One of the Philippines most organized blogging organization — Cebu Bloggers Society, Inc. (CBSI)  is celebrating its 4th year anniversary.

The gathering, which is expected to draw old and new Cebu Blogger members, will be held at Azkals Sports Bar and Grill  on February 11, 2012 from 5:30PM – 8:00PM.

Cebu Bloggers Will be Checking In at Azkals Sports Bar and Grill

Azkals Sports Bar and Grill
Treehouse Building, Ramon Aboitiz St, Cebu City.
(right next to backgate of St.Theresa’s College)
Opens Mondays through Thursdays
BAR HOURS: Weekdays – 4:00PM – 1:00 AM and  Weekends – 4:00PM – 3:00 AM

For reservation contact at +63 915 343 3251 and +63 32 2391967. Interested parties can also email at azkalssportsbarandgrill@gmail.com.

Paintings and sculptures of contemporary Cebuano artists were featured in the art exhibit, dubbed Contemporary Cebu, which opened last Jan. 4 at the Cebu City Museum.

The exhibit, which is curated by JV Castro, is designed to bring national attention to contemporary Cebuano artists and their works. It is open to the public until Jan. 31.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, during the opening ceremonies, lauded the initiative undertaken to make the exhibit possible, saying it is a way to recognize Cebuano talents in visual arts as well as to promote the Cebu City Museum.

The Alternative Contemporary Art Studio, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), and The Grove by Rockwell, partnered together to launch this annual exhibit. The first exhibit was held in June 2011 in Manila at the Ateneo de Manila University and Picasso Boutique Hotel.

This year’s Contemporary Cebu art exhibit features the works of Palmy Pe-Tudtud, Marvin Natural, Kidlat of the Junks Collective, Karl Roque, Sio Montera, Ritchie Quijano, and Tito Cuevas. Russ Ligtas will give Butoh performances on Jan. 12 and 13.

“It is an exhibition that features some of the finest artists we have in Cebu. All the works in the exhibit are done by Cebuano artists who specialize in contemporary works, meaning the portrayal of subjects are different. In a way, we want to promote Cebu in a different light,” Castro said.

Dennis “Sio” Montera, one of the participating artists shared the inspiration and stories behind his paintings.

“My art is more on expression of the things that have been relevant in my life—happiness, sadness, loss of loved one, any life experience. For me, the best way I can communicate or deal with my emotions is to paint. It is more likely the reflection of a current situation of my life. It’s like a diary, mirroring what is happening around me,” he said.

Alternative Contemporary Art Studio and RAFI have been partners since Contemporary Cebu’s inception in 2011. This year, they took in The Grove by Rockwell as a major partner. The other sponsors of the exhibit are the Cebu City Government, Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission of Cebu City, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Blue Shield Risk Management, Gothong Southern, Michelangelo Pizzeria, and Hola España.

“Contemporary Cebu is a good opportunity for introducing the Cebuano audience to contemporary arts and for them to be familiar who the Cebuano contemporary visual artists are,” said Dr. Jocelyn Gerra, executive director of Culture and Heritage of RAFI. (Hannah Reoma/Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. intern)

Running has become a national pastime in the Philippines. Weekend warriors who used to jog around Greenhills and then find themselves in surrounding coffee shops after their run, now find themselves in the streets of Bonifacio Global City or the paved roads around Mall of Asia in sponsored Sunday runs.

As more and more people take to the streets to pound the pavement, there emerged a resurgence of interest in the right footwear to use as you see people in these runs wearing a variety of shoes from normal street rubber shoes to technical running shoes that offer a myriad of benefits.

This has led to the development and introduction of a new kind of lightweight running shoe from Skechers for active enthusiasts and serious athletes — the Skechers ProSpeed SRR.

Chinggay Andrada, one of the trainers in the Biggest Loser Philippines show and a certified professional fitness expert; and Skechers Philippines newest fitness spokesperson said: “This new footwear technology by Skechers will greatly help in getting more Filipinos to run more comfortably and efficiently whether they’re taking on their first 3K or training for a marathon.”

The ProSpeed SRR features the patented Smart Shoe™ Technology, the rocker-bottom that guides runners into mid-foot strike position. This mid-foot strike design transforms the energy of impact, through the Kinetic Return System, into forward motion with every stride.

“The shoes literally give runners a spring in their step as they feel a distinctive bounce forward upon toe-off or push off,” Andrada adds.

The Skechers ProSpeed SRR is also lightweight due to the Resalyte™ cushioning with memory retention that reduces impact for a supported, comfortable ride during runs. Each ProSpeed comes in just under 10 oz. per shoe depending on the size.

Check out www.skechers.com.ph and www.facebook.com/SkechersFitnessPhilippines for more information on ProSpeed SRR.

CEBU, Philippines – Philippine wireless leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and Cebu-based website MyCebu.ph have partnered to deliver information on tourism and heritage sites to mobile phones and tablets through quick response or QR code scanning.

The project is being undertaken in partnership with the Department of Tourism Central Visayas.

Smart and MyCebu.ph will place special markers on tourism and heritage sites all over Cebu.

The markers will contain a snipper of information about the site and a QR code that, when scanned, will be open an article about the landmark. To be able to laod the information, users must be connected and they must have a QR reader in their devices. Most phone platforms offer free QR code scanners in their respective application markets.

The project is set for launch at historic Barangay Pari-an Cebu City today. Smart and MyCebu.ph also announced the immediate availability of a free electronic guidebook to the Sinulog for the iPad, Iphone, Kindle, Android tablets and phones and other smartphones and ereader brands. The guidebook will be offered for free downlaod at the airport, Ayala Center Cebu, hotels, restuarants and other tourism establishment in Cebu. It will also be given away at the officers of the DOT and the Sinulog Foundation.

MyCebu.ph Founder Marlen Limpag with an epub version of "A Guide To Cebu 2012"

Smart and MyCebu.ph also launched “A Guide To Cebu 2012,” an electronic guidebook on Cebu. Get Guide to Cebu 2011. The guidebook will be sold on Amazon and other online bookstores but will also be mad available for free downlaod at the airport, Ayala Center Cebu, hotels and other locations frequented by tourists.

The Sinulog guidebook is available for downlaod starting today. A Guide To Cebu 2012, however, will be made available for download in January in time for the Sinulog.

For the launch, Smart and MyCebu.ph will take guests on a short heritage walk in Paria-an to demonstrate the viewing of information through QR code scanning.

The highlight of the tour will be the display of the San Juan Bautista Parish Church through a QR code marker at the chapel that is built on where the church used to stand. The parish church is described by historic records as the most opulent in Cebu. It was torn down in the late 1970s during a conflict between the Pari-an community leader and a Spanish priest.

The project showcases journalism that takes takes full advantage of new technology to deliver information to people,” said Marlen Limpag, MyCebu.ph editor,” With the project, people are able to read on their phone or tablet about historic events right at where these happened.”

Limpag stressed, however, that the project isn’t purely historical or heritage.” Tourists can also get tips on how to get the most of their stay right at the tourist spot they are visiting.”

“This is a very exciting project for us. We are not only promoting tourism here in Cebu, we also get to work with passionate people from MyCebu.ph, DOT, Sinulog Foundation, local bloggers and local community leaders in helping preserve these heritage sites by raising awareness through Internet and communications technologies.” said Atty. Maria Jane C. Paredes, senior manager for Public Affairs Group, Smart.

The group will also showcase video clips linked to the QR codes in select tourism and heritage areas.

The capitalize on social networking to help spread word on the country’s tourism sites, the articles loaded by the system are plugged into various social networks like Facebook, Google+, Twitter and even location-based services like FourSquare. They can then “Like” or tweet about the place.

“Filipinos are very social in nature. We can use social media to our advantage to help encourage more tourists to visit Cebu and the rest of the country. This initiative in Cebu is just the start of something bigger for us. We plan to bring this nationwide in support of the DOT and the various local government units.” added Paredes.

But while the system makes use of QR scanning, Limpag said they are looking forward to using technologies like NFC or near field communication to deliver data in the future.

“We think QR code scanning is transitory. We look forward to using NFC to simplify delivery of information and we are happy to have partnered with Smart, which pionered the use of the NFC as well as other leading wireless technologies in the Philippines,” Limpag said.

The QR code project will be pioneered in Pari-an and downtown Cebu City. Smart and MyCebu.ph, however, will work to expand the system to cover important tourism and historical sites in Cebu.

I

The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) won the “Quill Award of Merit for communication management: economic, social, and environmental development” for its Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines.

At the same time, the “Tree of the Month”, which comes out in The Freeman twice a month, is a finalist under the writing category of the communication skills division of the Quill Awards.

RAFI Executive Committee Chair Ma. Cristina Aboitiz, RAFI Chief Operating Officer Dominica Cua, RAFI Deputy Director for Operations Amaya Aboitiz, RAFI’s Integrated Development Executive Director Rowena Bandola-Alensonorin, and RAFI Communications Officer Haidee Palapar received the two awards during the 10th Philippine Quill Awards held last Nov. 18 at Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila, Quezon City.

They were joined by Lucky Malicay, news editor of The Freeman.

“The awards are indicators that RAFI has achieved that competitive advantage in terms of pushing its programs and advocacies forward through communication, given RAFI’s appropriate skills and systems. Also, they serve as a challenge for RAFI to continuously raise the bars so that the Foundation will continue to be effective in delivering its brand promise and reach the highest mark of excellence,” Alensonorin said.

Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines is the environmental initiative under the GREENIN Philippines (Generation REdemption and Expansion of Natural resources INitiatives in the Philippines) Program of RAFI, which engages the general public to participate in a simultaneous running and planting of native tree species throughout the province of Cebu.

Held last June 25, 2011, the event aimed to raise public awareness in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation among local government leaders and in forging local and national government commitment to action as well as encourage multiple partnerships in caring for the environment.

It was participated by 55,372 participants from across Cebu Province who collectively planted 239,580 native tree seedlings in more than 115 hectares of land. These figures are beyond RAFI’s targets that was set at 20,000 participants, 100,000 native tree seedlings, and 56 hectares.

On the other hand, Tree of the Month is a bi-monthly section that comes out in The Freeman twice a month with the aim of educating the public on the various native trees species and encouraging their propagation.

The advocacy is shared by The Freeman.

BOTTOMLINE of ABS-CBN, and hosted by one of the Philippines trusted Talk Show Host Boy Abunda, bagged the “Best Talk Show” award in the recently concluded 2011 Asian Television Awards held yesterday (December 8, 2011) 6:30 PM at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore.

NEWS FROM FACEBOOK

The first social media report of the award came in with a Facebook Status from BottomLine regular Socio-Communicator Mike Lopez.

In his Facebook Status, Mr. Lopez said:

WE WON! The Bottomline just won “Best Talk Show” in the recently concluded Asian Television Awards (the Emmys of Asia) here in Singapore, edging out CNN’s Talk Asia which took the second place honors! And I was there!

Woohoo! It feels so great to be a part of the best talk show in all of Asia! Did I say we’re officially the best talk show in all of Asia? Oh yeah, I did say we’re the best talk show in all of Asia!

Congratulations to Boy once again, to our dynamic and hardworking production team led by Apples Braga, to ABS-CBN (still and will always be the Philippines’ largest network), my fellow bottomliners, all our guests and guest bottomliners, to our fellow Filipinos, thank you so very much and congratulations to all of us!

To all my friends who’ve sat on the show as guest bottomliners, Baudric Casey, Orly J. Cajegas, Marie Sol Delantar-Gonzalvo, Michelle Varron, Elaine Bathan, Marcley Augustus D. Natu-el, Niña Terol-Zialcita, and the so many more who’ve become my friends because they sat on the show, you now have the distinction of having been seen and heard in the best talk show in all of Asia – and that’s The Bottomline!

BOTTOMLINE

As described and explained in BOTTOMLINE’s official page:

“Bottomline” is a reality-talk show which involves not only Tito Boy, but also a group of opinionated people with different stances on a subject. They are called the ‘bottomliners’, Bottomline’s executive producer Apples Dela Vega disclosed. “We have a pool of bottomliners. Nagpapalit yu’n depending on the guest. We get six to eight bottomliners from the pool for every episode and through Tito Boy’s interview with the guest, their questions and other issues are answered.”

The show also gives the viewers the privilege to see the whole process of the story development– from conceptualization, to brainstorming, to actual execution of the interview and ending with a post-mortem or assessment of the interview. Boy acts as the moderator of the whole discussion. The bottomliners share what they want to know about the guest. Tito Boy throws in the questions gathered from the brainstorming through no-holds barred interview with the invited guest. Through a monitor, the bottomliners are able to witness the interview. After the session, Boy and the bottomliners assess the whole activity.

If we are to provide a measuring stick of knowing how the Cebu Blogosphere had grown these past years, one would be tracking the developments of Best Cebu Blogs.

Their vision:

“Best Cebu Blogs Awards aims to recognize the existence and relevance of blogging in Cebu’s local blogging scene by pooling the finest online publishers in the Queen City of the South. It also aspires to augment Cebu bloggers’ influence in the general cyber community worldwide.”

For most, it was a time of the year in Cebu where everyone gathers and see who had excelled in the field based on the criteria set by the organizers and judges.

On a personal note, Best Cebu Blogs says more than what it is presenting every year. It not only emphasizes the importance of quality online publishing but also the value of continuous growth.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010, it was basically the selection of top 10 best blogs in the Cebu blogosphere as adjudged by the popular vote and a panel of qualified judges.

PinoyWorld is proud to say that it was selected as one of the Best Cebu Blog Awardee of 2009. In 2010, we came in as sponsor. RLCOMM International, the mother company, supports BCB’s visions.

This year, BCB has grown in terms of quality blogs in different niches. Forty one bloggers (41)  are vying for seven titles:

• Top 10 Famous Blogs Facebook Contest
• Best Cebu Food Blog
• Best Cebu Personal Blog
• Best Cebu Photo Blog
• Best Cebu Travel Blog
• Best Cebu Technology Blog, and
• Best Cebu Fashion Blog

Not only has the number of qualified blogger/participants, and their niches had grown. The progress can also be seen in the number of industries supporting it. The 4th Annual Best Cebu Blogs Awards is made possible by Nokia Philippines, Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort, SM City Cebu, Timex Philippines, GT Cosmetics Manufacturing, GT & Me, Globe Telecom, Wacky Tots PhotoBooth, Orange Brutus,  Cebu Bloggers Society Inc., Empress Of Drac, Bjorn Cebuano, Face Cebu, Pulso.PH, and Old’s Cool Online.

Seeing BCB’s growth in the past years makes me smile and proud. BCB does not only promote quality and progressive online publishing, it also indirectly strenghtens and supports my personal vision for a unified, strong, dynamic and responsible social media community for Cebu.

My sincerest Congratulations to its Founder Mark Monta (http://facecebu.net), Co-Organizer Agnes Jimenez (http://www.empressofdrac.com/), Co-organizer Bjornson Bernales (http://www.bjorncebuano.com/) and the rest of the BCB 2011 Team!

Sincerely,

RUBEN B. LICERA, JR.
Moderator, PinoyWorld.org
Chairman, Visayas Blogging Summit 2011
Vice President, Cebu Bloggers Society

Sony Ericsson has announced the Xperia™ arc S and Xperia™ neo V in the Philippines, the latest additions to the Xperia™ range of smartphones that attest to the strong combination of Android and Sony technologies that offer consumers an unmatched mobile phone experience.

Powered by the lates Android version (Gingerbread 2.3.4) and bearing Sony technology innovations like Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine, Exmor R™ for mobile image sensor and 3D Sweep Panorama, the two smartphones were launched together at the Sony Ericsson 3D Expo at the SM Baguio Cyberzone.

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The Visayas Blogging Summit or VBS 2011 promises to bring the best of “Blogging and Beyond” as bloggers from provinces in the Visayas flock to SM City Cebu on November 26, 2011 for biggest social media gathering of the year.

“It will be an experience of leveling up in terms of skills and perspectives designed to make the Visayas blogging community perform a vital role in community-building online and offline,” said Ruben Licera, Chairman of the VBS 2011 Organizing Committee.

“To achieve this, we invited speakers who are not only reputable bloggers but have also made significant contributions in their own fields with the help of social media,” he said.

The summit proper, Licera said, will begin with three speakers on helping personal bloggers improve not only their skills but also in finding their niche online, and achieving excellence:

• Vernon Joseph Go, former president of the Cebu Bloggers Society and CAMMA Awardee for Personal Blogging. Mr. Go will share his experiences and give a few tips on “Personal Blogging.”
•  The founder of Cebu Blog Camp and an active member of the CBSi, Evanjohn Mendoza, will talk on finding one’s niche in the Blogosphere.
• Recent Philippine blog award winner Max Limpag will focus on “Blogging and Excellence”. Max Limpag is also the current Business Editor for Sun Star Cebu.

From personal blogging, virtual CEO and founder of Live2Sell Group of Companies Chris Ducker, the keynote speaker, will raise the ante as he focuses on blogging as a profession.

“Mr. Ducker has made it big in the professional blogging industry. We thought that inviting him over would greatly benefit bloggers and would-be bloggers who are looking into making a career out of blogging,” shared Mr. Licera.

With social media and blogging becoming indispensable for business, the next batch of speakers will talk about the importance of blogging as a social media tool as well as the responsibility that goes with it.

Joanne Apat of Gwion Limited Hong Kong will speak about the ABC’s of using the social media as a tool for business.

The next speaker works for a big name in the telecommunications industry. Mr. Coy Caballes of Globe Telecom will be dishing out useful tips for successful social media campaigns.

Another popular name in the blogosphere is Mr. Bradley Geiser, the co-founder of GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications. This multi-awarded figure in social media marketing and online public relations will share his expertise on “Online Content Warfare—the next wave of digital PR”.

“Blogging is not only about making money. Over the years, it has become an effective tool for social change—good or bad. This is why we have invited a few key persons who will talk about the responsibility behind the power of the social media tools,” Licera said.

Philippine Internet Marketing Queen and the Mother of the E-Commerce Law, Miss Janette Toral, will discuss blogging as a tool for social change. Miss Toral is a published author of books such as Blogging from Home and Digital Filipino: An E-Commerce Guide for the e-Filipino.

Kabataan Party List House Representative Raymond Palatino, an activist, legislator and regional editor for Southeast Asia of Global Voices, shall delve on the “Role of the Social Media for Change”.

With the help of blogging, a lot of community projects have also pushed through. Sharing her experiences on the topic, “Community Projects that need Social Media Assistance” is the Communications Officer for Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., Haidee Emmie Palapar.

A respected name synonymous to extending help to the less fortunate Filipinos, Gina Lopez who is the Managing Director of the ABS-CBN Foundation Inc., will talk about blogging for a social cause.

With this slew of world-class speakers pooling all their ideas and expertise, the 2nd Visayas Blogging Summit is sure to go beyond expectations.

Now this is something to blog about.

Cebu is becoming the centerpiece of major infrastructure and business developments. Same with SM Supermalls, the largest mall chain in the Philippines and arguably in Asia Pacific. In South Reclamation Properties (SRP) of Cebu City will soon rise the “SM Seaside City Cebu“.

In a one-on-one interview with SM Vismin PR Manager RJ Leduna, “SM Seaside City Cebu is built like a city in a city.”

The SM Seaside City Cebu is expected to be one of the major developments that we can see in the SM Properties masterplan in their 304,100 sq. meter property in SRP, Cebu City. The said SM property spreads from the norther part of the exclusive SRP area to the sea.

The said grand mall, which is expected to be the first of its kind in urban design and development at SRP and designed by Miami, Florida based Arquitectonica, will set a new benchmark and change the landscape of the city with its “nautilus-inspired design of expanding, concentric arcs from a central multi-purpose space.”

RJ Leduna further confirms that Shrine of Mary will be finished first on 2012. Also with an acronym “SM”, the church is a “sleek, modern all-white structure nestled among lush foliage.” It is the firs structure that will be built in the SM SRP Complex where the SM Seaside City Cebu is the centerpiece.

SM SRP Complex, aside from the Shrine of Mary church, is also planned to have also have a condominium buildings, hotel, a school, and a hospital.

More information will follow as we continue to unveil SM Seaside City Cebu and the SM SRP Complex.