The theme of this year’s PBA is One Blogging Nation.

For us in the South, it was decided by the MBC core group, along with the bloggers of CDO, to hold PBA-Mindanao in Cagayan de Oro City, on the same day as the 3rd Mindanao Bloggers Summit. What this means is, there will be special awards exclusively for Mindanaoan blogs (the same is true for Visayas blogs). There are four special awards for Mindanao:

Mindanao Advocacy Blog

In line with the objectives of the Mindanao Bloggers Community, the Best Advocacy Blog is a blog that exemplifies how an online publication can bring a worthy cause to the consciousness of a broad audience. It is a blog that inspires its readers to take action and participate in an ongoing discussion of the issues at hand. Special points go to blogs that promote the best and true images of Mindanao.

Mindanao PhotoBlog

The Best PhotoBlog is one that brings the most beautiful images of Mindanao to the fore. It is a blog that evokes passion and inspiration, and clearly shows the blogger’s love for Mindanao. However, it must not be a site that harbors untrue or doctored images that lie about the true nature of Mindanao’s land and people.

Uniquely Mindanao Blog

This blog, as soon as it is viewed, is clearly identifiable as being from and about Mindanao. It evokes a feeling of belongingness among Mindanao readers, and an appreciation and understanding of what Mindanao truly is among non-Mindanaoan readers. The Uniquely Mindanao Blog champions the objectives of the Mindanao Bloggers Community, and contributes to the realization of these goals.

Mindanao Destination Blog

Beyond being merely a blog geared towards tourism, the Best Destination Blog strongly represents the locale (city, town, region) that the bloggers writes about. This blog is passionate about the promotion of his or her chosen locale for tourism and/or business, and publishes news and opinion articles for a well-rounded view of the destination.

To be considered for the PBA, you must nominate your own blog; or, you can recommend a blog for nomination. The process is quick and painless. Just submit your blog and follow the instructions. (There is one glitch, though: if you want to nominate more than one blog, you must use a different email address for each submission.)

There are many, many deserving blogs out there. Mindanao bloggers can certainly win in the PBA Major Categories, too, but let’s nominate blogs that deserve to win in the special Mindanao Awards categories. This is very much in line with the MBC’s objectives: to bring out blog content from Mindanao out into the open.

The deadline for submission of nominations for Mindanao and Visayas special awards has been extended to the 27th of August 2009.

As you might see, MindanaoBloggers.com is again on the list of the Philippines Top 100 Blogs by Blog Juice. Janette has chosen Blog Juice to measure blogs’ ranks. Our community blog’s nutritional value is 3.6 — I gather this is pretty high. And in Janette’s list, we’re at #20!


[Read the rest here...]

1. For the winners of Bitstop please contact me so i’ll hand you the coupon nor gift certificate personally. Lets set a date. Leave a comment here.
2. Paradise Philippines (hosting only) – contact me so i can right away create your account and update your Domain Name NS to my servers:
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3. Nokiahost – email support at nokiahost dot com. Just refer this post to them to verify you are really the winners.

Bitstop Network Services coupon:

hosting & domain
1. Francis-blogmein.blogspot.com

domain:
1. Sweet Balucanag
2. Marie Chris Cadenas
3. Charles Ortiz

hosting only:
1. mitchell espina

Paradise Philippines hosting only:

1. mico
2. Winston
3. Mark (kidapawan)
4. Michael
5. Ria

NoKiAHOST.com

Hosting w/ Domain Names:
1. Bryan D. Baltazar
2. Dulce Rose P. Lada

Nokia Domain only:
1. Kiwi Bulaclac
2. Isis D. Lahora

This is only the name on my lists. For correction please do contact us right away.

As of today, there are 182 blogs listed in the Mindanao Blog Directory. This means that you have that many blogs to choose from for your review. If you’d like to get your Mindanao-related blog reviewed by anyone among the huge number of this site’s visitors, get yourself listed in the Directory now!

Only blogs of Mindanaoans are accepted into the Directory. However, there is a special category called “Mindanao Lovers” for those who blog about Mindanao but are not from the Philippine South.

During the Summit, I got some confused queries about the Directory’s structure. Ok, it’s like this. You’re supposed to list your blog under the city or province that you’re from. Or, if you’re not from Mindanao but live in, say, Cagayan de Oro City, then you’d submit your blog to the Misamis Oriental category. Drill down from the root directory to the appropriate category and click on the “Submit your blog here »” link.

If you have any questions regarding YGB!, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line.

This blogging contest is being sponsored by the DigitalFilipino.com Club.

In behalf of Andrew, Dominique, Jun, Kim, Migs, Ria — my friends in The Usual Suspects — and Councilor Peter Laviña, whose idea it was that set everything in motion, I would like to send out warm greetings to all of those who attended the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit. Each one of you made MBS1 a success! Thank you very much!

We are also very grateful to two people who selflessly contributed their talent: Eric, for creating the event’s spectacular “splash image” that you see above (I think the stage backdrop was the most photographed item at the Summit!); and Jehz, who designed the event’s image link. A very special shoutout to the MBS1 volunteers, who made it so much easier for the organizers to run the show from start to finish: Winston, Jenny, Ryan, Johnny, Christian and Gwing. Maraming, maraming salamat!!

We would also like to show our appreciation to Nico Alconaba and Jeffrey Tupas of The Philippine Daily Inquirer, and to Leah Bugtay of the ACT for Peace Programme for assisting us in the formulation of the Summit’s Resolution.

Our resource speakers, who graciously contributed their time and energy and knowledge, were a source not only of information, but also of inspiration. Our deepest gratitude goes to Fr. Albert, Mindanao Bob, Jayvee, Yuga and Marc. Thanks to Aileen and Matt for taking the time to send us their video greetings!

The speakers really went out of their way to be part of MBS1. In fact, our friends from Manila paid for their own airfare and accommodation! But more than that, each speaker gave of himself in order for the body to realize the Summit’s objectives. Once more, thank you!

To our generous sponsors, you’ve all been wonderful! We couldn’t have put together such a memorable event without your help. Thank you very much, and we do hope that we have fulfilled our obligations faithfully.

Speaking of which, one of the sponsors, who chose the anchor text “Web Developer Philippines“, told me that his search engine ranking improved directly due to the links provided by MindanaoBloggers.com and the Summit participants.

I would like to personally thank Bert Barriga of NCCC Mall for the generous accommodation that he has afforded me and the organizers and participants of MBS1. Bert is a troubleshooter par excellence!

Until the next blogging event in Mindanao, we remain

Today, Jehzeel Laurente submitted no less than five YGB! entries, reviewing the following blogs: Dabawenya Jud!, Aice Nice Concepts, Itanong Mo Kay Jemme, Batang Yagit, and Davao WiFi Hotspots. Way to go, Jehz!

That brings us to a total of 12 entries in the YGB! Review-a-Blog competition. For a complete list, please click here. As previously stated, this contest will run until 14 December 2007.

Blog on!

Halos isa’t kalahating dekada na ang nakalilipas mula nang mag-aplay ako sa isang training program para sa mga kabataang propesyunal upang maging ganap na social development worker. May trabaho na ako sa Baguio noon bilang isang Assistant Project Manager for Training sa isang Foundation, pero hindi ko maintindihan kung ano nga ba ang tunay kong papel sa adhikain ng Foundation, at higit sa lahat, ang kaugnayan ko bilang isang mamamayan sa pagpapaunlad ng ating bansang naghihikahos. Dahil sa kagustuhan kong magkaroon ng higit na malalim at malawak na kaalaman sa development work, at sa paghikayat ng aking manager na may malalim na karanasan sa pag-oorganisa ng pamayanan, sumali ako sa programang iyon. Dumaan ako sa proseso ng pagpili ng mga kabataang propesyunal sa buong Pilipinas upang mapabilang sa programang ito. Naging mapalad akong napabilang sa mga shortlisted o mga kandidato. Dala-dala ang aking kredensiyal, ang aking kaunting karanasan sa community development (pagpapaunlad ng pamayanan), lakas ng loob, at mahaba at matinding dasal, tumulak ako patungong Manila. Sa Manila, haharapin ko ang isang pagsusulit sa harap ng mga piling dalubhasa sa community development o mga taong haligi ng mga non-government organizations (NGO) sa buong Pilipinas.

Sa harap ng panel, ibinigay ko ang lahat ng lakas at ipinaliwanag ko ang aking nalalaman tungkol sa pakikisalamuha sa mga tao, ang papel sa kasalukuyang trabaho, at ang aking hangad na maging mas epektibo sa pagtulong sa mga mahihirap lalo na kung ako ay magkakaroon ng higit at malawak na kaalaman sa pagpapaunlad ng pamayanan. Sa palagay ko, walang tanong na hindi ko sinagot nang tama. Simple lang naman pala ang mga tanong. Natuwa ako sa nangyari. Lumabas ako sa board room nang may ngiti sa aking mga labi. Pero ang ngiting iyon ay panandalian lamang.

READ FULL ARTICLE

Review on “Alternat1ve Energy”

This is the very first submission, written by Victor Uba, who reviewed Marc Javellana’s alternative-energy blog.

Review : New*Davao A city arises

Doris Calceña reviewed Shealthiel Oczon’s blog, which forms part of a growing number of blogs that aim to promote the city of Davao.

Mandaya Moore-Orlis:Blogged and Reviewed

A review by Jessica Madrazo of the unapologetically gay blog of Mandaya Moore, who will remain anonymous… for now. (By the way, can anyone guess why Mandaya’s “married” name is Orlis?)

You Got Blogged: Jemme

Itanong Mo Kay Jemme is a blog that is entertainingly informative. Review by Winston Almendras.

My Review on Wyzemoro Blogs

Hector Miñoza provides a fresh perspective on the often intense nature of Jun Macarambon’s Wyzemoro blog.

Nine (9) more weeks to go for the You Got Blogged! Review-a-Blog competition! I’d like to invite more people to come and join this review-writing project. Help us get the word out about the blogs of Mindanao.

Our contest sponsor: Join the DigitalFilipino.com Club!

We’re trying to get more Mindanao blogs listed in the Directory. There are still quite a number of provinces with no listings. I’m happy to announce, though, that we’ve just had our first blog submissions from Sultan Kudarat and from Zamboanga City. Davao City has the most number of blogs registered, but I’m surprised that there are only 2 from Cagayan de Oro City (Misamis Oriental). When I was there last June, I had the impression that there were more bloggers out there — for one, they do have more SEO practitioners there than in Davao.

For Mindanaoan and Mindanao-based bloggers out there, don’t forget to submit your blogs to the Mindanao Blog Directory, to get a chance to have your blogs reviewed by competition participants. If your blog’s reviewer wins in the competition, you (as the owner of the reviewed blog) will also win a prize!

Of course, you may join the You Got Blogged! review-writing contest as well. But please don’t review your own blog.

Remember, the competition runs until the 10th of October, so you still have lots of time! But don’t take too long…

Step 1

• Browse the Mindanao Blog Directory, and choose a blog that you’d like to review.

Step 2

• Write a 300- to 400-word review of the blog you’ve chosen. Be thorough yet concise. You may use English, Tagalor or Visayan (Cebuano) to write your review.

• Don’t forget to cite the source! Link to the blog you are reviewing from your post.

• Make sure that you include the required footer at the end of your review post. This is how it looks like:

This is an entry to the
You Got Blogged!
DigitalFilipino.com / MindanaoBloggers.com Review-a-Blog Competition.

Join the DigitalFilipino.com Club!

On 27 October 2007, come to Davao City for the
1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit!

• Post your review to your own blog.

Step 3

• Go to http://mindanaobloggers.com/events/review-a-blog/#pform to submit your entry. Please fill out all the necessary fields, and make sure that the URL of your post is correct. Inaccessible posts will not be included in the competition.

• That’s it!

As soon as your entry is verified, it will appear on the entries page.

Remember: each participant may review up to 5 different blogs. And each blog in the Directory may be reviewed by up to a maximum of 15 different bloggers. For the You Got Blogged! competition guidelines, please refer to this page.

Good luck!!!