Philippine Digital Convention 2021: REVOLUTION

Wednesday, October 06, 2021


Today was a great day for connection as the Philippine Digital Convention 2021 called "REVOLUTION" has just officially started. It was hosted by ePLDT, PLDT Enterprise and Smart.

Jovy Hernandez the President and CEO of PLDT says "Strange are the things you remember, the people, the moment in time, that burns in your heart forever. Humanity comes in the event shaking the foundation of individual beliefs to help you discover a purpose, that there is something bigger than the reality. All it takes is one window, one brave selfless sacrifice to change history forever. COVID has disrupted lives, we take steps forward, it's a choice, it becomes our life. Let this be our REVOLUTION! Fire is a symbol of progress, purification, we find ourselves that cost us anxiety doesn't matter, family conversations have become bigger, more meaningful. We rise from the flames, redefine our businesses, this is our convention, this must be a revolution! We are in the middle of it, we must never leave anyone behind. To harness tech and use it for business, we need to rethink and rewire our mindset and attitudes. We need to change how we view things, reinvigorate our passions and we wish to fulfill this to provide real value to businesses. Now is the time to re-imagine the world of business the way we want it to be."

 

 
In the panel discussion, Nokia's John Harrington, Huawei's Nicholas Ma, Manuel Pangilinan of MPIC Group, Yasuo Suzuki of NTT Global Center and Dave West of Cisco was present. Suzuki san says "COVID 19 has brought a huge demand and working from home and school became normal. With it continue to grow, enterprise data is increasing and the need to scale is too."

Nokia's John Harrington says "It's an interesting start for the job and network connectivity has been critical. To keep us all connected to family and loved ones, the rollout of 5G is rising, what normally takes years took us months. It has not slowed down, different types of traffic patterns and demands have appeared and we had to make sure capacity in the networks have the right products. We see a lot of legacy of systems that need to be automated. The need for AI, to increase productivity, is especially needed on industrial tech and software. How can the next generation help with it? We've seen a lot take strides in manufacturing, mining, transportation, education, and in the advanced networks, there's a clear use of 5G, digitalization, and how agile it is, and how it hastens lower operation costs. Even before COVID 19, there was a desire in digital healthcare, to help with patient-centric care. We see a wide range industries, not just limited in healthcare but it's one of the industries that do."


Dave West of Cisco adds "Work is not a place you go, it's something that you do it with. People now work from home, return to office, and the office had to transform a bit because of security concerns. When everyone has to work remotely, people and IP's should be protected not only in the office, but also at home. Collaboration in WEBEX has seen growth, in school, office, it was in the forefront of growth especially in video collaboration. Connectivity is about how to ensure user experience is optimized to users and customers is supported in the business with the tech provided for them. We had the type of rich services, and the speakers in this session do the same. The shift in how people had to work had to cope with different tools, the models of what was going on in our employees lives. We had to understand, empathize. In the early days you would be embarrassed if your child would walk by. It was about people, our customers who had to deal with work life balance day in and day out. Enabling tech to support to balance all of these is important. For us, when we think about culture, as we deploy tech, we have to understand how it complements our goal during the pandemic, be 10 times easier to use. Now we can translate, catch notes, get questions, react, and WEBEX knows that. The tools can even tell you if you're violating social distancing. With regards to culture, we are sensitive how these type of tech and tools would know what they really want from us, even beyond the pandemic."

Nicholas Ma of Huawei says "The PH is still in the infancy of digitalization. PLDT has made good milestones and efforts. Our global and regional experience make us apt to support and deploy with tons of companies worldwide. We have established relationships with partners, PLDT can go to market and have real good partnerships."

MVP says "We are satisfied with Huawei and with the other vendors like Nokia and Cisco. We look at merits of the supplier and so far, we have been satisfied. It's revolutionary leadership, the shifting patterns of business is driven by tech and the pandemic. We had to adopt with the environment, social governance, and use that in the reports for sustainability. In many ways, we had to do revolution in leadership. We have to maintain values that PLDT does and MPIC. Given the circumstances now, companies outside of telcos we now have to invest in other things. In addition to metrics, sustainability is one, then the capacity to have digitalization. They have adopted to be driven to it, like what we need in the Philippines. We have to persuade senior management to adopt to it, otherwise, you will be obsolete. If you are a publicly listed company, you need to do it. Like PLDT and Smart you need to digitalize, it cuts across all types of companies and not just telcos."

Fireside Chat with Charlize Theron


Hollywood actress and producer Charlize Theron graced the event for a Fireside chat. A UN ambassador of peace, academy award winning actress from South Africa, she says "We've got our head above water, I miss the people. Not having access to that, to be in a room and hug, to share stories, the food, we can't have that. I think for us, we have really long standing relationships with partners in South Africa. We have to be able to hear what they need to say to us, meet them, find the resources they need. Having that is very important, in all fronts, there's a constant revolution in life and it's changing. When it's globally happening, it became clear that it's going to be a dire situation. We need to have a conversation about access to it, it will be marginalized groups that will be affected the most. Together for Her was done to ask women about leading an effort, gender based violence was at an all time high and the lack of resources wasn't helping. We know COVID has set us back in many ways, just like in AIDS, we're dealing with communities. The whole of South Africa had remarkable HIV/AIDS cases, who have immune issues, constant continued conversation around these issues put them out in the forefront. To share our feelings and experiences with each other in the last two years, looking at my business, we know great stories come from voices. We don't forget about this, there is systemic change that needs to happen. When we come together, that's where change would happen. Unfortunately there's no exact recipe to resolve things, there's tremendous amount of fear when there's no access to information and misinformation around it exists. I remember, experiencing that, I knew it was a very immediate need to be proactive with something preventable. Having access to knowledge was something that frustrated me, when the AIDS epidemic happened, we lost a generation of parents. I think it looked like a cycle, it's also not the only thing that would let us not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Women and young girls were inclined to have HIV/AIDS, it was hard to go to communities and them have no access to it. You have to stay in touch with the organizations, they're living it, they're speaking to communities, and who it affects them. They have all the answers, we are fortunate that we have access to it, we have to connect with them in a global stance, so bigger organizations would get to them, as fast as possible. That's our life force, that's where we need to zero in."

There's more things happening in the Philippine Digital Convention 2021. Register today and participate in the talk!

COW

Real TUFF Cleaning Products from Personal Collection

Sunday, October 03, 2021


It's been a chore cleaning the house these days, I'm not quite used to it but I'm doing my best to spruce up everything at home including my toilet and bath upstairs, and my own room. I ran out of supplies and found a package on my doorstep, some cool products from Personal Collection. It also looks like a cool red house! The products are also familiar, they call it TUFF!

Personal Collection Direct Selling Inc. a direct selling company that offer quality products through member dealers, this in turn would give them livelihood especially through these tough times. I'm in need of things that would clean different types of surfaces. With the pandemic around, we can't be 100 percent sure we're germ free... but they brought in three products that can eliminate viruses. The TUFF TBC (Toilet Bowl Cleaner) is a hospital grade cleaning and disinfection product, the TUFF MSC (Surface Cleaner) cleans dirt, stains in different types of surfaces, and TUFF Germban eliminates odor causing bacteria and leaves a long lasting fresh scent.


I actually had the TUFF TBC which has a "Killer Virex Formula" even before they sent me one. It kills 99.99 percent of bacteria, yeasts and molds which would take care of our bathroom tiles that often get affected by it. The same goes with TUFF MSC which can be used in our entertainment area, leather seats and electronic appliances included. This TUFF GERMBAN though would be special as it'll stay as a staple in my room so I could clean up things I bring in and keep it smelling like Japan's Sakura Blossoms, imagine waking up to that! 

This also keeps the smell, bacteria and germs away so make sure you have one in your room (aside from the usual cleaning) and this will make it even better. If you need one, order from their dealers and branches. You can check all their products and locations at personalcollection.com.ph. Or you can always order online because they're also on Shopee and Lazada, probably a lot of dealers near you too. Don't take my word for it, try it!


Meanwhile, I'll enjoy my TUFF GERMBAN.



COW

Proving Acting Chops: Sylvia Sanchez Wins Best Actress in a Supporting Role


It wasn't luck, but sheer determination, hard work, and powerful acting that made Ms. Sylvia Sanchez a worthy national winner as Best Actress in a Supporting Role Category at the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2021.

She's played countless roles, pivotal for most projects and til now, she's one of the most critically acclaimed actresses in the country. The one that she won on the national level of the 2021 Asian Academy Creative Awards was her role as Barang in hit series "Huwag Ka Nang Mangamba". This was adjudged by industry leaders in entertainment and will qualify her to represent the country in the 2021 Asian Academy Creatives Awards versus other artists from Australia, New Zealand and other countries in Asia. This will happen on December 2 which is just a couple months away.

If you remember, Arjo Atayde won Best Actor for Bagman in 2020 in the same award giving body. In his speech, he attributed his success to his folks and actors from the country. He was hoping it wouldn't be the last time someone from the Philippines would win it. With that in mind, wouldn't it be amazing to see Ms. Sylvia getting that for the country? If that happens, a mother and son would win in the prestigious award giving body. That surely will be etched in history!

Arjo by the way is also set to star in the international project "The Rebirth of the Cattleya Killer" under ABS-CBN International Production and Co-Production Division. He's also going to have two more that'll be announced soon. His success has also lead to establish his very own production company called Feelmaking Productions Inc. and you'll see their first project Hey Joe early next year.


Photo Credits on this article belong to BEAUTeDERM (which she also endorses)

 
Ms. Sylvia says "I am truly proud of what my son has accomplished especially in the Asian Academy Creative Awards. Like him, I wish it wouldn't be the last for Filipino artists. His dedication for the craft is insurmountable. I am also grateful and humbled that the jury in the Philippines loved my work in "Huwag Ka Nang Mangamba", I fervently hope the same would happen in the international Asian Academy Creative Awards, I give it all up to God!"

If you want to know more about Ms. Sylvia Sanchez projects and updates about the awards, you may follow Sylvia Sanchez on social channels like FB, Twitter, IG and YouTube. Congratulations Ms. Sylvia! 
 
I am so happy about your recent accomplishments, I dare say, it's about time!
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COW

Make the TACO Emoji a REAL ONE on National Taco Day!

Saturday, October 02, 2021


The well loved Taco is loved all around the world and in the Philippines, I've always had the pleasure of having one almost every week because of Taco Bell. With Taco Bell's National Taco Day fast approaching, they're going to make magic happen and make that Taco emoji you have on your phones into a real one... courtesy of the Taco Bell National Taco Day Promo!

How to get that TACO

It's actually quite easy. Just look for specific Taco Bell promotional materials with a special QR code in it. Scan that QR code with your phone (can be done with iOS or Android) then send a Taco emoji. If you've accomplished that, follow the instructions and you'll get a FREE Crunchy Beef Taco courtesy of Taco Bell on October 4th. If you haven't had one, think of seasoned beef, fresh lettuce and tomatoes, lots of cheese, hot sauce, in a crunchy taco shell exterior. They're basically throwing a taco party in the Philippines and you are the guest. Now how's that for taco love huh?!




If you want to know more about Taco Bell, just visit tacobell.com.ph and follow Taco Bell on their social channels where the QR code will come out. Enjoy the taco folks!



COW