Highlighted by talks on blogging, social media marketing, and the well-applauded late entrance of Mike Abundo, iBlog 7, I would like to think, was a huge success. I was only there for a short time during the first day when I gave my talk but I was able to spend most of the afternoon of the second day listening to the speakers and interacting with fellow bloggers and PR practitioners. There are some talks that I missed that I really wanted to hear though like Janette Toral’s “Is the Philippines ready for a National Blogging Association”. Hopefully they will be uploading videos of the speakers.
The Role of Social Media in Blogging/Social Media vs SEO
It was noticeable that the recurring theme of majority of the speakers was the importance of social media in blogging. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter can really drive a lot of traffic to your sites especially if you know how to properly leverage it. This point was driven home by multiple speakers. There was even a small but light debate between Fitz and some SEO specialists in the crowd. Fitz mentioned that without SEO blogs could grow through social media. Some SEO peeps assumed the Fitz was saying that SEO has no place in blogging and they tried to defend their craft. Er… Fitz wasn’t saying that SEO sucks. He just said that Social Media also plays a crucial role in blogging. I know a lot of bloggers who have little knowledge about SEO but they’re doing really well mainly because of alternative traffic generating techniques. SEO just follows after. Keywords are important but the keywords shouldn’t 100% dictate what you write. If that’s the case then you’re writing for Google and not your community. Like what I mentioned in my talk, blogging can’t be separated from social media because blogging IS social media. Social media is defined as any form of content that can be shared online – a photo, video, or a whole blog post.
Reconnecting with Friends; making new ones
Another important highlight of iBlog7 for me was that I was able to reconnect with some blogger friends and meet new ones as well. One of the most touching moments during the first day was when I bumped into Sonnie Santos. He prayed over me and asked God to give me grace and guidance as I do my work at TV5. That really meant a lot. 
It was also nice seeing Noemi, Jane, Marcelle, and a host of other bloggers. While I know a lot of bloggers I consider only a few genuine friends. You know, the ones that you sincerely and seriously have relationships with. Much love to these people (you know who you are).
Here are a few casual photos during the second day:
Will upload other photos on my Facebook Page.
Roby Alampay, our EIC for InterAksyon.Com, also gave a talk during the morning of the second day. I highly encourage that you guys check out our news site. It’s one of the best news sites you’ll ever see.
I’ll upload the presentation I gave tomorrow (Sunday) and I’ll try to expound more on the 10 Power Blogging Tips through additional entries here at New Media PH. Thank you iBlog 7 for inviting me as a speaker. Thank you also to all the sponsors of the event, especially TV5, hehe.
If you’re a blogger and you’ve never been into an iBlog event, I strongly urge you to attend next year. You will meet new friends and learn a lot about blogging. Panalo diba?
Hi Carlo, I truly enjoyed your talk. Learned a lot. Wish I had introduced myself personally.
Thank you so much Carlo for sharing your knowledge at the event and for having TV5 support #iblog7. More power to you!
Great seeing you at iBlog7, Carlo! You’re right, SEO and social media are both solid traffic drivers. SEO drives traffic through the information graph, while social media drives traffic through the social graph. You shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Carlo, maraming salamat sa talk mo. I learned a lot and it also gave me confidence to market my bog. ^_^
Hi Carlo, it was great to meet you at the iBlog7. Your talk – and meeting you – was one of the highlights for me; the other was winning an iBlog7 shirt, LOL. I was the one who asked regarding your mentoring offer, and I look forward to the session you said you might hold for all the 300 who actually wanted to be coached. I appreciate that you’ve chosen to accommodate everybody, at least through that class of sorts. All the best!
Congratulations Carlo for the great talk… I’m looking forward to downloading the Powerpoint proposal template you mentioned.
On a side note, I’ve found a resource on how to somehow quantify your Foursquare tip referrals here: http://tametheweb.com/2011/01/27/using-foursquare-to-reach-new-audiences/
Ooh, I thought Kel wasn’t able to go. Glad to see he was able to make it.
how come i’ve never heard of this event?! where have I been?! Hirap talaga kapag nasa bundok ka hehe!
SEO is good but if you’re too much concentrated on keyword and stuff, you’ll end up writing trashy contents.
“Hopefully they will be uploading videos of the speakers.”
- YES PLEASE!!! I really wanted to go but couldn’t. Hoping I could have even just a glimpse of all their learnings in this event so it can help me in coming up with blog campaigns. Thanks for sharing this article, Carlo!
Hi Carlo, again you did a nice job with your talk.. Idol! Anyway it was a pleasure listening to you speak on stage and talking to you personally..