I assume most of the bloggers who attended the recently concluded 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit held in General Santos City last October 25-26, 2008 would remember the fun and the fellowship the most rather than the learnings. Ooops! I think I am speaking for myself. Nyahaha. Anyway, I intend to let this post rekindle the great moments I had during the summit especially on the aspect of the valuable things I have learned from all the speakers who have shared their ideas on how blogging can help elevate the seemingly rotten image of Mindanao in the eyes of the ‘outsiders.’

The MBS2 carried the theme “Mindanaowon, Paminawon Intawon“ (I tried to translate this one to English, but the task seemed too big for me LOL), which aims to let the voices of the Mindanaoans be heard through blogging, a potent medium of communication.

Pierre Galla from Filipino Voices shared that the Northerners are labeling Mindanao as a scary, war-torn place - a label which has haunted the Land of Promise for too long now. Mindanao has always been treated like this ever since and this needs to be addressed now because the unfair labeling is too much to handle already.

Other speakers Walter Balane and Hector Minoza offered their insights about the Mindanawon consciousness, culture of peace, and things that lean more on the political and social aspect of Mindanao as a living entity or something. I must admit their ideas are quite deep, and for someone as shallow as yours truly, understanding the very core of those ideas is like solving a problem in Integral Calculus.

While the morning session was quite heavy, (well at least for me) the afternoon affair was a lot lighter. The topics were more focused on blogging tips, and the benefits that bloggers get from blogging. Blogging tips from Aileen Apolo, business blogging from Ria Jose, and photoblogging from Bobby Timonera all got massive attention from the participants. After listening to their sharing, I almost felt like my blogging convictions are somewhat renewed. You know, sometimes blogging becomes uninteresting and boring when you are quite ‘old’ in the business. Gladly, the speeches were useful in the sense that they rekindled the enthusiasm that we all have when we started blogging.

After that, shout outs were done by various bloggers catering to various niches. (What? No Entertainment Blogger around?) I sure could use a tip or two from a celebrity blogger since I am into entertainment blogging (apparently). Anyway, I hope MBS3 would include one.

Niche blogging is the key to having a more effective blog especially in terms of monetization (Adsense, etc.) and influence. While we all started with personal blogs, there comes a time when we all grow tired of focusing on our own problems (rants) and we want to also share something useful to the blogosphere. Niche blogging forces a blogger to focus on his interests and expertise and add his own inputs into the issues of a specific niche.

After all is said and done, I was pretty sure everyone has started looking at their blogs in a whole new light. That we are all possessing a very powerful medium that could help change the image of our community. So powerful that it could bring disaster if not used properly. That’s why it is our aim as Mindanao Bloggers to be responsible bloggers as we are responsible citizens. (naks)

Kudos to Avel for organizing the event, even though there was also an E-Business Week going on at the same time at KCC Mall. It was indeed a truly inspiring and enlightening experience. Thanks Rap for the pics!