www.edwinsoriano.com

Technopreneur’s Secrets Revealed

Today I went to the Entrepreneur Summit sponsored by the Manila Jaycees entitled: “Click: Technopreneur’s Secrets Revealed”. This year’s theme was about Technopreneurs. They featured an impressive set of speakers who created value in the entrepreneurial space through technology. Thanks to Anton Diaz, I got to attend the conference in his guest list.

Click: Technopreneur Secrets Revealed

I listened closely to Vince Golangco, the man behind “WhenInManila.com“. On his blog, he talks about things to do, places to visit when in Manila. He espoused creating an online brand. Your blog is your “calling card” or “resume” online as people often refer to your online presence to find out more about you.

Vince also discussed how videos can be very Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Entrepreneurship | No Comments »

Basic Blogging for Student Journalists

I was invited by Smart to give a presentation in Iloilo. It’s for a seminar workshop for student journalists. My talk was about: “Basic Blogging for student journalists.”

It was a good interactive presentation. Got people on their feet. Presented some case studies, many of which are close to my heart. And we got people thinking about what they can do as student journalists in the blogging space. We answered questions and I hope all these have helped the audience take home something useful and actionable.

Now sharing this presentation on Basic Blogging for Student Journalists.

This presentation provides case studies of how student journalists, professional journalists and citizen journalists can share their work through blogging.

Case studies include:

• The Guidon – student paper of Ateneo de Manila University www.theguidon.com
• The Philippine Online Chronicles – www.thepoc.net
• Juanvote – www.juanvote.com
• Citizen Journalist Ka Edong – www.edwinsoriano.com ; www.qik.com/ka_edong

The presentation ends with a discussion on specific questions from students in Region 6  – questions that will help them take action towards blogging as a student journalist or as a citizen.

Basic Blogging For Student Journalists

View more presentations from Edwin Ka Edong Soriano.

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Thank you Smart, PIA-6 and the students of Region 6. Bless you in your pursuit of truth and influence!

Best!

Edwin

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Find your Treasures and Rejoice!

Rejoice in your treasures. They are but temporary.
- I

How can I miss you if you don’t go away?
- from a song in a concert of the APO

Taking things for Granted

I was at Bonifacio High Street with my pamangkins Tracy, Nathalie and Julian. Julian grew up in San Francisco, was here for a visit and we were taking him around to see some of the beauty and reality of the Philippines.

At Bonifacio High Street, we took some photos of the giant Gummi Bear. I pointed out the “shadow” of the bear on the ground made with a darker shade of cement on the ground. I explained to Julian that the sculpture depicted what a real shadow would look like on a clear day.

Beneath the Shadows, Treasures

I continued to share to Julian a story about our guests from Intel China back in 2008. In Chengdu, China where our Intel counterparts were from, they had an overcast sky all year round. It was partly due to smog from the industrial plants in the area, and partly due to the natural climate of Chengdu.

When our Chinese counterparts flew in for a conference in Cavite on a February, we noticed how much they were enjoying the sunshine of the Philippines. They took pleasure in basking in the sun, and were delighted just seeing the clear blue sky with just a few clouds.

The clear blue sky – one of the wonderful treasures that many of us take for granted. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Heart Wellness | 2 Comments »

Positivity is All Around!

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my friends from Design Influence and their Spread the Positivity Campaign.

The Positivity is spreading, I can tell. Here’s a story about Positivity.

Two Saturdays ago, the day before the Milo Marathon, I had 3,000 flyers of Runners’ Runner printed out. I wanted to distribute them the next day at the Milo Marathon.

I went to Copylandia along Rufino, Makati. I wanted to leave the flyers behind and just retrieve them when I returned in the late evening. So I instructed the machine operator, Zaldy, to please leave the finished flyers at the building guard so I can come back for it in the evening.

To my dismay, when I went back in the evening, the flyers weren’t with the guard. Zaldy had forgotten to give them to the guard! Doink! I could have said “Oh F it! I’ll never go back to this shop in my entire lifetime!”

But I just said to myself: “Lesson learned: Next time I should call back to confirm that my flyers are ready.” We live, we learn. I went to the Milo marathon with just around 500 flyers and a little more creativity to compensate for the 3,000 flyers I didn’t have.

What’s interesting is the conversation I had with the machine operator, Zaldy on Monday morning. It was an SMS conversation and here’s how it went:

Zaldy: Good morning sir, si Zaldy ito. Sensya na po, ‘di ko po nai-labas yung flyers niyo nung sabado.

Edong: Oo nga eh. Sayang lang yun gpinagawa ko, ‘di ko na-distribute sa event ko.

I was texting this way because I wanted him to offer some considerations for my next transaction, like a discount or something.

And here was Zaldy’s response to which I was pleasantly surprised!

Zaldy: Okay lang yun, sir! Think Positive! May ibang events pa naman kayo, eh!

Panalo!!!!

The positivity is spreading! Thanks, perhaps to the Robin Padilla ad saying: “Walang Aayaw! Think Pasitib!”

Wahoo!

Posted in Mind Wellness | No Comments »

Thanking God All Day, Every Day

Last night, I was at the PSI Seminar, experiencing once again the seminar that changed my life one fateful weekend in 2007.

As we were doing an exercise, I found myself being described by my groupmates as “God-centered”. This isn’t among the top descriptions I would typically receive. But maybe through my words and through my actions, it just emanated. Where did it come from?

Gratitude Runeth Over

Gratitude Runneth Over - With Gratitude, blessings increase

Alam niyo, the past two months, I’ve been especially thankful to the Lord for the life I lead.

It started, perhaps, with being witness to Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Heart Wellness, Spirituality | 4 Comments »

Prison, Poetry, Freedom

“Dear Ma,
Today, I went to jail.”

I was invited to go to jail.

A friend, Gang Badoy (whom I met for the first time in person last Sunday) was visiting the Maximum Security prison in Muntinlupa and she asked me and a couple of friends to join us.

I gladly agreed to go to jail.

With my newfound freedom from employment, I now have the luxury to accept outrageous invitations like this. Oh, who could resist an opportunity to go to jail??!

The visitors: Gang, Leslie and Mike from RockEd; Jakob an anthropologist from Denmark; Tanya a childhood friend since grade 1 and her friend Laurel a Fil-Am writer based in New York; and Ka Edong, certified KAladkarin.

Prison Break-in

We entered through the imposing solid gates of the Maximum Security prison, got frisked for any banned paraphernalia (we had permission to bring just one camera, thus I have no photos from inside), got stamped on the wrist twice. I protected these marks on my wrist, it was my ticket to leave prison later in the day.

Welcome Stamp, Exit Stamp

I was entering the Maximum Security prison where inmates have a minimum of 20 years imprisonment.

But when we got in, Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Spirituality | No Comments »

Lifestyle change – less gastos, more meaningful rest

With the recent changes in my life and career, I knew I’d have to make corresponding changes in lifestyle.

Leaving Smart has created a significant reduction in my incoming cashflow. Thus, I’ve made a couple of decisions that will help me protect my finances from leaking away.

Many times in the past, I’ve allowed my cash to leak away in all sorts of expenses. We learn from our mistakes. If we don’t, the lesson is repeated until we do.

I am a Money Magnet (and I am not a leaking bucket)

So here goes a growing list of guidelines for some lifestyle changes I’m making.

• Eat at home more often – I used to have Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Financial Literacy | 1 Comment »

A short note of thanks

I got this note from a good ole friend from high school. Jodl was an org mate in our theater group, Sindi Katok. We were classmates in Chem 16 at UP Diliman in the class of Faye Jimenez ( wonder how “Ms.” Faye is).

Anyway, I received a message from Jodl via Facebook. He granted me permission to share his message on my blog.  So here goes …

From: Jodl Gayatin June 14 at 11:01pm

ENFP jodl in flight

Hi Eds,
I’ve been meaning to write you a short note.

In a lot of ways your note of that leap of faith comes in timely. I started  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Heart Wellness | No Comments »

The Smart Move. I am the Captain of My Ship!

In April 2010, I made a decision to move on from Smart and pursue my businesses and life passions. The decision came with a lot of excitement and a little bit of anxiety of the unknown (sometimes known as “fear”).

Allow me to share what I tell my friends when they ask me about this leap from a very secure and rewarding career in Smart to becoming an entrepreneur – my own boss, the captain of my ship.

ka edong in flight

Let me start by saying that I enjoyed my work a whole lot at Smart. I was involved in Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Career | 4 Comments »

May 2, A Celebration of Life

Today, I celebrated my 12th May 2 birthday.

Many people ask me, what’s the story behind my May 2 birthday? Here it is.

My pre-meditated “accidental” birthday

I joined the first batch of Gurong Pahinungod volunteer teachers in April, summer of 1998. Our group of 10 from UP Diliman, Baguio and Manila were taking courses at the college of Educ to prepare us for our year in the barrios.

On the first week of class, (in retrospect, probably on April 1) a sheet of paper was passed around to gather directory information. When I looked through the list, I noticed there wasn’t anybody celebrating his/her birthday that summer. Oh, that would have been a missed opportunity for bonding. I knew very well how birthday celebrations can bring together a team.

Fast forward to a month later (and it was reaaalllly fast). It was May 2 and Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Heart Wellness | No Comments »