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Tight and cool week

Hi everyone. Some updates:

1. iBlog2 was a blast and look forward to iBlog3.
2. We currently have 103 members to date at the DigitalFilipino.com Club and our eyeball last April 19 went pretty well.

I wish I could say more but I guess there are stuff that can't be shared yet. =)

BeadClubPhilippines and Peachy

I'm excited with this Holy Week. Apart from a week of reflection, it seems I should be able to get a lot of back work done. Earlier, I just finished updating BeadClubPhilippines.com and sent a mail blast to our list members.

We have a new club member maintaining her blog here in 21publish and she is Peachy Herrin. Check her out!

Inspired in blogging again

I know that it has been awhile since I last blogged. Thanks to the forthcoming iBlog2: The 2nd Philippine Blogging Summit that shall take place on April 18, I'm inspired with blogging again and have fixed a lot of stuff online. This includes:

1. My personal writing diary at LiveJournal is now back. I'm working on LifeWrites: 6 Approaches to Journaling email workshop offered by DigitalFilipino.com Club member Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ.

2. I signed up as a lensmaster as well at Squidoo. I created an e-commerce/outsourcing lens and reflective thinking lens. Try creating your lens too.

3. Last Friday, I also launched the first DigitalFilipino.com Podcast and plan to have two episodes monthly.

Let's keep in touch!

Reviewing 2005 and Planning for 2006

Nope, this is not your typical 2005 political review but more of looking at what happened to me this year. I think this is the first time that I'll be doing this so here it goes.

1. Congressional Oversight Committee for the E-Commerce Law (COCEC)
I think the biggest thing that happened to me this year is my appointment as consultant, functioning as an executive director, to the COCEC. It has brought the big picture of e-commerce to mind and gave me an opportunity to work with Senator Mar Roxas and Representative Junie Cua. At the same time, once again, work with Senator Ramon Magsaysay. The task at hand were delicate and things have to be done by protocol, respecting each agency's status and disposition. Being careful not to overstep and go beyond one's function. It is also learning about patience, political powerplay, respect for ownership, and looking at the greater good of the country and those who deserves to be prioritized. There are a lot of concerns being spotted today. However, for as long as these are seen as efforts to improve the situation, things will turn out ok, I hope, in the long run.

2. Blogging
My interest in blogs rised thanks to the offering of 21Publish.com and to the Digital Pinay issue. A lot of my articles this year were pretty focused about this subject. The GloriaGate scandal further contributed to the recognition of blogging as an influential opinion media. It also paved the way for the 1st Philippine Blogging Summit - iblog, to take place.

3. DigitalFilipino.com Club
The DigitalFilipino.com Club has transformed greatly this year. Eyeballs became more frequent and we started accepting institutional partners that can greatly contribute to the benefit of our members. We finally found our baseline membership price as well at US$30 for individual while US$180 for corporate. We also became on O'Reilly Group User Program member as well. Becoming part of this program shall have a great influence in my 2006 programs as you'll see below.

4. eBiz Training for SMEs
I got the chance to do an eBiz Training for SMEs under APWINC (Seoul, Korea) and APEC (ADOC-Manila). It was a great experience and hope to get the chance to do it once again next year.

5. CyberFair Roadshow
Our campaign for the Philippine Schools CyberFair went on a high gear this year. We started doing provincial roadshows too. Although it will take a lot of time before elementary and high school institutions get prep to recognize the value of competitions like CyberFair, I believe it will all be worth the wait when the proper time has come.

6. One Internet Day
Having One Internet Day in Manila and Cebu was totally unplanned for this year, it just happened. However, both turn out to be ok. For 2006, the tradition shall continue and reach out to those, especially the young ones, to learn about the impact of the Internet in our lives.

Having the privilege of owning one of the biggest ICT communities (not an NGO), the challenge is on retaining it and provide the highest value as well. For 2006, here's what peers in the industry can expect:

1. Setting up a network neighborhood watch
As early as January of 2005, I already thought of putting up a fraud database. However, there were a lot of concerns raised then by club members that I had to back track with such an idea. But this time, things have changed and have found a way on how to go around this. In the DigitalFilipino.com Club, a network neighborhood watch program will be launched where club members will learn the basics of Internet forensics. Those who will participate in the training shall be committed to share their discoveries in the forums section. In the long run, this will also allow us to find out if there's a pattern on the spams, scams, being sent to us via email.

2. More technical and hands-on sessions
Putting up the DigitalFilipino.com Club has been quite tough. Although we are a venue for networking and sharing of expertise, the pressure remains to outdo yourself the previous. In this regard, apart from the network neighborhood watch that I mentioned earlier, more hands-on session shall happen this year like eBay trading, agile web development, among others. I do hope that this will allow us further in increasing our membership in the provinces and provide them with valuable services as well.

3. Development of community leaders
We shall be developing a community leaders program as well. In this process, each city/town shall have a community leader who can organize their own eyeballs in the said area, with proper coordination with us. Of course, be compensated in the process too.

4. Launch of PH-SPIN
PH-SPIN will go full blast in 2006. I shall start accepting paid members and in return will get to participate in our monthly briefing on topics in relation to software process improvement.

5. Launch of a niche retail/wholesale/service site
We just finished PrimaPlaySchool.com and in process for our fashion accessories website. I can't say more about this yet but a lot of challenging things are happening.

Thank you for all the support in DigitalFilipino.com!

Paranoid about E-VAT and 2006

The challenge of the current EVAT is its psychological effect to the ordinary Filipino and companies in the country. It creates a paranoia that next year will be really tough for entrepreneurs, regardless whether they are into marketing of products or services. The need to be flexible and crafty is there.

I already started revamping the membership benefits of the DigitalFilipino.com Club by reactivating the DigitalFilipino StatsReport component. This way, I hope, more members will consider joining, that will also fund our research requirements as a result. I'm finally getting new team members as well who can help in doing the research and write-up the reports too.

In preparation for our 26 ICT Outsourcing Destination Report, I just launched the Philippine Outsourcing Review blog with the intent of providing a glimpse on industry developments as we are writing up the report.

On the positive side, I think the uncertainty today is much like the Internet, where are you are not always sure where the next big thing will really hit. I guess that is what makes this field so great. It keeps your feet on the ground, all the time.

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