BORACAY 2015: GEEK ON A BEACH (GOAB)

Tweet

It’s my 4^th chance to visit Boracay, and this time it’s official business. Sadly the weather was not good that time as we experienced heavy rains and gusty winds brought about by typhoon Ineng. I was so nervous during our flight back to Manila due to delays and super-scary air turbulence. Anyway, we stayed 3 nights and 4 days at La Carmella Resort from August 19-22, 2015. We met new people in the industry and learned technopreneurship ideas from powerful and influential speakers both local and foreign. Almost 500 delegates and 85 speakers all over the world attended the conference and I think it is safe to assume, based on attendees and activities that the conference ended successfully.

GOAB is an honest-to-goodness, no-holds barred conference where people speak the truth about startups, tech and design industries. It is a place for dialogue where you can exchange ideas along the beautiful Boracay beach wearing your most comfy beach wear. This is one conference I attended that had no rules. You could wear anything as long as you are comfortable in it. You can even attend the conference’s various sessions wearing your epic short shorts or sexy tank tops! And knowing that I have no beach body to flaunt, I just decided to wear my bare- back white dress paired with my navy neon orange slippers! Cool! Do I look like a fashion geek here? Hehe

In this photo is the visionary Local Chief Executive of the City of Balanga when he was invited as one of the guest speakers from the Local Government to discuss the initiatives of the City of Balanga in promoting and developing the startup ecosystem in Bataan--- the man who turned Balanga City 180 degrees progress on its economy. As early as now I want to congratulate this man for a job well done. May your passion to serve people with integrity continue as you take another step toward your next goal. I just hope that I was able to help you in my own little way in delivering quality service to your constituents for almost nine (9) long years.  

Goofing around with Ms. Cristina Lawskowski (in black), President of Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) Silicon Valley, an organization committed to cultivating holistic entrepreneurship, strengthening the tech ecosystem, empowering entrepreneurs & accelerating global business ideas. She is the woman behind our US invitation to Silicon Valley Exposure trip in May of this year. I admire this intelligent and empowered woman. She is a very down-to-earth person, too! I always suffer nosebleed whenever we converse. Lol

I remember what Dave McClure, 500 Startups founder and famous Silicon Valley Investor, said, “Don’t worship Silicon Valley! Learn from them. They will be YOU five-years from now”.

On my left is my smart colleagues. Our City Accountant-Ms. Myrna Roman.

It’s been a blast learning from the Philippine startup ecosystem and growing financial technology opportunities with real geeks. I was able to rub elbows once again with my colleagues in the ICT industry. Hoping and praying that the next Geek-on-a-Beach will be held in the beautiful beaches of Bataan as Mayor Joet Garcia invited the techtalkph organizer and the rest of the delegates to come visit Bataan in 2016 GOAB conference.