Thursday, August 24, 2017

Geeks on a Beach 2017 in Palawan


DICT, successful Silicon Valley Fil-Ams lead 400 participants

Some 400 participants from the government and the private sector, including successful technology entrepreneurs from Southeast Asia and Silicon Valley, has gathered in Puerto Princesa, Palawan as Geeks on a Beach 2017 starts today.

For two days, participants will get to listen to valuable insights from big names in the startup and technology community. There will be keynotes, panels, and discussions with separate breakout tracks in between. 

Successful Filipino-Americans Yobie Benjamin and Aldo Carrascoso lead the list of the world’s prominent names in the field of startups and technology who arrived at the Princesa Garden Island Resort and Spa Hotel in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.


Navigating startup ecosystem

The first day will open with keynote speeches by Puerto Princesa Mayor Lucilo Bayron, Department of Information and Communications Technology Undersecretary Monchito Ibrahim, Voyager Innovations Vice President and Managing Director Dindo Marzan, and Token.io and ClickSWITCH.com Chief Technology Officer Yobie Benjamin.

This will be followed by the panel “How Founders Can Navigate Treacherous Seas; Path to potential Unicorns in the Philippines” where technopreneurs from Tokien.io, ClickSWITCH.com, GlycoProX Biosciences, Veem, Jukin Media & Verego, Plug and Play Technology Center, InnoVantage, Inc., StartUp Village, and MobKard will display the story of their success.

Another panel entitled “Startup Ecosystem - How to increase # of successful startups in the Philippines” will highlight speakers from the DICT, Department of Science and Technology - PCIEERD, Department of Trade and Industry, TechTalks.ph, IdeaSpace Foundation, and the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA).

An investor panel which will bring together tech, design, and startup entrepreneurs to brush shoulders with the world’s biggest venture capitalists and investors in the tech world will meanwhile feature Greylock Ventures, North Ridge Partners, Plug and Play, Hatchd Digital, Endeavor Philippines, and Anthill Ventures.

The first day will include the presentation “Startup Nation - The Israel Story” by Sagiv Massad who is the Director of Technology and Cybersecurity for Business Profiles Inc. and Director of the Israel Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines”. Jojo Flores of StartupPH.org will also present "State of the Nation's Startups: How Competitive can PH Startups Get?”

Corporate Digital Transformation

The second day will kick-off with keynotes by DOST-PCIEERD Engr. Russell Pilli, Center for International Expositions and Missions Executive Director Clayton Tugonon, and Philippine Chamber of Commerce Engr. Ramon Escueta

The panels for the day include “Corporate Digital Transformation: Becoming Victorious in a Collision between Businesses and Today's Challenging Digital Forces” featuring Dragonpay Corporation, BlastAsia & Xamun Inc., PLDT Innolab, Philippine Chamber of Commerce, Payoneer, and the Puerto Princesa Chamber of Commerce, “The way of Creatives: Establishing a Sustainable Niche in a Disruptive Economy” with creatives ­ startups GrupoMM, CreateCebu, 22 Tango Records, and Altum, and “Role of Incubators and Accelerators in Growing Mature Startups” with the BNEFIT, NICP, IdeaSpace Foundation, Muru-D Singapore, UP Enterprise, QBO, ASEAN Centre of Entrepreneurship, and MaGIC Malaysia.

There are also talks on “Boosting FilipinoTrailblazers in Gaming and Animation” by Synergy88 Digital Inc. Managing Director and Co-Founder Jacqueline Chua, “Cultivating Creativity in the Circular Economy” by Altum Director Carlo Delantar, and “Chinese Tech Investment into ASEAN and How Startups in the Philippines Can Leverage On It” by EnterPH Interviews President Atty, Rocky Chan and Kay-Mok Ku of GobiVC.com.

PLDT, Smart, Voyager, PayMaya, ePLDT, Smart DevNet, PLDT Enterprise, PLDT Innolab, Ideaspace, and QBO are supporting GOAB as co-presenters while ASPACE Philippines is co-producer. GOAB is held in partnership with the City Government of Puerto Princesa, Palaweño ICT Association, DOST-PCIEERD, and Mindanao Development Authority. The official airline partner is Philippines Airasia and the official ticketing partner is Ticketbase. The silver sponsors include Payoneer, Zalora, PouchNATION, Istorya.net, Synergy 88 Digital, Uniform Solutions, Temasys, AtoX Solutions, and MaGIC. The bronze sponsors are NXTLVL Academy, LabPH, Spring Valley Corporation, North Ridge Partners, Amazon Web Services, Eastern Communications, Startechup, and Gobi Partners.

The media partners are e27, Tech in Asia, Bohol News Daily by Auza.net, InnoPub Media, Geeks in Cambodia, Asian Journal Publications, Balikbayan Magazine, Mobile Ecosystem Forum, ConnectedWomen.co, QueenCityCebu.com, GMA News Online, MyTV Channel Network, BeFast.TV, Wazzup Pilipinas, TechBlade PH, eMedia Production Network Inc., Inc. Southeast Asia, NU107.COM CO., SnippetMEdia, and Bloomberg TV Philippines. The organizational partners are the Philippine Software Industry Association, National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, UP CeBuinIT, Digital Commerce Association of the Philippines, Developers Connect, Science and Technology Advisory Council - Silicon Valley, Mynimo, Teradoor, Israel Chamber of Commerce Philippines, and the Cloud Security Alliance Philippines. GOAB is supported by Purple Cow, Orange Hub, iSkwelahan.com, DOST-MIMAROPA, Science and Technology Advisory Council Silicon Valley, and Science & Openvate Labs.

First staged in 2013, GOAB is organized by TechTalks.ph, powered by Sym.ph, branding by Happy Garaje, and pr by PRWorks. For further details, visit www.GeeksOnABeach.com, follow on Twitter/Facebook Geeks On A Beach, or contact hello@GeeksOnABeach.com

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Become the Wind Beneath My Everwing


"... "Kabi-kabilang events" or speaking engagements are not the measures of success. That's really shallow.

My advice lang bro is for you to just learn to listen. Stop talking, be humble, and listen." - Carlo Ople

True. Even the busiest blogger with so many events and campaigns get them from different sources including friends, colleagues and relatives. It does not automatically mean superiority or being categorized as among the top. It only means he or she has the right, or wrong, people around him that can make things happen.

However,  I believe success could not be measured.  It cannot be quantified based on certain factors or criteria.  A father who was able to put all of his kids through school can say he is successful compared to the richest businessman in the world who's greed has kept him wanting more.

I never paused to think if I am successful or not,  because life has been a coninuous success for me. Whenever I encounter disappointments, I always anticipate something to balance it out.

Success only comes when you're satisfied with what you have achieved regardless of how high or low it is.

I cherish every moment in my life so for me every little accomplishment,  may it be baking muffins for the first time, meeting my favorite artist, or finally winning the heart of someone,  are all worthy of the recognition. Those are my successes in life that are worth remembering.

As for listening, I have no problem with it. I just don't keep quite. I actually listen intently that is why I am extra noisy as well. I cannot keep on listening when others would not do the same. It should be a two-way process.  I would keep being the voice of the meek, shy and weak to oppose the online bashers who attack people and not the issues.

The irony is, coming from someone who asks me to listen, yet he tutors me on measuring success, while others were questioning my credibility and competence. Nowhere on the discussion did I claim to be successful.  I merely pointed out that people most probably believe I am competent enough to be invited to their events,  or they simply just want their brand promoted on my site. Never bragged about being successful, but only believed in myself.

Mind you,  I listen to all. That is why I am very vocal to share what others are telling me. That is why I love blogging. That is why I love bashibg the bashers. I say no to bullying... Online or offline, you'll hear from me.

When people attack from behind,  badmouth  to others, or come up with hate threads to gang up on unsuspecting bloggers,  they just showed they can only outdo others when they play unfair.  Let the people concerned do their homework. These bashers should go back to school and learn again.

What people perceive as boasting is just a celebration of every little achievement. We are proud to share it with the whole world to inspire others to continuously love themselves and attain greater heigths. Who else should love us endearly but us. If humble means keeping on taking all the punches without retaliating,  then I refuse to be humble. We all need to flaunt our identity.  Life is just too short to waste being humble in a corner. People need to know we exist and we are great! It's called Marketing and Selling yourself. We just all differ in strategy.

Each one of us were given the heart and mind to think and love, we use it both to make better decisions. Still,  our worth is not defined by how the people around perceive us.  It is defined by how satisfied and at peace we are with ourselves.

Hey, I finally got into the Everwing game. Like life,  the start was a bit slow and surprising yet as the game progressed,  I finally git the hang if it.  Thanks to another blogger who was cheering me on and giving me tips to play the game right.

That is how you encourage others to do well.  You don't tell them they are no good,  you encourage them that they can do better.