Yes, they have time.

Folks,make way for the talented and dashing young people of our sunrise industry.

It’s the first time I’ve attended an event of this kind – an inter-BPO talent competition. I’ve heard of call center battle of the bands, but not something like this – it’s American Idol meets Britain’s Got Talent meets the young Pinoys who speak really good English.

Contact Center Icons 2011 was organized by the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and the HRCC, a council of HR personnel from contact centers. The event was held last Sunday in a full-packed SMDC Grand Showroom at the Mall of Asia. The talent show had two categories – voice and groove. While the contestants of the voice competition were really good, I would have to say the non-singer in me just sat there and waited for the groove part to start.

Then when the groove part rolled out, the awesome dancer in me went crazy over the 25 competing teams. I was like – FTW you have time ??! I saw agents flying. Yes they have time.

I wished I was cheering for a team, to complete the experience, but I wasn’t part of the industry. Well, I was rooting Convergys, but their moves like jagger didn’t make it to the finals.

Here are some photos of the groove competition. Sorry if it’s blurry, I was taking these shots from upstairs. Thanks to Canon G12′s  ultrazoom ( 20x zoom, sweet.)

SPi Global

Sitel

MediCall

Maersk

JP Morgan

Hinduja

Ingram

Aegis PeopleSupport

Will upload more later…

French fad flying forward.

I attended Feiyue’s  Manila launch party at Opus in Resorts World last Oct. 12. This popular French brand  reinvented itself a few years back into a trendy urban and distinctly European footwear line that it is now. Kinda pricy, but Ima get one for myself soon. Xmas bonus is just right around the cornerrr…

A Christmas Fair in October

Amazing how you can get almost everything that you need for Christmas under one company.

San Miguel Pure Food’s Kapasko ng Bawat Pilipino

The earliest Christmas Fair of 2011 happened at the Trinoma Activity Center last Monday and Tuesday and has drawn thousands of shoppers who were very much excited for the coming Yuletide season.More than a fair, it was two days of fun-filled activities which entertained mall goers of all ages.

Alakim’s Magic Show

Chef Ed Quimson’s Demo on Christmas Recipes

Bamboo Band (Bamboo the tree, err, grass, according to my 2nd grade teacher).

One of the hosts, Nicolehiyala of 90.7 Love Radio

Some business tips for the entrepreneur in you.

Magnolia Ice Cream 2011 Christmas Tub Design Contest (and a pig on the loose).

An opinionated attendee.

The “Bet Your Pride On It” Game.

The mechanics are really simple. Based on the given statement, tell me which is the appropriate Venn Diagram. The 3 best explanations will win a limited edition 2011 UP Back2Back2Black Cheerdance Competition Shirt. No kidding.

So here’s the statement: CONFIDENCE IS A COMPONENT OF ARROGANCE.

Diagram A

Diagram B

Send in your answer by leaving a reply together with a legit email so I can notify you if ever I have chosen your response. There will be 3 winners of the shirt. Ill scout for other prizes if the good responses exceed 3. I will announce the winners this coming Friday night.

Also, to make things fair, comments / answers will be approved and revealed all at the same time. Meaning, all replies are concealed until we judge who the winners are.

And again, these are Venn Diagrams.

AND THE ANSWER:

No one got it. Sorry.

Come on baby dry your eyes…

Howard Jones, Belinda Carlisle and the Human League Live in Manila.

The big question of the night was – where is Belinda Carlisle???

It’s either we came in too late at 8:20 (when the ticket says the event starts at 8PM ) or she suddenly made some appointments that she can’t come to her concert.

Pfft.

The UP Streetdance Club, Ateneo’s CADs, and some schools you never thought existed.

If you’re wondering why Ateneo’s CADs did not make it to the finals of the Skechers Streetdance Battle Year 7, here’s the answer:

They just danced.Gracefully. Daintily. Kind of devoid of that streetdance pump you’re lookin for. Whatever happened to the defending champions???

On the other hand, here’s the team which will bring back the victory to Diliman:

I mean it. If these kids don’t get the championship this November I’m gonna come in to work the next day a bottle blond.

Anyhoose,here are the finalists.  I think it’s gonna be a boring finals without Ateneo around.

-Adamson University (Adamson CAST)
-AMA Computer University – Quezon City (AMA Dance Troupe)
-Colegio de San Juan de Letran – Calamba (Letran Street Dance Crew)
-De La Salle University – Manila (La Salle Dance Company – Street)
-Far Eastern University (FEU Dance Company)
-Martinez Memorial College (Martinez Dance Club)
-National University – (Underdawgz)
-Olivarez College (OC Performing Arts)
-Universidad de Manila – (UdM E-Stars)
-University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P Squadra)
-University of Santo Tomas – (Thomasian AC and P)
-University of the East – Manila (UE Extreme Squad)
-University of the Philippines – Diliman – (UP Streetdance Club)
-University of the Philippines – Los Banos (Wyre Underground of UPLB)
-University of the Philippines – Manila (UP Manila Indayog Dance Varsity)

They have 15. I don’t get it.  They could’ve trimmed it down further to 5. Let the others join Showtime first.

Some electrifying stuff

Early today I got invited to this quiz night at Meralco, where my team won 3rd place. Yaay!

Hosted by Gabe Mercado, the event was a launch of the company’s digital properties – its new website Meralco.com.ph, it’s Facebook page, Twitter account and YouTube channel. It’s a quiz show for smart, cute and hot bloggers like me.

First Place: Power CERJ

Second Place: Gwapo Pero Maitim

Third Place: Elec3City (Fine, the team name was my idea. Screw me)

It’s nice to know that forward thinking companies like Meralco are innovative enough to take advantage of its digital resources to reach out to its consumers and provide better and faster service.Their Twitter and Facebook accounts provide advisories on power outages, receive customer concerns and replies to them, real time.Their YouTube channel houses further info about their services, communicated through their ads and other audio-visual resources.

Their PR team showed us some really cool features in the new Meralco site  which will make it easier for consumers to monitor their electric consumption, their bills, and other stuff that used to be so complicated you wouldn’t wanna give a damn about.  Here’s one of them – the Meralco Appliance Calculator, or simply, the AppCal.

You just need to key in the ff infos: monthly bill, the type of your appliance, the number of hours  you spend in a day and number of days in a week. You will see how much you are spending for that particular appliance in a month. Amazing.

The other cool stuff are found at the quick links at this part of the consumer site:

Really nice eh? Visit www.meralco.com.ph to learn more about making your life electrifying.

San Miguel Beer Oktoberfest

I was nineteen when I had my first Oktoberfest experience. It was that time when the parties are still done mostly in SM Malls. I remember attending one in Megamall, then the following week in SM North EDSA. There was also a small one held in Metrowalk. Those times I’d be accompanied by my cousin, who used to work for San Miguel. I’d see him with his colleagues in VIP tents, having their mugs of beer, straight from the office still wearing their shirt jacks with the San Miguel Escudo on it. I thought, when I grow up, I’d like to work for this company.

Beer then was free (was it? Or was was that only for  me?  Im not quite sure haha.). Served in plastic mugs, people would build a pyramid of cups finishing a cupful of beer one after the other.. There were bands (well I didn’t quite care about the bands because I was never a fan of Pinoy rock bands) and everyone’s just in the mood to party. It was the best of times. I would say that more than a beer festival, San Miguel’s Oktoberfest to us was already a kick-off to the holidays, knowing that after this it’s gonna be Christmas in no time.

In 2008, SMB attempted to create a World Record by having the longest beer bar. I think this was in celebration of their 120th Anniversary.

It’s a pity  I wasn’t around during that time, I wouldve joined them. Oktoberfest in Bangkok was only celebrated by Germans.  It was virtually unknown to the locals. No big parties like what we have here.

While this is one of the events of the year that I always look forward to, it’s a shame I wasnt able to go to the kick-off this year at ASEANA City in Roxas Blvd.  Well I still have 4 chances.

Oct 14 – Limketkai, CDO

Oct 15 – Nepo Complex, Angeles City

Oct. 22 – Cebu International Convention Center, Mandaue City

Oct. 28 – Paseo de Sta. Rosa, Laguna

I heard this year’s gonna be different with their Beer Festival. Saw the plans, pretty awesome stuff.

Click here for more info on San Miguel Beer’s Oktoberfest.

 

 

A Real #Thought-Mover

Meet Vencer Crisostomo .

Vencer is the guy whom I share a lot of similarities with. Actually, I kind of suspect we’re twins separated during birth.  Aside from our good looks, I have so much in my list of our similarities  it will take me the whole day to go through it. So I’ll just share with you a few things:  We both went to the same pre-school, both of us are the eldest son in the family, and our initials are both VMAC (he’s Vencer Mari A. Crisostomo, I’m Victor Michael A. Cajoles). Oh, and we both blog. Amazing right? Tolja.

Vencer was one of the first few people I’ve made friends with when my teenage years stepped in. We were classmates in 7th grade, the year when boys of our batch spend so much time in Blue Skies Katipunan playing Diablo II and Starcraft. While he’s typically just like any other growing boy who’d also do those kid stuff, you’d already notice depth in the way he thinks and speaks. I first noticed that  one afternoon in July 1998 when we were hanging out at the Sunken Garden. He’s perceptive which I thought was weird during that time. I was thirteen then.

The next year he joined a progressive campus based organization and became a student leader at a very very young age. He was an advocate of nationalistic thinking and militancy which was embraced by our batch.  He has influenced a lot of our batchmates until such time that  the UP Integrated School  Batch 2002 was deemd as the most militant batch of our generation.  The last time I saw Vencer personally, he was wearing a red arm band during our high school graduation. Brave boy.  He’ll be one hell of a public figure someday, I thought.

And  so I saw this ad a couple of days ago. He was nominated at the #THOUGHT-MOVER Category of the first ever Tatt awards. I wanted him to win, but I can only vote once, and he is up against more popular personalities. Nonetheless, this is my little way of supporting whom I believe deserves this award. More than popularity, I think the competition should be a measure of what you have done and the lengths you had to go through to influence everyone around you to embrace change for the greater good. Vencer has done that, from the corridors of our humble campus, to the streets, and now through the capabilities of digital media.

Vote for Vencer Crisostomo. He deserves to win.

And I’m a thousand bucks richer

This is one of the rarest moments in my life where I supported a basketball team who actually won in the finals. The last time was in 2002, when UPIS won in the Juniors Division of the UAAP.

Thank you Petron Blaze Boosters, I can buy food now.