Prudence and Madness

Charo Nuguid speaking on “How To Blog” during iBlog4

I was excited attending iBlog4 as it will be my first Blogging summit. I was supposed to attend iBlog3 and the iBlog mini last November, however, my back was my enemy then. If it weren’t for the acute lumbar pain that I had that made me stay in bed for some days, iBlog4 would have been the 3rd Blogging summit that I have attended. But since the iBlog series is friendly both to the newbie and the veterans, it doesn’t really matter whether you’ve been present in all iBlogs or not.

One of the things that made the iBlog4 memorable was the “adventure” I had going to U.P. Diliman. I really don’t know how to public commute going to U.P., so it posed a challenge. As I was riding an FX along NLEX, the rear wheel of a medium-sized truck running beside the FX burst and the impact shook the FX a little. I even felt it beneath the FX that I thought it was our wheel that burst. It was a little scary at first, thinking that either we slide out of the lane and crash into other vehicles or if the driver step on the brakes, turn over and again, crash. Thankfully, nothing happened and we just rode smoothly over the NLEX. It’s unfortunate, though, for the truck and the other vehicles because the truck got stuck in the middle of the NLEX, which could very well cause heavy traffic.

When I got to Quezon Avenue, I’ve to look at the signboards of the jeepneys passing through. I don’t even know which side of the road to wait for. But I just followed gut feelings and thankfully, I got into the right jeepney, whose driver kindly pointed me to the right building.

I was one of the early birds so I’ve to watch as people started pouring in, as the 9 o’clock mark neared. I think most of the people I know came in late so I just seated myself in the middle row, where there are less people seated. I wasn’t really feeling social back then.

iBlog4 has a list of interesting topics lined up. I’ll list down my thoughts for each:

How To Blog (From a non-problogger’s point of view)

Charo Nuguid talked no nonsense about the nature of blogging and what one could blog about, which can be practically about anything. It’s in simple enough language because one need not drown in the complex world of SEO just to be able to understand what blogging is. One of the reasons why I wanted my close friends to come with me to iBlog4 is to have them listen to this talk. I guess it can be considered as an introduction to blogging for newbies or for those who haven’t started to blog yet. Unfortunately, those close friends of mine weren’t able to make it. Maybe I’ll be able to bring them with me on iBlog5.

Blogging Lessons Learned

At first, I felt quite apprehensive that Brian Gorrell should speak in iBlog4. It maybe perhaps because of the controversial nature of the issue he’s entangled with. But I’ve to admit that he made some fine points about the lessons he learned about blogging, considering that he had only started his blog months ago. He spoke of having to make some balance between online and offline life, with emphasis on taking care of one’s emotional and personal health. I agree that, as bloggers, we must keep fighting to maintain the freedom we have by continuing to produce quality content, but I must disagree with how he must have defined freedom of speech, considering the libelous nature of his blog. But, overall, with him sitting down near his creek and being bitten by mosquitos, I think he could really be a great guy. It would have been great if we were able to do a videoconference with him, but, unfortunately, there had been some technical difficulties that made it not possible to do so. Maybe next time. Or if he comes back to the Philippines and meet some bloggers. Who knows?

From Student blogger to Problogger

Karlo of Pinoyblogero.com talked about how he had chosen to take the path of problogging after college. I didn’t think he elaborated enough on specific ways how a student blogger could go problogging. But I found it entertaining that somebody from the audience fearlessly asked him how much he earns from problogging. Unfortunately, though, his parents were there, too. So, bye, bye allowance! Hehe. Lesson learned: Never disclose financial information whenever parents are around. LOL.

Photoblogging

I think everybody’s drooling as Juned pulled out his cameras one by one out of his pockets. He practically loves his craft. I love the photos he used in his presentation and it actually inspired me to continue photoblogging. Even if I don’t have those professional cameras, I could still make do with what I have and make the best out of it. Maybe it’s time that I get back to my slightly abandoned photoblog and fix it up. And maybe look up several photography books that my friend has.

Blog To Print

What can I say? World Domination wins! Haha!

Jonas Diego was quite funny and he did made the presentation lively. I think his talk sparked interest among bloggers to start their own web comics. Neil Gaiman, I think, would be pretty happy about that.

Vlog and Podcasting Prospects in the Philippines

Aileen Apolo and Coy’s video presentation was very much a hit among the bloggers. I didn’t know that if one starts vlogging, one ought to use royalty-free music, so as not to get in trouble, at the very least, with uploading or publishing vlogs. I’ve wanted to try vlogging for some time, but I guess I haven’t got the material yet for vlog episodes. And I’m shy. Hehehe. Maybe I should just go shoot videos of other people, not including myself. Ahaha.

Blogging and 2010 Elections Panel

This must be one of the most awaited talks in the iBlog. Everybody seemed to have some questions in mind that they’re itching to ask Manuel L. Quezon III, Luz Rimban, and Janette Toral. I can understand why The Jester is miffed by the fact that some of those in mainstream media are questioning the credibility of bloggers and blogging and that mainstream media seems to consider itself as the gatekeepers of information. This kind of thinking feeds the attitude that whatever you find online is of questionable credibility, which is wrong, because there are so many valuable information that can be found across the world wide web. However, I think Alex Villafania may be on to something worth pondering, though it might have come across as arrogant.

The wealth of information online is just never-ending that how are we going to discern which we should take as factual, and which are inherently biased? In medicine, when we browse journals, we are wary of inherent biases each study has and that’s how we weigh information offered by such journals to decide which would be helpful in practice. Being in The New England Journal of Medicine doesn’t necessarily equate to being more credible than those found in the local or university journals, even if peer-reviewed, because some crappy studies do still come up occasionally. One still has to discern the biases from the facts, analyze the methodologies used, which is the heart and soul of a credible study.

I think that also applies in blogs. Some information may be presented as facts in some blogs. But how do we know if it’s reliable? It would be necessary that we should be discerning as to the evidences presented by the author to prove that his information is credible. It is also helpful to examine the links being provided for by the author. This practice, I think, is especially useful when browsing wikipedia articles.

Now, going back to what Villafania might have been trying to say, mainstream media, being mainstream, can have the check and balance mechanism to ensure that what goes on print or TV gets verified first. In blogs, that doesn’t need to be done. However, the problem with mainstream media is that, just like in some peer-reviewed journals, being peer-reviewed doesn’t necessarily mean that it is more credible than other information that hasn’t been reviewed. It may be because of the biases already inherent in the peer-review panel itself, or the gatekeeper. Also, even if mainstream media claims to give balanced reporting, one just have to admit that it could be heavily influenced by political and other social forces.

And so we come to that point wherein blogging may actually be able to supplement whatever mainstream media may be lacking. The panel have already extensively discussed the roles bloggers may take during the upcoming 2010 elections and I agree that mainstream media can only do so much and cannot be everywhere all the time. Firsthand accounts of election-related events would be very much appreciated, if not, necessary, for extensive coverage of one of the most important elections in our country’s history.

MLQ3 also emphasized that bloggers covering election should be a “pain in the ass”.

It was my first time to see and hear Manuel Quezon III speak and so I was quite excited to have been able to speak with him in person. And he reads my blog! Yey! I’ve to admit, though, that I’ve been quite a bit reluctant to leave comments in his blog, especially when the post’s topic is too controversial. Readers of MLQ3’s blog would know how the blog’s commenters can really get heated up when arguing.

Legal Challenges in Blogging

Atty. JJ Disini talked about libel and copyright infringement, two things that bloggers nowadays are really wary of, especially after some bloggers have already complained of some of mainstream media plagiarizing their content and perhaps, because of the Brian Gorrell phenomenon too.

And quoting Atty. Disini, “copyright infringement is a crime; plagiarism is simply bad manners.”

Maybe mainstream media should stop criticizing credibility of bloggers in general and start learning how NOT to plagiarize just to meet deadlines and have content on TV and print.

Blogging For Advocacy

I like Noemi’s advocacy “Reshaping The Filipina Image Online” and her talk about it. One has to be too dense not to realize that some may have been cringing at the use of the word Filipina because of the negative image that it already has online (entering the word Filipina on search engines result to marriage and dating sites, porn sites, etcetera. Hardly the stuff that one wants to be associated with). The advocacy do not aim to mar the images of those who’re into dating and porn sites, but rather the advocacy wants to paint a more balanced image of the Filipina, as a whole, not just as a mail to order bride or a maid. Maybe one of these days I’d be able to contribute a little to this advocacy.

The Mindanao Blogging Experience

Whoa! Finally Ria in the flesh! I’ve been following her on twitter and it’s only now that I get to see her in person. Well, I wasn’t able to say hi really because simply, there are just too many people around her!

She shared Davao bloggers experiences, and how Davao got free wi-fi and have inexpensive, but delicious food. Just listening to her talk makes me want to go visit Davao already. Haha! Maybe someday.

The summit ended with the usual closing remarks and the “class” pictures (as Jester calls it). But even if the day has already ended, the night still have some more things to show. We’re off to the 88db.com After-iBlog4 party!

88db.com After Party

I arrived at Katips a bit early with Marcelle, Shari, and others, but Arpee, Benj, Arbet, Manolo, and Jester even got there earlier. We started on a bit of beer and some food already, while waiting for the staff to get the place ready for the party. And it’s good that I’ve already eaten a bit before the party started because, unfortunately, the party that’s supposed to be a party with food and beer became a party with SOME food and beer. If 88db.com aren’t expecting to feed hungry bloggers after one whole day of blogging summit, then they should have just moved the party at a later time and not have it start at dinner time and yet, not serve dinner.

As for the games, I’m not too crazy about it (actually, I don’t exactly remember what games have been played as I’ve already zoned out at that time and was busy just talking to people, which was more fun). I think it would have been enough to get blogers good food and drinks and they’d be able to socialize on their own with that. However, I’ve to say that I got amused with the come-as-your-blog costume contest. Only 3 bloggers competed for the prize of PSP: Pinoyblogero, Batang Yagit, and ChickenMafia. And Gallus gallus trumped the Homo sapiens and won the PSP!

Lose Your Beer Belly, featuring Ade and Lauren, played some songs to enliven the night. I think it’s one of those few moments during the party that I actually enjoyed. I particularly liked their Vertical Horizon song (which I forgot the title, silly, demented me).

I wanted to stay longer but I remembered that I was going home by myself (wasn’t able to ask my aunt in Mandaluyong if I could stay for the night). A naughty thought crossed my mind, which would have solved such a problem, but I’m a good girl now *insert angel with halo smiley here*

So when I left, there were still some bloggers who’re concocting an after-after-party-gimmick. Hungry, perhaps? Hehe.

Okay, so here’s a list of those who also blogged about the event:

• 88db.com iBlog4 After Party
• Lessons I Learned From iBlog4
• iBlog 4 and The 88db.com Blogger’s Night: Because I Felt The Need To Embarrass Myself More
• iBlog4 ramblings
• Snippets from the iBlog4 and 88db.com Bloggers Party
• Being Offline is Fun
• iBlog4 and Morphxchange
• Avi Siwa at iBlog4
• iBlog4 experience
• Morph at iBlog4
• iBlog4 Summit
• iBlog4 Summit bloggers party with 88db.com
• iblog4 Summit
• iblog4 Blogging Summit and Meet Up
• Anger always come from frustrated expectations
• Umleo23.com at iBlog4 Summit???
• Unofficial Philippine Blogger Day
• So wassup?
• iBlog4, Altar Boyz Mosh Pit Party, Nick Weekend Carnival, & 88DB Bloggers Party
• iBlog4
• iBlog4
• FilipinaImages.com in iBlog4 Summit
• iblog4 (old friends, new friends)
• Jester-in-Exile Goes to iBlog 4 and the 88DB.com Bloggers’ Party (or, the floppy hat has gone out of style boohoohoo)
• iBlog 4 and The 88db.com Blogger’s Night: Because I Felt The Need To Embarass Myself More
• iblog4 Philippine Blogging Summit
• Of a very long week
• iblog4: the day after
• iBlog4 Summit
• Chickens invade iBlog4
• iBlog4 summit and 88db.com party by raredog
  
• Blog events by Teacher Julie
  
• The 4th Philippine Blogging Summit iBlog4 by aczafra
  
• iBlog4 Experience by Pinoyambisyoso
  
• iBlog4 Experience by Sweet Perceptions
• A Day For Bloggers by Tom
• Realizations From iBlog 4 (Part 1 of 2)
• Realizations From the 88db.com Bloggers Night (Part 2 of 2)
• Lost at iBlog4
• Bloggers Blog About iBlog4
• Rectal Discombobulation
• iBlog4 Part 1 by Ria Jose
• iBlog4 Afterglow by Janette Toral
• iBlog4 Live Video Streaming by Aj
• iBlog4 Summit Bloggers Party with 88db.com
• iBlog4: The 4th Philippine Blogging Summit by Micamyx
• 88db Bloggers Party

For those who’ve blogged about the event but wasn’t included in the list, please feel free to leave your links here at the comments section.