While preparing to go to bed after a long day, I just realized that I’ve attended two Wordcamp firsts: the first Wordcamp in Australia (Wordcamp Melbourne 2007), and the first Wordcamp in Southeast Asia (Wordcamp Philippines 2008. Darn you Beijing for holding one last year; it would’ve been first in Asia!)

Smug declarations aside, I’m pretty happy with today’s programs. Hands down, it was one of the BEST blog events of 2008. Wordpress is something all the participants were passionate about, and you can really see how much bloggers are interested in learning more about this powerful blogging platform. There was an eclectic mix of participants - newbies, probloggers, personal bloggers, developers, designers. All the breakaway sessions were well attended (because they’re all interesting), and the afternoon’s plenary session was especially interesting because it was when Matt Mullenweg delivered his State of the Word address and had a short Q&A session with the campers. I think Matt was amused at how we love to take photos and took plenty of shots of campers taking a picture of him.

Matt and his fans

 
Then there was the serious business of camwhoring after the program We all posed for a class picture with Matt, then the Wordcamp organizers and volunteers had their photos taken with the huge backdrop. Then comes the jumpshots. Matt was so amused by all of it, that he had to join the other photographers in taking photos and joining the organizers eventually. Almost everybody wanted a photo with Matt, and he willingly obliged to each request, even chatting up the groups who came up to him for a photo.

I guess that’s one of the reasons why this was such a fun event: Matt was so easy going and friendly. Despite his popularity and status, he remains down to earth. It really was such an honor to meet a person like Matt Mullenweg.

Wordcamp Philippines Organizers and Volunteers

Of course, a big part of why this event was one of the best ever are the organizers. I have to hand it to the Mindanao Bloggers; they really worked hard for Wordcamp Philippines, and it paid off. I was watching them work while I was waiting (because I arrived way too early), and I saw every volunteer doing their assigned tasks, and all the leaders working with them, instead of just ordering people around. That, my friends, is the recipe for a great event

Looking forward to Wordcamp Philippines 2009!
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4:46 pm

Matt is winding down the session with the Q&A session. Battery’s running out so this is probably my last update (and I’m getting lazy). Watch out for the proper WordCamp post later!

2:57 pm

It’s Ms. Google Earth Philippines, Aileen Apolo! She’s going to talk about Google Analytics. Woohoo! The crowd got really excited when she took out a Google shirt.

2:24 PM

Matt has the most awesome e-mail address, and I thought his url was already cool. Ria had a fan girl moment

1:59 pm

What’s this in the slide?? WordPress 2.7! It looks awesome! The Dashboard has been reorganized. It’s intuitive, you can even drag and drop the panels in the edit page! You can easily download and install themes and plugins right in your Wordpress admin panel. How awesome is that? We’d all have to wait until November though. But still… YAY for WP2.7!

1:48 pm

I won a Php500 Gift certificate from Italianni’s! But enough of that… it’s Matt’s turn on the stage! First thing he did was to take a photo of the Wordcampers!

1:28 pm

Lunch is done (thank you, Chowking!), and we’re just waiting for the afternoon’s plenary session.

Jeff and his cupcake

12:07 am

Apart from the overly technical stuff, this is really quite interesting. Specially since I need it for work and freelance projects. I’m really impressed at the sites Karla showed us that uses Wordpress as their CMS. They really doesn’t look like your typical wordpress blogs! Impressive.

11:50 am

Nosebleeding at Karla’s session. Should’ve gone to the presscon (g_doh)

11:31 am

The SEO session was PACKED. Eric and I are now inside Karla’s session, Wordpress as CMS.

11:19 am

We were late to join the other breakaway session, so we’re just hanging around the CSB halls. But at least we have pictures with Matt Mullenweg!

With Matt Mullenweg

Second breakaway session is over. Moving on to Wordpress & SEO!

10:42 am

Gail’s session is winding down. Important lesson: Don’t use your theme to spam! Oh, and while it’s often overlooked, it’s also important to edit your image.php and 404.php files.

9:59 am

Gail showed her work on the Pinoy Adventure Blog’s theme. Ang ganda!

PinoyAdventureblog.com

9:53 am

Gail’s talk is starting. She’s walking around the front of the theatre, wearing her Ateneo jacket. Kamusta naman.

Fritz, Gail, AJ and Hana

9:39 am

Migs is giving a run down of the day’s schedule. The two tracks will divide in a bit. I’m attending Gail’s talk on Creating WordPress Themes & CSS Power. A new travel blog will be unveiled.

9:36 am

Blogie is now addressing the campers and welcomed Matt Mullenweg.

9:31 am

Opening remarks by De La Salle Benilde Dean Benhur Ong of the School of Management and Information Technology.

9:29 am

Wordcamp is starting!

9:23 am

Still not starting. They said the program’s going to start in two minutes a couple of minutes ago. I’ve finally met Estan, on my way to the loo. Nggh, forgot to take a photo *face palm*

8:27 am

People are trickling in. I’m seeing many familiar faces, but there are plenty of new faces as well. All around me are people taking about variable widths, widgets, header.php, upgrading to Wordpress 2.6.1. My being an early bird got me a cute Wordpress button!

Mica and Arpee

7:23 am

I’m early. So early lol. I take comfort in knowing that I’m already the 3rd camper to arrive. The volunteers (save for the Rockstar Fritz Tentativa are hard buzzing about, making last minute preparations. The WC volunteers look spiffy in their black WordCamp Philippines shirt.

The Rockstar with his LG Secret phone.

 
I shall be updating this post throughout the day (or at least when I can remember), with the latest updates appearing at the top of the page. Here’s to hoping I actually pay attention and not Plurk all day!

P.s. The Fritz is now working.

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I attended my first Wordcamp in Melbourne, and I’m looking forward to attending my second one right here in Manila, Philippines!

The Wordcamp is a gathering of Wordpress users and enthusiasts to talk about… Wordpress. Sounds utterly geeky, no? But I’m terribly excited about this. Wordcamp Philippines is on the 6th of September at the College of St. Benilde Taft Ave., Manila. I had my heart set on finally attending the yaoi convention, but alas, Wordpress beckons! I have to surpress my inner BL fangirl for a year more *strikes tragic pose*

Wordcamp Philippines is organized by the Mindanao Bloggers, and is made possible by the following sponsors:

• i.PH: the Domain for Individuals
• Free Online Flash Games
• Wazzup Manila Philippines
• Real Estate CRM
• Real Estate Website Designers
• Orange County Real Estate
• Auto Insurance Quotes
• Lane Systems Inc.
• RedMedia
• Orange County Business Lawyer
• Cebu Pacific Air
• Buddy Gancenia Reality TV
• SmartBro Wireless Broadband
• SPOT.ph
• Make Money with Performancing Ads

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I seemed to have come to Melbourne at a great time - Priscilla the Musical is still on going, one of my favorite travel writer Peter Moore is launching his latest book in Australia, and the event I attended last Saturday, WordCamp Melbourne.

WordCamp is a gathering of Wordpress users talking about (you guessed it) Wordpress and blogging. Among the speakers were Alex Shiels of Automattic (who quite succinctly told us how big Wordpress is), James Farmer of Edublogs (who organized WCM07 and quite a jolly person), Darren Rowse of Problogger.net (how can this be a blogging event without Mr. Rowse? He’s a very nice, down to earth guy, by the way, and he even granted my odd request of posing with my Pinky St doll), Christine Davis of Neato.co.nz (developer of the Ultimate Tag Warrior, which I’m currently using), and Alister Cameron, the self-proclaimed blogologist (who was wearing a TinTin in Vietnam t-shirt, which had me racking my brains whether TinTin ever went to Vietnam).

Darren Rowse mentioned in passing that Melbourne bloggers have been talking about having one of these gatherings for a long time, and this is the first time it has pushed through. Also, when I asked him if he gives talks on blogging a lot, he said he gets invited to talk overseas, but hardly in Australia.

Apart from the talks given by the speakers, there were also round table discussions, where in participants get to talk among themselves regarding a topics pertaining to Wordpress or blogging. Topics like choosing a blogging platform, selling plugins, online reputation management, themes, and blogging as new media. I joined the plugins table, reputation management and new media.

The online reputation management discussion was facilitated by Gerry McCusker, a Public Relations Analyst. We discussed how organizations can optimize blogs for better public relations. I found myself drifting off at certain points, thinking of how certain individuals can hurt their reputation through online self-publishing.

When the time came for the last round table, I eagerly headed to the table set for the new media discussion. Disappointingly, there were only three of us there. Hmmm, as I told Gerry, who was also at the table, this table would’ve been full had it been in Manila.

Overall, it was a great, enlightening event. I was able to see the “blog culture” in Melbourne, and how people are utilizing it. It was great to meet people with such passion for blogging. Oh, and Lucio, too bad you left early…you could’ve won a Wordpress shirt

Pictures from WordCamp Melbourne

Darren Rowse talking about how to make money by blogging

Alister Cameron telling us about all the fun to be had with Sandbox

James Farmer sharing his trick for increasing your multi-user blog from 1 to 1,000

Christine Davis differentiating between tags and categories

The panel of speakers with Alex Shiels answering question from the audience

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