WordCamp Philippines, below expectations

September 10, 2008

I arrived in Manila at around 10PM of September 5, Friday. My Uncle was there to fetch me from the airport. I was so excited about the event happening the following day, WordCamp Philippines Saint Benilde. Dubbed as the first WordCamp in Southeast Asia.

I woke up at around 5AM, prepared myself for the said occassion. I pulled out my red WordPress shirt that I got from the Mini-WordCamp Davao. It was quite early when I arrived at Saint Benilde, so I decided to see my girlfriend first.

I entered the gates of Saint Benilde at good 8:10 in the morning. My Campers ID had the number 095 on it. Unfortunately, not a very lucky number. Since, I did not won anything during the raffle. It took a while before things got started. And as things finally kicked off, the morning sessions began. So was this yhe start of my disappointment.

Blogging 102, basics and beyond was a pretty nice start though. There have been a couple of new thoughts and ideas that I gained. In this session, I also learned about AIDERSS, and some of it’s cool features. But still, I’ll remain using FeedBurner.

The next session seemed to be a bit boring. WordPres for Corporate Websites followed. Introducing the page feature and some other CMS common functions of WOrdPress. All these little things have been pretty familiar to me ever since I started using this blogging software. CFORM plugin, page as frontpage, and all those basics, you know. I even consider the documentary more interesting than the speaker that time.

The most anticipated session was WP and SEO (based on the jam-packed room of Campers even standing on the side and at the back). But, unfortunately, I’m not the only one who feels a little disappointed about this “supposed to be” awesome session.

Hans Koch listed down 10 pretty useful SEO related plugins, all of them, which I came to make use of very often. And yes, again, nothing new that I have gained. I really expected a lot more.

After the morning session, we had lunch all together. Yet, I was unable to pay much attention to the Campers as I had to great my girlfriend for lunch. She had been waiting for quite a while already outside the Saint Benilde Campus. When I came back, the afternoon sessions begun, which was pretty boring as well.

Topics discussed include Google Analytics, Performancing Ads, i dot PH blogs (correct me if I’m wrong), WP 2.7 and beyond and Q&A with Matt. Among all these topics, WP 2.7 and beyond really gained my attention and interest, and that was all.

I totally hated those sponsored talks, like performacing ads for example. With this, I’d like to come to a conclusion about this event. This is all that I would like to share about WordCamp Philippines. I hope that WordCamp 2009 will be a bit better than this year’s WordCamp.

Bloggers:

  1. The Best and Most Memorable Blogger Event in the Phils by Jehzeel Laurente
  2. I Got Wordcamped! by Tess Termulo
  3. The First WordCamp in Southeast Asia by Adrian Jeric Peña
  4. My WordCamp Experience by Master Betong
  5. WordCamp Philippines by Hannah Rika Villasis
  6. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Nina Fuentes
  7. Matt at WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Binary Silver
  8. Matt Mullenweg Highlights from WordCamp Phils by The Bachelor Girl
  9. WordCamp Philippines Report by Fear the Spork
  10. WordCamp Philippines Shirt Please by Evenly Piece
  11. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Alrenz Cabasa
  12. WordCamp Philippines 2008: A Success!
  13. WordCamp Phils, 1st Southeast Asia WordCamp by Ana Katharina Pena
  14. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Aftermath by Zero Blade
  15. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Mae Paulino
  16. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Green Bucks
  17. Matt Mullenweg by Charmed Mom
  18. WordCamp PH 2008 and Afterparty by Carlo Reid
  19. WordCamp Philippines After-Party by The WordCamp Philippines Blog
  20. WordCamp Philippines 08 by Project 365 Days
  21. WordCamp 2008 Philippines by Karla Redor
  22. Live Blogging from WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Spilled Lustre
  23. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Aja Lapus
  24. Experiencing WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Here’s to Life!
  25. WordCamp Manila Blow-by-blow by Jonel Uy
  26. Just got home from WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Jayvee Fernandez
  27. Bloggers’ Event: WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Ada Lajara
  28. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Winners and Bloopers by Funny Sexy
  29. WordCamping 2008 by Billycoy
  30. Ernie Meets Matt Mullenweg by AJ Matela
  31. Matt Mullenweg, Volunteers, and WordCamp Phils by Misteryosa
  32. The WordCamp in Philippines by Mark Aethen Agana
  33. Matt Mullenweg by Animo Hosting
  34. WordCamp Manila 2008, I was there! by Sha Ang
  35. On WordCamp 2008 and Meeting Mr. WordPress by Diventare.org
  36. My WordCamp Philippines 2008 Experience by Regnard Raquedan
  37. WordCamp Philippines Status Report by AWB Holdings
  38. Live from De La Salle CSB, Marocharim is at WordCamp! by Marocharim
  39. For the Love of WordPress by Kristina Ana Matanguihan
  40. WordCamp Pilipinas Success by Ikabon
  41. WordCamp 2008: For Healthy and Wealthy Blogging by Hitokiri Hoshi
  42. WordCamp 2008 Philippines Success by Arvin’s Thoughts
  43. WordCamp, Meeting Matt Mullenweg by Miss Wicked
  44. Meeting Matt at WordCamp 2008 by Urriza.net
  45. Finally, WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Estan
  46. Toothache Vs. WordCamp Philippines by George Putong
  47. Notes and Photos, WordCamp Philippines a Success by Tonyo Cruz
  48. Some WordCamp Philippines Afterthoughts by Undercover
  49. Live Blogging in WordCamp by Pageman
  50. My WordCamp Experience by Junele Malaga Caravana
  51. WordCamp Philippines A Success! by WordPress Philippines
  52. Bakla Goes to WordCamp Philippines by Bakla Ako
  53. My WordCamp 2008 Experience by Micaela Rodriiguez
  54. WordCamp 2008 Philippines: It’s a success! by Joyceish
  55. My WordCamp 2008 Experience by Fitz Villafuerte
  56. A Personal Evaluation of WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Danny Arao
  57. An Event Which I Failed To Attend by Dexter Panganiban
  58. The WordPress WordCamp Fever by Pinoy Web Listing
  59. WordCamp Philippines by Batang Yagit
  60. Philippine WordCampers 2008 by Sabrina Lajara
  61. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Roanna Roro
  62. On Meeting with Mr. WordPress, Web Standards and Other Stuff by Shari
  63. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Highlights by Sophia Lucero
  64. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Mong Palatino
  65. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Rowjielogy
  66. I was WordCamped by The Industrious Time-Waster
  67. HURAH! for WordCamp Philippines by Migs Hipolito
  68. WordCamp is on today at De La Salle – CSB by AIM CSB
  69. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Updates by Teacher Julie
  70. My WordCamp Philippines 2008 Experience by Icezorg
  71. I was at WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Gail Villanueva
  72. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Ramblings by Sarah Cada
  73. Weekend Snapshots #6 WordCamp Philippines by Joni Ang
  74. My WordCamp 2008 Experience by Paul Villacorta
  75. Success! by WordCamp Philippines Blog
  76. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Tina Elaine
  77. On Being a Remarkable Responsible Blogger by Scrumptious Anime Blog
  78. Word-F’N-Camp! by The Deranged Writer
  79. WordCamp Philippines 2008 – a success! by The Mindanao Bloggers
  80. WordCamp Philippines, below expectations by Kevin Georg Paquet
  81. My WordCamp Experience by The Grape Bunch

Other Media Coverage:

  1. WordPress developer previews new version in RP by Inquirer.net
  2. WordPress enthusiasts meet for WordCamp by GMANews.tv
  3. WordPress Developer lauds RP blogging community by Alexander Villafania

Photos from the WordCampers:

  1. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Jehzeel Laurente
  2. WordCamp 2008 Photos by Jayvee Fernandez
  3. First WordCamp in Southeast Asia by Hannah Rika Villasis
  4. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Tess Termulo
  5. WordCamp Philippines by Ada Lajara
  6. WordCamp 2008 by Regnard Raquedan
  7. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by AJ Matela
  8. WordCamp at Benilde by Normz
  9. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Micaela Rodriguez
  10. WordPress Philippines 2008 by Shari
  11. WordCamp Philippines by Sofimi
  12. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Andrew Dela Serna