The get-together of DigitalFilipino.com Club members and Davao’s IT professionals last 14 May 2008 at Casa Leticia was an eye-opener for many first-timers. There were more than 30 Dabawenyos who attended, most of whom were, before then, uninitiated into this different sort of organization. Janette Toral, initiator and representative of the Club, was delighted to see so many attend the event.

The DigitalFilipino.com Club is a nationwide association of e-commerce practitioners and enthusiasts, IT professionals and companies. It is a business organization, in that its focus is on how to maximize Filipino talent in bringing success to members’ businesses. I have been a member for several years now, and I have directly benefited from my membership. Twice already I have closed business deals with other members, thanks to the networking activities that the Club constantly conducts.

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As avid WordPress bloggers and developers know very well, WordCamp is the event when it comes to this “state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform”. And we are bringing it to the Philippines!

I normally write about blogging stuff over at Blogie Blog, but this post isn’t about blogging. WordCamp, you see, isn’t like the Mindanao Bloggers Summit or the iBlog Summit. WordCamp’s content is usually more technical in nature. As are many open-source software, this powerful CMS is written in PHP, and so this event will cover plenty of ground on this language, as well as XHTML and other similar topics.

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After a long spell of being away from Davao, leading e-commerce advocate Janette Toral will be back in town for a long-awaited “eyeball” of DigitalFilipino Club members. In particular, the upcoming event will be the Davao E-Commerce and E-Business Owners Meet-Up, on 14 May 2008 (Wednesday).

Here’s the official press release:

The DigitalFilipino.com Club is organizing a networking event where e-business and e-commerce industry players can catch up and exchange updates in the industry. •••Read on»

This 20 & 21 May 2008, a significant event geared towards the Filipino technopreneur is going to happen in Makati City — how I wish it were here in Davao instead! Janette Toral’s DigitalFilipino.com Club, collaborating with Fiera de Manila Inc, is spearheading the conduct of the much-anticipated Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philipines 2008.

Heavily involved in community-building myself (e.g., MindanaoBloggers.com and the erstwhile IT Society of Davao), I believe I would benefit greatly from the meaty presentations and vigorous discussions that will certainly take place during the Conference.

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The TechnoKapihan session for this month is a no-go. According to ICT Davao Inc.’s Bert Barriga, this monthly powwow will instead be held on the 2nd of April 2008, from 2 to 4 PM. No venue set yet. Whether we’ll have another TechnoKapihan for April, or this rescheduled session will be it, we don’t know yet.

Just to refresh your minds, the TechnoKapihan sa Davao is an informal get-together of IT industry players, supporters and guests. It’s where we can sit down and discuss issues and plans that affect our industry, but in a relaxed setting. For each time, the organizers — ICT Davao and the Davao Chamber — aim to create an atmosphere of openness so that people will be more inclined to share their thoughts. •••Read on»

After the 6th Mindanao ICT Congress — and the other IT-related events in Davao City last October — the TechnoKapihan monthly forum is back on track. Here’s a near facsimile of the official announcement.

invites you to

TECHNOKAPIHAN SA DAVAO


               

Broaden your network among Information & Communications Technology players. Meet and match with the right people in the industry. Find out what’s next after the recently-concluded 6th Mindanao ICT Congress last 23-24 October 2007. Or simply share something you think we ought to know.

Be there! Mark that date! You don’t want to miss it!

2:00 PM, 28 November 2007
SM City - Davao

For inquiries contact Angel at telefax: (82)221-7552 or email: aabella@davaochamber.com
Credits

Next week will be brimming with high-octane activities, all in Davao City. The 6th Mindanao ICT Congress kicks off tomorrow; the 1st BIMP-EAGA ICT Conference will also form part of the MICT Congress; not to mention, the Senior Officials & Ministerial Meeting of the BIMP-EAGA member-nations.

The Internet Café Association of Davao will also hold an event, and there will also be the annual Davao Trade Expo (DATE). And of course, the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit on the 27th. That’s what’s been keeping me preoccupied for the past couple of months. Blogging isn’t necessarily an ICT thing, although of course the technical stuff behind blogs is pure information technology. But I digress. •••Read on»

Cubepixels Design Studio’s Ray Rubio has done it again! Last year’s Corel-centric event for graphics designers in Davao is now followed-through by this year’s CorelWORLD in Davao 2007. In cooperation with Canadian software giant, Corel, and WordText Systems Inc. (WSI), Cubepixels has organized another successful event for the benefit of Davao’s graphics designers and animators.

From 5 to 6 October 2007 at the NCCC Mall, CorelWORLD featured poster and logo design contests; technical seminars on the latest in graphics design; and talks by Rubio, Corel’s Ram Kumar (Regional Manager, South East Asia and India), the city government c/o Vice-Mayor Sara Duterte and Maikee Aportadera, WordText’s Jane Orejola, and yours truly. •••Read on»

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. •••Read on»

The 6th Mindanao ICT Congress, which will be held on 23 & 24 October 2007, was formally launched yesterday in simple ceremonies. This year’s host, the Davao City Chamber of Commerce & Industry, is teamed up with the city’s umbrella oranization of I.T. associations, ICT Davao Inc. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that the MICT is being spearheaded (at least in part) by the actual stakeholders of the I.T. industry.

The MICT Congress franchise is owned by the Mindanao Business Council (MBC), and it awards the privilege to host the event to a member Chamber each year. The Davao Chamber hosted the first 2 congresses, and once more this year.

What’s unique again in MICT’07 is the holding of the BIMP-Eaga ICT Conference for the very first time. The MBC, through the auspices of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco), was able to convince our opposite numbers in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia to join forces with us this year to help us give deeper meaning to the MICT’s theme: “ICT Beyond Borders“.

The entities directly involved in the MICT are the following: MBC, the Davao Chamber, ICT Davao Inc, Medco, and the BIMP-Eaga Business Council. The Department of Trade & Industry - Region 11 and the city government of Davao are also lending their support towards a successful 6th MICT Congress. •••Read on»