Knowing the occasion that celebrates the era of social media, I’ve begun to think the possibility of holding an event in Cebu. But it was not really an important thing in my mind a month ago. Yes, I learned about Social Media Day just last month through Facebook when a blogger friend invited me.
But then, the social media manager of Third Team Media, Fleire Castro, suggested the idea of Social Media Day as an event that could be organized by CBSi.
June 2, 2012, the first BOT meeting of Cebu Bloggers Society, Inc, under the administration of Ruben Licera, Social Media Day was not even part of the agenda. That is if my memory serves me right.
We were still reeling for the proper date for the monthly general meeting, which Red Yumang, the present Chairman of Corporate Affairs, suggested during the BOT meeting. Pundok2x is the term he suggested to call for the proposed monthly gathering for the CBSi members.
I am not certain if Social Media Day has been intentionally decided on the 30th but that date has been set by the president of the blogging organization for the monthly meeting.
It was then that the event Social Media Day came unexpectedly when I was notified again last week through an FB invite, reminding me of the event.
Although I have an inkling of the president’s knowledge about the event, I made the move with the president to coincide the CBSi Monthly General Meeting with Social Media Day. My flare to co-organize the event even intensified when I learned about Mashable Meetup upon searching Social Media Day.
Manila and Davao Bloggers already took a big pace in organizing the meet-up events for their local communities. In the NCR, Social Media Day would be held simultaneously in Makati and Quezon City. In Mindanao, the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan would have their local meet-ups in full force with sponsors.
Despite the time constraint, with the organizing barely a full week within Social Media Day, we managed to organize an event to celebrate Social Media Day. Thankfully, the organizational monthly meeting was already in mind and that only a few things would have to curate to make it seem like we would celebrate Social Media Day on the same date as the initial purpose for the 30th of June.
In Cebu, the event was held at Mactan Isla Resort. We wanted it to be an educational event for the members of the Cebu Bloggers Society, Inc.
Four speakers were invited to provide their inputs on topics such as writing, content writing for the web, social media and online jobs.
Two of the speakers are from CBSi and the other two are from SunStar.
I could not elaborate the feeling of fulfillment after knowing the turnout of the event. Many bloggers attended though it didn’t reach the expected 40+ attendees.
Nevertheless, the event was a success, a proof that social media and blogging have a stronger presence in Cebu, instrumentally through the efforts of the bloggers of Cebu.
It would be bias for me to point out the success and other recognition that CBSi has made and carved in its milestones. But what I do know is that the bloggers of Cebu can have a brighter prospect for change and be recipients of opportunity-driven success by being proactive in the blogging and social media scenes in Cebu.
