DO you have a blog? If you don’t, are you planning to make one? Well, whatever your answer is, you might want to sit down and think about it for a bit. Last September 21, TomasinoWeb held an event titled “BlogCon: Reinvent Your Theme” that encouraged bloggers and enthusiasts to rethink and reevaluate blogging.
Guiding the participants were speakers who are bloggers themselves. Actress Saab Magalona, the keynote speaker, discussed about “Finding Your Purpose to Blog.” She highlighted that as a blogger, you must be true to your identity as this will help in your content. “You have to think of your mission whenever you blog,” Magalona said. She also added that knowing what to blog is one thing, keeping the thought flowing is another.
TomasinoWeb Blogs Editor Joan Dino continued with Campus Blogging. She also showed the audience the know-how of setting up a blog in the Blog Styling segment. From picking the website to setting the theme for your blog, the discussion helped in showing your character in the looks of your site.
Next up was Blooey Singson for Book Reviews. She shared some of her personal touches and tips on books as well as notes on being unprejudiced when giving reviews, whether we like it or not. During the panel discussion, Singson also gave away some books for those who asked questions.
Never the Strangers vocalist Ace Libre shared his insights in Music Review. Libre reminded everyone that different people have different ears and tastes in music. Aside from giving tips in writing a music review, he shared a few tricks of the trade.
Tiara Aracama took on Inspirational Blogging, saying that your inspirational blog should be comforting, relatable, and positive yet personal. She also shared the microphone with Sarah Carlos, one of the girls featured in her blog “31 Girls,” to inspire everyone that even if problems come, someone will always listen to us. Just have faith.
Noks Sosa discussed on Cultural and Arts Blogging, reminding us to not only to remember our cultural roots and heritage, but also to see blogging as an outlet for advocacy and a venue to develop ourselves as artists.
Marc Ho a.k.a. Bogart the Explorer took the stage for Travel Blogging… or “vlogging,” as he fondly called it. He stressed out that even if you have to budget when travelling, you don’t forget about fun! You travel and blog just for the fun of it, but if you’re lucky, who knows, you might get paid to do both.
Speaking last is fashion photographer Bjorn Bedayo for Photo Blogging. He delivered his talk while showing some of his previous works as well as sharing few tips on photo editing, demonstrating tricks other photographers do.
The event was co-presented by Urban Smiles. It was also made possible by Red Images Inc., Orange Soda, and ShakeItUp Premium Milkshakes; with media partners WhenInManila.com, MadHouseMNL, and Tomasian Cable Television – TOMCAT; and partner organizations Benildean Press Corps, Far Eastern University Advocate, and Association of Information Management-College of Saint Benilde.
By Antonio Mari F. Cochico
Photo by Alvin John R. Torno