Empress Of Drac, A Cebuana Blogger

The official list of registered participants was already released by the Secretariat Committee yesterday.  Double check if you can find your name in the final list (the list is arranged alphabetically by name).  Read more notes and instructions here.

Be sure to be there on time.  The first 50 walk-in registrants will receive special prizes.   This is part of the event’s Early Bird promo.  Be there in SM Trade Hall as early as 7:30AM.  SM’s Gate 5 will be open by then.  Read the Entrance Instruction here.

Don’t forget to bring your wifi devices.  SM Trade Hall area is a wifi zone.  Spread the news about Visayas Blogging Summit 2011 by using #vbs2011 as your twitter hashtag.  You can also use it as a marker if you are posting in Facebook and other social networking accounts.

And, DON’T forget to CHECK-IN the moment you arrive in the venue.  Let your friends know that you are attending one of the country’s largest social media summits by checking in at Visayas  Blogging Summit 2011 in foursquare.

Lastly, don’t forget to bring with you notebooks and pen.  Chris Ducker, one of the featured speakers at theBlogWorldExpo in Los Angeles, USA this year, is VBS 2011’s Keynote Speaker.

Excited much?  Check VBS 2011 website to learn more about the people behind the event.

See you. (:

N.B.: Also, get your cameras ready all the time.  Miss Earth Candidates will be dropping by at the summit at around 11 AM.

Your favorite flip-flops event is here again to give you another round of stylish and fashionable experience. Havaianas, the world’s most loved sandals brand, invites all Havaianaticos to join Make Your Own Havaianas 2011 (MYOH 2011) this July 28 – 31, beginning 10am at the North Wing Atrium, SM City Cebu.

All Havaianaticos, travel enthusiasts, and those ones who want to experience the flare and fun in customizing their flip-flops should not miss this yearly activity. In MYOH, Havaianaticos are free to personalize their own Havaianas sandals by mixing and matching the colors of their soles and straps and then embellishing them with fun and unique pins.

This year’s Make Your Own Havaianas offers travel-inspired designs on the MYOH Estampas soles (available in Top and Slim designs) and iconic pins from around the world which are sure to give Havaianaticos and travel buffs their very own trendy travel experience.

Make Your Own Havaianas is your passport to mixing and matching travel-inspired limited edition soles, straps, and pins. Be a jetsetter and a trendsetter at the same time and travel in personalized style with Make Your Own Havaianas 2011, July 28 – 31 at the North Wing Atrium, SM City Cebu, event starts at 10am. Visit www.makeyourownhavaianas.com.ph for more details.

Cebuano Bikers partied the night away when Kawasaki Philippines held a Back to the ‘80s party last July 01, 2011 at the famous Club Vudu.  It was tagged as The Kawasaki Leisure Bikes’ Roadgasmic Bikers’ Party 2011.  They were entertained by hot girls and big beastly bikes from Kawasaki’s Leisure Bikes series – all geared up to traverse Cebu’s streets.

Kawasaki Philippines treated the rugged Cebuano Bikers to a night where they ride back to the ‘80s – the classic time when big hair, shoulder pads, off-shoulder sweaters, and ripped jeans were seen all over the busy streets .

Among Cebu City’s most important people who joined the roadgasmic party is Mr. Andrei Ursal, owner of DREI Bikes, and known bike dealers, Emcor and Gud Moto Trading.

It was also the night wherein a pack of wild, beastly, mean machines were introduced to Cebu’s toughest road rangers.

The KSR-110, the Ninja 250R and Ninja 650, the Vulcan 900, and the Ninja ZX-10R composed the Kawasaki’s Leisure Bikes’ series. The Ninja ZX-10R is the biggest of them all and the newest addition to Kawasaki’s vicious line of beasts. It sports the a 1000cc engine displacement, and was carefully designed and conceptualized by brilliant Kawasaki Engineers.

Photo Credit: Michael Sinjin Pineda of www.libotero.com

As part of the launching of Multiply.com’s new E-Commerce system here in Cebu, they feature one of the most successful online shops that is originally created by three Cebuana sisters. WAGW or What A Girl Wants, the trendy shop located at the 2^nd floor of Ayala Mall Centre, started as a mere online shop in multiply.com way back 2008.

The three Cebuana sisters who have no background on how to build a website make use of multiply.com’s user-friendly platform to sell their products. After a few years of hard work and maintaining their online presence through multiply.com, WAGW has now reached avid customers from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. They also have clients from outside the country like Singapore, USA, Dubai, and a lot more.

What A Girl Wants is featured on the top 1 spot of Spot.ph’s Top 10 Online Boutiques: 2011 Edition. Below is an excerpt why a lot of people love WAGW.

“They’ve enlisted the help of real Filipino models, fashion stylists, hairstylists and makeup artists to come up with editorial spreads that give you ideas on how to mix and match their clothes. They’ve also collaborated with emerging fashion icons such as Laureen Uy and Camille Co to help them come up with collections for the young and trendy market.”

With Multiply’s new interface and more refined e-commerce system, small online store owners and shoppers are expected to reap better and bigger benefits.

Multiply.Com Launches New E-Commerce System in Cebu

Multiply.com, one of the most visited and largest social networking sites in the Philippines launched their new E-Commerce System in Cebu last June 16, 2011 at Formo Bar & Restaurant, Banilad, Cebu City. This new system is their main ace and what makes them stand out from the rest of social networking sites that are also popular in the country.

Multiply Commerce has upgraded features for both shoppers and merchants. For shoppers, Multipy Commerce introduced teh Marketplace that offers a listing of the variety of shops available so people can easily find what they’re looking for. For sellers, the Multiply Commerce program was developed to help them manage and grow their business. Read more here.

Today’s unknown heroes (who selflessly dedicated themselves for the betterment of our community and our less fortunate brothers and sisters) are not the typical sword-wielding katipuneros nor the ones we see in the class of the over-publicized politicians and company CEOs. Today’s unknown and un-named heroes are ordinary individuals who do extraordinary things without any expectations of rewards and fame.

The rich and the famous who build foundations and charitable institutions are called philanthropists, but the poor and unknown people who make use of everything they have to help the needy and influence leaders and policy makers to constitute change have never been tagged with anything. Today’s unknown heroes are are at par (or even better) with those famous philanthropists who are commonly featured on the front page of magazines and in big talk shows on TV. Today’s unknown heroes are the brave individuals who went through hardships and sacrifices for the good and betterment of their communities despite undergoing personal hardships themselves.

Last June 15, 2011, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) presented the top five finalists per category of the 5^th RAFI Triennial Awards for Visayas and Mindanao in a public forum at the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center.

Below are the 5^th RAFI Triennial Awards Finalists with their work, advocacies, and contribution to the community. Presenting today’s unknown heroes for the Ramon Aboitiz Award for Exemplary Individual.

The 5 finalists of the 5th RAFI Triennial Awards during the Public Forum last June 15, 2011

• Mr. Apolinario Leyson, Sr. – At the age of 6, Leyson was left alone in Carbon, Cebu City to take care of himself. Often referred to as “bugoy”, “askal”, and other street names, young Apolinario earned money for his survival by engaging in several jobs like shoe shining, dishwashing, being a “kargador”, and selling fruits and vegetables, among others. He described himself as a young rascal. But even if he needed to work while studying, he managed to finish his elementary and secondary education with flying colors. His passion for scouting – not minding the low allowance, high risks, and intense demands of job – gained him several awards and distinctions. Read more about Tatay Apolinario here.
• Fr. Dennis Tamayo – One of his most challenging types of development work is that which requires to deal with indigenous people like the Baja. Helping those groups requires more than just having the right skill and enough resources to sustain the project. In a place like Basilan where kidnap for ransom is the most lucrative way of life, it requires a special character or an unconventional mindset to choose it as your place of assignment. This is most particular, especially for those who have the option on what to do and where to do it, like Fr. Dennis Tamayo, CMF. Read more about Fr. Dennis here.
• Prof. Estrella Cantallopez – She saw massive deaths, regular displacements of communities, and the unthinkable damage of various levels and the hurts of different communities because of armed confrontations. She is by far known by in NDU as someone who has established contacts and gained respect from three warring parties: military, MNLF and MILF. Read more about Prof. Estrella here.
• Mr. Rene Vendiola – He is a high school drop-out and is considered as a local dendrologist and parataxonomist by many environmentalist in Negros island. He used to be a hunter and a slash and burn farmer but at a certain point in his life, has been transformed into one of the Negros Island’s leading and respected environmentalist. His efforts in environmental protection, promotion and conservation have influenced policy makers and local chief executives in the town of Bacong and the Province of Negros Oriental, particularly the former Vice Gov. Of the Province to adopt environmental conservation efforts. Read more about Mr. Vendiola here.
• Fr. Angel Buenavides – Aside from being a Catholic priest who is very active in evangelical works, Father Angelo “Angel” Ruyeras Buenavides is contributing a lot to society. He has provided some MNLF ex-combatants access to decent peaceful living and livelihood, advocating peace and environment conservation, organized and empowered the youth, mobilized resources for relief assistance to the displaced communities, and was able to implement the Integrated Rehabilitation Project for IDPs in Barangay Gasi, Kiamba Saranggani Province funded by UNDP Stride Mindanao. His ability to make people converge for volunteer works/regardless of religion, sex, and sector has helped him realize his own definition of peace (in Mindanao) that is “food on the table”. Read more about Fr. Angel here.

About RAFI Triennial Awards

The RAFI Triennial Awards aims to provide a platform in recognizing individuals and institutions who are instrumental in leading change in their respective communities. Established in 1996, the awards honor the men and women who, through their efforts to bring about change and improve the lives of the less-privileged, reflect the humanitarian and holistic ideals of RAFI founders, Don Ramon Aboitiz and Don Eduardo Aboitiz.