For the second week now, yours truly’s column in the Manila Bulletin asks Filipino bloggers their thoughts on what they consider to be their best blogging achievement(s) for 2007. It’s a feat that is certainly not measured by popularity or blog income alone but also personal fulfillment. By fulfillment, we mean intangibles like friendships made, perspectives opened, horizons widened and how blogging has polished one’s use of the English language, perhaps. I can think of a few more – blogging, because it’s time -consuming, can compel you to use your time wisely. Also, it’s undoubtedly a spark in fostering creativity. If you think of a few more ways by which blogging has inspired your world, then you’re an avid disciple. Welcome to the club! Feel free to share your voice & send me your inputs so we can publish and make this a long-running homage to your “best of blogging” thoughts and experiences.

It has been a colorful, exciting year for local blogging. I warmly thank all those who gamely participated in Blog-O-Rama and the countless more who will support our endeavors in the coming year. We wish our readers the spirit of a meaningful, merry Christmas!

Gail Villanueva :

Co-founding the Philippine Blog Awards, helping organize the first ever Blog Parteeh which helped show companies that blogging is a good media for marketing… I consider it a great achievement to be able to do something for the Filipino blogging community

Aaron Roselo :

For me, the greatest blogging achievement for my blog is to reach out to people the wonderful world of graphic design. The fact that complete strangers come up to you and praise you for what you post/write/design is an achievement in its own right.

Noemi Dado, winner – Best Blog in the Philippine Web Awards:

My biggest blogging achievement is reaching out to people who might
need help and comfort. Not only do bereaved family members contact
me but anyone feeling grief or some sort of pain in their life. For
example, there is the heartbroken girl, or the betrayed spouse. I
feel flattered that my readers entrust their problems to me but
unfortunately, I am not a therapist. All I can give is friendly advice
and I refer them to the appropriate person or agency.

Spanky Enriquez :

Errrrr…hooking up with my female readers? Hahaha.

Batjay (Nicanor David) :

I was able to connect with a lot of OFWs and my blog was turned into a book.

Ate Sienna :

to have created a Filipino blogging community with pansitan.net it is taxing a lot of times to maintain the site but when I read their entries about how much they love staying at pansitan or when I find out how many people want to join the community, it gives me a sense of accomplishment. I also feel so honored that they entrust their websites to me…

Nostalgia Manila :

I never expected Nostalgia Manila to become such a mainstream success. In just little over a year, the blog has been featured in popular magazines, newspapers, tv shows, and will soon be the main feature in an episode that will be produced and aired by a local cable show in Laguna.

Filipinos today are too concerned about moving forward and adapting to the latest technology and trends, paying no attention to archiving a colorful past. Because of Nostalgia Manila, I’ve been able to promote awareness and the importance of historical preservation. Nostalgia Manila has become an online treasure chest of fond memories enjoyed by every generation. Now that’s priceless!

Marketmanila :

For 2007, at marketmanila.com, it was definitely the satisfaction of raising over PHP200,000 in donations from readers, mostly ones I have NEVER met, to fund over 11,000 meals for malnourished public school children in Manila and Cebu. For a food blog, I think that is a nice way to say thanks all around…

Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet:

Touching people’s lives through Our Awesome Planet by helping them create awesome experiences for their loved ones. Inspiring people to see the awesome places in Manila…

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My Manila Bulletin column this Monday dealt with my just-concluded talk in the 14th National PR Congress. Some of the quotable quotes which you are free to agree or disagree with:

“I just happen to think that rather than shy away from each other, bloggers and PRs can exist harmoniously together: PRs can benefit from the wealth of information that competent bloggers specialize in and bloggers, in turn, can gain a thing or two from the promotional and advertising opportunities that publicists offer in behalf of their clients, something which (bloggers) are now using with services like Google AdSense anyway.”

“It is good that influential PR practitioners are opening their mind to the potentials and possibilities of new media which is what today’s traditional media will have to embrace sooner or later.”

“There is an absence of credible research on the demographic profile of bloggers in the Philipines. Yes, data is absent even if some public relations companies are already utilizing bloggers to promote their products and services.”

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I know you!.

Revised to read as : “I feel like I practically know you because of your hair-splitting blog entries.”

anyway, welcome to post number five hundred and you guessed it right, this is such a milestone for me all of this blogging hoopla is harder than i originally thought i feel like i’ve been writing forever in fact i’ve entertained the delusion that what i’ve been writing all along are of epic proportions in the league of melville’s moby dick the good thing with blogging is that I’ve beaten an indian actor in the google search for ajay and also an american author in the search for annalyn the bad thing with blogging is that no one texts and calls me anymore they just read my blog okay you guys still email me but that’s for some chain letter i’d rather delete don’t be selfish please comment

A toast to all that, and that. Coke Light Strong Ice anyone?

Malu Fernandez for Wow Philippines!.

The Bitch has resigned, and if there’s one thing that the Malu Fernandez issue has taught us, it is the viral capability of blogs and assorted online media, to make things happen. In 1986, people converged in army camps with rosaries and warm bodies to topple down a dictatorship. In 2007 and beyond, it appears like the rules have changed. Causes and advocacies will no longer be waged in the actual battlefront but in the arena of blogs, wikis and other influencers of public opinion. Still bloodless like People Power but just as potent nonetheless.

Truth is, Malu Fernandez worked for a newspaper and a glossy upscale magazine. I don’t know what effect the whole affair had on the hierarchy of power, especially as a call to boycott the two publications had been made at the height of the controversy (first aired in Tingog.com). Manila Standard Today and People Asia were sorely limited in their circulation, but not when the pages in question were scanned, emailed and reprinted for everybody to see in an internet-waged campaign. Knowing the actual and possible damage the brouhaha had on the reputation of MST and People Asia themselves, it was highly possible that Malu Fernandez was forced to resign. Or maybe even her haughty manner just couldn’t take the heat. Hell hath no greater fury than when our (long-suffering) OFWs are scorned.

Tama nga Malu, magbakasyon ka muna hija. Nalulungkot ako at ikaw ay nakatanggap ng death threats. Hindi na dapat umabot pa sa ganito. Hindi na dapat umabot pa sa puntong insultuhin nila pati katabaan mo gayong alam naman naming gumastos ka ng libu-libong dolyares para sa weight loss mo. Hindi naman kasi kasalanan ang maging mataba o mayaman, ang maging payatot o dukha…. ang malaking pagkakamali mo lang ay insultuhin ang sensibilidad ng kapwa mo Pilipino na naghihirap makipagsapalaran sa ibang bansa. Inisip mo man lang ba na malagay sa kalagayan ng mga OFWs na nilait-lait mo? Inisip mo ba kung paano malayo sa sarili mong pamilya ng sampung buwan o di kaya’y dalawang taon? I bet hindi ka tatagal ng isang buwan na wala kang masahe o manicure mula sa pobreng alindahaw na manicurista/masahista mo, pero ang mga OFW na ito na umaalingasaw sa pabango nilang Jovan whatev ay kailangang tiisin ang pang-aalipusta/panggagahasa ng kanilang mga amo. Siguro nga ay hindi man lang sumagi sa isip mo ang mga bagay na ito and it took this incident para ikaw ay bumaba sa ivory tower at ma-realize na ang gulong ng ating lipunan ay hindi umiikot sa mga burgis na katulad mo.

In the comments section of Manolo Quezon’s post on the matter, reader Arman De La Cruz has an amusing take on what happens now to Malu Fernandez, and we quote:

1. RIDE THE PLANE
kawawa naman sya, isang taon syang di makakasakay sa ano mang eroplano domestic or international man, baga magulpi sya kasi her pictures are all over the Internet at lahat ng ating mahal na OFWs ay sumasakay everyday to almost all of domestic and foreign flights…

2. GO TO THE MALLS
pano sya pupunta ng MALL? Shangrila Mall, Powerplant, The Block, Podium at iba pang sosyal na Malls? marami ring OFWs ang ipinapasayal mga families nila sa malls na to. mapapadeliver na lang sya ng perfume at LV bags? Or sa tutuban sya at divisoria mamimili with all the disguise…

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KidBlogger in action.

Carl Ocab has been in the news lately due to questions of his ‘authenticity.’ Is he the one behind the successful money-making blog or is he not?

As a blog columnist, it seemed fair enough to test his blogging skills in action, something which he happily obliged at an internet cafe somewhere in Glorietta 3.

I have to admit I had BIG doubts about the KidBlogger prior to meeting him. He turned out to be super-shy in person… a man of few words, but not in the written word. He said he doesn’t mind the suspicions and speculations at all since it only gives more “buzz” to his blog. Oh…. spoken like a true internet marketer!

Following are excerpts of the liveblogging:

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This is what we’ve seen this year:

With more and more people relying on the web world wide web for information, publicists will have no choice but to network with bloggers to help them spread the news. Worthy mentions in blog posts now comprise the “media mileage” PRs hope to get in behalf of their clients,and for good measure.

Here’s the first part of my self-proclaimed guide on dealing with b-l-o-g-g-e-r-s (because am a former publicist-turned-blogger):

1. Familiarize yourself with the workings of the blogosphere. Know who is who, what is what; read up on blogging-related stuff ; be a “geek” or at least act like one.

2. Work your way around the communities. Blogging is not just about a disparate bunch of people facing their computer, they do “eyeballs and meet-ups every now and then, as well as connect through various online fora and group blogs. Make sure you know where to find them; know the buzz around the blogosphere at all times.

3. Rely on good ol’ referrals from blogger-friends, but by all means also diversify your reach. Look through group blogs on niche topics, blogrolls and sites like Technorati.

4. Get familiar with the blogging culture, or the blogging social culture, if there ever ever was one. A few things to expect: bloggers like carrying around their laptops, dressing in comfy jeans and tees, and who can refuse an ice-cold bottle of San Miguel beer? Be stumped with what some of these people know about computers and the like.

5. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ applies. Remember my name, please please do not email me using another blogger’s name.:D Bloggers will have a bloated self-importance of themselves and their blog; make sure you read up and covered sufficient ground before contacting.

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After taking this test, am glad I still have my sanity intact. 60% would have made me too lax (relaxed?) and 89% would seem to make it appear that I have no other life and need therapy fast!! It helps that am not online for the most part of the day.

Am also surprised to learn that blogging addiction does not only refer to bloggers but avid readers (or followers) of blogs. You can take the quiz too if you’re a fan!

72%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² – Online Dating

Which reminds me…. July is my blogiversary month. I am officially blogging for three years already (my first entry was sometime on the last week of July 2004). I realized that blogging is hard work because my total number of posts stands at a pitiful 472. It is hard being prolific. Post #500 should be a milestone, an occasion which calls for uncorking a wine bottle and it should come a few months from now Thanks for sharing it with me after all this time.

Following this project from Daily Blog Tips, here are the Top Three Reasons why am still blogging after Three years:

1. Blogging is an outlet for my writing. Okay, it may not be “the blog post that will change the world” kind of writing but I can write and I thank Him for giving me the gift to express myself through the written word. We are just lucky that blogging (and all the resultant technologies that go with it) has been invented in this generation. Do you imagine if blogging caught up with Shakespeare, Hemingway and other literary greats, how much more creative and productive they would have been!

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