Toral: On to 2013
LAST week, it became known that Cynthia Villar is planning to run in the 2013 elections. It became known as the Villar Foundation celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Through their television ads, they started spreading the word about the work the foundation has done in helping its...
Toral: Wrath of the Tulfos
LIKE many Filipinos, I am a fan of the Tulfo brothers. When I’m at home and programs like “Isumbong Mo kay Tulfo” and “Bitag” are on air, I take time to watch. My favorite is Erwin Tulfo. I recall his morning show stint on TV5 and I was amused to watch him give love advice. Of course, listening...
Toral: Mobile phones, pawnshops: reaching out to the unbanked
I RECENTLY had an urgent requirement of sending money to persons who do not have any bank account. It was an interesting experience especially when you get to read a recent Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas report that eight in 10 households do not have bank accounts (...
Toral: Promoting fitness online
FOR the past two years, I have seen a lot of fitness-related advocacies online. A lot of them were mostly centered on fun runs, marathons and even trail running. Usually, information about where people can sign up and pay the fees are posted online. After the event, photos are uploaded where...
Toral: Misinterpretation online
THE challenge of communicating online or through text message is that one can easily be misinterpreted, depending on the mood or mindset of a person at the time you are having an exchange with them.
Jokes can be seen as flirting depending on their tone and insinuation. Photos posted can...
Toral: Streetfood tycoon
TWO weekends ago, I learned about an IOS-based (iTouch, iPhone and iPad) free game called Streetfood Tycoon created by KuyiMobile.com. This Pinoy-based innovation, which can be downloaded on http://bit.ly/...
LAST March 5, 50 players in the e-commerce industry formed the Digital Commerce Association of the Philippines, Inc. (http://www.dcom.ph). This is a big welcome as the Philippine Internet Commerce Society is no longer active. It... I JUST got asked on how often should a website be improved. Do you carry out a big upgrade or do it gradually? I am biased toward the gradual approach. Gradually adding more user-friendly features in a website often results in an increase in traffic. If you have advertising like Google Adsense,... LAST month, I decided to delete most of my profile pictures and photo albums in Facebook. There are a lot of memories and stories behind those photos. With Facebook Timeline and my account reaching more than 5,000 connections, I began to think about how much I want to share and keep to myself.... I RECENTLY caught up with an old client and decided to work on a new project again. During our first project meeting, a teenager was brought in who then shared ideas as to how things should be done. This is my second time to encounter this week - next generation owners, usually in their... IN THE past few weeks, monitoring Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment trial made me realize a lot of things. Content about politics, like sex and showbiz, actually sells. High traffic to articles and passionate discussion on the impeachment drama, as it unfolds, fills... AS I finalize the program for the Digital Filipino E-Commerce Summit
(http://bit.ly/ecom2012), it amazes me to see how the concept of “trust” is evolving online. You can see sites like ShopInstallment.com that... WHEN news about the impeachment first came out, I wrote a piece expressing my concerns on how the justice system works in our country. It also brought memories of former President Joseph Estrada’s impeachment trial where he was denied the due process he was entitled to, as emotions were used as... LAST Sunday, I got to watch a documentary about the impeachment trial. It was an explosive episode, as it opened my eyes on a lot of issues surrounding the Supreme Court and how the justices conduct themselves. Why, in a sense, is the Supreme Court “the law” and “above the law”? How, if... WITH the kind of field I am in, a lot of the people I work with are young - mostly in their twenties and thirties. As time goes by, you get to know them more and the relationships they are in. Some of these blossom while some end. THE list of 2011 Digital Filipino – Search Profile Index Web Awards winners (http://bit.ly/webawards2011) shows that e-commerce players are dominating the local market. The strength of online communities has... WHEN I started the DigitalFilipino Club (e-commercephilippines.com) back in 2003, I did not have any reference points as there were hardly any fee-based membership sites online then. I relied on giving stuff as perks as that has allowed me to grow the community, even up to now. That is... I WAS interviewed yesterday by TV5 Bitag on the case of “Perfect World” online gamer Ryan Ty (http://on.fb.me/ryerye69). One of his gaming accounts, which was given by a friend, recently got hacked and P300,000 worth of... WITH the elections happening in the summer of 2013, prospective senatorial candidates who want to run for office need to start taking action by forming their own campaign team, as it requires at least 18 months of preparation and raising at least P50 million of advertising budget if one intends... LAST week, I was at Tech Ventures Singapore and one presentation that was memorable for me was of Rovio’s key account director, Bijay Gurling, who shared the story behind the famous Angry Birds game. I first heard of Angry Birds from iPad users who were raving about it. When I got my... I WAS updating my gadgets Tuesday and found the application I use to conduct webinars and online consultation, GoToMeeting, now has iPhone and Android applications. This is a big deal for me as it means my students and club members can now join by just using their smartphone, iPad or Android... LAST Aug. 1, I started mingling in the Empire Avenue (EA) community (http://www.empireavenue.com) after reading an article on accountability-based influence. This is where your online social capital is measured based... LAST week, I saw a television episode posted online featuring an anonymous blog that listed down names of people suffering from a specific ailment. What made it controversial was that not all those listed on the said site are really suffering from that disease, as some of them claim... I GOT the chance to interview Wally Gozar of Maverick Communications sometime ago about creating an identity, brand, and winning awards (http://bit.ly/wallygozar). I HAD the benefit of meeting people in high-tech companies, start-ups, and business incubators in a learning program recently that made me contemplate on why incubators and start-ups have not clicked so much in the Philippines. With incubators, I think the primary challenge is the... Toral: A big welcome to DCOM
Toral: Prioritize user experience
Toral: Facebook reboot
Toral: Reporting to 18-year-old bosses
Toral: Politics, like sex and showbiz, sells
Toral: Can I trust you?
Toral: Turning tides
Toral: The impeachment trial
Toral: Letting go of love
Toral: E-commerce growth
Toral: Value for membership: Lessons learned
Toral: Hack compensation policy
Toral: Senatorial campaign
Toral: Angry Birds magic
Toral: Mobile apps
Toral: Measuring social capital
Toral: Letter to US-based blogging platforms
Toral: Beyond numbers
Toral: Start-ups and incubators
