why do we have blogger events?

it was gonna happen sooner or later, but i think people might be starting to get sick of reading about blogger events, or at least start making fun of them. -)

but Shelly does make a very important crtique about the state of the way social media is being engaged in Singapore.

if you're wondering what this means to the PR practitioner, new social marketer, the digital advertiser, blogger or all-in-one communications extraordinaire, have a read and we can always discuss -)

Singapore's social media landscape background: agencies and corporations in Singapore probably started experimenting with blogger engagement in early 2006. i remember Fleishman Hillard's LG Blogger seeding programme quite well. Seed bloggers with LG Shine phones, no strings attached and invite them to write an honest review.

2007, i joined Ogilvy Singapore's Digital Influence practice, and promptly got started connecting and engaging with some of Singapore's bloggers. Other agencies and marketing managers also started their own engagement programmes, and blogger events became the 'standard' way of engaging bloggers.

engagement is one thing. what about community building? what about building the relationship between brand and blogger?

i guess these are the signs of Singapore's blogosphere maturing. as communications practitioners, we should be ready to meet the present and future needs of communications.

what are such future needs?

1. community building / involvement
- whether you like it or not, the net has brought us closer together. some bloggers have chosen to maintain their privacy, let's respect that. but there is also a growing community of well.. communities. Ping.SG, Singapore Plurkers, fans of local bands, political advocates, social media enthusiasts, photography groups, driving enthusiasts, food reviewers, travel writers, philanthropic bloggers, technopreneurs.. etc.

is your BRAND getting involved?
and as a blogger, what is your PASSION?

2. the cutting edge of communications
- i'm never satisfied with doing what everyone else is doing. call it divine discontent. if you look right, i look left. and because i've always been critical of the media, i decided to study about it in university, and found myself working a job in the media industry.

- the net has given everyone a voice, but some voices are louder than others. but the net has also connected people, and made it easier to communicate, spread information, organise events, and where i find a lot of value, bringing people together.

- this means, i meet like-minded people who talk about social media, who see it as more than just events, and coverage, but the walking together of owning your own community. not that you're the leader, but you're a part of. in church, we talk about taking ownership of one's ministry, or responsibility. it's the same thing, taking ownership of your community, is to work to build, improve, and make each community you're a part of, the best that it can be.

- having said that, we have to be on the cutting edge, laying a good foundation that "social media" has helped empower her users, and not merely be a house of cards or dot.com bubble 2.0

3. Your audience matures
- there's only so much longer before people become more media literate. my parent's generation didn't necessarily grow up with a television

- i grew up with the television, and to a certain extent, the Internet.

- there's a whole generation that is now growing up with mobile broadband Internet. if i think i'm so great with my suite of web2.0 tools, i cannot begin to imagine what we'll see in the future.

- as hardware improves, so will software, so will communications, so will how we make use of technology

- growing up in a mediated environment might naturally make us more cynical and skeptical of what the mass mediums put out. today's underground is tomorrow's mainstream. people may find it harder and harder to believe something they've read, watched or heard. they need to make their own truths, and to believe in something, means they have to publish it themselves.

- i forsee an explosion of content producers in less than five years, as today's 14 year olds develop tomorrow's new web platform.

- as a communicator, will you mature along with your audience?

no shame in asking.

we ask "why" because we do not know.
"what if" because we live in the present. because of what happened in the past.
we ask a lot of things, because we are only human.
because we are only one person, because we have limitations.
yet we ask. as if it were a very part of our instinct. we were born, to ask questions, to make meaning, to learn.

to have fear, to have doubt, to question the consequences of our actions. to be "weak" and "ignorant" by not knowing.

yet, it seems we have placed the mantle of "God", "omniscience", "exhaustive knowledge" as measurements of success. but we are only human. mortal. and we extinguish off the face of the earth. nobody cares, nobody should. life and death, the endless cycle. what's past is past, what we do today or tomorrow will never change that. what we do tomorrow, is not what we would have done today.

if we knew it all, we could never learn.

good boys don't make mistakes to learn from.

how Apple will continue to pwn the recession.

this is two good not to share.
taken off wired.com (possibly a geek's tabloid of unnecessary information)

the little things.

i'm happy. Gundam 00 Season 2, every character is finding more resolve, and by episode 7, Allelujah and Mary.. well.. -)))

I found the Monocle podcast and my iPhone is now pimped for awesome. Feed here

if you were wondering, Monocle is one of the most informative and exciting design publications in these modern times. So if you have an interest in the art, science and business of anything design related, feed your need!

Rolling Stones and The Who have also been added to my iPod. i guess i'm happy with the new "old" music.

oh! and a slew of extra blogging gigs. i'll be posting a regular column over at waking up to... and gonna title it "sporeradic saturdays (or sundays) as a spotlight on local music. my current joy, a vacant affair. loving their new material, and their album launch on 26 December. save the date!

also, my guest post at sisterhoodftw! SisterhoodFTW is a blog that sheds some light on Christian living for women. it's not some self-help guide (heaven forbid), but just some real opinions about the Christian faith in these modern times, and how we're all really struggling with the same themes of acknowledgment, atonement, love, guilt, struggle, mistakes and ultimately, how we make sense of our faith. my guest post was Man-day Mondays: Of Monsters and Men have a read!

till next time, break on through!

take this cup from me

listening to pedro the lion is like having coffee with a long lost friend. cheesy as that sounds.

it was a constant companion to my playlist back in uni.. though i didn't have a girlfriend, nor was i breaking up, nor going thru any emotional upheaval, there was something about the song 'options' that was both tragic and hopeful at the same time.

"... i could never divorce you
it's always good to have options...
but for now, i need you..."

the simplicity in songwriting, arrangement, accompaniment, melody.. they all somehow found a frail place in the universe, took root and somehow.. spread their tendrils into the corners of my heart.


B-roll footage from David Bazan's upcoming "Alone at the Mic" DVD

once a blood red moon, twice i turn my back on you

i remember a time when blogging was familiar, and cathartic.

tonight.. im rediscovering some of that joy, but in a different light.

blogging used to mean, capturing the present, but tonight as i read entries of old, both friends and myself.. it brings a bit of joy, and accomplishment.. that we've all come a long way.. we've given up on some of our dreams.. we've faced setbacks.. but we've also made it this far.

some aspects of my life seem unfamiliar, some still ring true. it doesn't really matter because all we have is now.. and it's not like the past was always the correct path.

if we've deviated from what we were originally meant for, it's a sad thing.

but if we moved from things that were destroying us, it's a happy thing.

somewhere in between all of that.. the thing that pricks me the most is that i think i've been moving away from something i was originally meant for.

but what a great 2008 it's been. i started on the brink of adulthood with starting a job, i've been really blessed to keep it.. and do so many other great things like playing baybeats, recorded an EP, and still jamming with many more musicians.. and making new friends and meeting new people.

it's still a hard life, and figuring out who i am as an adult, but these little things, they make it easier, and perhaps even worth struggling for.

i really should update this more often..

greetings fellow mortals.

i have been away from the familiar blank pages of blogger, and it's not like i missed it entirely. hmmmm.. i don't know why this is the case.. one or two years ago i could never stop blogging, but now.. now it seems like the furthest thing on my mind. well, not exactly the furthest, but maybe it's got something to do with doing more things not related to blogging.

for starters, i'm playing fallout 3, and it's a massive massive game. it's an RPG (Role Playing Game) that is so extensive in terms of character development that between my friends and i, we've all had different experiences interacting with the non-playable characters of the game.

another big part of the game is it's supporting online universe. while it isn't multiplayer, there's a wealth of information like the Fallout wiki and viral site, prepare for the future.

i absolutely love this game, it's story and universe they've created.. currently i've set myself up as a good guy and known as "ranger of the wastes". i love the post apocalyptic steam punk elements in everything! from the vast wasteland, to intricate details like propaganda material in a future that looks like it was stuck in the 1940s.

la di da.. what else? i've been super busy jamming every sunday with kevin matthews who will be recording a 15th anniversary EP of The Watchmen. i count it as an honour to be playing alongside one of Singapore music's stalwart icons, and he's just an incredible human being as well. i learn so much in our conversations, and the wealth of experience Kevin has! omigosh, this guy's a walking encyclopedia and history book of all things pop culture AND singapore.

so that's it, two weeks without any updates and you get this brainfart. and that's discounting all the other things like multiple projects in the workplace and.. hrmmm.. i dunno..

see you next blog post!