The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit : Empowering Future Influencers and Advocates

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 Participants eagerly listen to the speaker at The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2012

When In Manila, do check out the locally organized talks and events about social media. For sure, you will not be disappointed because we have many innovative and experienced social media gurus out there, plus a few cool and creative young minds that are emerging out to be great “influencers” of our ultra-modernized society.

 The stage is set for the Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2012

There is no doubt on my mind that social media and the Internet, and everything else in between and at the edges, are our new tools to help us shape our future to many amazing possibilities. “The future of social media is so bright; I’ve got to wear shades!”

The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2012 ID-type name tags – conveniently also served as the raffle tickets

I swear I could have worn shades that Saturday if only it did not rained on that gloomy morning. It would look weird wearing shades in the rain. I had only a couple of hours of sleep because I just came from a two-day event in Laguna attending the very First Laguna Blogging Summit in the said province. So my eyes were expected to be a bit stressed and hurting. However, it did not felt there were enough good reasons to sleep it out and rest that day. Why? Because I committed myself to attend another great event: The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit.

 A huge crowd attended the Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2012 at the SMX Convention Center despite of the rainy weather

There was even a familiar face among the audience, celebrity actress Jennifer Sevilla and her friends

Early birds got the chance to introduce themselves to each other, and from there came out a few “stand-outs” who really caught my attention. They had the confidence to speak aloud and be noticed. They were not a bit socially inept in front of people; some even approach the front of the stage, so I could imagine they were perhaps even more creatively courageous in the online world. I envied them for taking advantage of the opportunity to attract a new network among peers of similar interests. I intend to be like them soon (well at least in my blogging) – partly the reason why I was there in the first place. I aim to acquire that unique “branding” and apply it in my social media work.

 Janette Toral, the lady responsible for the Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2012

Janette Toral, a social media expert and the lead organizer of the summit, officially started the event by sharing with us a recap of the past years winners of the Top Ten Most Influential Emerging Blogs since it started way back 2008. She gave some background information about the blogs who made it into the top ten, and how the blogs have dramatically evolved from a personal layout to a more commercially influenced template.

Cris Reyes is the blogger of Pinay Thrillseeker: Love Conquers All, one of the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2012

Blogged: Eccentric Yet Happy, authored by Christian Melanie Lee, is also among the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2012

The Urban Walker by Saj Kamid is also one of the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2012

Jonel Uy tells the crowd about his blog Gadget Gambit, one of the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2012

Music Republiq by Gabriel Diaz is another blog belonging to the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2012

She also told us that society nowadays have welcomed and accepted all types of blog categories written by all sorts of personalities regardless of political affiliations, economic status, age, and gender (including those members of the third sex). Later she revealed the winning blog: The Purple Doll authored by Sumi Go, a 21-year old foodie, writer, photographer-wannabe and Photoshop-junkie on a food adventure, exploring Metro Manila’s restaurants, buffets, cafés and even food stalls.

Gary Viray talked about “Hitting Page 1: How Influencers and Brand Advocates are Shaping Search Engine Results”

Gary Viray was next on the speaker list, and discussed all about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). He informed us that what we previously knew about SEO is dead. Today, rankings don’t matter that much anymore, and that we should look more into putting great content in place while recognizing scrape rates and RSS feeds as the more prominent gauge factors.

 Tof Salcedo during the discussion portion of The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2012

Tof Salcedo’s talk was all about how to effectively land on Page 1 of search results. He shared with us some tools on how we could promote our online brands, and to make sure our contents are properly authored and are coursed back to our Google accounts.

Atty JJ Disini talking about “Cybercrime and Data Privacy Laws: What Every Digital Influencer Needs to Know”

Atty JJ Disini came in late but had one of the most interesting yet very controversial topics that day. The organizers even had to cut it short due to an afternoon engagement he needed to attend later. His topic was all about the very complicated and much flawed Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, or more popularly known recently as the Cyber Martial Law. He explained that there are several provisions of the law where it would be very difficult for social media practitioners to utter a libelous statement, and that your past indiscretion could even haunt you, as the law is retroactive.

 Rosario Juan’s topic was “Brand Love: Building Relationship with Influencers and Brand Advocates”

I guess the next speaker, though admittedly not a blogger yet but is very active on Twitter, was the most influential for me that day at The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit because she identified a far more better personality than the “influencer”. Rosario Juan, the Ambassador of Positive Vibes, called it the “advocate”. According to her, “advocates” are the people who would support you even without getting anything in return. They are the people who would become your greatest supporter to the point of even reaching the level of becoming “F.O.’s” or “feeling owners”. She also shared that she would anytime prefer an advocate with a thousand followers rather than an “influencer” with a million followers.

Maita Siquijor shared her digital transformation in the real estate industry as she encourages peers to embrace digital

The last speaker, Maita Siquijor, was a real estate master and a determined blogger both at the same time. Many were amazed on how she was able to balance her work along with the administration of her many blogs. She was also surprisingly very technical in her approach and even shared with us some tools that she uses in adding ”flavor” to her use of social media.

 Vanj Padilla shared her digital transformation from journalist to social media maven with the goal of making Pangasinan a social media savvy province

Elisa Escobar of Azalea Residences Baguio is awarded a certificate of recognition for sharing her experience 

There were three opportunities where the speakers and other invited guest sat down on the comfy sofa on stage, and answered questions from the audience. There was Vanj Padilla from Pangasinan and Elisa Escobar from Baguio, who both had admirable exploits that they were able to successfully pull off with the help of social media. All of them tried their very best to provide intellectual answers to the many inquiries thrown at them by my fellow social media enthusiasts. The summit also included an opportunity were the attendees themselves were allowed to do a pitch of their company or advocacy.

 PhilHybrid.com Chairman Jo Mitra kicked off the influencer pitch session with his quick talk on the “Internet is Real Life”

 Jhoey Hernandez of PinoyOrganics.com shared her advocacy in teaching Filipinos to prepare, cook, and eat organic food

Song Medina-Babijes of Booklatin Philippines shares her aspiration of selling e-books authored by new Filipino writers

Mannix Pabalan introduced GrantonWorld PH, one of the sponsors of the event, and its upcoming plans

Host, speaker and guest sit down to answer questions from the audience

Some souvenirs received from The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit:  a cool Digital Influencers T-shirt, a Philippine Internet Review magazine, and a blue bag containing bottles of macapuno

Really yummy macapuno from Philhybrid, one of the sponsors. Guaranteed satisfaction !!!

I have to give special mention to the free macapuno giveaways from Philhybrid, one of the sponsors of The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2012. They gave every participant three bottles each of this delicious PuroMakapuno glutinous coconut meat (as said in their bottles).  It was so delicious (really soft and tasty) unlike other brands where the coconut meat is quite hard. I should know because I think I’ve tried every brand in the market already and Philhybrid’s macapuno was the best one I’ve tasted so far. It was simply heavenly.

The Philhybrid booth with several blue bags containing their yummy macapuno for the lucky participants

It was so good that when I got home from the event, my family and I consumed all three bottles in just one day. We bought some bread to go with it and there was definitely no stopping us from eating it all in just one seating. That’s how good it was that up to now we are still craving for more! Hey, Philhybrid! Send us more of this heavenly dessert, please!

 At the Granton World Philippines booth were staff were busy listening to the speakers

Granton World Philippines, another sponsor of The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2012,  is an Online Shopping social e-commerce company. Get all the great deals at affordable price. Their promotions are done through an online marketing campaign targetting credit card holders and Internet users by age, location, territory and interest is one of the best opportunities for establishments to engage, upsell, and build customer loyalty. Truly, another very commercially productive use of the Internet and social media.

Visited the Alfox booth with their very “healthy” staff

Another sponsor of The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2012 was the Alfox Computer Center. Their booth was located at the front entrance of the venue opposite the registration booth. They offer CD/DVD Reproduction, Duplication, Burning and Printing Services. They also do business card, PVC ID, and ticket printing.

When In Manila, believe that you can also make a significant difference online by effectively connecting with people. There are indeed several opportunities where you can use the power of social media to “influence” and become memorable enough to the people whose lives you will touch. It is all up to you now on which strategies you’ve learned at The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2012 are you going to use to increase your reach to determine what type of memories you would leave.

One of the speakers as seen from the video camera display

Special thanks to Miss Janette Toral for the use of most of her pictures. A lot more pictures of the event can be seen from here.

The Digital Influencers Marketing Summit : Empowering Future Influencers and Advocates