Things I Learned from the 4th Mindanao Bloggers Summit

It's been four years since Mindanao bloggers came together to start their community/advocacy to promote Mindanao. I remember meeting them back in November 2006 where I originally meant to meet local SEOs, but ended up having a mix of SEOs, developers and bloggers in the group. I just met them to learn more about the them and suggested before I left if maybe they'd like to form a group.

A few months later I was invited back to attend the Davao blog party and then later on I was invited to speak at the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit. Due to some unfortunate circumstances I was unable to go and just sent in a video. I was present though in GenSan and Cagayan de Oro for the next two MBS.

Advocacy Blogging

Mayor Celso Lobregat hailed the efforts of the Mindanao bloggers. He said that they have definitely helped in promoting Mindanao. There are a good number of blogging communities across the country, but I must say it is only in Mindanao that I have seen how the blogging community has truly worked on an advocacy as a group. We all know how badly Mindanao has been portrayed in media, but Mindanao bloggers have been showing the good side of Mindanao in the past few years. And this is usually the main topic in their summit -- advocacy blogging. This topic was also the highlight of Juana Change's (Mae Paner) and Jay Jaboneta's talks.

Be a Responsible Blogger

Mayor Lobregat echoed what Danny Arao spoke about during WordCamp. Be a responsible blogger. Blog only facts and have the common sense to not blog about things that won't really help. Jay Jaboneta suggested that perhaps bloggers can write about heroes in their our community. Rule of thumb (methinks), "Love your neighbor."

Content is King, forever

A few days before the summit I was invited to judge for the Philippine Blog Awards - Mindanao. I must say I was amazed with the entries. I had a hard time judging since the blogs were very creative, well-written and well-researched. Most of the content were uniquely Mindanao and written based on the blogger's own experience -- something which made me realize that I should continue to blog with much love and passion for my craft.

Security!

Bobby Soriano scared all of us during his talk about internet security. He flashed on screen hacked accounts of many of the attendees. I was thankful that none of my accounts were shown! He made us understand that it is quite easy to hack accounts when you are using a shared internet network. Using wifi, password protected or not, is not a secure place to access your accounts. So be wary of using open networks especially in malls and coffee shops. His tip: use platforms (i.e. email, blogging platforms) that uses https and not just http. I'm glad that I've been using Google services (Gmail/Blogger.com/Picasa) for my blogging needs. (Maybe I should also just use Orkut full time as a social networking site? Hmmm...). Now I understand why a number of my blogger friends always get hacked.

Some Blogging Tools

Well, I talked about Blogger.com's new templates and other juicy stuff you can use for blogging. You can catch me at the Visayas Bloggers Summit later this month for my Blogging 102 talk.

Thank you to the organizers of the Mindanao Bloggers Summit -- Ryann, Yolynne, Jerome and Blogie! =)

Congratulations! Philippine Blog Awards - Mindanao Winners

BEAUTY AND FASHION: Get Prettified 

FOOD AND BEVERAGE: Kusina Maria

LIFESTYLE: Mindanaoan

PERSONAL: Ganda Ever So Much

PHOTOBLOG: Charmie Tamba P&S Photography

TECHNOLOGY: Alleba Blog and Something Geeky

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