A Creative Industries Summit in Cebu

I just got a number of photo document summary from the 1st Creative Industries Summit captioned by DTI-Cebu Provincial Office Hope Melgar.  The event was held in Cebu City Sports Complex in Cebu Business Park on June 21, 2011.

Photos courtesy of DTI Cebu.

Creative Cebu Council VP and ARTIST KO Chairman Ian Zafra delivering the Invocation (a Cebuano poem prayer written by Maam Linda Alburo) with guitar accompaniment by Gumer Entero Jr. of the ARTIST KO Cebu - Artists & Musicians Marketing Cooperative

Council President Zen Pastoriza speaking on the topic: Creative Cebu and the Creative Cebu Council

Council President Zen Pastoriza, Council Treasurer Buck Sia, DTI-Cebu Provincial Director Nelia Navarro, and Trustee Bien Fernandez., Jr. lounge on the centerstage sofa as they watch the video on Creative Cebu.  Shown on-screen is Maam Linda Alburo being interviewed on her thoughts about the Literary Arts sector in Cebu

Council President Pastoriza expounding on the value of creativity as the economic spark for Cebu, and introducing the Creative Cebu video put together by Campaigns Cebu

President Zen Pastoriza and Treasurer Buck Sia raffle off limited edition Creative Cebu T-shirts for the lucky members in the audience.

Left to Right:  Buck Sia (Treasurer, Creative Cebu Council), Lorenzo Templonuevo (Master of Ceremonies & Moderator of the Summit, and Knowledge Management Specialist, GIZ-SMEDSEP), Marivic Aguilar (DTI-Cebu), Miriam Bacalso (Senior Regional Coordinator for Central Visayas, GIZ), DTI-Cebu PD Nelia Navarro, CBM 2011 Chairman Nonoy Espeleta, Arkeofilms co-founder and resident producer/director Joel Ruiz (Summit speaker), Hope Melgar (DTI-Cebu), Zen Pastoriza (President, Creative Cebu Council)

Council Trustee Bien Fernandez Jr. poses with CCCI President Consul Sammy Chioson, former CCCI President Joe Ng, CBM Promo & Publicity Chairperson Lilu Alino, and some Summit participants

Joel Ruiz and the CAMP-Cebu team

The extra mile

"That's not my job."

"I didn't do it."

"It's your job now not mine."

"Not my business."

"I'm busy."

"Oh, I forgot."

We hear these comments in the workplace.  Many times.  And these are the main reasons why customers, clients, and even friends hate you.  Because you failed to assure them of your role and responsibility.

But the truth is that what the customers really want to know is if you are doing something about it regardless of when or how you will deliver (of course they want it asap but there's no such thing really).

If your document didn't get to the destination, don't blame the postal service yet.  If you made a mistake on the price, don't say it's his/her fault.  Do the extra mile.  Re-educate yourself of how the process went.  Then report.  I've done it.  The customer understood and even advised a better method.  Trust and loyalty was built even stronger.

So instead of saying any of the above, excite them.  Say,"Yes, ma'am it's in my to-do list."  Or ,"I'll be back with an answer in a day or two."  Do not rub off your role from them.  Keep the loyalty in.  It's priceless.

More importantly, don't say you're busy... because we all are.

Your worst foot is still your best foot

Everybody seemed to be more engaged in taking the good stuff in.  Like veering focus in putting your best foot forward.  On the other hand, most of us are appalled at the thought of failing... of getting our worst foot out.

And I'm not surprised to know that not many understands the essential benefits of doing or thinking the opposite.

Entrepreneurs have a different way of thinking.  They often take the opposite route.  If someone says this can't be done, they test it.  This is not to be confused with ego.  It's about learning and understanding why it is so.

Take for example Cebu Pacific's advanced promos.  The idea of cutting down the price of tickets translates to passing the ridiculously expensive cost of advertising to word-of-mouth on the consumers.

When the stocks are down, the wise investors buy more shares instead of retracting.

Wonggoys professed that 'Kalayan', a track from their album, was the least liked material.  Cattski braved in for the challenge, took it as the first song to work on.  Her goal was not really to prove them wrong but to improve the unappealing.

My point is that when you only focus on admiring the best foot, you're also missing out the opportunity to make a difference.  Yet if you take a little effort in seeing the worst foot in a good way, there is no reason why you cannot like the best side of it.  Like seeing a problem as an opportunity rather than a threat.

Risk is good.  Taking the opposite path is good.  And only a few can see it this way.  This is good too.

What to say and what not to say

This is cliche but we all want to start the new year right.  In my self-proclaimed obligation to continuously reset stubborn thinkers, my first blog entry for 2011 are three basic guidelines in communication.

Using the word "problem".
Instead of saying "the problem is..." or "I have a problem with..." and so on, practice using "issue" or "concern".  It gives a better perspective for ease in challenges.  There's a significant impact between saying "the project is problematic and that it's buggy" and "the project still has bug issues."  While the first example gives you that heavy feeling that it cannot be solved, the latter feels like you're getting closer to a solution.

"We are not doing this for the money."
 C'mon.  Get real.  Even charity institutions do things for the money.  Saying this only makes you sound arrogant, funny, and stupid (pardon me for saying this but it's true).  I'd rather believe you when you say, "we're not doing this for profit".  But if you can avoid saying both, better.  Be cautious about what you should say because whether your business is non-profit or not, money is essential for its sustainability.

"I don't expect to get rich with this."
I heard this once and I heard it again so many times.  This is another statement that needs to be corrected.  Getting rich is about getting more than what you need.  Making money is about sustainability.  If you make more than what you need, treat it as a bonus for doing things right.  You deserve it.

Bottomline is don't be defensive about what you do or what you wish to achieve.  Be clear about your goals.  If you need to make money then declare it.  But say it appropriately - this is art too.  Chances are you will get better respect from people around your circle for simply stating clearly what's in your head.

Be honest but don't be angry.

It won't work

Who said so?

I heard it from a station manager whose radio program was supposed to promote original songs from local bands.  At that time, I was encouraging local bands to write and play original songs in gigs.  Today if you're a band in Cebu without original songs, you don't matter and you don't exist.  And guess what?  The radio station closed down.  Original music thrived.

My insurance agent discouraged me from investing in stock trading.  It's either she lost an investment in stock trading (which I doubt she even tried it once) or she just wants my money to fatten up her sales portfolio.  Show me your track record first before you tell me what to do.

A businessman who owns and runs a shop of Apple products told me my new idea won't work.  Just recently I presented the same idea to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) and they liked it so much they want to get me started quick.

Many times more often I hear skeptics say things I think they don't even know much about. I don't claim to know so much but at least I try to encourage instead.  If there's any new idea brought on the table, I'd ask questions.  Answers lead to more questions that lead better and clearer answers.

The next time you hear someone tell you it won't work, cover your ears, shut him up, and risk it.  I know for a fact that risk takers always learn and they always win.

What Noynoy must know

I met a foreigner retiree who used to work with the United Nations (UN) for 20 years or so.  He would document real life stories from nation to nation of cultures, subcultures, lifestyles, and all other untold crimes of the underworld - son murdering his father on the spot, politicians on drugs and drug dealings, smuggling, child trafficking - you name it he's lensed it.

Of the stories he shared to me was about the daily plight of beggars in the streets of Manila and the organizations that are actually behind its modus.

We all know that the beggars are linked to a group of mafias.  This is an old story and this is not a myth.  What we don't know is that this group is somehow linked to the Congress. And he filmed this story too.

His job was to send documentaries to the UN.  The org would then endorse it back to our administration.  This is in the hope that the story would awaken the eyes of our leaders. This is in the hope that the documentaries could challenge the status quo.  This is in the hope that it could evoke a change in the system.

Nothing happened.

And so the UN will have to wait until the next administration will grant their request.  If nothing still happens then they will have to wait for the next again.  And so the wait goes on.

I wonder if Noynoy knows about this.  If he did already, then he knows where to start sweeping.  Otherwise, his promise of eradicating poverty and corruption was probably just for the show.

By the way colorful designer clothes at the SONA was impressive.

Where have all our taxes gone?

Recently, I was invited to a focus group discussion initiated by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). It was a forum that opened lids on issues of corruption.  Particularly on how businessmen manage to survive through their daily dealings that apparently impact their operations.

Those who know me knows that I'm not so much interested in talks about politics.  But I thought I'd share this.  I hope it could lead to something better.

The latest statistics on the cost of corruption according to AIM's research revealed an estimated 20% of the Philippine budget that is lost to corruption every year.

This translates to the Philippines a high probable loss PhP 308.2 billion for the entire year or PhP 843 million each day.  It's a lot of money and this is from a 2010 budget set at PhP 1.4 trillion this year.  You can imagine how much money was lost in the past years.

But what could this huge amount of cash tell us?

It could've sheltered 3.6B families at 40sqm per house. It could've hired 1.6M teachers to public schools. It could've built 598 classrooms, or 102km farm-to-market roads, or 266K barangay health centers.

Tell me what you think about this.

The professional and the amateur

A professional is patient.  He knows when to listen and when to speak.  He doesn't get angry.  He doesn't burst out in public if he does get angry.  He doesn't humiliate or embarass people in public.  He says and choose the right words when he opens his mouth.

An amateur is the exact opposite.

A professional believes in the skills of an accountant, a project manager, and researchers.  He hires them because he knows they can be an asset to his organization.  He could admit that he's afraid of this risk but takes it anyway because the results are more valuable.

An amateur is afraid and is always afraid.  He ends up doing everything by himself.  He ends up trying to be everything to everyone.

The professional reads contracts, understands it and asks questions, even the seemingly stupid ones, if there are things that needs clarification.  He believes in contracts because the agreement is clearly documented and sincerely binding.  Nevermind that it's legal - it's a given.

An amateur, if there is ever a contract issued, would probably just read it (lazily).  He could pretend he understands it.  More often he is skeptical for stipulations that confuse him, gets angry at open discussions all for the wrong reasons.  He may sign a contract but with trust issues.

A professional believes in the benefits of proper documentation and strong internal control.  He would always demand for copies of it to ensure transparency of the agreement between parties.

An amateur care less about the leverage paperworks can bring him.  He often has an aversion to procedures, guidelines, and policies.  He hates it.

An amateur hates information overload.  The pros love them.  No wait.  The pros do not think there is such a thing.

But good things have to start somewhere somehow.  Perhaps one of the good things amateurs offer is that they don't do the things they're good at and the things they love doing for the money.  They love their art so much that they do it for themselves and yes for art's sake.  This holds true as long as reality doesn't bite yet.

This attitude allows them to explore their craft at their own pace, style, and imagination... without having to worry about appreciation.  Good things happen from small passionate beginnings.

Possibilities ahead

Taking the strides toward achieving goals can be daunting. It needs one good leadership to assist us in taking the pace at moderated cadence.

This cooperative we call ARTIST KO is still at its infant stage. So many considerations, options, and decisions to make. Many times I had been encouraged by friends to pursue this path... and I had been forewarned as well. I understand the stakes and it requires a great deal of patience I know.

Many times past I had faced the point wishing there was more of me to share my chickenheartedness. Unfortunately I only have myself to rely on.

I'm taking this is with promising strides... really good steps at that.

As I said last night at the ARTIST KO event (and I say it again)... "ARTIST KO may not be the best solution but it definitely is not part of a problem."

Cheers to all!

Artist Ko's 1st flea market and yard sale

Any stuff in good working condition you plan to buy or sell? An ex-gf/bf item you want to get rid of maybe? Or how about those past time artsy fartsy functional decorative you owe from your creative idle hours? As long as you got something you've been wanting to make a little money with.


...And while you're busy on the spot, we'll play music for you. Sell them cheap, buy them cheap... and more importantly have fun.

Cheap little good stuff at ARTIST KO's Flea Market and Yard Sale.

Emails:
cattskiespina@yahoo.com
outpostmania@gmail.com
bossinister@gmail.com

Mobile nos.:
0917 321 6429
0917 711 0671

Contact us and we'll be more than happy to help you.

Just a little announcement

Artist Ko, the cooperative me and my friends had been busy setting up in the past 4 months is finally coming into form.

Tomorrow, Sept. 10, 2009, the cooperative will have its seminar to be conducted by the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) with guest speaker Mrs. Eli Conoso. On top of all other requirements, this is to establish a legal entity for the entrepreneurial org.

Part of CDA's requisite is to complete the first 20 committed members. In this light, it is important that we pre-select the right people to work with. They are (in no particular order):

Ian Zafra
Cattski Espina
Insoy Niñal
Jude Gitamondoc
Atty. Grae Elmido
Ysai Perez
Sandy Kiamko
Randy Su
Carlos Villarica
Rommel Tuico
Jad Bantug
Chai Fonacier
Arnold Ang
Lui Castillo
Mic-mic Demeterio
Aldwin Rondina
Kaloy Uypuanco
Jay Young
Vince Ranier G. Yap
Atty. Philip Landicho
Celedonne Kuizon
Rei Sarmiento

Turns out we have 22, more than the required number. Wish us good luck and cheers!

Pessimism is good if...

Truth is that positive thinking is easier said than done. Because we are human and that we are basically sensual. We are influenced by the things around us and our decisions fall in these cracks (many times more often). We feel and act on our emotions by how our "world" revolves and resolves with it.

In the process of becoming, positive thinking instead becomes a hindrance. We tend to lose hope. We get defensive. At the end of the day, pessimism seeps and creeps and in our system we slowly become cynics.

It's surprising that things come easier this way.

Because negative thinking is much easier to do.

It's easier to hate. It's easier to criticize. It's easier to get angry at people you can't seem to forgive and reconcile with. It's easier to get pissed. It's easier to dwell in the past. It's easier to not forget. If it wasn't, this world would've been a perfect place to live would it?

So when can pessimism be useful?

I think pessimism works best when we use it in risk management planning or simply put finding solutions to problems. It works worse if it's a personal issue. The former helps - accountants and lawyers call it professional skepticism. Negative thinking works when taken as a tool to cross borders to hopefully understand what lies beyond.

The latter could just be a byproduct of selfish egos.

It pays to know how it should work for you.

USJR Tourism Convention on Creative Industry

Mischelle Latras of USJR Tourism had just invited me to speak about the local music scene in Cebu in a convention they are organizing slated on Oct. 16, 2009.

Music in Cebu is an industry that is one of the recently recognized by DTI as one of the promising businesses in the creative sector to nurture.

Nervous and excited, I seek everybody's support and prayers that we can do this. I know and believe that we can build an alternative music industry platform that everybody can economically benefit from. And I hope to share our plans to the public so that they too will be aware that musicians can be responsible citizens and mean business too.

It's still a couple of months ahead but just the same... wish me luck.

An ocean of new opportunities - it can only grow

It's been a while since my last blog. There's so much to do in so little time.

Time. Yes.

There's not much of it and just like everything else, we can only do so much. There is so much patience required. There needs a great deal of love and understanding. And I think the best good news is that things had picked up again.

No details yet but...

Perspectives and mindset in the music scene are slowly realigned. Much less pretense. More substantial music to listen, sing and experience live. More new and better artists and bands. I felt this. It's overwhelming and powerfully promising.

Part of this realignment are newly conceived business ideas and opportunities embraced in a Cooperative I had initially proposed to the proprietors of The Outpost with the help a few trusted friends in the local music community, musician lawyers, and other friends in the creative sector.

The music scene is healthy. It just needs to keep a maintenance program to sustain and grow.

Think BIG, start small : skateboard + music + T-shirts

At one time my good friend David Harris, BITE magazine entrepreneur, busied himself piecing together a half pipe ramp for a skateboard show working with a couple of 20 something young lads.

One of them was Botch Pajanas.

Later I've learned that Botch's main business was T-shirt printing. Skateboarding is just his favorite sport. And the whole idea of a skateboard exhibit turned out to be a promotional tool for his business. On top of that bands were booked for that night.

Of course. Why not?

His product shares the same demographics - people his age who love T-shirts, music, and of course skateboard. Merging T-shirt business with other people's passion is not entirely new but is a somewhat proven possibility in creative selling.

Plan your work and work you plan.

After that amazing accomplishment, David said to me "these kids are really doing what they think they should be doing."

I think I understood him.

Many of us would just talk about ideas... talk and talk and talk but only a few really take the time to get things going. I must admit I feel guilty about this sometimes. These kids do the opposite.

Thing BIG. Start small.

That buying power we call credit cards

There is always a karmic obligation in everything. The credit culture proved this and probably revealed more destructive effects in this decade than ever before.

Buying something that is more than your income is like insisting on carrying a load bigger and heavier than what our bones could bear. It's simple physics taught in school. Basic economics shouldn't be any different, don't you think?

I never really understood the logic behind the credit card culture.

Loans I do and it's sensible because of the relatively large sum of money. But credit cards I don't. I maintained only one but only for the purpose of emergency use which happens rarely (I hope) and annual online payments (i.e. URL registration, webhosting, etc.).

I am guilty of saying that financial institutions successfully convinced us to use pseudo cash because they spent a great deal of time investing on the idea that we didn't have money in the first place.

Of course the intention is good. But when the day of obligation comes, where will you get that dough to pay the bill? Wait. I think the right question is HOW can you pay the bill? You didn't have it in the first place remember?

Satiating your wants is one thing, buying on credit is another.

So now after a long time, man had successfully institutionalized the habit of credit not realizing that the risk can easily amplify due to one's inability to manage personal finances.

Financial wealth isn't just about a fat bank account. It's about financial literacy exercised religiously and faithfully.

But then many of us still insist (strongly). Ah the convenience of credit. That buying power everybody is enjoying for a time - and a long one at that. Yes, it eliminated complaints and short term problems but wisdom is now telling you that material satisfaction can only be temporary.

America is paying big time for being stubborn. The rest of the world is sharing this problem not because they had to but because it's a built-in karma. Meanwhile let's learn to listen more what this is trying to tell us.

Facebook Is Like... Yahoo Is Like... And Google Is Like...

Ok... After ranting about Facebook, I'm still guilty of using it. I did say I don't hate it, didn't I?

From what I see on my screen, Facebook seems to be replicating what Yahoo was doing before. Only this time it's in social networking service format. I think Facebook is trying to be everything to everyone.

Yahoo for a significant time was a portal trying to be everything to everyone.

Yet Google is god.

Information you need delivered in seconds. Better than a prayer don't you think? Yahoo's search engine at one time was actually subscribed to Google... so essentially Yahoo was actually Google.

Google challenges itself and keeps on doing it. Constantly improving its service for better opportunities to users.

They introduced AdSense, that online advertising service that allow advertisers to share a cent chip of their profit while users resume doing what they're supposed to do - search, blog, search, chat, bookmark, search, rant, search, blog, etc...

Then they learned how to monetize from search boxes, feeds, and very soon videos.

Yes YouTubers will be empowered.

In fact it's in its testing stage in key countries as we speak. Maybe I'm even months late. YouTube, the biggest video repository in the planet will become another passive income stream.

How's that?

Such a beautiful entrepreneurial concept, isn't it? Who would've thought of an idea where an advertiser could share it's income to the market?

Google did.

Stay tuned.

Share

Here are a couple of mantras I've adhered to that served as one of my guiding principles. I thought of sharing it.

1. Work with people that are better than you.

I think it was John Lennon who said that a band is like a tennis game. You'll never know how good (or bad) you are until you start playing with other professionals. Collaboration is the key to improvement. Challenge yourself. Take calculated risks.

2. Share the results of your work.

What good is your idea if it only stays in the 4 corners of your bedroom? Go out and make the world see what you can do. Sharing allows learning and the more we learn, the more we find how much there is to learn.

A musician's skill can only beneficial when shared with other fellow musicians.

The Right Mindset

Steve Jobs sees The Beatles as his business model. In some ways, I find this surprisingly appropriate and true.

Running a business is like leading a rock band. You may have every reason to get ticked off by the personalities of each individual you work with.

But the overall sum is mostly coming from focusing on the good of every individual and its valuable contribution to a goal - in my case is songwriting.



I found this video that briefly describes that and thought of sharing it here.

Money Doesn't Make The World Go 'Round

The recession in the U.S., the supposedly most powerful country in the world (heck probably in the universe) didn't stop the earth from rotating its axis and continues to revolve around the sun.

And so the popular myth about the devil's supposed most powerful invention supported with a global slogan "money makes the world go 'round", is fast becoming the world's famous fallacy.

The truth is... the world keeps on turning not because of economic stability, emotions, or what have you. It's because man, in his godlike goodness never runs out of ideas.

The world needs great ideas.

The world needs creative people.

The world needs to reinvent itself sometimes.

Great businesses succeed not because of large capital investments but because there are creative people behind it. All the great things we see in this earth were from ideas inspired by day to day problems. It is from that plane of thought where minds start working.

A poor man is not he who has no cash but he who has no ideas.