Over the weekend, I was at the Tuna Capital of the Philippines for the 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit (MBS2).

The summit started at around 9 am with around 130 bloggers in attendance. After a brief introduction by Avel Manansala, Blogie Robillo talked about the history of the Mindanao Bloggers Summit. The mayor of General Santos city, Pedro Acharon Jr, was supposed to give a talk about, “Empowering the Bloggers of Mindanao” but had to attend to an urgent concern. Councilor Meg Santos read the mayor’s message in his behalf.

Piere “the Jester” Galla, a political blogger from Baguio, took the stage to talk about how Mindanao outsiders view the Mindanao. He challenged Mindanao Bloggers to blog more about Mindanao so Mindanao “outsiders” can see the real picture in Mindanao as opposed to what mainstream media paints. Walter Balane, a journalist and a blogger, shared about living with different people around Mindanao. The final speaker for the morning session was United Nations consultant for peace, Hector Miñoza. He shared his insights on reshaping social outlook and identity.

After an engaging Q&A session with the resource speakers, lunch was served courtesy of Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr.

The afternoon session started with Google country consultant, Aileen Apollo sharing her insights about blogging and new media. Queen blogger of the south, Ria Jose, followed with a talk on how blogging can be an effective medium for entrepreneurs. The final resource speaker for the summit was renowned photojournalist Bobby Timonera. While listening to his talk about his experience as a photojournalist in Mindanao, my eyes were glued to the slideshow behind him. His photos really showcased the beauty of Mindanao.

Just like in the morning session, summit participants were given opportunity to ask questions.

The afternoon session featured an informal “SHOUT OUT” portion where niche bloggers shared about their experiences in blogging. The bloggers who shared their “shout outs” were:

Dr. Remo-tito “Bone MD” Aguilar – Outdoor & Lifestyle Blogger
Migs Hipolito – Technology Blogger
Oliver “Blogie” Robillo- Food Blogger
Avel “Bariles” Manansala – Place Blogger
Mark Aethen Agana – Advocacy Blogger
Condrad Miguel Gonzalo – Student Blogger

I had the honor of being included in the “SHOUT OUT” portion where I shared about my experience with Google Adsense.

The summit ended with the organizers presenting the Summit Resolution to the event participants.

Overall, it was a fun, satisfying, and most importantly, eye-opening experience. Kudos to the organizers and sponsors for the very successful summit.