"I wanna leave my mark so everyone can know I was here..."
Quote above is from Beyonce's "I Was Here", basically the power anthem of my life. I always dream of being involved into doing something that would help others and last May 29th, I got a taste of that dream..
Read more about what happened during I Know Write MNL's #SummerWorkshop after the jump!
First of all, I'm typing this blog entry with so much glee in my heart. Last Thursday's I Know Write MNL #SummerWorkshop was a huge success!
Teen bloggers from ages 12-19 flocked at a coffee shop somewhere in Fort, BGC to join the most awaited (naks!!!) Summer Blogging event for teens. I am so overwhelmed to see all these promising, talented young bloggers attentively listening as our very special guest speakers were giving their talk about effective blogging, visual story telling and how to keep your reader's interest.
Special guest speakers are 3 of the best and most influential people in the blogging industry, starting with Ms. Marla Miniano, the Editor-in-Chief of the number one teen magazine in the Philippines: Candy Magazine!!! Just her presence is enough to get the teen bloggers and myself giggling with excitement! You know the feeling? You'll personally hear tips from someone that inspires you to be your best self in form of print every month!
We also have a very talented artist and designer from SoFA (School of Fashion and the Arts) Ms. Reese Lansangan who reminds me of Allison Harvard from America's Next Top Model cause of her quirk and uniqueness. Last but not the least is Ms. Nina Pineda who is stunningly gorgeous at such a young age! She happens to be one of the heads of the largest fandom ever in the Philippines-what else? One Direction Philippines! The lovely Clara Magalona also graced us that afternoon. And that caused the death of me.
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| These women are absolutely my life pegs! They're doing what I dream of doing someday. The Editor-in-Chief of the most influential and inspiring teen magazine (Ms. Marla) and an out-of-the-box designer artist who's breaking the norms and catching everyone's attention with her creativity (Ms. Reese).. |
You know the feeling like something inside you's tickling and you just want to jump up and down and scream the loudest fangirl scream, ugly-cry and just hug them forever but you can't cause you need to keep your composure? That's what exactly happened to me the whole time and I'm just done. I am so done. I have died and gone to heaven and my fangirl heart flew far away to nirvana jumping happily on cloud nine.
Ms. Marla? She's just so pretty and she smells so good! She mentioned she was wearing Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck that day. I've been a Candy girl (GIRL DAW OH!!!?? Sure ba yooon??) since way back my baby girl days. I remember collecting it every month together with WITCH, K-Zone, Total Girl and Monster Allergy. And though I'm already 21 now and my fashion course requires me to move on to more mature reads (Preview, Metro, Mega and Garage) with deeper interesting topics, I just can't leave Candy behind. It has been such a big influence to me. It made me realize how I am perfect and how I can shine even with some of my insecurities. So just imagine my delight seeing the person that gives me my monthly inspiration?
Ms. Marla came prepared with even a slideshow presentation. She sat in the middle of the wide-eyed teen bloggers while giving her talk. Such a camper! And I absolutely love her for that! The thing about this very lovely and inspirational woman is that she knows how to keep everyone interested. She owns the small space where she sat and took over the whole room. It's like a majestic talk where the Queen makes her royal speech and you can see how attentive everyone is. That's her power over us. She doesn't need to command you to listen cause just her mere presence already sends you sitting all ears without any distraction. Feels like she ignites every little spark inside everyone on that room with her simple words.
I almost felt like crying while listening to her. The Queen takes her throne and the room was filled with silence while everyone listened.
Food was served after Ms. Marla's talk and I must give it up to the coffee shop for serving such delectable pizzas!
And it kept on coming during the whole course of the program! It's raining pizzas that time! Loljk.
I think there were like around 15 or 20 whole pizzas that was served plus chicken and fried potato wedges.. Seriously! Pizzas everywhere!!!
While the kiddos were eating, we raffled some goodies from our generous sponsors such as cutie summer bikinis from Fab and Femme and gave out Blo Blow Dry Bar's cutie discount coupons and bazaar tickets.
Shout out to these generous sponsors for supporting and visiting the event. I know for a fact that God will continue blessing you guys!
Ms. Reese shortly followed right when everyone's settled after the quick snack. She also prepared a slideshow about visual story telling. One thing about Ms. Reese is you can see how genuine she really is. Despite the attention-grabbing hair that needs no more introduction for her to stand-out, you can somewhat feel while engaging in a convo with her how she's so real and down-to-Earth. Her giggles and constant "thank you's" whenever someone mentions how big of a fan they are to her are crystal clear. Plus her voice's to-die-for!!!
I love how she's breaking the stereotype, how she's not afraid to be different and how proud she is to be unique. And that's what she imparted to us that afternoon, how visual story telling works in engaging your readers with your every post.
Last one who gave her talk was Ms. Nina Pineda who's like a ray of positive Sunshine. So young yet so focused and passionate. Her youthfulness glows and transcends over the room and you can't help but blush as she giggles and makes fun of herself while giving her talk. She gave real talk and you can't help but be impressed at how much she's achieved at such a young age! This girl reminds me of one of my best-est friends, Emman Camcam. The infectious smile and lovely personality that shines through Nina is undeniably charming!
No wonder bashers are so jealous of this lovely woman. She is indeed a very gorgeous and beautiful person inside and out! I can vouch for that! She even challenged the bloggers out there to produce something meaningful out of their blogs even after the event. See how she's serious about giving inspiration to others? And for that, I love her!
One thing I've noticed during the event was the number of beautiful people who attended. You can see them everywhere. Everyone was smiling and chatting and engaging in a conversation even to those who they don't know inside the room. And that's one of the reasons why I Know Write MNL keeps on striving hard to give you events like this. To unite everybody with their common ground-BLOGGING. And not just blogging, BLOGGING WITH SENSE. Blogging RESPONSIVELY.
I always say that I want to surround myself with beautiful people because I want to be infected with their beauty and last Thursday was like a gathering of beautiful teen bloggers all over Manila. Plus Clara Magalona even added charm and sent hearts fluffing with her presence that day.
That girl's such a sweetheart! So humble and shy despite her status. Seriously? Clara, oh sweet Clara! I wish everyone has your attitude! So graceful and lovely! Howd'ya do that???
And Nina's friend, Jam? Grabe that girl. So pretty it hurts! Also Bea, Gabe, Kennard, Marj, Iya, Vianne, Zianne, Princess, Nikki, Jelou and EVERYONE! Everyone's so pretty I can't help but cry!!!
It really is overwhelming to see everyone that day. The fact that they prepared all their lovely outfits and made efforts to sign up, pay a registration fee (which I know is kinda hard to get since classes are yet to start and baons are on hold) and show up warms my heart. I know this is what I want to keep doing. Organizing events that will inspire others to be the best version of themselves! I want to see everyone's happy faces again as they are giddy with excitement each time we introduce each speaker.
Also, that day just proves how much I am loved. By God above who gave me such a loving and supportive family and a Kuya named Paul who's not only handsome but loves me completely and supports me all the way. I know how busy he is running his own PR company while being a model/blogger, but with just one request he sponsored the event I'm organizing! I seriously cannot wish for a better big brother cause even if I always bully and pinch him, he's always there for me and he always got my back. Thank you for helping us with our event Kuya Pops! And I know you're proud of your little sissums, yeah? Love you!
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| Photo from Vianne Del Rosario of viannedelrosario.blogspot.com |
To Hodge Podge for providing us cute giveaways such as swell pens, The Perky Shop for the amazing Monopods, Fish-eye lenses and Bluetooth remotes plus washi tapes that are beyond awesome. Blo Blow Dry Bar for the cutie Blo pins and discount coupons and Bazaar tickets. Fab and Femme for the cutie Summer Bikinis. Band Feels Manila for the lovely stickers which are so adorbs even our guests can't get over them! Strings 88 Manila for the shirts we raffled out at the beginning of the event. Belle and Cat for the gift certificates and perfumes!
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At the beginning, we started with not even a clue of who will sponsor us but you guys are a proof of how God moves in amazing ways! You guys are such big blessings to us and a simple thank you isn't even enough to express our gratitude over your generosity!
To our official media partner, WhenInManila.com for sending out Sheena to cover our event, thank you so much! She's as well an inspiration being a part of your impressive line-up of professional writers at such a young age! Knowing Sheena inspired me to write and write until I achieve my dreams! Thanks again for gracing and covering our event, WhenInManila.com!!!
To my fellow I Know Write MNL core team members Jodie, Cidee and Lara. I would just like to let you know how being part of this wonderful team means so much to me. And I'm thankful that you've welcomed me into the I Know Write MNL family. I've always been labeled as a social-climbing bad b*tch but this event somehow made me realize that a b*tch can also do something like organizing our Summer Workshop! You three are just some of the most hardworking girls I have ever known and I can't even express how proud I am of all of you! You guys are all so young yet you already know by now what you guys what to do with your lives in the future. And how often would you meet 3 lovely girls dedicated in doing something that would benefit others? It's not everyday! Jodie, Cidee, Lara, Arielle and Nina, I am so proud of all of you and all the I Know Write MNL armies!!!!
I want you guys to all know that I Know Write MNL will never stop thinking of stuff to help you more. Expect more events with inspirational guests happening in the future. I Know Write MNL has evolved from being a community to a family. I want you to know that we are all FAMILY here. If you need help about blogging or if you guys just need someone just to make you feel that you are not alone, just know we are here. That's what I Know Write MNL has made me feel. That I am loved and my opinion counts. This family is supportive of my ideas and welcomes every bit of thought I suggest and helps me improve them!
Thank you for making one of my dreams come true. Like what Lupita said, "No matter where you came from, your dreams are valid" and last Thursday just validated one of my dreams! Thank you for supporting Jodie, Cidee, Lara, Arielle, Nina and my idea of creating a BLOGGING COMMUNITY/FAMILY! Seeing how everyone enjoyed last Thursday, I know there's more to come. With God's grace and the help of everyone, I know there really is MORE in store for all of us.
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| One army did a photo with all the quotable quotes from our speakers that day. Good job, Zianne! xx |
Enjoy more photos from WhenInManila.com's Sheena and I Know Write MNL's page. xx
XOXO,
YANNIE :))
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*huggs!*
