The End
I can’t believe that this is actually my final blog so I’ll keep this short. My last first semester went by pretty fast and I don’t know whether to be happy or sad. It’s that feeling that you know you’re tired of school and being stressed but enjoying your time as a student. Its tough and I actually have the best of both worlds since I’m already working although I don’t really feel like what I do know (nature of my job) is work since I’m having loads of fun not to mention my work hours. This is why I cannot picture myself at an office for 8 hours a day, 5-6 days a week. UGH. It’s kind of like how people when they’re young want to grow up faster but then wish they were younger once they hit their twenties (I can attest to this). In the same way, I am sort of relieved that school is almost done despite the fact that the finish line seems so near yet so far.
I really can’t talk about what took place last Saturday (October 17) since I was absent because I was still suffering the repercussions of my ulcers (my stupid diet and fault) and fever but I was able to help my group mates and I heard that our podcast was a hoot. It was too bad though that I never got to hear the finished product. We had fun recording it as well.
I won’t pretend that this blog entry is late so I will also talk about our final project which was to create a communication plan for the organization that was assigned to us – the PGH Medical Foundation, Inc. (PGHMFI). It took us a good 1 night only overnight last Friday to Saturday and constant meetings before that to make everything come together. We slept over at Jess’ house and although we weren’t complete, we were able to work pretty well and we split up the work afterwards. Our group was pretty efficient considering that other groups slept over for 2 days or more. These are moments when we’re just glad to have the Internet so that file sharing and print screens make everything possible.
We have a couple of photos of our little sleepover but Jess has them. It was sort of a bummer that school extended especially since my BIRTHDAY was on the day of our presentation (thanks Sir haha) and Kc also had her birthday last October 23 so we both bought ice cream (although I paid for most of it. Heehee).
Also, there was a bit of a chicken pox scare because Sam had the chicken pox after the OrCom Silver and I have NEVER had the pox which was I bought a mask when she slept over although I eventually took it off but Sam would constantly tease me about wanting to hug me or sneeze. Thankfully, I am fine and got better from my ulcers.
And since I am writing this after our presentation, it went pretty well and I’m just glad that Sir Barry, Dr. Alvior, and Madam Inton who were the panelists, appreciated our effort and ideas. Plus, I was exceptionally glad that despite my fast forward mode of presenting the changes we wanted to implement on the website, Sir Barry was smiling the entire time I was explaining everything. I even heard stories from Vianne after. Haha.
Thanks for choosing my birthday to be the presentation day. Haha. I’m kidding but its all good. Everything went fine anyway. 😀 Overall, we did pretty well and we didn’t get that many negative comments which is good enough for us. Yippee!
This class was pretty cool. We learned more about new social media and it seemed like the semester went by really quick. What a way to end a blog and an entire semester. Haha. 😛 Thanks for everything Sir Barry! 😀
The Bittersweet Internet
Since I didn’t update my blogs as often as I should, I will add one more entry to not really make up for it but because I have a couple more stories that I want to share.
Everyone has a social networking site. My entire family has one and unlike others (again, no one in particular) I don’t dread having them as my contacts since I don’t post anything that they don’t already know. My mom was actually able to reconnect with her former classmates, distant relatives, and friends who are all over the country.
Even I was able to find my friends from elementary school and this made me really happy since I lived in three different countries during my first 10 years of life. I thought of looking for my classmates on Facebook and I actually created a MySpace account since that’s used by kids in the US. I actually found my best friend back in the 2nd grade at the Jakarta International School and I was absolutely positive that she wouldn’t remember me but she did which made me extremely happy. Her mom’s Indonesian and her dad’s German and now she’s going to a university in Bath, UK and she still looks the same way she was back then but even prettier. I also scanned our class picture and she tagged some of my other classmates. I was also able to find my friends and classmates in the 4th and 5th grade at Sta. Barbara School in Guam. Amazing.
My 2nd Grade Class Picture at the Jakarta International School ('96-'97)
This why the “Sweet” part of the Internet – interconnectivity and reuniting with old friends is possible.
The “Bitter” part comes in thanks to my little sister but I won’t put all the blame on her because I am guilty of doing the exact same thing. I’m talking about being distracted. Instead of focusing on what you have to do for school, you just have to check your Facebook or Twitter before doing anything and eventually spend hours chatting, looking at photos, or updating statuses. UGH. My mom has officially grounded my sister from using these sites along with the YM since she needs to focus more on school. Although I tend to do the same, back when I was high school or grade school, the Internet wasn’t as accessible or as popular and I think that was a good thing since I focused more on getting things done as compared to my being distracted now. 😛
Silver Screen: The OrCom Silver Anniversary
On Stage Action and Laughs
Tribute to Dr. Sarile and Prof.Vacquer
- The OrComSilver Hosts: Earl Guico and I
Me, Vianne, and Ayessa: Lining up for Dinner
On the Floor Action and Interacting with the Audience
Finally, after being pushed back twice, the OrCom Silver finally happened on October 10, 2009 which I think is both a blessing and curse at the same time.
Let’s deal with the how it was a curse first since there was more good than bad during the event. Since it was postponed more than it should have been, not many of the committed OrCom alumni and professors (ehem haha) were able to make it on the night itself for reasons like having to work (even if that was a Saturday night) which left us with less attendees.
But a blessing in the long run since the event was pretty much a success and things ran a pretty smooth course. Despite the fact that this blog should have been due around 2 weeks ago (shame – I know), I can still vividly remember the event like it was just last night and I can definitely say that I am glad I was able to be a part of what might be something that happens as often as eclipse.
I initially helped out with the Marketing and Publicity of the event despite the fact that I was never really a bonafide member of OrComSoc. I was able to provide the event’s media partners for the night which were ETC and a more obvious radio partner – Mellow 94.7. Of course, I just gave my contacts to Nash while she did the rest and I did the following up and thanking. That made me decide to join the org along with the fact I needed to since Sir Burn made it sort of like our class project. 🙂
Then much to my surprise (and I mean this), I was chosen as host. I actually had no idea that they were serious about me being host because whenever my friends and batchmates would remind me about it, I always thought they were just messing with me and before I could even hesitate, I was on the OrComSilver Facebook page and poster. Haha. Talk about being held at gunpoint but I was more than willing to do something for the event even if it was pro-bono and I had to go out of my way to switch radio scheds twice and even board or work on weekdays to make up for my absence on a saturday (my show is 2-5pm which is cutting it close if I went to work) – worth it. Haha. 😛
I was initially paired up with someone else but when I found out that my new partner was going to be Earl Guico, I was initially edgy about it since I did sort of know him when I was a sophomore and he was a senior, but it turned out SO much better than expected.
I must confess that I was really nervous about hosting the OrComSilver as compared to the numerous events I’ve hosted in the past. I mean, I’ve hosted weddings, debuts, pageants, movie premieres, school events, and even rock concerts like the UP Fair which makes rowdy an understatement, but for some weird reason, I was exceptionally jumpy for this one. I guess it was the pressure of hosting in front of people I know because I don’t feel as anxious when I’m in front of an audience I don’t know. It’s kind of like when I get “bulol” or tongue-tied on the air because I know someone I know is tuned in.
This was one event I also intensely prepared and spent for. Usually when I host events I sort of don on a nice top, pair of jeans, and heels, but for the OrComSilver, extra effort had to be made. For instance, when I hosted an event for San Beda last September, I came straight for school, went to the station, went to the event, changed into an outfit, and put on makeup. The OrComSilver had me curl my hair and wear false eyelashes, shiny bling, and a long gown and if that wasn’t preparation enough, I don’t know what is.
Everything turned out pretty well and I was able to bring my yaya with me to serve as my PA and I was glad Madam and Sir Burn allowed me to. Haha. She took pictures for me but I was able to grab from everyone else anyway. I kind of felt bad though that I wasn’t really able to mingle with everyone before the event since as host, Earl and I should only appear when the event starts that way there’s an element of surprise.
Overall, the event was a success and will be something that I’m sure, most of my batchmates will consider memorable especially since we all played a role in making it happen. 🙂
A Week of No School…
…means a whole lot of Internet, well for most people anyway. With the aftermath of Ondoy, classes were suspended for a whole week which left most kids (who weren’t seriously affected by the typhoon) with absolutely nothing to do.
This is the blog entry for October 03, 2009 when the OrCom Silver was moved to but was postponed yet again because of another pending typhoon.
The transition from September to October wasn’t so smooth because of the typhoons that struck the country. A lot of events were postponed and even the classes were put on hold since recovery from the storms took some time. And because classes were suspended, kids were all stuck at home left with nothing to do but surf the Net. On almost a daily basis, a number of my contacts on the numerous social networking sites were online all day taking quizzes on Facebook or talking to each other over Twitter. It’s incredible how people cannot even last a day without poking into other people’s business. Admit it, when you go online, you just have to check out these sites even without updating anything. Its madness I tell you, and even celebrities are hooked. During the suspension of classes, people were itching to go to school out of boredom. I also know of some people who chat over Twitter even when they’re tables away at a café (and I won’t be pointing any fingers).
Television, cable, and cinemas are at risk of losing their spunk because everything is at your fingertips. You want the latest episode of your favorite show or the brand new single from your favorite artist? Try the word download.
So the next time you find yourself bored, remember that the Internet exists and that if you get sick and tired of your regular Internet habits, you can always try something new. But you’ll have to come up with a whole other game plan when it comes to power or blackouts.
One Hell of A Crazy Storm
First of all, can I just say that I cannot believe I have not written a blog for a month? That is soooo not me, but I am now attempting to redeem myself by creating concise and hopefully, meaningful blogs to make up for the lost time.
This blog is for the week of September 26, 2009 – original date of the OrCom Silver Anniversary.
We didn’t have class that day because there was supposed to be a morning and afternoon conference. I excused myself from the conference since I had to switch timeslots at work to give way to hosting the OrCom Silver that night. It was already raining when I was at work from 6-9am and boy, was I glad that I switched because no one was able to come to work after that. People who did attend the conference at school either had to face the waist deep or sleepover at school. I was home with my mom, sister, yaya, and aunt who slept over because she couldn’t go home. (Don’t worry I’ll be getting to my point soon.) And the reason I found out about everything was via the Internet.
People weren’t texting that they were stuck at school – they were tweeting and updating their statuses on Facebook. It was also through these sites that people sent out messages to encourage others to help out and donate during the aftermath of the storm.
Just goes to show how amazing technology can be. Some people no longer text to inform but instead update their social networking sites before anything else. I know some people who are able to access the Internet on their mobile phones and tweet about being lost or stuck in traffic. The same phenomenon is taking place even on the other side of the world. Ashton Kutcher had a scare with the private jet that he and Demi Moore owned and instead of calling 911, he tweeted about it. Twitter was the same reflex Perez Hilton had after a supposed violent incident with Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.
People actually want the whole world to know before calling 911. So the next time you’re in a mess or a bad situation, don’t forget to tweet about it. 🙂
Change
I think this one word explains it all. Everything has undergone change or better yet, a revolution and hopefully, it’s for the better. 🙂
We were fortunate to have a speaker that day (although I had no clue despite the email that was sent out and come to think of it, I don’t think I ever receive any of the class emails. Haha) and there’s a funny story that comes along with this. Sir Barry assigned Jess and I to sort of usher our guests and wait for them at the gates (this was probably because we were sort of wearing matching outfits that day. Haha. Colored tank tops, jeans, doll shoes, and a black cover up – to preserve our Maria Clara image. Haha). We were told that the plate number ended with the numbers 444 so we figured that they’d park in the CAS parking lot. After waiting for over half an hour, we were called back only to find out that the speaker was already there. Haha. How embarrassing, but I convinced myself that he probably was dropped off at the small gate which is why we missed him in the first place.
Today was also the day we had to pass our SMR and I did mine on the Gerry’s Grill branch in Ortigas. It was really convenient for me since I live really close to Emerald Ave. where Strata 2000 is located. This was actually Jess’ contact from last year’s PR group project (I wasn’t a part of it since I skipped PR last semester for my radio job, but will eventually take it next semester) but it was a good thing that they had a new manager which it makes it sort of different from what they might have did last year.
I also contacted my boss, the owner of the radio station I work for, because aside from owning Mellow (FBS Radio Network), he also owns all the Chili’s and Texas Roadhouse branches and I was aiming for Texas Roadhouse in El Pueblo since that’s still in Ortigas and super near my place of residence. Unfortunately, he didn’t wasn’t me to do an SMR on Texas Roadhouse for reasons he couldn’t disclose but he did endorse me to Chili’s which was either in Greenbelt or Greenhills, so decided at the last minute to do Gerry’s Grill instead. 🙂
Back to our speaker, he was quite the interesting fellow and had a lot of really good credentials. Mr. Paolo Pangan works for Yehey Corporation and he gave an awesome talk on what or how the Internet has truly revolutionized almost every aspect of our lives. He started off with a video called “Shift Happens” which gave interesting facts on the Internet which was followed by a powerpoint. It pointed out that via the Internet, anyone can be a publicist, an entrepreneur, a broadcaster, and even a DJ (everyone cracked up at that, but we all know that mixing songs is possible via Internet programs).
A new breed of “prosumers” has been created where consumers can also be producers and vice versa. WEB 2.0 was a world where people were formerly known as merely the audience, but now, the Net has empowered the users to be able to do more and be heard louder – empowerment.
The shift and changes that have and need to be done are from being active to passive, macro to micro, fixed to portable, static to live, messages to interaction, and many more.
According to statistics, over 28 million Filipinos who are online, which means there is 33% Internet penetration. And it’s no surprise that 83% of Filipinos that are online make use of social networking sites while 98.6% watch YouTube. Lastly, the top sites in the Philippines a couple of years back were:
- Yahoo!
- Friendster
- YouTube
The final message of the entire talk was pretty striking which perfectly describes how we should act not only on the Internet, but in all things was “Don’t Shout. Listen.”
It was a pretty awesome day and I definitely learned a lot which reaffirms many people’s belief that somehow we can no longer live without the existence of the Net since everything we do is possible when we’re online. 🙂
This is How We Roll
This Saturday’s class (Sept. 12) was all about looking back on traditional PR practices (which are still used by most PR firms) and innovating PR by means of the Internet which is practical because it connects people no matter where they may be in the world. But before that, the respective groups in class had to report on how effectively they promoted their viral videos. Everyone made use of their respective social-networking sites and all other possible means including sending group text and instant messages over the YM just to make sure people would find out about it and check it out. I am even guilty of taking advantage of my job by promoting it on my radio show, but that’s part of the perks of having my own show and set of loyal listeners. 😛
I’ve posted videos in the past on my public Facebook account and they’re pretty viral. Haha. They were probably even more viral than the video my group made and it’s probably because it makes me look pretty stupid. My latest is a 23-second video that I made for kicks at one of my Sunday radio shows. I played one of my favorite 80s tracks from Michael Jackson (Rock with You) and I started dancing and even attempted a moonwalk. I got a bunch of comments which has actually motivated me to shoot more. Haha. 😛 I already posted that embarrassing video on my public account and even got comments there too. 😛 Going to back to the groups’ videos, most of us got a good deal of views but for some they weren’t really able to achieve what they initially had as a goal in making the video.
After that took up three-fourths of the class period, we had quite an intense discussion on PR and how it has revolutionized thanks to the Internet. We also pointed out the differences between online marketing and online PR especially since they are often thought of being overlapping or similar subject matters, when in fact they aren’t.
With that discussion, we were assigned to create our very own Social Media Release on a store or establishment of our choice that’s due at our next meeting. 🙂
What has the World Become?
Yeah, don’t be fooled by the title. This entry is still very much related to New Social Media and the Internet but I have a very good and substantial explanation as to why I gave my blog this title. Today at class, we delved into the world of Wikis and Podcasts and learned the nitty-gritty of each tool.
When I first encountered Wikipedia back in high school, during the process of research on certain subject matters, I always thought that it was kind of peculiar – a website that could easily be edited by just anybody at the click of a button. It’s no wonder why most teachers and other professionals in the academe, FORBID their students to use wikis as their source of information. However, most of the stuff we find on Wikipedia pretty much conforms to the research we get on other more reliable sources but the only danger again here is that it is easily editable which may make some information inaccurate.
During class, I realized that there were a lot of sites that host wikis and that wikis serve as useful in a lot of industries especially in business. I just might actually use wikis in the near future when doing certain projects. 🙂
Podcasts on the other hand are a pretty cool invention. Most people mistaken me for being more drawn towards sound because of my current occupation, but it actually depends. Podcasts in the business industry are mostly done in the form of interviews or tips which may bore someone who isn’t interested in the subject matter, so selective listening is important. Satellite radio is very much similar to podcast radio shows except that with podcasts, you can take your favorite radio show anywhere you go and listen to it at any time of the day. That might be something I wanna try in the near future. 🙂
Overall, both podcasts and wikis are both awesome Internet-based tools that can be created and moderated by anybody who has Net access and a microphone and/or webcam (for podcasts). This leads us back to my blog’s title which is “What has the world become?” A question asked my many who have yet to embrace the wonders of technology and the Internet. Who knows that in the not-so-distant future, we just might find ourselves in a world where encyclopedias and the mainstream forms of media eventually become obsolete and maybe all we have left is the Internet. 🙂
Remind Me Again, Why Do We Blog?
Here is yet another late blog post but I strongly hold on to and believe in the saying, “Better late than never,” so here goes nothing :).
Last Saturday (and I’m referring to August 29, just in case you got lost in all the “last Saturdays” I put on my blogs) we tackled the concept of Micro and Corporate Blogging as well as the status of Blogging not only in the Philippines but also on a global scale.
It’s funny how I have never ever come across a corporate blog or if ever I did, I probably didn’t recognize it as a corporate blog and it’s actually no surprise since the percentage of professional blogs are relatively quite low. Blogs are used by people mostly as online diaries or journals which focus on the personal aspect of their lives rather than talk about specific topics like business.
I used to be a blogger myself but never wrote blogs on a regular basis. I used to post blogs on my now-outdated Multiply site and they would usually be products of really strong surges of emotion and angst against a certain situation or person plus, it was something I did when I was bored at my former workplace where I would tutor Koreans online part-time. Actually, come to think of it, I finally remember why I said goodbye to blogs in the first place. It was around a year ago when I vowed never ever to blog again, but I guess Sir Barry changed that. Haha. I don’t really want to go into the gory details of why I decided to stop blogging but to sum it up in a few words or phrases, I sort of blind-itemed a “friend” of mine and called him an asshole. Haha. Wow, right? Nice Job Alex. But he was and still is that exact adjective, although I did apologize sincerely and deleted the blog. Turns out, my descriptions were pretty obvious to other people who read it and they told him about it.
If you’ve ever come across my blogs, they are usually super lengthy and I don’t even try to cut or break them up into paragraphs because that’s sort of my little strategy to turn people off from reading them. My classmates and friends from UP Manila are the only ones who even try to read them and comment. I guess that’s the problem I see in blogs, it’s too public. This may be a good thing for people who want the stuff they write about to be read but if your intention is to write your deepest darkest secrets, I say stick to the conventional padlocked, handwritten diary or journal you used to keep as a child. At least you know your secrets are safe. 🙂 This also reminds me of a time when I posted a metaphorical blog which I was hoping no one would get or understand but two people did. I obviously deleted that blog too, but I should have already learned from that incident. Tsktsk. Alex plus her random thoughts spells trouble. I’m just glad that this blog can keep me on the safe side of things or at least I think so. 🙂
Embracing Technology and New Social Media
This week’s meeting was all about one of our group projects, which was to track down and look into organizations that make active and consistent use of new social media in any manner that is beneficial to the corporation or at least that’s how I understood it and that’s how it was supposed to be. Due to the increment weather and horrible flood, not many people were able to make it to class that Saturday while the others were forgivably late.
I will attempt to make this a much shorter blog as compared to all the others that way it won’t be such a hard read and this will only be possible if I talk about our group’s report and simply discuss the others as concisely as possible.
Our group was able to get 3 organizations namely, Mellow 94.7 (yippee), ABS-CBN (one of their umbrella projects) and Aboitiz (also one of their umbrella projects). Although we did this at the last minute which was the day before, it turned out pretty well.
Mellow 94.7 was a primary choice because we do use new social media all the time to interact and update our listeners and my fellow DJs are always more than willing to help me out. Dianne aka Chloe is the person that frequently posts stuff on our Multiply so she was the best person to talk to. From our Mellow website to the Mellow Interactive website down to the almost phased-out Yahoo Messenger and Friendster, to our active Multiply account, and individual public Twitter and Facebook pages, all these channels are made available and are of easy access to listeners who want to get to know and interact with their favorite jocks. Plus, the pages are updated by the DJs themselves giving it a more personal touch that makes the fans actually feel like they are connected to their choice jocks.
ABS-CBN has always been known for embracing new social media by having various interactive sites for their TV shows, movies, news and public affairs programs, and other special ad-hoc segments like the one we chose to cover which focused on the upcoming presidential elections. Aboitiz, whose main industry revolves around shipment, has a number of special services and we focused on 2Go.
Overall, I thought our presentation was pretty good and the comments made were mostly positive. As for the other groups, some of the organizations they got either had a vague use of new social media or made use of new social media as merely a secondary avenue for whatever purpose it served and not necessarily as a primary venue or channel, thus making it an unsuccessful venture generating a number of questions and negative comments from out panelist.
Let’s hope that more organizations, whether big or small, welcome with open arms, the use of new social media not only to keep up with the trend but to also be recognized on the global map.
Alex and the twisted world of OrCom 