My First Time on iBlog7

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Last April 1, 2011, I attended (my first time) The 7th Philippine Blogging Summit / iBlog7 at the Malcolm Hall in UP Diliman (oh, I miss you!). It’s an annual event where hundreds of Pinoy bloggers come together and learn from each other through discussions / presentations of different bloggers about various topics related to blogging and the blogosphere. 

This year, the iBlog7 resource people focused their discussions on blogging as part of Social Media, blog traffic, and most importantly making money online through blogging among others.

I only got to attend the first day because I can’t afford to close my computer shop the next day, which was a Saturday and the last weekend before school vacation officially starts. Plus, I figured I needed to attend the first day more than the second because of the topics that were set to be discussed that day.

Anyway, it was an interesting iBlog7 for all of us, especially after all the discussions in the blogosphere regarding some of the presentations and speakers. I'll keep it at that. It's been weeks since it all happened so there's really no use bringing it all up again. ^_^

Out of all the presentations on Day 1 of iBlog7, I enjoyed Carlo Ople's the most. He gave us his ten (10) Power Blogging Tips, which I find very useful. Some of the things he said really hit home. To sum it all up, he emphasized on quality content, being relevant, not thinking small, and establishing relationships with your readers and fellow bloggers.

Carlo's a breath of fresh air. He made us laugh with all his punchlines like a "happy wife means a happy life", never ever quit your day job without telling your wife, and "walang basagan ng trip". His humor was like cherry on top of his very informative presentation. I’m a fan. :)

My second favorite presentation was from EJ Arboleda of Manila Blogs. He talked about making money through blogging. It was pretty obvious that he put a lot of effort and research time on his presentation and data, which I appreciated a lot. His talk encouraged me to take my blogs more seriously now so I can earn more from them while doing what I love, particularly sharing my knowledge with others. :)

Another interesting presentation was from Ginger Arboleda, EJ's wife, of Manila Reviews. She discussed about offline marketing. Her talk made me more confident that I can soon come up to sponsors to help me with my future contests and the like, in the same way she did.

 

The other presentations, particularly the ones from Ruben Licera, Regnard Raquedan, and Howie Severino of GMA 7, focused on Social Media and marketing. They were all very informative and I'm proud to say that I'm doing better Social Media marketing now for my blogs than before.

There were a couple of attendees who were entrepreneurs and I believe they’ve learned a lot from those speakers. Social Media can really help boost your company’s sales, may it be on franchises or direct product sales. And I really believe more and more companies are tapping on the blogosphere to market their products.

Melvin Dichoso talked about blog traffic and how to improve your blog’s stats. I hope to improve on that further once I'm no longer this busy with my other offline and online tasks. :)

At the end of iBlog 7, Janette Toral, the main woman behind this yearly blogging summit and Digital Filipino Club, shared with us her views about the National Bloggers Association or Professional Bloggers Association. Her explanations actually made some things clear for me, but I'm still a bit on the fence about being part of any organization.

Other presentations that day were from Jayson Biadog who discussed about online contests, and Earth Rullan who talked about blogging with integrity.

I wanted to attend the second day of iBlog7 because I was hoping to listen to Ria Tirazona / yapatoots as she share with us about blogging, social networks and online relationships as a support system. I haven't watched her presentation yet, but knowing her from her blog and a few exchanges of messages with her on Plurk and on Facebook, I knew everything she shared were from her heart.

Photo courtesy of Fitz Villafuerte

All in all, it was a very successful event. I also got to meet a lot of bloggers who are now my dearest friends - Divine, Ruth, Ning, and Cielo.

Of course, I attended the event with my BBFF Eihdra. Too bad Joy wasn't able to join us.

I also met Marco of Yashiro’s Journal, Wally Gozar, Maicel, Jem…

And, of course, Mommy Rubz, who kindly adopted me, along with the rest of the mommies, as one of their honorary members (meaning single, no kids) to the Pinay Mommies Community.

After iBlog7, 5 of us went straight to the Magnolia Summer Bloggers party.

I had a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to next year's iBlog. I hope I can attend both days so I won't miss anything!

Here’s a photo of some of us bloggers at lunch time:

Thank you, Janette and to all the people behind the successful iBlog7. Can’t wait for iBlog8!