Baguio City’s first-ever meet up of social media influencers and bloggers, Towards One Blogosphere happened on Dec. 9, 2017. Organized by The Other Bloggers and hosted at Sala, The Camp, it became a good venue not only for sharing stories and lessons learned but also for building camaraderie among those who work in one blogosphere.
The topics covered by those who came to share ranged from fighting fake news, travel tips, creating your niche in blogging, writing about food, and even climbing to new heights. Although they were quite varied, all of them had one thing in common going for them – passion.
All About Passion
One of the interesting talks was given, not by a blogger or a social media influencer, but by someone who has climbed Mt. Everest and lived to tell about it. Arnel Vergara spoke about how he prepared for one of his climbs and how he went through it. One of his striking personal revelations is that when it is needed, one must consider failure as an option. He also shared how small and powerless he felt against the supreme forces of nature during the climb.
His amazing journey to reach the peak also taught him to be humble and to learn how to pace himself. In the end, whether he reached his goal or not, he always believes that “life is all about scaling heights,” and preparing oneself well for every climb.
Another talk that is close to finding one’s passion is the talk about niche blogging. Anne Fallarme, who is the “A” in Eats OA Baguio, talks about how she started out with a mommy blog and ended up working with her husband, Omeng Fallarme on the now famous food blog. Relyn Manuel also shared some tips on starting and maintaining a beauty blog.
Travel Tips, Food Blogging And More
Travel bloggers Aldrick Chiki Agpaoa and Mark Lester Sotelo shared their awesome tips on traveling locally and abroad. For those who have travel on their minds this New Year, make sure to exploit useful travel apps such as airfare aggregators and accommodation aggregators when searching for the best deals. For local travelers, you may also consider budget travel options such as couchsurfing (which means being a guest in a local’s home) and booking your flights and rooms as early as possible.
Kim Meadows (Eats in Baguio) and Mujee Gonzales (Eats in the Philippines) also gave the lowdown on creating awesome food blogs. A good food blog should not only have great photos and videos if possible, but also should give the reader information about where to find the restaurant, what the estimated budget would be, and an “honest opinion” about the food.
Omeng Fallarme, the “O” in Eats OA, led an interesting discussion about fake news and how to spot it. He also called on each and everyone of the participants to do their part in preventing the spread of fake news.
Sherryl Ico (I Am Storyteller) also shared her thoughts on how to communicate effectively in the digital space. She notes that nowadays, content is king and is key in engaging one’s audience. Collaboration and networking is equally important, that is why gatherings like these are important in building one blogosphere.