Gone Crazy at I Blog 4 =]

I was actually very excited to start a very meaningful day that day.I know that it will be one challenging day.

I was actually hoping that I'd be able to realize something substancial at the end of the day which can inspire me to think about deeper things around this sphere we're in.So here's my story:

I am actually kinda unsure if I'd really go at the I Blog 4 since all the bloggers I have contacted that day, didn't respond to any of my text messages. But just to make sure, I went to Malcolm, which was a few steps away from my dormitory. I was in a hurry though, since I have a scheduled job orientation at 9 AM. Fortunately, the event has not yet started when I registered and got my kit from the pretty lady who greeted me and welcomed me to the summit. I asked if I could come back since I have an urgent meet up with my future employer. So, the girl told me that, yes, I can come back soon after the orientation's done.

It turns out that I liked the job that I'd be getting, but I sped off fast back to Malcolm to find Mica and Gee Ahne, both were my co-housemates in an online game before. I was really excited as this was the first time that, us three have come together in an event. I, then saw familiar faces such as Fjordz, the La Sallian Vinci Vinch and my schoolmate BA. It was later when I saw Jeric and her sister (Jeric is also a former online game enthusiast) and my online friend Yom of I had the first chance to talk to since the Miss Engineering heat last December.

So, the timing was just right, a thirty minute break welcomed me, afterwhich we've heard about how using pictures and capturing beauty can be both satisfying and reviberating, as discussed in the PhotoBlog session.

The ProBlogger session interested me so much, unfortunately, I was busy chitchatting with Mica and Gee that time that I wasn't able to completely comprehend how these things work, which I would probably regret since I'd really want to start an anonymous blog which can can actually give me an income and extra cash. I heard that the guy who hosted the session was earning around a thousand dollars a month, which his mother doesn't know of, until that very moment.

I learned that there were a lot of UP Diliman bloggers.

After the morning session, comes the lunch break. One good thing about the summit is that there's free food. And mind you, its not just ordinary food. Gee and I got pretty close this time and we strolled at some spots in the campus we've been overlooking for around two years of our stay here.Mica then introduced us to Maki which is an Atenean. She has this really cool camera, which takes a lot of nice pictures. We then chatted about how me and Mica are hooked with PBB and the entertainment industry that we affiliated ourselves once, in the Bodie-Gee supporters. We talked about Hayden Kho and how Bodie was so welcoming everytime we come to visit him in his shows.

After the lunch, the afternoon session started with the pitch, of which I found lots of cool blogs. It is also pretty nice to put faces in the names of these people who I encounter in the bloggosphere. The pitch was a laugh trip and it was very entertaining. Who would not be overjoyed if Chicken Mafia's there!

The session started with Coy and Aileen Apolo talking about Vlogging and Podcasting, which I always wanted to try, but since I'm such a poor fellow, I couldn't even afford to buy a cameraphone.The afternoon session got so serious with all these political stuffs. There were talks about search engine optimization in redefining the term Filipina in the mainstream web. The last part dealt with the role of the bloggers in the upcoming elections. Though its not expected that we will really change history this 2010, it is a stepping stone into achieving a greater end; something that would benefit more people and would make a transparent and close to just government we can institute by 2016.

Its really a privilege to see Manuel Quezon III and Ms. Janette Toral, which are just few of the people who are really into the upliftment of the Blogging awareness in the country. These prominent bloggers have probably been influential to the emergence of the essential roles that bloggers play in the society today.

Also, some Mindanao bloggers visited us. All the way from Davao, were Ria Jose, which I really admire for spontaneity and sense of humor in her speech. She was a breathe of fresh air in the event. Well, we won't really know in what way we can help into uplifting our society and our culture. Likewise, as they did, the Mindanao bloggers success was a success of the Phlippine bloggosphere in shaping a unique identity for each place in the country, but as well as redefying a united identity as Filipinos in the bloggosphere.

I was also happy to see the Mindanao bloggers, more of as chums, than a really formal organization. It just proves that these people enjoy what they're doing as they serve for the upliftment of the Mindanao's name in the world. They have certainly given as the good and the bad points about Mindanao. The side that we wanna see, and the side we always hear in the news.

The Mindanao bloggers has just proven that they can do a lot, actually all of us can do a lot, if we are really determined into making a change we want to see in this world.

In the end, the blogging summit is not just a mere gathering of bloggers nationwide but also an eye-opener for a once careless and lousy blogger like me, that I, can be a catalyst in honing probably not a perfect relity, but a pinch of a better future.

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PS: I also met I.PH bloggers there, like Lizette, and Louis. I also saw Conrad Miguel or Mikko of http://conradmiguel.com there.

Haha. And what Gee, Mica and I were laughing our hearts out at our pictures? Lets just say that a pinch of Wenn Deramas and a bit of DJ Durano tickled our imagination.