GenSan News Online Mag and Ganda Ever So Much! together with Sox Bloggers present BLOGFEST SOCCSKSARGEN 2.0. It will be held on November 26, 2011 from 8 am – 5 pm in General Santos City.

The Blogfest will focus on “The Emergence of Blogs and Social Media.” Bloggers, social media users, students, IT enthusiasts, and everybody else are invited to join this event.

In the evening, the Philippine Blog Awards for Mindanao 2011 will be held at 7 pm.

If you have registered, display your Blogfest Soccsksargen 2.0 badge now. Get your widget from this link.

See you in Gen San!

Tuka Bay Marine Sanctuary in Sarangani Province

Mindanao New Media is once again holding the “This is #Mindanao” Campaign.

All bloggers and social media users are invited to join the campaign that aims to present a better and more balanced view of Mindanao.

Whether you’re from Mindanao or not, we invite you to publish a blog entry, photo album, Tweet, FB Status Update, etc with the #mindanao hashtag. It can also be a post on Tumblr, Piclyf, Flickr, YouTube, etc. Your post can be positive or negative, as long as it’s about Mindanao and it’s truthful and fair. It does not have to be about entire Mindanao, it can be about a specific city, town, or province. It can be about tourism, politics, personalities, arts and culture, food, etc. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #mindanao.

We do not deny nor do we aim to cover up the sad and ugly parts of Mindanao. We only wish to present a better, more faithful, honest, and balanced view of Mindanao, the real Mindanao, the Mindanao we love.

Selected entries will be linked from and featured on the Mindanao New Media blog. There’s no deadline but we hope you can publish within a month from now. If you want to be featured, please post your link and your full name as a comment on this post or send the information to riajose@gmail.com.

#mindanao

Five of the most memorable experiences will be featured on the Downsouth website (http://www.downsouthmindanao.com) each month with a backlink to the contributor’s website or blog. Featured contributors will also get prizes and will be listed as guest authors of the site.

To share your Experience Mindanao contribution, submit a 150-500 words article or a photograph with a caption to downsouthmindanao@yahoo.com.ph. Your article may talk about people, places, adventures, arts and culture, livelihood, food or just about anything that made your experience in Mindanao satisfying and a memorable one.

For more information visit Downsouth’s website at http://www.downsouthmindanao.com or add them on Facebook.

Link to the Position Paper: Position Paper re NTC’s Broadband Capping

Link to the online petition: No to broadband cap, yes to better internet in the Philippines

Your input, comments, and suggestions are solicited.

You are also free to embed or publish this position paper in your blogs and other sites.

The Filipino Boxing Journal

Mindanao New Media is proud to congratulate Kenneth Ragpala of Cagayan de Oro Bloggers who bagged a trophy from the Philippine Blog Awards 2010 for the Filipino Boxing Journal as the Best Blog in the Sports. A well-deserved award for a well-made blog. Again, congratulations to Kenneth for getting the Best Blog in Sports!

Ria Jose of Life with Ria also got a Special Award for her Podcast 6: Being Friends with the Ex which was named one of the Top Video Posts and Podcasts for 2010.

May these two awards inspire other Mindanaoan bloggers to work harder and blog excellently.

Congratulations to Kenneth, Ria, and the other hard-working Mindanaoans who bagged awards from the PBA National and PBA Mindanao 2010! May your tribe increase.

Soccsksargen Bloggers has hosted MBS 2, the Mindanao Food Appreciation Tour 2009: Soccsksargen Summer Safari, and other bloggers events and workshops. Needless to say, the group has been successful in spreading the good news about their region. And have fun while they’re at it.

To get to know more and learn from Soccsksargen Bloggers, join their upcoming Blogfest Soccsksargen 2010.

Dubbed, BLOGFEST SoCCSKSarGen 2010, the event will bring together bloggers from all over the Philippines.

Lead organizer Avel Manansala writes, “Our initial lineup (of speakers) includes a couple of experts flying in from the USA, Manila, Davao and Zamboanga.”

The SoCCSKSarGen Bloggers is a community of bloggers from South Cotabato, Cotabato Province, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City who promote Mindanao through blogs and social media.

Island Garden City of Samal, Davao del Norte, Philippines

Mindanao New Media, along with its member organizations, is spearheading the “Philippines” Online Campaign. Inspired by past Philippine tourism campaigns and our country’s beauty and unique features, we encourage all members of the group and other bloggers and social media users to post online anything online that will highlight the good things about our country. To unify all posts, we encourage you to use the #Philippines hashtag. This is similar to the “This is Mindanao” campaign we did last year using the #mindanao hashtag.

You don’t have to publish a blog post about it. You can simply post a photo, a video, an audio clip, a trivia or tip, or even just a link about anything unique to the Philippines. It can be a tourist destination, a food or dish, or a shopping find. Food bloggers can post about Filipino food, dishes, or restaurants; beauty and fashion bloggers can post about beauty products or shopping finds from the Philippines or Filipino designers; entertainment bloggers can blog about their favorite Filipino film, song or artist; sports bloggers can post about Filipino athletes. You may also talk about Filipino pride, Filipino celebrities, and other things that are uniquely Filipino.

You can do this in your blog, FB account, Plurk, Twitter, PicLyf, YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, or any social media account that you have. Just remember to use the tag or hashtag #Philippines.

There is something each one of us can contribute to help the the country have positive image online that will attract tourists and investors. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the best beach or the most beautiful sunrise, it just has to be uniquely Filipino. The more posts, the better. A single post cannot sufficiently summarize all the wonderful things about this beautiful country of ours and its talented people. So we need everybody to help. No contribution is too small.

I’m sure we’re all proud of the Philippines. And proud to be Filipinos.

Padayon Mindanao! Padayon Philippines!

Here are some sample posts:

• Babu Santa
• Pakbet
• Sashimi

Mindanao New Media would like to congratulate the awardees in the recently concluded Philippine Blog Awards for Mindanao 2010.

Congratulations to:

• Best Beauty and Fashion Blog: GET PRETTIFIED by Brendel Balaga (Davao)
• Best Food and Beverage Blog: KUSINA MARIA by Ria Jose (Davao)
• Best Lifestyle Blog: MINDANAOAN by Irene A (Bukidnon)
• Best Personal Blog: GANDA EVER SO MUCH by Orman Manansala (Soccsksargen)
• Best Photoblog: P&S PHOTOGRAPHY by Charmie Tamba (Zamboanga)
• Best Technology Blogs: ALLEBA BLOG by Andrew dela Serna (Davao) and SOMETHING GEEKY by Faust Principe (Davao)
• Best Travel and Destination Blog: GENSAN NEWS ONLINE MAG by Avel Manansala (Soccsksargen)

The Mindanao New Media group would also like to congratulate the finalists for the different categories:

Beauty and Fashion

Get Prettified
Shoppingera
Women Treats – Treats for Women

Food and Beverage

A Scientist in the Kitchen
Kusina Maria
Miss Vanilla
Tastecaster

Lifestyle

In Cagayan de Oro
Mindanaoan
My Davao City

Personal

Empowered Mom
Ganda Ever So Much
ianSTAR.
Life with Ria Jose
Markable
On Technology, Food, & Travel by Jerome Locson
Pitik Bulag
Travels and Tours

Photoblog

Charmie Tamba P&S Photography
Davao Photo
Roark Masbad Photography

Technology

Alleba Blog
Games and Gadgets
Orion Web Design and Search Engine Optimization
Padd Solutions
Something Geeky
Technomaria

Travel and Destination

Andrew’s Travels
Bukidnon Online
DavaoBase
eskapo
gensan news online mag
Hola Zamboanga
Outdoor Adventures Travel Guide Directory Philippines
Promding Chamimay
Vacation Leave

CONGRATULATIONS! May we all continue to present the true and real Mindanao.

Photos by Leah Valle. Collage by Orman Manansala.

Summer Safari Participants at Dolores Farm Resort

Day 2 of the Mindanao Food Appreciation Tour: Soccsksargen Summer Safari (MFAT1) started early as the participants left their comfy rooms at the Ice Castle Experience for a long day of adventure, food, and friendship.

First stop was the Dolores Farm Resort where the participants had a yummy healthy breakfast of bangus and tilapia. A serving of hot native tsokolate was also enjoyed by all.

Participants' Orientation

Another highlight of the visit was a tour of the resort’s mini-zoo. After some reminders and an orientation of the day’s activities, the group set out to go on their next adventure.

Participants Enjoying the Seven Falls in Lake Sebu

Next stop in the itinerary is the Seven Falls in Lake Sebu. The participants briefly toured the resort and vowed to return after lunch time to experience the resort’s famous zipline which traverses through six of the seven falls.

Lake Sebu

We headed to Punta Isla Lake Resort for some down time and lunch.

Before lunch was served, the participants convened led by Avel and Orman of the Soccsksargen Bloggers, Ria Jose of Davao Bloggers, and Chiq Montes of CDO Bloggers. The group decided to form Mindanao New Media (MNM). With MNM bloggers, social networking enthusiasts, digital photographers, filmmakers, and other members of new media can collaborate on projects together to present the real Mindanao to the world. (If you’re interested in joining us, you can do that at this LINK.)

Tilapia-fest at Punta Isla Lake Resort

After a productive meeting while munching on muffins from Rolee’s Bakeshop, the participants headed to the dining hall where a spread of various yummy dishes was prepared for them. There was Chicken Binakol, Kinilaw, Deep Fried Tilapia with kropek, and Grilled Tilapia. Everybody was full after the meal.

We all settled down for some rest time as some of the participants prepared to return to the Seven Falls for their zipline adventure. The CDO Bloggers had the time of their life zipping through the best view of the six falls. Check out this video that Goma made chronicling their MFAT adventures highlighting their zipline experience:

MFAT Summer Safari in Mindanao from goma on Vimeo.

The rest of us who didn’t go ziplining proceeded to Merl’s Garden Resort. There was a mini-zipline there which some of the participants also tried and enjoyed. It was the first zipline experience for some of them.

Refreshing Pandan Shake

While waiting for those who went ziplining to catch up, we had some very yummy drinks at Carlo Ebeo‘s Sa Balai Bistro where we were served freshly brewed coffee, Mulberry Iced Tea, and Pandan Shake. It was a very good way to refresh on a tiring and hot day. And Sa Balai Bistro provided a nice, cozy, comfy place for the participants to mingle and get to know each other more.

After the zipliners have caught up with us, we headed to our final destination: The Red Tent Steakhouse.

Baby Back Ribs at The Red Tent Steakhouse

Owners Dexter and Dina Dumaran with their uncle Gilbert Tan prepared awesome stuff for dinner which we didn’t know how to fit in to our tummies.

There was steak, crabs, baby back ribs, and tuna all prepared meticulously. The spread of food assaulted all our senses and we were not disappointed at how well the food tasted. The presentation was good but the taste was even much better.

Dinner was capped by a deliciously sinful tart dessert topped by meringue and delicately flavored with lemon.

Happy MFAT Participants

With our tummies full, our bodies tired and weak, and our hearts full of joy and fond memories, we said our thank yous and exchanged almost tearful goodbyes to the MFAT 1 Team.

Plus, we went home with yummy treats from Kakanin Atbp and Kuya Chito’s Takuyaki.

But it’s not the end of our adventures yet. Watch out for more adventures, fun, projects, and events as Mindanao New Media presents to you the real Mindanao.

Photos courtesy of Charles Ortiz, Chiq Montes, and Mike Abonitalla.