My First Blogapalooza Experience (Part 2 – Bloggers And Speakers) #Blogapalooza2016

Blogapalooza is not just a simple B2B convention that allows bloggers to collaborate with businesses and brands. It also served as a platform  for bloggers to learn more about blogging and how they can step it up to an all new level through the lessons and tips they can learn from the event speakers.

I am really grateful that my first Blogapalooza experience was a real fruitful journey. Not just because I went home with many loots and freebies but because I went home with so many great ideas that I am soon planning to apply for my sites to improve them in all aspects including how to monetize my site effectively and how to my blog more visible online with the help of social media platforms.  All the invited speakers (who were all successful in their field) have inputted so much insights and I just hope my brain is good enough to absorb them all haha.
I’m not sure if we were late or we just made it on time but the first invited speaker that we saw gracing the stage was Ms Sky Gavin (Mary Rose Gavin) of When in Manila. Who are not familiar with When in Manila? They got over 2 million followers on Facebook and over 200 thousand followers on Instagram and this community is continuously growing. Ms Gavin, however, was not there to boast these overwhelming figures but to share with us their humble beginnings. She provided some effective tips on how to promote your site or brands online and how to become an effective social media influencer.
Aside from the speakers, the event also provide enough time for the sponsors to hit the stage and promote either their product or services. This guy in red is Mark Vernon or should I call him the Mystery guy of TagWild. A flyer was given to us even before we arrived at the venue. It features a set of instructions which encouraged us to download their new app, the TagWild (a game app that aims to connect real world and virtual world which features a large scope of things you can do). The app allows you to scan Qr codes which are randomly scattered in the event. The approach is actually identical to PokemonGo but in a Marketing Style way. If you are lucky enough to spot this guy who is considered a “beacon” in the app, you might be able to capture him and earn 500Php in an instant!After another round of exploring booths outside, we went back to the conference hall and we were greeted by the inspiring talk from Ms Jhet Van Ruyven who taught us that in life, nothing is really impossible, that we can turn all our dreams come true no matter how impossible or how unattainable they may seem. She shared us her humble beginning and some of her extra ordinary experience that convinced us that by inputting faith and hope and trust, you can go beyond your limits and you can do things that are way beyond your expectations and imagination. She was also there to promote her inspiring book “The Tale of Juliet” which follows a real story of a poor kid, her struggles and how she managed to turn her dream into a reality.After being uplifted, we were introduced to a group called “The 4th Players Improv“. They are comedy group who gave us all a great laugh. I actually don’t know if I can consider them as stand-up comedians but the way they perform comedy is a very new and interesting approach. They were like playing games yet performing comedy acts at the same time and most of all, everything are done impromtu including their jokes. They follow a format but it is up to the comedian on what lines he want to throw to make the audience laugh! It is indeed very entertaining.Ms Ace Gapuz graced the center stage to introduce us one of the event’s highlights. We actually thought that it is the “Big Reveal” that they have been teasing but it’s not. It was a panel discussion  but something really special because the panelists were group of bloggers from different blogging community outside Manila. They traveled all the way here to Manila just to share us their knowledge about blogging and how they were able to build such strong blogging community in their respective regions.Ms Ace Gapuz and the panelists Ms Ruby Caberte (Cagayan De Oro Blogger Community), Vanj Padilla (representing North Luzon blogger society), Sinjin Pineda of Cebu Blogging Community and Ms Ria Jose of Davao Blogger Society.  It is actually a very interesting discussion as I have admired those blogging community outside Manila. The discussion has become an educational session where the panelists shared their wonderful insights about blogging to the audience and I personally learned a lot.Ms Ria Jose of Davao Bloggers Community. The discussion basically started by giving each of the panelist to share their humble beginnings. They gave us the idea on how such strong and influential blogging community started and what are the things they did not just to keep it strong but also how to make the community grow.Mr Sinjin Pineda of Cebu Blogging Society. Another interesting topic that is being emphasized during the panel discussion is the way bloggers monetized or commercialized their blog and how the method differs from those who have been blogging for 10 years and for the newbies. For someone like me who has been into blogging for almost a decade, I can really relate with those older methods of monetizing your blog. I am not good with Adsense but I started earning from my blogs through various sponsored posts from different paid blogging companies.Ms Vanj Padilla of Pangasinan Bloggers representing the North Luzon Bloggin community.  Another topic that was discussed is how do Bloggers outside manila cater events and entertain businesses and brands. They gave us the idea how these kind of events work for them and how they benefit from them in return. They also tackle the kind of negotiation they do with other businesses who wished to promote their products or services.Ms Ruby Caberte of CDO Blogging Community. The panelists also tackled how they get their members and how the members are being screened and how this system changed through the years. They also shared their own advises for those bloggers who seemingly have misleading goals in blogging. Although blogging has been an effective tool to earn money, some bloggers are focusing on that idea that they can monetize their blogs by merely commercializing all the contents without giving any depth or value to what they post.The Blogging Communities from North Luzon, Manila, Cebu, CDO and Davao all in one epic gathering! After the discussion, we were all asked to proceed to the venue outside the hall for that highly anticipated “Big Reveal” but I am going to put them all in a separate entry.

I also had a chance to meet other bloggers. Although I am familiar with them, I didn’t get enough courage to approach them though. I saw Azrael of Azrael Merryland, the two cute couple of Yogo And Cream , Diane Cheng, Joy Priginal of Joyrney To Life , Cai Dominguez of Travelyoso and more!A photo opp with Mr Jojo Vito of The Happy Trip and Top Of My List. I didn’t know it was him actually until I started to recognized him while browsing my photos haha. He seems like a funny guy!Photo Credit to Mr Leo Mendiola

With Angela Mae of Love, Teacher Angel, Christian Melanie of Eccentricyethappy, Dems Angeles of DangMusings, Ms Ace Gapuz, Mr Leo Kevin Mendiola of OhohLeo, and AxlGuinto of Axl PowerHouse
With Ms Nicole Paler of Chic Mix
Photo Credit to Ms Ruby Caberte
It was really a pleasure meeting Ms Ruby Caberte (PinayMommyOnline). We actually have the same circle of friends online and we started almost the same year in Blogging and it so nice to finally meet her in person! (Now I am looking forward meeting Ate Belle, Norma Mante and Gagay Dinampo too hehe)The StarPH Team (Tony Yson of InfoManila, Me, Axl Guinto of StarPowerHouse and Jorge Mitchel)

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