How to Enjoy a Blog Summit: The iBlog 6 Experience

What do you expect in an iBlog summit?  How do you enjoy and max your experience in this kind of social event?

I signed up for one because although I have several blogs, I am still clueless on how to make myself a millionaire through my blogs. 

I learned about the iBlog 6 while I was following links at Facebook.  I was directed to Negros  Bloggers (http://www.negrosbloggers.com/iblog-the-6th-philippine-blogging-summit/), and on that site, I found the iBlog6 link.  I registered and sent the link to all my relatives and blog friends.  I was no. 99 on the list of Iblog registrants (http://iblogph.org/list-of-attendees/comment-page-1/). Now, that's a lucky number.  I should know, I will be your expert consultant on Numerology soon (http://adviceforinterculturallovers.blogspot.com/)

iBlog6 is an annual event for the Pinoy blogging community.  The 6th blogging event,  because for five years now, the "UP Law-ISP has been hosting successful Philippine Blogging Summits so that these events become highly-anticipated interaction venues, where famous Pinoy bloggers give informative talks and more than 300 bloggers attend" (http://iblogph.org/.

                                                                    Jenn and Pats                                                                                                              Mother and Daughter                                                
My cousin, Pats, and my daughter, Jenn,  also attended this event. We enjoyed bonding time plus we got to know other bloggers like Ana Urbina, Julie Custodio-Fuertes, Mr. Bejo, etc. and special mention - Courtney  Fazzo, who is an American with with exotic Italian and Greek lineage but  she's American as an apple pie -  having been born and raised in the U.S. I would have liked to post her picture here as she's so pretty but I have to ask her permission first...calling Courtney......

My former ADB office mate, Dine Racoma, an award winning blogger,  Sexy Mom's D-Spot, arrived a lil' bit late.  She's one of the respected bloggers of the Pinoy blogging community.  Besos, Dine.

I will not elaborate more on our topics, each speaker has his/her own blog site such Carlo Ople's (http://www.newmedia.com.ph/iblog-6-respect-blog-social-media-marketing) and
and Marghil Makuha's (http://www.macuha.com/2010/04/personal-experience/my-iblog6-talk/
etc.

All of the speakers were engaging, they are expert on their topics, everyone's funny and the speaker-audience interaction was awesome.

We had a good lunch and snacks, thanks to the sponsors. We even had free health pills, Renalin.  I am sure after their ad broadcast each break, Jenn would have memorized the monologues......Peace...

We ended the day with a great dinner at Chocolate Kiss at UP campus, proceeded to Scarlet's Ten02 at Ybardolaza street, QC,  where Rakrakan between the Filipino and Malaysian heavy Metal musicians  were about to  happen.  We decided to scrap Rakrakan as  we went there for Jazz.   We ended up enjoying green tea ice cream and continued our tete-a-tete.


Second day of blog summit:

The night before, I was not able to sleep well in my cousin's water bed (too many memories  in her house where I stayed  during my college days)  so I had several 3-minute-naps while our speakers continued their interesting talk.  When Batang Baler (http://batangbaler.net/), Joseph 'Kidlat' Gonzalez, started talking, everyone laughed,  like every two minutes. Oh no, there goes my every 3-minute-naps.  I succumbed to laughing, and hanged on to his easy narration.  He brought the house down.  He's a natural comedian, poker-faced too. 

So how do you enjoy and benefit from a blog summit such as this?

1.  Arrive early, (unless you are Dine Racoma who knows how to make money already and has an award to prove this too), so you get all the perks in case the organizers run out of them.   In fairness, although the lunch and snack stubs were promised on a first come, first served basis, I think everyone enjoyed the delish morning and afternoon snacks, unlimited coffee and yummy Adobo and Afritada lunches.

2.  Distribute your business cards - to the sponsors, to your fellow participants and why not, to the distinguished speakers too.  Do networking to the max, you gain a lot by learning what the experienced and earning bloggers do.  You might gain lifetime friends too.

3.  Ask relevant questions.  There might be nagging questions in your mind and this is the proper venue to ask them.   Mike Abundo wowed us all with his 'summative' questions.  We learned from his questions as much as we enjoyed his  movie star looks.

4.  Do networking.  The iBlog experience does not stop after the two-day summit.  Go to the speakers' websites where you could learn more about their topics, their tricks, and where you may download free eBooks like Carlo Ople's free Social Media Guide for Filipino Entrepreneurs.  At most, you'll increase your Facebook friends :)

 Can you think of more suggestions?  

Special thanks to Peter for uploading the group pic at FB.  Add me as friend in FB, marilousilverman@ymail.com so you'd see some more pictures.

Okay, shall we see each other at iBlog7 next year?