Press Release Summary: Manila, Philippines - A conference on social networking and ebusiness is set on May 20-21 at Hotel Intercontinental to enable web and digital marketers, brand managers, web 2.0 practitioners, corporate communicators, bloggers, advertising agencies, online entrepreneurs, marketing and advertising professionals to maximize their benefits from the use of this popular business tool nowadays.
Press Release Body: Manila, Philippines - A conference on social networking and ebusiness is set on May 20-21 at Hotel Intercontinental to enable web and digital marketers, brand managers, web 2.0 practitioners, corporate communicators, bloggers, advertising agencies, online entrepreneurs, marketing and advertising professionals to maximize their benefits from the use of this popular business tool nowadays.
The Social Networking Conference serves as a pioneering forum in the Philippines where the latest trends on Web 2.0 applications, business models, revenue opportunities, challenges, and its evolution will be discussed.
The Social Networking and eBusiness Conference is an event geared towards companies which wants to see the potential of social networks for advertising, word of mouth, and reaching out to users with big social networks for collaboration, current, start-up and upcoming players in the social networking industry who would like to gain insight and share perspective as to how this industry is evolving; internet users who are interested to find out how this dynamic space will change in the years to come.
The organizers of this conference are Fiera de Manila (www.fmi.com.ph, telephone number 8960639, 8960637, email: fiera@info.com.ph) and Digitalfilipino Club (www.e-commercephilippines.com).
Featured speakers to be presented in the conference are --- Gregory \"Greg\" Kittelson is the Co-Founder and President of GrooveNet, a virtual world social network in the Philippines. He is also the co-founder and head of business development for Mobius (Digital Media Exchange). Earlier on, he was the head of sales and marketing for FBM Software.
GrooveNet is considered as the first virtual world set-up in the Philippines. The service will turn 2 years old this June and it has over 100,000 members in the Philippines and thousands more Filipino members abroad, according to Gregory \"Greg\" Kittelson, co-founder and president of the company. \"Initially, we launched with very simple profile pages and There (virtual world). Since then we have added many compelling features such as our GrooveNet Music & Lyrics player and a music widget to add to other social networking sites. Early this year we also converted our entire profile pages into Adobe Flex, which is a better technology. We hosted eyeball parties in Metro Manila so our members can meet in person and get to know one another.\"
GrooveNet has its own virtual currency, Therebucks. This can be used to buy items items in their virtual world and be able to buy physical goods like roses in the future.
Greg shared that 90% of GrooveNet traffic is from the Philippines. \"Generally, our members are Filipinos interested in meeting other people and are interested in music, night life, and even travel.\"
Like any community site, one major challenge is maintaining an active base of loyal users in your community. Greg recognizes that the growth of Facebook and a few other social networks has its effects to other players. \"However, we are able to combat this with localized content, such as local music and lyrics and night life. For example, you will never see Bamboo or Cueshe on the front pages or music pages of Friendster, Facebook or MySpace. Nor will you see the latest parties happening in Makati or the Fort on those sites either. However, you will see Filipino bands and parties all over the GrooveNet site. Our eyeball parties also keep our members loyal, as they offer a medium for them to finally get to meet and partake in night life and other social activities together.\"
Greg is optimistic on the potential of virtual worlds in the Philippines. Companies, sooner or later, may have to use this as a new venue to reach out to target markets. \"I think we are just scratching the surface with virtual worlds, not just in the Philippines but around the globe. They are becoming more and more popular as people go online and the internet infrastructure improves. Virtual worlds are a great way to market, interact and even learn about your target market.\"
Another speaker in the conference is -- Giovanni Bacareza, Director for Business Development of Chikka Asia Inc. Experienced executive in international business management and operations, Giovanni Bacareza is responsible for identifying and seizing business opportunities in the North and South America, and also manages the company\'s operations in the said region.
Prior to his post at Chikka, he was vice president of Manila-based Ajonet Holdings Inc., an investment holding company where he was involved in P&L management, strategic planning, and technology development in both large multinationals and small startups.
According to Gio, Chikka has a revolutionary project that would require partnership with web 2.0 and social network developers. \"We have a revenue model designed for them. This new development keeps me busy in looking for developers, whether companies or individuals.\"
Chikka has one of the biggest social network not only in the Philippines but worldwide also. Its social network is based in its community of 40 million buddies using Chikka\'s messaging application.
Gio believes there\'s money to be made on the community besides text and advertising. \"We\'re opening up our platform for the developer community to play around similar to Google Open Social and Facebook. The difference we have is that (1) we have other revenue models for developers than just ads: we got messaging, content, subscription services and (2) we provide the bridge to the mobile world.\" The Chikka platform is still in the process of completing its APIs and documentation. \"The first developers we work with, we will handle closely on a 1-to-1 manner. They will help us shape the platform. When we are ready to open the sandbox, then we unleash it.\"
Another speaker is -- Hans A. Koch, a co-Founder and Search Division President of syndeo::media. He handled more than two dozen clients serving various search engine and Internet marketing needs. Prior to this, he worked as a sales and search engine marketing specialist for Pandora Squared. Hans Koch will share experiences on marketing and communications campaign done through social networking and its positive results.
With Web 2.0 applications and tools, social networking and user-generated content in advertising and gaming community are alternative venue for advertisers to promote their products and services through various e-games. JC Medina, Director of New Media for Level UP! Games will be presenting interesting and exciting case studies and new business models that work in the games market.
For more details of this conference, please call 8960639, 8960637, email: fiera@info.com.ph, visit web sites: http://www.socialnetworkphilippines.blogspot.com, http://www.fmi.com.ph
Web Site: http://www.socialnetworkphilippines.blogspot.com
Contact Details: For more details of this conference, please call 8960639, 8960637, email: fiera@info.com.ph, visit web sites: http://www.socialnetworkphilippines.blogspot.com, http://www.fmi.com.ph
2025
