raffle which will be done after the talk of every speaker. Prizes were Google T-shirts, the Google magnet (i call it the Google face powder - i hope the one who got it will post a pic and you’ll see why), IBM Pens, IBM Note book, an add cube, lotus software caps, Mam Beb’s pastires, and web and domain hostings…

I was also in-charge of informing the speakers the time remaining for their talk. I’d flash a “5 mins” behind the audience.

At the end of Councilor Pete’s talk, he was given a gift bag. The Bag was courtesy of Google, but the contents where from Mam Beb’s (nice collaboration.. tech and food!). All speakers were given gift bags.

During the gap, before the next speaker was to present, we raffled off some items. The first to be given away was the IBM note book.. the slick, lightweight, compact note book. No it was not a laptop / notebook. It was literally a Note book (i’ll post pics as soon as grab one!).

The next speaker was Bob Martin. Now bob was one of those bloggers i really wanted to meet. I like reading his mindanao.com blog. Bob talked about blogging and technology in Mindanao. Bob has toured Mindanao and I think there are only 4 places here that he has not been to. (pic below from mindanao.com)

I joked Bob after his speech. I asked him when will he be touring Mindanao again and can we join him.. I think he said yes (right Bob? => ). Oh, some of his blog posts are being featured on BBC - nice nice!

After Bob’s talk, I saw him leave the venue. I asked Blogie if Bob was coming back because Bob was also part of the Pick your Brain segment of the program (panel discussion). He said Bob has another engagement but he’ll come back in the afternoon. A really busy person.

Third to deliver a talk was Fr. ALbert Alejo. he is known as Perng Bert. He is not a blogger. But he surely gave a good talk to everyone. He discussed the Socio-Cultural mindset of the Mindanaoan. I would like to have a copy of his presentation and i’ll ask permission if i could distribute it to everyone. He’s also a composer and a poet. He even showed everyone his latest work ” Meme na o Mindanao (Sleep now, Mindanao) - to the tune of “Meme na aking bunso”.

”Meme na o Mindanao” (Sleep Now, Mindanao) is an uyayi of hope and dream for peace in Mindanao, for an end to conflict. “Damguhon mo ang kalinaw, sa umaabot nga adlaw (Dream of peace in the days to come),” a line from the song goes. - Charinazansarate.wordpress.com

After Fr. Alejo’s talk, I gave Blogie the floor.

It was time to present to everyone the Declaration of commitment and resolution being proposed by the organizers of the summit in cooperation with Act for peace programme.

We commit to continue writing, using the new medium of blogging, as a means to appreciate the beauty of the people, culture, places, creativity, spirituality, development, and peace.

We commit to share our experiences, dreams, aspirations, fears as Mindanaoans, through the medium known as blogging.

A copy of the declaration will be posted is now posted at the Mindanao bloggers blog site. Everyone who wants to support this commitment may signify their intent by commenting on the post.

After which it was time for lunch. Dimsum Diner Davao Branch was our very generous sponsor who took care of our hungry tummies!!!! (pic below from Jun macarambon)

Continued on part 3

read Part 1