“Hello, world” is one of the old-school default phrases you see when starting a blog or the first sample text used in learning to code. That’s why it was only apt that wireless services leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) kicked of its #HelloPH series of meet-ups all over the country together with local partners in order to highlight local stories and homegrown talents – all connected through technology.
Stephanie Orlino, Smart Senior Manager for Education Programs, urges the participants to become local ambassadors of their hometowns through Doon Po Sa Amin Community Mapping Competition.
Through its Doon Po Sa Amin (DPSA) online community mapping competition and SWEEP open competition, Smart is helping promote the various regions with this collaborative meet-up series conducted in partnership with local groups.
With the help of community partners like the Davao Bloggers Society, Soccsksargen Bloggers, Google Business Group-Baguio and local tourism councils, Smart co-organized meet-ups for #HelloDavao, #HelloGenSan, and #HelloBaguio this October. In all of these activities, advocates and experts talked about the best things their hometown has to offer as well as to celebrate local talents especially in the technology space.
“We know that Davao is popular for Durian, or that Cebu celebrates one of Philippines’ grandest festivals, Sinulog. But there are more stories that make these places unique and interesting. These stories are what we want to uncover and preserve through Doon Po Sa Amin with the help of our local partners,” said Public Affairs Group Head Ramon R. Isberto.
Meanwhile, to call for local talents and encourage the development of localized apps, Smart introduced to participants the SWEEP Open Competition, a mobile applications development contest open for college students. It is a new category under the 11th SWEEP (Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program) as the SWEEP Awards was previously confined to entries from students of Smart’s 44 partner colleges and universities. With the new SWEEP Open Competition, any college student can now join under this category. SWEEP is the first-of-its-kind industry-academe partnership that aims to improve the level of technology and engineering education in the country by providing training, lectures, and workshops on the latest developments in wireless technologies. To know more about SWEEP open competition, visit www.smartsweep.ph/sweepopen.
Representatives of SWEEP partner schools in the areas where the meet-ups are held share what they are doing in the tech space. “We are very grateful to Smart for providing us with training programs on the latest technologies. Because of SWEEP, we are able to produce industry-ready graduates,” said Engr. Jeferd E. Saong, program chair for Electronics and Communications Engineering in the University of Baguio, during the Baguio leg.
With #HelloPH, local communities learned to appreciate their respective hometowns and heroes more as the speakers talk about the strengths of their places as destinations of choice.
DOT Asec Arturo Boncato, Jr. shares the department’s international campaign plans
for Davao and the whole of Mindanao.
In Davao, Department of Tourism Assistant Secretary Arturo Boncato, Jr. shared the department’s international campaign plans for Davao and the whole of Mindanao. Dubbed as the eco-adventure capital of the country with the various outdoor activities it offers tourists, DOT also wants to promote Davao as a preferred destination for events, entertainment, health and wellness, and education.
In General Santos, Sarangani and Region 12 Tourism Council chairperson Michelle Solon expressed appreciation to DPSA as a means to counter negative impressions about Mindanao. “We are very happy that Smart is doing Doon Po Sa Amin, because we need more good stories about Mindanao,” Solon said during her talk.
Region 12 Tourism Council chairperson Michelle Solon shares the projects
and outputs of the Sarangani Tourism Industry Association.
For the Baguio leg, Professor Farland Valera from the University of Baguio introduced the concept of thanatourism or dark tourism. Dark tourism is defined by Wikipedia as “tourism involving travel to sites historically associated with death and tragedy.”
This November, Smart will hold DPSA meet-ups in Cagayan de Oro (CDO), Iloilo, and Cebu, in partnership with the CDO Bloggers, Iloilo Bloggers, and Cebu Blogging Community.
DPSA is an annual search for the best hometown stories mounted by Smart since 2008, making it the biggest and longest running multimedia crowdsourced community mapping activity in the country. The main output of the competition is an animation, music video, documentary, or short film featuring unique stories about their town, which will then be mapped and made available online. These entries can be about a town’s history, traditions, festivals and activities, places to visit, notable people, unique plants and animals, special delicacies, and local products.
In recent years, DPSA has generated stories about coconut worms as exotic food in Butuan; unique seafood delicacies in Barobo; cacao production in Cavite; a sleeping volcano in Sorsogon; hidden gems in Polomolok, South Cotabato; and the beauty of Tinapak River in Rizal.
Initially launched for primary and secondary schools nationwide, the competition gets more exciting on its 7th year with the addition of an open category allowing all Pinoy filmmaking enthusiasts to join.
Teams may register and submit videos until November 30, 2014 via www.doonposaamin.ph. Entries will be judged according to content (40%), creativity (30%), execution (20%), and impact (10%). More than Php500,000 are up for grabs to the teams with the best stories.
Both DPSA and SWEEP are part of the Smart Schools Program and are aligned with the company’s digital inclusion advocacy that aims to make technology and information accessible to all Filipinos. It is also supported by media partners Manila Bulletin, Philippine Star, Mindanao Times, Sun.Star-Cebu, Tiger 22, and RMN (Cebu, Dumaguete, Davao, Iligan).
Comments
Post a Comment