Branding: TAFIAS' World Famous Tilapia Chips

The Talisay Fishermen's Association, or more popularly known as TAFIAS, was your average small countryside fishermen's group whose working members, the fishermen themselves, earned just enough and sometimes even less than they should from fishing. An average Filipino fisherman has a wife and at least three kids with income that varies depending on a number of uncontrollable factors such as the season and weather.

Most of the TAFIAS fishermen's children are well taken care of at school and at a day care by ANDAKidz, a local non-profit organization. That leaves the women of the family with their day jobs: producing and packaging food products created with locally made raw materials such as Taro Ice Cream, Taro Polvoron and Tilapia Chips, which I thought were really good considering. Much like other "locally made food products" here in Bohol, their products were poorly made with the typical unattractive bag of plastic and stamped-on labels and no quality control whatsoever.

In a bout to reinvent themselves, TAFIAS partnered with ANDAKidz to give new life to their products, to improve their identity and, in turn, generate more income for their families.

photo © Robin

Robin Gurney, founder of ANDAKidz, invited Velvet Design's Senoir Creative Designer, Janno Siimar, who came all the way from Estonia, to Talisay, Anda to help with this ambitious three-month project. The pair wrestled with logistics, different mindsets and excruciating Philippine legalities to make the whole thing work.

"In Estonia, when you say we "have no money", it usually means you can scrape up a few thousands within the next week. Here, when they said they "had no money" they literally meant zero. Nothing. It was quite a shock." -Janno Siimar

photo © TAFIAS website

LOGO

One of the first things they tried was to pimp up the old TAFIAS logo. It's unrecognizable and unmemorable. It looks much like all the other traditional institutions in the province and for an organization looking to stand out, the old logo just didn't do the job. TAFIAS' mascot, the Tipalia fish, was the type of fish farmed and caught by the fishermen in the area. Upon further research, they discovered that the Tilapia, or more internationally known as "St. Peter's Fish" was so much more than a local fish. It is mentioned in the Bible as being one of the few types of fishes caught in the Sea of Galilee in biblical times, one of which was caught by St. Peter himself "with a coin in its mouth" and is a completely versatile fish that can live in both fresh and saltwater.

These traits reminded Janno of the people of Talisay; of their drive to improve themselves and to adapt to the situation presented to them. The Tialpia's significance to the organization was made clear then.

Janno talks about designing the packaging

Given the time the organizations were to work on the project, they decided to focus and study only one of TAFIAS' many products: the Tilapia Chips.

Previously, the chips' selling price was so close to it's production price that there was virtually no profit left to generate significant revenue; so naturally, Robin and Janno decided to sell the product at a much higher price after the new recipe and packaging was implemented.

Their story is much like a startup where many of their decisions revolved around gut feelings and hunches. A defining moment for them that validated all their work and decisions was from the arrival of a Filipino volunteer group a day after the first batch of chips were packed and ready to sell. The group was presented with both the old and the new product and packaging. Surprisingly, and despite the majority of them moaning about the more expensive price, seventy or so of the new packs and only fifteen of the cheaper old packs were sold. That study spoke volumes about their product.

NAME and SLOGAN

The names "Fishies" or "Tafies" paired with a cartoon for the product mascot automatically popped into Robin's mind during initial planning but that wouldn't make them any different than the other food producers in the market so the idea was scrapped. Janno, being as practical as he could be, proposed to the group to call the chips as they were. Chips.

His reason was that the product is itself was already so unique and peculiar, them not being the typical potato chip, that calling them anything just as unique or peculiar will only confuse the customer, a thought that I agreed with wholeheartedly. Them being "world famous", on the other hand, was in one way or another true as many international supporters of both organizations and even a few locals and many OFWs had bought their fair share of the chips and brought their purchases with them to their individual countries. So indeed, the product is traveling but not yet as renowned as brands like Coca-Cola or KitKat.

Their slogan "Give a man a fish..." is personally one of my favorites. Everyone has heard the saying:

"Give a man a fish and you can feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, he can feed himself for a lifetime."

Take that thought and mix it with TAFIA's story, then you have their current slogan which I really liked. The slogan is both an emotional reference, as proven above, and a call to action. When you buy a pack of Tilapia Chips and give them to someone as a gift or souvenir, guess what you're doing? Giving a man a fish!

Robin talks about the effect of the project to the locals

COMMUNITY

Due to the improved quality standard developed for the product, the fishermen's wives who produce and pack the products also found a new sense of purpose. "If the product isn't good enough, it does not go into the bag.", Robin says to them and true enough, these women have practiced this discipline religiously throughout the production process. They found a renewed sense of pride whilst making this product. They consider it's production their responsibility and has now become the world to them. This new principle has improved their mindset on things, has taught them about capital and revenue, even a little bit of marketing; engraving into this small family of fishermen the seed of entrepreneurship which is a pretty awesome thing to do, in my opinion.

PRODUCTION

The best thing about this product, I have to say that everything from the raw materials to the packaging prints is made in Bohol. Money used to produce these premium chips circulate first in Anda then to Gindulman then to Tagbilaran. They could easily have had the packaging printed in Manila or China for a cheaper price but they chose to have it all in Bohol, to support the local industries which I thought was really cool. The organization dreams to use Taro, their specialty root crop, to use and process it as the chip's flour in the near future as the Taro plantation they have today just can't keep up with demand.

At the moment, they only have so much to go by when food production is concerned. They have a small but clean make-shift production area that they set up pretty well but they won't be able to scale if sales don't improve. The printing press where they get the packaging printed cuts the molds they provide but it is the ladies themselves that fold and glue them together. They produce around two hundred bags a day.

TAFIAS currently only sells the chips in their Talisay branch but are open to visitors and wholesalers. You can stop by and bring your own favorite ingredient, let's say a bottle of Gatorade, and make your own bag of Tilapia chips with your selected flavor at the plant. The TAFIAS ladies are very warm, welcoming and proud of their work and the chips are a unique product for the market so give yourself a fish and eat fish snacks and help them feed themselves and their families for a lifetime!

Capstone Project Dos and Don'ts

Finally got that damned capstone project done and bound. It was hard, let me tell you, but it could have been easier if I had known things would turn out the way it did, especially after acknowledging the huge fault I played during development. So for those of you who're just waiting a couple of months to start your capstone project development, let me share to you a few lessons I've learned along the way.

1) Get to know your team (if you have one) and get along


I don't think I need to explain the importance of getting along with your team, if you have one, during any project you're working together on. This dynamic either makes or brakes your output and as you're clamoring against time, fulfilling requirements and chasing teachers, you'll need all hands on deck. And maybe a few feet in the mix, too, while you're at it.

2) Have a good working relationship with your technical adviser

They may not be the best apple in the basket but a superior is a superior and ultimately, you'll need them to, if not help you technically, sign all your documents, help defend your case against the panel and just generally being the person you're with for each major step in the project. They make mistakes, I mean we all do, but always remember that they're professionals and even though it seems you've got more to put on the table than them, respect the fact that they've seen other teams go through the same thing you're going through over and over again, and that accounts for something. Better listen up.

3) Don't get over your head

Need I repeat the whole rant from my previous blog post? Suck it up and ask for help. Or just admit you have no idea what you're doing. It's alright, we're students. It's what we're supposed to do. Make so many different mistakes that when the times comes the same situation happens, we'll know exactly what to do to avoid that mistake... and make a new one in place of it. All I'm saying that a lot of things can go wrong if you think you're all that. Listen to your adviser, team mates and even solicit suggestions from your parents. Trust me, it helps battle the self-pity.

4) Stick to what you know. Now is a horrible time to experiment.

For those that're familiar, this is not a Startup Weekend. Yes, it's a controlled environment, yes, it has mentors and yes, it has time constraints but now is not the time to experiment. I repeat, now is not the time to experiment.

Your team mates are just as clueless as you and often times each of you already have an overwhelming task as it is. Why jeopardize that especially when you already have a set of deliverables due the next week? If you've planned this "new development process" ways before the start of the thesis period or if you're some super genius that can work out technical knots overnight, then fine, go right ahead. But if you're like me who just barely develops without a lot of professional help, then stick to languages and process that are comfortable to you. Chances are, all the advisers and panelists will want to you change up a heck of a lot of things in your project and if you're like me who just learned how to develop in a new language overnight, doing stuff on the get-go is not going to be easy.

5) Always plan in advance

Easier said than done, naturally and I think this tip can speak for itself. Having a timeline of when you can ideally get things done in the project will definitely help you plan for whatever sh*t is happening as you get each module checked. You might not follow that schedule as strictly but it would help a ton if whoever is in charge of the documentation takes note of all the important dates and what each person in the team is doing as the week progresses. I can't stress enough how following and having a schedule is so important, which leads us to the next tip...

6) Always reach your deadlines

Move mountains and seas to get the task due done. Do not ever miss a deadline. Not only does it take a chunk of your grade for that semester but it sets your previously planned schedule and gets everyone anxious which will spell disaster for your team. Always keep a level head and the morale up because you're going to need all that during revisions. Just don't ever miss a deadline.

7) Assign. Assign. Assign.

A good dynamic in the team, as previously mentioned, is good and knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each member is being better. Divide the workload and have someone assigned to tasks exclusively so you'll know immediately who to ask when matters arise. Strictly define whoever is in charge of a task and don't pass responsibilities around. If you have more than one programmer on the team, immediately define the module they are responsible with and plan excessively before actual development starts.

8) Prepare for the worst

This is more of a mental and emotional thing if you've done everything in the list thus far. Know that no matter how well you plan things, there will always be that wolf in the cornfield ready to rip your throats out while in the middle of development. An unexpected error, a undocumented change and even a loss of a team member. Don't let it rise your paranoia but let that fact be your best friend, keeping you on your toes and ready to adapt when the situation arises.

9) Document EVERYTHING

GitHub or BitBucket is godsend for developers. Commit any and all major changes into your repository, save all your layouts, setups and documentation on your development specs. Record all errors, write down all the features that needs to be done, everything. Most especially for the documentation that comes along with the program, do not ever lose past corrections. All those papers with "x" marks from the advisers? Yeah, keep those and never lose them.

Make backups for your source code, documentation, corrections, even the surveys or interviews you do, get both a hardcopy and softcopy version of all of them and bring them with you every time you need a module checked. It saves time, effort and frankly gives you more credibility in the eyes of your adviser and the panel.

10) Having a Printer and Laptop on you 24/7 helps

I lug mine around every time the person in charge of the documentation tells me to. Sometimes even when she doesn't tell me to. Students will claw, kick and sacrifice their first born to get to use the school's provided printer especially during checking so save yourself and the life of your future child and save up with your team for a printer, some ink, and stacks and stacks of scratch papers and bond papers. Always have a laptop ready and a USB with all your backed up data. I can't tell you how many times this tip saved us especially when we're chasing a deadline. It's well worth the investment,

I can't guarantee that all these tips are applicable to everyone going through a capstone project development as each school has a different process but I have a gut feeling that at least one of the ten in this list will be a life saver once you've followed them as you go along the development process. One more tip though, before you go and travel with the cavalry to graduation, is to sort yourself out before the start of everything. This is a draining process and you'll need all the emotional and mental support you can get to finish this. Pray to your god(s), if you have them, make-up with your parents/guardian; basically fix all unnecessary strains you have outside of the project. You'll need that energy for more important things. Like finishing that project.

10 Things I'm Happy I Did Before Turning 20

This'll be a purely objective list as I recount my experiences a mere few weeks before I hit the two-zero. I've realized that, although some of the things listed here were done out of my obligation to my parents, I see now that these decisions ultimately benefited me in the long run and that I don't think I'll ever forget to thank the people who encouraged me into doing what I needed to do, considering how young and sheltered I _(am) was.

1) Getting a driver's license and learning how to drive

Definitely on the top of my list. Driving has taught me so much about myself, it isn't even funny. Being patient, feeling the responsibility and most importantly, the skill. It comes in handy. I first got my student's permit when I was sixteen and my driver's license followed a year after. My mom's surplus was my best friend throughout college, with most of my experiences the past four years happening with her somewhere in the mix.

Even if you don't have a car to use, getting your license and at least learning the basics of driving will teach you more about yourself than you give credit for. And with everything that's likely to happen in a couple of years, you being you will be the most help you'll get any day.

A driver's license will come in handy later when you decide to open a bank account, apply for government IDs or any other situation with formalities as most institutions require you to present at least two. In this case, your school ID and driver's license work nicely.

2) Going abroad at least once

No pressure here. I know not everyone gets the opportunity but doing so while you're around fifteen or sixteen really helps you during these formative years. It'll help you mature and see the bigger picture, even for just a little bit.

I've been to Hong Kong, China and Singapore being the latest and seeing the infrastructure, the culture, the people and practices while being so young was really one of my stepping stones to maturity. It helped me "get" people more, helped me adjust in different environments and helped me understand that there's more to everything and we're all just part of a bigger, livelier world. And see how the Phils could be so much better, to be honest. It belong entirely to you on how you interpret that impression. For me, being part of the generation that could possibly make our country better is a tempting sentiment.

Plus, having your passport to present to institutions, with the lovely addition of your proof of travels abroad, will give them a better idea of who you are and therefore will trust you more (earning you a better chance of getting that job or whatever you're applying for.)

3) Getting a part-time job and doing freelance

I've done freelance since I was in high school and, shall we say, two part-time jobs with one being better than the other but none the easier. Safe to say that it not only improved my technical skill, as all jobs were related to technology somehow, but it made me see what the real world was like, be it in just a few months.

I learned how to bargain, I made both good and bad mistakes, I talked to clients, had bad bosses, met awesome colleagues, felt the satisfaction of feeling my own hard-earned cash on my skin and that experience definitely helped build up my resume, which is great!

All I'm saying is, if you've got the chance to, work. Especially to all you private school kids out there like me. In a conversation I had with the super cool Mike Martinez, the youth of the Philippines are still sadly too immature, even at ages past their twenties. I'm not saying everyone is but generally, a lot of the kids that graduate still don't have that sense of responsibility. Of having a job, saving money, simply competing in the real world unlike in some foreign countries where moving out and getting a job at eighteen is the norm.

4) Joining as many organizations I was interested in and staying active in them

I cannot stress this enough. Relationships are important. So much more is belonging to a community of like minded people. I wouldn't have gone as far as I have if it weren't for the people and opportunities from the organizations I braved to join. Above is an old group shot of the Web Developers' Guild Christmas Party 2012. The organization that started it all for me.

I met Pip Cimafranca through them and through him, I got introduced to Startup Weekend and through that introduction I got acquainted with Tina Amper and TechTalks.ph and because they sparked my interest so much, I stayed active in all three organizations, didn't get any problems when I had to look for a place to intern at, had tons of fun, learned a heck of a lot and the rest, well, is history. And now I'm here, young, with all the opportunities before me, just because of that life-changing decision. And opportunities, might I add, is something I personally think you should be getting a lot of while you're still spunky.

So go out there. Meet people. You never know who or what might change your world.

5) Attending as many events related to the work I wanted to do as often as I could

Heavily related to the point above, the whole point of "staying active" is to get to attend these, often times exclusive, events. If you're up to it, be an organizer. You get to be close and personal with the speakers, you can talk to the big leagues that matter in your field about your thoughts over coffee or during the event's breaks. Along with all the sweat and tears that come along as an organizer, there are tons of perks as well especially the opportunity to network through the larger audience.

Pick you events though. It's great if you could spare for everything and everyone, but being realistic, there's only so much you can join. I mean, not all events are free. So choose wisely, pick a crowd, make a good impression and always show your best. A lot of employers see these events as an opportunity to scout for talent and you'll never know whose eye you've caught.

6) Ordering stuff online (companies that do Cash on Delivery)

Cash on Delivery means that you can pay for your purchases when they've arrived at your signed shipping address. Which is convenient, safe and the thing for customers in southeast asia.

I'm not saying you can't do this after you're twenty but being exposed to this culture at a younger age really extended my appreciation for technology. I learned about credit and debit cards because of my interest in online shopping. I learned to be wary about suspicious deals and it made me a better researcher and shopper. Knowing the possibilities made me less ignorant about this new window of opportunity, as e-commerce is still a fairly new concept in our country, and gave me a better appreciation for the services available that we don't often use as a student.

7) Getting a postal ID

This is optional, I would say. I needed this to apply for my Unionbank EON Card, which I will be explaining later on, as one of their requirements are "two vaid IDs" with my driver's license almost expiring, all I had was my school ID. So if you're looking for extra valid IDs, having a postal ID is pretty handy and it's pretty easy to get.

8) Getting registered to the ComElec

I hate voting. I may take this back in a couple of years but right now, I don't see the point. Plus, "using your right to vote" is just too goddamn inconvenient, you have to spend hours in line, shoulder-to-shoulder with tons of people and may possibly faint or worse, just to write on a piece of paper. Well, enough of that. Despite my hate for the actual voting process, registering to the ComElec will prove beneficial when you go job hunting or when you're applying for other formalities. I had to get it eventually so you should, too. Just to be fair.

9) Getting a credit/debit card and using it

Heavily related to point number six, knowing about these processes and the benefits you get from them, along with other services from the bank, will help the transition to the adult world less awkward. The easiest to apply for is Unionbank's EON Card, when it comes to debit cards. It's also a VISA Mastercard so you can use it to pay for items online and receive money/pay if you're doing point number three.

Cheap and easy to get with no maintaining balance and an initial deposit of three hundred fifty pesos, the Unionbank EON Card is the way to go for freelancers and those simply interested to explore that service. At the moment, I'm using my EON Card for purchasing and maintaining this blog's domain and Essays.ph which I'll be talking about in another post soon.

10) Getting an SSS and PhilHealth number

Better get it now than later when every graduate in the block is applying for it at the local SSS office. I mean, it was already a race when I applied and it was a good two months before graduation, so imagine how busy it'll be if you wait 'till after graduation. Being familiar with these basic government processes will orient you better with what needs to be done and what the personalities of the local government employees are and their practices.

For example, where I'm from, you'll have to be a good hour early before an office's opening to get to stay as one of the first in line and even then, a good number of people will already be in front of you. Plus, the actual filing of documents will happen a good thirty minutes to an hour after opening as their head of office will have arrived by then. So bring a snack, or your breakfast and a good book because you will be there for a while.

And that ends my list of things I'm happy I did/got exposed to before I turn twenty and hopefully, all these experiences will ultimately benefit me as I get older. Got any more advice on things a youngster should do before they hit the two-zero?

Sending Bitcoin from Coins.ph to ChangeTip

If you've noticed, there's now a new little doo-dad in one of the sections of my sidebar.

Tip Me

Inspired by my research on Bitcoin miners in my last post, I decided to give Bitcoin a shot myself. I used the complimentary Coins.ph Prepaid Bitcoin card given as a freebie for Geeks On A Beach 2 participants and wanted to use those Bitcoins for ChangeTip, as they went hand-in-hand discussing Bitcoin and it's concept in one of the breakout sessions at Geeks On A Beach.

Navigating through the Coins.ph site, I managed to log in and cash in my prepaid cards. The site itself wasn't difficult to navigate at all and was admittedly very eye-candy. ChangeTip was similar. It surprised me since most of the sites I've visited in the past that had something to do with finances or formal transactions looked extremely boring and difficult to understand and navigate.

I decided to do an experiment with Coins.ph's Buy Load service where i purchased PHP 25 for my SUN Cellular account. Funny thing was, after the transactionw as done, the Coins.ph system said "You should receive your load in 5-10 minutes" but it didn't. I thought there was some type of bug or the format I typed my cell number in was wrong. So the next day I did the same transaction again but this time, true enough, I received an SMS saying I received the load I bought with Bitcoin twice.

The transaction I made the other night just needed some time to process, is all. That's for being impatient. Now I ended up spending twice what I initially intended to pay. Uplifted by the fact that I now had a pretty good idea  how the thing works, I decided to move on to ChangeTip. This was where I spent a good hour dumbly looking through it's pages and links trying to find the "merge with Coins.ph wallet" button, as I attempted to send a tip but was denied do the lack of funds.

For those of you who want to check Bitcoin out, ChangeTip's concept of sending a virtual but at the same time very real tip to an organization or individual you support is a great way to get Bitcoin's concept (people buy real estate with Bitcoin, apparently).

Following this tutorial on setting up your ChangeTip Wallet, the next thing you need to do to send Bitcoin from your Coins.ph wallet is to simply hit the "Send Bitcoin button" in the Coins.ph dashboard.

Send Bitcoin

A window will pop up and prompt you to enter the address you want to send the Bitcoin. Simply copy-paste the wallet address under the QR code in ChangeTip as stated in the tutorial above. And viola! You now have Bitcoins to tip anyone you support. It took me an hour and many Google searching to figure that out, despite it being too painfully obvious so for those of you who're stuck, don't let that stop you from trying the Bitcoin experience. If you have any problems that good ol' Google can't answer for you, I commend the very kind Coins.ph support team who are always there for you. Take note though Coins.ph works best if you're in Thailand or the Philippines.

It's fast, convenient and safe so why not give Bitcoin a try? You want in on the future of finance, don't you?

@mashleyuy Thanks Ashley!!! Have a great day ahead :D
— coins.ph (@coinsph) October 5, 2014

Top 10 Things I Learned at Geeks On A Beach 2

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I had just attended my first Geeks on a Beach with my friends in the Bohol startup community. I got so bummed with not being able to go with them the first time so when I heard there would be a group discount for the next one in Cebu, I jumped at the chance and cashed in months early.

GOAB2 with hosts Dave and Albert

Naturally, I learned a hell of a lot while listening to all the talks, most especially during the Breakout Sessions I joined _{(which starstruck me a bit when sitting face-to face with people like Gwendolyn Regina and Mike Prasad)}. A few hilarious and completely embarrassing stories I can share with you regarding the topic of being starstruck was when I had the privilege to greet Janette Toral as she entered the venue. We've interacted before and I helped her with promoting her event once but that didn't stop me from making a fool out of myself in front of her. Same thing when Ravi Agarwal approached me to ask about MLePay, one of Symph's startups, during one of the breaks. I was all "Uhh.. haha.. I umm.. Yeah", being a total dumbass because I couldn't believe these people were taking to me in the flesh. All jokes and embarrassment aside, they were awesome people and were quite forgiving of me at times in our conversation when my brain gave up on me when I needed it most. 

For this post, I will bother you people with the "10 Things Ashley Learned at Geeks On A Beach 2" with the purpose of one, sharing what I learned and two, to keep myself from forgetting said learnings.

GOAB2 venue sans people

1) Portfolio Company 

A portfolio company is a company or entity in which a venture capital firm, buyout firm, holding company or other investment fund invests. All of the companies currently backed by a private equity firm can be spoken of as the firm's portfolio. * 

When put in the startup view of things, portfolio companies are basically the companies being funded or invested in by larger organizations. Like Tactiles and Nyfti from Ideaspace.

2) Bootstrapping Company

A situation in which an entrepreneur is starting a company with little capital. An individual is said to be boot strapping when he or she attempts to found and build a company from personal finances or from the operative revenues of the company. * 

Bootstrapping was what we did when we launched our new office. We did ghetto cut-outs as the office's signage and smacked on a Wordpress theme and did impromptu pictorials a day before opening to the public. Bootstrapping is what many startups do, usually during validation and testing, based on what I've seen so far.

3) Venture Funding

Usually a high-risk/high-return opportunity done by investors for startups with strong growth potential. As a small-to-medium business starts up, some founders feel the need to get an investor up front. Negotiations happen between the startup and the investor as the latter gives a certain amount to help fund the business and in turn, gets private equity stakes.

4) E-Commerce Law

Also known as Republic Act No. 8792, it is

An act providing for the recognition and use of electronic commercial and non-commercial transactions and documents, penalties for unlawful use thereof and for other purposes. *

The law puts the Philippines in the global market, making virtual contracts, online banking and connects all government departments to the internet and provide universal access to the public. More of the law explained in this wonderful post. 

5) Hacker News

The HN concept was quite new to me when I started research on it for this post. I've heard many of my colleagues refer to it when a substantially interesting event happens in the tech world. As it was repeatedly referred to by both participants and speakers, I decided to give it a look.

I honestly found the site very boring at first glance and only came back to it two hours later, but as I finally decided to give it a chance and actually read through some of the links I realized that the site was overflowing with information that actually matters. I should make a note to check what's up everyday.

6) Curating Serendipity

The most fun presentation for me in the whole event.

7) Success in Digital Media = Right Mechanism + Audience + Brand and product

8) Bitcoin Miners

Bitcoin is, for a lack of a better term, virtual money. This virtual money has value though and you can purchase anything with it, from books, clothes to property and real estate. Bitcoin come from Miners that are tasked to approve transactions and solve certain algorithms to generate more Bitcoin in return. Its software is completely free and open-source and, as I browse sign in Coins.ph, seems really interesting and convenient. Will probably make a separate post out of this soon once I've done a few transactions.

9) State of Philippine's Media Culture

In one of the breakout sessions in the second day, I got to hear Kaloy Uypuanco talk about his and his team's effort to revive the Visayan culture in the youth. I felt that this deserved a separate post entirely so I wrote something really quick previously, especially after I got to hear another speaker talks about the same issue at another event.

10) 10 Internet Facts by the World Startup Report

Google is a monster, overpowering all the world's tech companies together that it had to be put in a separate pie chart. The ranking of countries in slide number 5 shocked me so much that Andrius, Lead researcher of the World Startup Report, had to reassure me.

Want to know more about our Internet Hall of Fame Research? Ask us anything on Reddit: http://t.co/I4apcjMtYV
— World Startup Report (@WorldStartupRpt) June 16, 2014

One last funny story to tell you is that Movenpick Hotel, the venue of GOAB2 has these fancy rooms by the lounge. I needed to use the restroom and the concierge gestured to a room hidden away at the corner. I went in and thought:

Where am I?

I then noticed the drier and went around looking for a sink but didn't find any. Then I saw a door handle and lo and behold,

This is the bathroom??!!

So yeah, those green tube-like structures were the sinks and water came down on your hand like a waterfall. The experience was similar when my family and I went to hong Kong and I got to experience sinks with sensors for the first time.

It was good to see old friends again and I definitely had fun at the event, especially since I got to help the organizers on occasion. Cheers to Techtalks.ph and on to the next event!

One of the very few decent selfies I take for #goab with the Bohol + Joseph team @benskelton @jaypaulaying pic.twitter.com/4nvdFbJBYg
— Ashley Uy (@mashleyuy) August 21, 2014

Reaching Goals and Setting New Ones

Last year, I set a goal for myself. 

"Do something great before I turn 20."

 It was a very vague goal, with no measurements or events that would let me know if I've definitively achieved it, just "something great". I found out a few month later, however, that setting a goal so figuratively wasn't the best practice one should use but i decided to run with the idea and, with or without me knowing, the decisions I made from then on would lead me to achieving this goal a year early, at least in my standards.

Ideaspace #Technopreneur Bootcamp Bohol 2014

Just recently I had had the privilege to once again work with the wonderful startup community that led me to this path. Our friends at Ideaspace, after witnessing the success of Startup Weekend Bohol, wanted to hold Bohol's first Ideaspace #Technopreneur Bootcamp. Naturally, the local tech community and organizers of Startup Weekend Bohol _{(i.e. the TechTalks Tagbilaran community)} were contacted and tasked to be field organizers and prepare the group before Ideaspace arrived from other engagements.

Meeting New Friends

Much like our experience in organizing SWB, there was a deep low on the number of participants. Working with my friends in TTTagbilaran was clear as a whistle as everyone had the right connections and drive to push through all the technicalities and logistics needed for the event. Giving it our all, we only managed to get 15 to 20 pre-event submissions. 

Ideaspace arrived, the venue was set for an assumed 115 participants and the TechTalks Tagbilaran team were internally screaming. But lo and behold, 135 participants showed upa nd idea submissions bamfed up to 41 before the mentor's Cafe started, which immensely delighted our friends from Ideaspace. "You seemed like you weren't worried at all! You were so relaxed!" One organizer said to us, core organizers, referring to our mental and emotional state a day and a few hours before the event started when things looked grim. We awkwardly laughed and replied "It's because we couldn't do anything more to make the situation any better."

Startup Weekend Bohol 2014

The situation was just as grim in before Startup Weekend Bohol opened a few months ago with a high number of "free" participants and a low number of "participants who would pitch". Mentors and Judges, both local and international, were there at the opening night looking forward to hearing Bohol's bright ideas while the organizers and I looked at each other in the sidelines with weary eyes about the number of people we expected to actually go up front. Much of our efforts in pre-event bootcamp sessions were, although fun, only attended by a handful of people. We thought the event would be a bust since nobody had an idea to share but the people of Bohol thought otherwise. One stood and pitched, then a group of two then a third and the next thing I knew half of the seats were empty because everyone wanted to stand up and share!

My first ever Press Conference

So much to say, the experience of going out there and engaging with the local community opened my eyes and taught me many lessons. To never underestimate the ability of people and to never ever give up when a challenge has been put in front of you.

Hanging with the big leagues

Being able to organize two such prestigious events was such a mind-blowing thought to me when I realized I had actually reached my goal. Hopefully, I am proven wrong and another bigger chance for me to "do something great" presents itself in the following five months but basking in the afterglow which was the Symph experience, I just wanted to look back at the things I was able to do in just a year following my decision to make myself better and man did I do a lot.

Chilling at Geeks On A Beach 2

One of which "lot of activities" I got to do was attend my first ever Geeks On A Beach at Mactan, Cebu. I met new friends and reconnected with old ones and once again learned so much that my experience at GOAB2 deserves a separate post on its own.

All the reflection and self-praise aside, being exposed to these events and communities of such crazy and passionate people, you get to look deep into yourself and makes you think about what part you play in all of it. Saying that, I think it's time to set another goal for myself, with output i can actually measure this time so I can't cheat.

"Symph has to be a purely startup driven/developing company before I turn 23. By then, I also have to be an expert at Rapid Prototyping and reliable at Growth Hacking. " 

And when I say "purely startup driven", I mean "purely startup driven". No client projects, no odd jobs, just purely the team around a table working together to solve the world's problems.

That was quite an intimidating dream actually and I'm very tempted to change it, but setting such a high standard for myself will only benefit me in the end, I think. "It won't be too bad, I hope", says the idealist me as I type this last sentence sealing my fate to this three-year commitment.

Little things you can do to live a more Sustainable Life

The Archival Eco-House, owned by Counselor Nestor Archival who spoke at a TEDx event at the University of San Carlos, Talmban Campus, Cebu, is a two-story installation built to uphold the counselor's advocacy to protecting the environment. Energy consumed by the building is sourced from renewable energy generated within the property.

Counselor Nestor Archival at TEDx University of San Carlos

He started off shaky as he begun his talk at the event, mostly because of his nervousness, not that I blame him, But gradually, he gained more confidence and had this contagious passion as he talked about his project and how he encourages everyone, in their own little way, to be responsible about caring for the environment. Sir Archival explains that if the power the house consumes is greater than the energy it can provide, he takes from the grid, but usually, he gives back to the grid as his installation's generated energy is more than enough to sustain their day-to-day operations. He has an in-door garden and a pig pen whose waste are re-used in the establishment. For example, black water, water from the septic tank, is processed and filtered organically through his system _{(with the help of the bandera espanola plant)} and is given back as the source for his plants in his garden and gray water, water drained after you take a bath or do the laundry, is again processed to be used as water for flushing in the toilets.

All of this sounds awesome, by the way and kudos to sir Archival for pulling this off! I'd love it if sometime someday, sometime _{(possibly tomorrow)} that all the houses in everywhere were like this. But facing reality, to have all the irrigation and filtering systems installed would probably cost us more than an arm and leg. Being a cheap-ass "be green" wannabe, here are a few things that I'm personally doing around the house to live sustainably:

1) Grow vegetables - I know, it sounds tiring _{(and it is)}, totally not sexy and I am definitely still a noob at this but tasting the sweet fruit of your hard mostly sweaty and back-aching labour makes it all worth it. Plus, you're helping the environment and your community! I grow a few onions, lemonsito, malunggay and alugbati which I just leave hanging at the gate for my neighbors to take for free.

2) Instead of using artificial fertilizer, create a compost pit - After eating a scrumptious, satisfying meal, I dump all the bad leftovers, fruit peelings, poultry or fish bones into a tupperware and leave it in the freezer until its time for me to garden _{(which I do once a week)}. I thaw that gross mixture and dig a hole in the soil outside to bury them. A few weeks later, I use that soil for my plants. It helps a lot since the ground here is pretty rocky.

3) Use two teaspoons of baking soda and legit lemon juice as a drain cleaner - To get rid of the gunk in the kitchen and bathroom drains, I throw in that mixture to get rid of any excess organic stiff sticking inside the pipes. I let it set for five minutes and rinse with warm water. It works! Honest!

4) A mixture of water and white vinegar makes a great cleaning solution - From glass, to microwaves and even chocolate stains on my tile floor! I dump an even amount of both into a spray bottle and use that as a cleaner.

I know I'm not as fancy as the Archival Eco-House and I know I'll never be _{(until a few years, hopefully)} but a little is better than nothing and after hearing his talk, I though I'd share a few of these that I'm actually doing in to hopefully encourage, especially the younger generation, to think about the bigger picture when you go about your business everyday. The "turn off lights when not used", "flush maximum of twice after toilet use" and "sort your bio and non-bio" all go along with what I'm doing so there is action behind these words people! I just hope someday more people will realize that we only have one planet _{(that we have access to)} that can serve as our home and we owe it to them to take care of it as best as we can. We've got no where else to go, after all _{(for now)}.

Questioning Values: Answering an exam in VALUES, a class subject

It was exam season in my sister's high school and I asked her how she did _{(like how we asians do)} through Skype. She gave me a pretty sketchy answer and sometimes, none at all, just that sibling look all siblings inherently understand. "Which ones did you find easy at least?", I said and then she replied with "Meh, the typical ones, Religion, VALUES, P.E.". As our conversation went on, she eventually told me, "Picking answers in a multiple choice for Religion and VALUES is pretty easy. Just choose the one you're less likely to do." And that got me thinking.

What she was referring to were the situational questions a lot of "moral-oriented" subjects use as questions in multiple choice. For example, "When you see an abandoned kitty in the sidewalk, clearly malnourished and dying, what do you do?" a) leave it or b) take it home. Clearly the correct answer is b) and choose that one to get points. Now think of it this way: if put in a the real-life version of that situation, what would you do? You would most likely just leave that cat. Mom was allergic to cats or I barely have cash to feed myself, moreso a cat and many other reasons. B was the least likely answer for you to do and so it was the correct answer in the test. 

I'm not going to pass any judgement on the educational system or human morals because I forsee myself doing that in future posts. This is just some food for thought. The irony just makes you laugh a bit.

Pitching to an Audience about Your Event

You all know I attended the FabLab Bohol Symposium recently and that we got to pitch about StartupWeekend Bohol to the FabLab organizers and participants. Here's what I've learned about _{(teeth-shatteringly)} pitching to a room packed with experienced intellectuals about an event you're organizing. Most of these is just common sense but that's pretty hard to remember when a hundred pairs of wide, judging, bespectacled eyes are staring at you seeing every gross trickle of your condensed, thick sweat rush from your wide forehead to your sweaty, tiny palms.

1) Make your pitch quick and concise. Get to the point and prepare your pitch. Make sure you get everything down as fast and as clearly as possible. Most of these people don't usually have the luxury of time so get it through you head that they won't wait for you.

2) Bring yourself with confidence. Nobody want to see a slouching speaker, nor even want to hear his unsure laugh and "umms" and "errs" echoing through the auditorium. Suck that stomach in, keep that back straight and hold that head high. You mean business!

3) Talk about the event as briefly and clearly as you can. Again related to the first tip, talk in a slow, clear way so everyone gets what you're saying. Make your explanations short and to the point.

4) Tell them who are your target participants. Maybe the event isn't for everyone in the room so reach out to the ones that are there that you want to invite. Let them know who you need to make the talk more personal to those interested and maybe, if you've explained well enough, they might refer _{(or wrangle in)} their friends to you.

5) Event details like venue, time and registration fees _{(if any)} must be mentioned at least twice in your pitch. I mean I guess that's self-explanatory. Most people, because of nerves, forget to tell their audience who to go to or what site to visit in case they have any questions or if they want to register to your event. Don't leave them hanging. You're loosing valuable talent.

6) Quickly run through future or preparatory event related to your main event. If you have an orientation about the main event the week after, let them know. If you have a mentor/organizer open to skype calls on questions about the event on a specific time, let them know. Do so really quickly before you end your pitch. Just to let the audience know this event is continuous and there's much in store for them if they sign up to your network.

And that's it for me. If you have any suggestions please let me know, I'm no expert at this, I'm just sharing what I learned haha Mostly for my own future reference. I'm looking forward to more opportunities where I can step up and learn more. Especially more events I can attend _{(so I can rave and blog about it)}. Hope I was helpful to someone out there by sharing this :)

Horrible screenshot of me pitching in SWC3. 

Wasn't able to execute Tip #2 very well, I recall haha.

Golden Harvest: Application Rejected

As the title plainly states, my application for the GH staff was declined. -single tear-

My good friends, Clint, Ray-an, J.B. and Vhince all applied for it as graphic artists, photographer and data entry officer, respectively. The benefits, experience and fun that could possibly happen while part of their staff was just too great so we all rushed to apply _{(after a few arguments)} and get to the interviews despite all our clashing schedules.

I was apprehensive at first. Thinking about all the work that needs to be done, based on my year in high school as The Wisdom's yearbook lay-out artist. But after much coaxing and teasing from my friends, I decided to hell with it and applied. They were even mean enough to pretend like I was the only one who got accepted a few days after the interview! I almost believed them for most of the morning until Clint and Vhince had a slip-up haha.

Fortunately, they all got the official _{(not the one they made up for the prank)} text today saying they got accepted. Of course, I was ecstatic for them! I knew how much they wanted to get in. They also deserved it. Every one of them specialized in their chosen field. In my end, I applied for the "Executive Editor" position which, I just dumbly wrote on the application sheet without knowing the complete job description, was the highest position in all of the staff. The other applicant for the same position was also already a previous member of the yearbook staff. A veteran, as compared to me, a newbie.

My fault for applying for something and not research about it. Anyway, it was a good experience and the guys still have my support, so it was worth it.

"Everything happens with a purpose." by Anonymous _{--with Vhince Chiu}

 Still can't forget how stupid I was, though haha