Month: August 2014

Going down

I dunno how many times this year that i’ve been saying that “this will be the last. I’m going to pull off the plug from whatever experiment / projects i put myself.” But it’s addicting. It’s like that muscle pain, that “laspag” kind of feeling from a hard run that is addicting, that you  cannot help but crave for. I guess that what happened to me with this “aktib” project. Aktib has evolve into many forms that i no longer know what it’s about but one thing for sure, I learned a LOT! So a lot that I cannot wait for 2014 to end so i can make a click-bait blog about Top 10 Mistakes Of 2014.

Aktib become a product to serve me more than other people. It serves to me as a teacher. It led me to discoveries that I probably already know but never to actually experience it by my own hands. 
It led me to dig go down layers upon layers, to connect or make sense of one part to another.
So any way, there’s this one last curiousity that aktib led me to. I got me interested with “marketing.” The marketing of local SME. While I was expecting people to approach aktib for online registration by race organizers, we’re actually approached by few SME businesses asking on how can they share their products on our little online presence. 
Coming from that “tech startup scene,” i was conditioned to do things like how i saw it on techcrunch or quora kind of image. Of course, that conditioning is not useless because I somehow kind of up the game. But sometimes I would not be understood, and vice versa. It’s not how local business people do things, the much “glamorous” “startup” way that i thought of. I dunno what news sites or tech sites they are watching. When a local business association refused to use an online registration because they’re not comfortable with it is totally such a very contrast situation with the exposure I’m used to like GOAB (geeks on a beachh where people are talking about bitcoin.

So anyway, my one last project, and probably my one last chance, I teamed up with 3 new people I barely know of, are totally not tech savvy, and we’re not friends. Definitely, a very unlikely thing for me to do. But as they say, if you want to do it differently, then i got to be with diffwrent set of people. One of them had been doing countless reservation of a name for our group because they wanted it legal and all. After failed attempts and my rejection of very uncool names, i just decided to just use newaktib because newactive.com is parked for $4000.

And though i have done all kinds of odd jobs, kissing a$s, all sorts of “pabaga og nawong,” this time, they’re going to occur more and probably on a higher level.

Now first order of the business — DO THINGS I HATE!!! Read an article lately about doing things u hate over doing things u love. Yes, it’s romantic to do things you love. But doing things u love may involve doing things you hate.

One thing i hate is that i hate newaktib name. It’s just plain ugly, but why fuss when this is just another “mistake” to do.
Next thing i hate is formalizing a team
With legal documents, and all those stuff that require ggggrrrr stuff like government offices, and legal people.
The worse is that I was elected as secretary, and i have to do all those legal
Papers! Gggrrr!!! I NO longer want to do it. I want to quit even before we got started because i don’t deserve to be doing this kind of paperworks. Heck, i don’t need to go thru this! I can stay in my cool tech startup community. 
Next thing, doing business with uncool business. @.@ But that is actually what drives my curiousity because majority of businesses are not in tech-magazines i’m used to reading. But there is where the money, and these businesses are actually the backbone of tbis country. And, maybe maybe i can finally find a way to connect the tech startup scene to this different kind of scene. 
SO THIS WHAT MAKES ME WONDER — if SMEs abroad outsourced their marketing and admin stuff to Philippines, where do our very own SMEs outsource those jobs?!? So that’s what i want to discover with this last “mistake” i’m going to do! Because they’re probably not needing it.
So Lord, pls help me! But before that, gaaahhj this legal papers!!!

Make more mistakes

This year I made Neil Gaiman’s “make more mistakes…” as my new year’s resolution. And i think I did a lot of few (pun intended). 

This will be my last hurrah of mistake for this year…
Indeed committing myself to make mistakes gives me that “free” feeling to fight like a fool. 

I learned a lot! 
I thickened my face. 
I get comfortable that I’m not meant for “easy.”
I’m still alive. 
But I still have no legions of haters. 

Poverty P0rn

So earlier was my first “conscious” involvement of “charity” works, which i’m not really sure if i was really being charitable because i haz to do all these marketing/promotional churva while there.

So anyway, it was then earlier at calbasa-an (more story http://runroo.com/2014/08/26/the-students-of-calbasa-an-elementary-school-are-now-ready-for/) when i realized why i don’t really feel comfortable doing this outreach program or charity works or whatever u call this mother-theresa-wannabe kind of deeds.
It’s because i’m being slap by the reality that i really have not done much to help elevate those who need it. Though, on the other thought, i don’t think they really need any help. They’re doing quite well even without the help
Of others. Of course, their lives
May not be that easy but who does have an easy life. I guess they would only look “poor” because we compared them to us. 

But i believe in inspiring, and motivating them to dream. I’m really more of providing them with livelihood training, or any thing that would inspire the kids or adults alike to dream, to go after what they want. That’s why i thought of bringing Bonifacio Monjas to share his story about running, and also of how to run. Then i asked soy to talk about barefoot running so that kids will have no excuse why they could not run!

So i guess my little mission is about feeding, feeding kids / adults with inapiration / knowledge and tweak them to see that they already have what it takes to go after a bigger goal. I wanted to let them discover that they have it all inside in them.

On our way home, Nong Nardo said sometbing insightful that before we can stop people from cutting trees for “uling,” we should provide them with alternative livelihood… “kay dili sayon itilkaoban ka og kaldero.”

Thank you, calbasa-an! Maybe i have something in me that i can use in letting people discover the greatness they have in them, waiting to be unleashed.

So now can any one lead me to where i can find individuals or institutions who can provide livelihood training. I’m
Looking at raising bees! 🙂 i mean bees are cute!!! 🙂
(It was really conscious of taking photos. I don’t want poverty p0rn. But I guess it was really more of my problem. They’re beautiful! The place is beautiful!)

Over-sensationed

When i’m bombarded with too many “sensations,” i tend to be comatosed at the end of it. This week and previous days were an example of too many sensory connections getting thrown at me. To survive it, i just stay still waiting for them all to pass by, die down. 

So now that i look back at all the happenings the previous days, it seemed nothing happen because i kept myself very still and unmoving to avoid exploding.
At the shooting of a seconds-film with james go, kurt fick, karl terez. The Team VP, “visually pleasing.”
Joined 21k of the first talisay marathon. Got a loot bag of coffee products from
Gra of Bukidnon!
Went to UP Cebu to be “mentored.”
Sandwiched geeks on a beach (goab), and…
Athletes Talk

Met and said a quick goodbye to running friends from davao, got a lootbag of pomelo from them!!!

Then GOAB again.
#selfie with albert padin. Healthy!
Then had a quick well-wishing to running frienda from CDO joining the UR9.

I just had to skip UR9 today. I’m over sensationed!

I feel so “laspag” today that I miss to truly enjoy each moment. I was just floating thru all of them, instead of “smelling the flower.”
I don’t think I can really survive doing a “marketing firm” project. So yeah, i’m scratching it out of my “career path.”

Lessons from Facebook Boost Post Experiment

I got curious with boost post of facebook, and I tried it today.

Some things I learned:

* More views does not necessarily mean more LIKES, nor more click-thrus and views of your website because there was no serious spike in blog stats.

This one below is what I “boosted.” It has more reached, but only 1 like.

This one is “organic,” less reached but more likes.

* You can set your own budget. Minimum is P40. And, you can stop any time the “boost post.” Facebook will automatically set a budget for you, and the first option can be a huge amount. Just click on option, and scroll down, you’ll find “Choose your own.”
* Organic versus paid
I’m not really sure what should I do with the stats? At the end of the day, I really do not care about those numbers, maybe?
* It can be addicting. I stopped this one, and boost post another!

Butterfly

A butterfly goes thru being a caterpillar before becoming a butterfly.

Most of us only sees the butterfly. Most of us only appreciate the beauty of butterfly. Most of us want to be the butterfly.
I don’t know if we want to go thru being a caterpillar. 

Connections Can Get You Disconnected?

I’m not born in a middle class family. Growing up, I was in the same demographics. Thus, I don’t really have any connections to the upper echelon of the society. And, I never believe about the advantages of having connections. I mean, I get on my life pretty well without it that I just don’t see what’s the big deal about it.

So now getting a business to grow, the “connections” then kind of made sense. But then not really it’s a “requirement” but it does can make things easier.

A deal that you have to write a lengthy proposal can be just be done thru a facebook message with the right connection.

It’s amazing but felt funny, and too good to be true. I mean I was used to having to do it hard and long and topsy-turvy, and then suddenly someone will just do it for you with a facebook message is just feels like “kwarta sa hangin” — it’s like taking a short cut. 

So I guess in a way, having a connection is good. But I kind of felt robbed of the experience of doing it the hard way. It’s when I bleed on doing something that I felt the satisfaction that I give my best, I put up a good fight.

It’s like getting disconnected from the beauty of the process of making connections.

Video Production on Mobile Phone

Just out of the blue I video-ed parts of the press conference last Tuesday using my celphone. Then, i tweaked on it last night / earlier because i could not sleep listening to mati’s wizzy breathing (asthma). There’s just news lately about a kid died from asthma. @.@ so the horror, i cannot sleep!

I had “cameo” on my phone because Mark swore by it,  but it does not work on saved videos. So i dl-ed iMovie. And, surprisingly, it was not painful as the desktop / laptop version. 

Then, I wanted it to upload to a channel / page youtube account, not a personal account, so I download “capture” by google youtube coz it lets you choose a “page” to upload to. 🙂
And, viola there! How come I never thought of this way beforeeee!!! @.@ 
Quite a surprise that video creation in
Mobile phone excites me. I hate hate hate video editing and such because editing softwares drive me crazy with it’s too many features.
But with mobile, the app is only packed with the very basic features that editing is so straight-to-the-point. It’s very limited — good enough for a person with limited video editing skills!
And, now i need a phone with bigger space! #chos

Down, up… ?!?!

It’s wednesday already?!? What happened!!! 

Monday was really a downer. A long story but short story is that i “fired” mark from aktib. I know it’s not even making any thing. But mark is a technology person who is spoiled of the software industry versus the high demand of social interaction of the retail and marketing, he is NO use. He does not understand the little unrelated details of what a people-driven kind of business (i dunno what term to put), and i’m not really sure about everything.
No amount of french toast could pull
Me up!

I had been saying it over and over to anyone i met that i wanted to shift aktib to a different direction. I have a picture of it, but have a vague idea of how to do it down the details. I mean seeing / visualing a picture is totally different from sketching or photographing it, right? 
I have already few people in mind that i can ask to work with or ask help from. But i really really prayed to God to send someone, that someone who can fill in the blank, or just even show me the way around it.
Oh people people people!!! Talking like a pro, people is the holy grail. When big time corporate has hard time finding the right people, surely the odds on a non-existent startup is crazy! @.@ 
Anyhoo, yesterday was a happy — a bit of my prayer was answered. 

Anyway, on my taxi ride yestwrday, i saw this grabtaxi stickers. I’d been seeing it a lot lately so i asked the taxi driver about it. He said that a lot people are Already using it. It’s free for now. He said that he liked it. He even know uber. So i was like “wow!” 

And he also knos about “miicab,” but he said they’re exclusive to Ken taxi. Knowing some of the people behind it, i’m wow!

You know, tech startup may not really be that far away here in Cebu. 🙂 
So kinda excited for geeksonabeach.com next week!

Migi’s 10th, my 10th of being a “mother”

Happy 10th birthday, migi boy!

Meaning, i’ve been a mother/parent for 10 years. Funny how I was so sure of becoming a mother until you came, and you totally turn it upside down.
You’re everything not on the dreamy cover of glossy parenting magazines. 
By the time you were handed to my hospital room, it was horror. You seem to be always crying, demanding, and you introduce the real meaning of sleep-deprivation. That sleep-deprivation from
School/work, that’s a joke! I would be very happy to pay the doctor to put you back inside my tummy just so I can sleep uninterrupted even for an hour, take a decent poo time.

I then started to reject friends’ invitations because i felt bitter seeing single friends having all the carefree fun.
You grow up chubby and cute toddler (from a mother’s point of view) then you start biting other kids and throwing tantrums in public places, Ate Mona got into a few troubles because of that. 
And, just when I thought I have a genius baby, I got a pre-school rejection on my face from a school directress. Yes, we failed at your very first school entrance exam, and how I felt so unfit of being a mother.
But i guess all is good, I learned to look beyond and deeper the glossy magazines, the sanitized prestigous institutions. Well, i’d like to believe that! And, just generally, i learned or acted to be tougher since you’re giving me a hard time to becoming that fabulous-looking team-kramer kind of mommy. 
The party was friday care of, as usual, Ate Mona! The dimsum treats from Ate Mona (if you want to order, contact me) and Mareee Flor’s choco crinkles!

Thanks to all the kids who came to celebrate it with us!