During the launch of the 6th MICT Congress last 25 July, Commission on ICT Acting Commissioner Mon Ibrahim presented some challenges to Mindanao’s economic development. One of which is the challenge of improving Mindanao’s negative image. Ibrahim said that overcoming this obstacle will result in better opportunities for Mindanao’s I.T. industry to flourish.

Well, one very effective way to address this need is to have more and more people writing about Mindanao. The best medium for this is the Internet. And the best tool the blog.

The Mindanao Bloggers Summit, which will be held during the MICT Congress this October, has a very apt theme: “Spotlight Mindanao: Blogging for Culture, Identity and Understanding“. The fundamental idea behind the Summit is to promote the use of blogs as a powerful tool for bringing out to the world the true image of Mindanao. Also, the Summit aims to foster understanding among the various peoples and cultures in Mindanao.

In order to publicize the Summit, the organizers are conducting a writing contest called “You Got Blogged! DigitalFilipino.com / MindanaoBloggers.com Review-a-Blog Competition“. In this online competition, bloggers will review a Mindanao blog and get a chance to win cash prizes. Anybody in the world may join, as long as he or she has his or her own blog, because the review will have to be posted there.

Mindanao blogs that can be reviewed by contest participants are found in the Mindanao Blog Directory. This directory is organized by Region, and then by Province, under which are listed all the cities and towns belonging to it. There is also a special category called “Mindanao Lovers”, which is for the blogs of non-Mindanaoans.

The whole point of this blog contest is to encourage blog readers around the world to take a look at Mindanao blogs. The desired effect of which is to have people reading about what Mindanao is all about. There are Mindanao blogs that talk about travel, politics, community, religion, gossip, entertainment, sports, and so much more. All written by people living in Mindanao.

Blogs have been termed “balancers” of news. While news can be often cold and devoid of cultural nuances, blogs, on the other hand, are often personal and contain the thoughts and opinion of their writers. Blogs are more like a column, but are more interactive because blog readers are able to leave comments.

The organizers of the You Got Blogged! competition expect to generate around 100 participants. You can just imagine how much publicity that will afford the Mindanao Bloggers Summit, as well as the island itself. We would like to thank our co-presentor, the DigitalFilipino.com Club, for generously sponsoring this endeavor.

The 1st place winner — the blog review that will be judged the best — will win $150, plus other prizes. There will also be prizes for 2nd place ($100), and 3rd place ($50). The three blogs that were reviewed by the winners will also receive prizes. Awarding will be done during the Bloggers Party, which will come on the same day after the Mindanao Bloggers Summit.

Official start of the You Got Blogged! competition is tomorrow! To join, start by reading the guidelines.