The year of 2007, dubbed as the year of blog events and controversies of the Pinoy blogosphere. A round where Filipinos extended the activity of blogging from the simple act of blog posting to the establishment of proper community relationships – all thanks to the number of offline and online blog events which has encouraged such interactions.

It is evident that 2007 has been a good year for the growth of the Pinoy blogosphere. Every event, no matter how big or small, controversial or not, is an important milestone which marks every step of the pinoy blogging community.

Let us take a look at these important milestones and see how far the Pinoy blogosphere has grown in the year 2007.

January

• Blog Parteeh! 2007 (Jan. 27) The very first blogger meetup for the year 2007.

March

• Davao Blog Party (March 17) Davao bloggers got a taste of some fun with the Davao Blog Party organized by the Usual Suspects.
• 2007 Philippine Blog Awards Night (March 31) This is the very first Blog Awards night of the Philippine Blog Awards which was held at the RCBC Plaza. The list of finalists can be seen here.

April

• IBlog3 – The Third Philippine Blogging Summit (April 13-14) The event was held at the School of Economics Auditorium in U.P. Diliman. It was where popular bloggers get to speak and teach about their experiences about blogging to other Pinoy bloggers.

May

• Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007 (May 12) The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007 was officially launched. The aim of the contest was to recognize new blogs that are slowly gaining fame in the blogosphere.

June

• PinoyBlogero.com (June 12) PinoyBlogero.com was officially launched. (Just wanted to include that one. Not that important, really)
• Kalayaan 2007 (June 12) PinoyBlogosphere.com held an Essay Writing Contest in commemoration with the “Araw ng Kalayaan” (Philippine Independence Day). The winning entry the contest was:
  • Independence Day: Are We Really Free? by Peachy Galias
• Krispy Kreme Opening (June 28) A number of bloggers were invited on the Grand Opening of the Krispy Kreme store over at Greenhills.

July

• The P600,000 Bayanihan SEO Contest (July 1) The Bayanihan SEO contest is officially launched.
• Taste Asia Blogger’s Food Fest 1 (July 3) SM Mall of Asia invited bloggers for a night of food and fun at the Taste Asia Food Court.
• Bloggers Food Writing and Photography Class (July 14) BlogandSoul.net holds the very first Food Writing Seminar and Photography class for bloggers at Serye Eastwood.
  
•  Mel and Joey (July 15). Local TV show called Mel and Joey featured the world of blogging and how bloggers are able to earn from it. They interviewed prominent figures in the Pinoy Blogosphere such as Abe Olandres of Yugatech.com and J. Angelo Racoma of The J-Spot. Because of the show, a lot of Pinoys became interested with blogging and began creating their own blogs You can watch the show here.
  • Welcome Notes to Visitors from Mel and Joey
  • Thoughts on Making Interviews – A PostScript on the Mel and Joey feature, and Why You Should Have an Interview Policy
  • Adding to the Misconception on Blogging

August

• Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007 Eyeball (Aug 1) The winners of the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007 was officially announced at Max’s Restaurant Park Square 1 in Makati City. The winners of the contest were the following:
  • An Apple a Day / The Philosophical Bastard
  • The D Spot
  • CokskiBlue
  • Make Money Online with a 13-Year Old
  • Culture Shiok! / Utakgago
  • Kubiertos
  • FruityOaty / PinoyBlogero
  • The Dork Factor / The Anitokid Chronikos
  • Gibbs Cadiz
  • Confessions of a Hopeless Romantic
• Filipina Campaign (Aug 08) Lorna Lardizabal-Dietz, Dine Racoma, and Noemi Lardizabal-Dado sought to change the image of Filipinas online by launching an online campaign over at FilipinaImages.com.
  
• Filipina Writing Project (Aug 08) Janette Toral of Digital Filipino made another writing project that invites bloggers to write about Filipinas as a show of support on the ongoing Filipina campaign.
• CarlOcabIssue – Ethical Blogging (Aug. 9) . Noemi of Touched By An Angel blogged about her suspicions of the real writer behind CarlOcab.com, a blog that is supposedly managed by a 13 year old. The said blog posts has aroused a number of posts that are both in support and against it.
  • Make Money Online Through Your 13 Year Old Child
  • If Your Son is Attacked, Defend him fast if You Must
  • Disclosure Policies, Carl Ocab, and Blogging Ethics
  • Yuga Meets the Kid Blogger
• Bloggers Misrepresent (Aug 12) Jayvee Fernandez of A Bugged Life aired his opinion to the general public saying that there was one particular figure who is misrepresenting the Pinoy blogosphere and is using the Pinoy blogosphere for personal merit. Apparently, the blogger who was talking about was Janette Toral of DigitalFilipino.com. His particular post sparked a public outburst from other Filipino bloggers who also shared their opinions on the topic.
  • ‘Misrepresents,’ my foot
  • You want someone to represent the Pinoy blogosphere? Get Sybil
• Ratified Australia (Aug 13) Ratified.org, a pinoy blog-ranking site, has officially launched an Australian version and is now currently ranking the top 100 blogs in Australia.
• Malu Fernandez Issue (Aug 16) The article of Malu Fernandez, which contains insults towards overseas filipino workers, spread like wildfire through the internet and blogs. Angry Filipinos blogged about their disgust for the columnist and a call for resignation later surfaced against Malu Fernandez. This controversy proved to be the biggest of its kind which was later covered by the media.
  • Malu Fernandez: What’s Economy Class?
  • I Pity the Fool
  • The Devil Wears Jo Malone
  • Show Malu Fernandez what ‘Wit’ is: Be Intellectually Mean
• An Open Apology to Janette and Moving On (Aug 17) A few days after the controversy started, Jayvee Fernandez offered his apology to Janette Toral.
• Wika 2007 Another essay writing contest was held by PinoyBlogosphere.com to celebrate buwan ng Wika. Winners of the contest were:
  
  • Tungo sa pagbabanyuhay by Ding Fuellos (Grand Winner)
  • Naykupu! by Ynon (1st Runner Up)
  • Ang Obra by Feddie Marc S. Perez (2nd Runner Up)
  • ‘THE’ Filipino Language: WHAT THE HECK DOES THIS MEAN???
    by Frances Paola G. Doplon  (3rd Runner Up)
  • A Language We All Need to Learn
    by Ayel (3rd Runner Up)
  • Pista ng Wikang Filipino/The Spectacle of the Filipino Language
    by Marocharim (Participant’s choice)
• Blog and Soul Launch at Mrs. Fields (Aug 21) BlogandSoul movement was officially launched along with the grand opening of Mrs. Field’s Cookie Shop at Manila Pavil
  ion.
• Taste Asia 2 (Aug 23) SM Mall of Asia follows up their first blogger’s party with Taste Asia 2 where the winners of the Hypermarket Blog Writing Contest was announced. The event is believed to have the most attendance in the history of Pinoy offline blogging events! 450+ attendees!

September

• Bloggers Kapihan 1.0 (Sept 8.) Bloggers Kapihan holds their very first event dubbed as Bloggers Kapihan "Blogging Beyond the Basics".

October

• Desperate Housewives Racial Slur. Filipinos (Oct 02) A particular scene on the Desperate Housewives TV show had angered a number of Pinoy bloggers after one of the characters had left out a racial slur against Pinoy Medical Practitioners. The blogosphere was cut in half, the first half sought to pursuade the show to release a public apology, the other says that it is not worth causing a ruckus. Watch the video clip here.
  • Desperate for Philippine Audience
  • Tado’ to a!
  • Dok, sa Pilipinas ka ba nag Med-School?
  • Reacting and Over-Reacting to the Desperate Housewives Script
  • Another Perspective on the Racial Slur Issue
  • A Call to BoyCott Desperate Housewives? No thanks
  • Dismal and Sound Logic: Reactions Regarding the Desperate Housewives Controversy
• Bloggers Kapihan 2.0: Blog Ed 101 (Oct 13) Bloggers Kapihan held their second Bloggers Kapihan event with a series of seminars that talks about the importance of blogging in learning, learning in blogging and blogging as a tool for alternative education.
  
• Pinay Scandal HitList (Oct 17) Marghil Macuha of Macuha.com conducted a mini-SEO challenge for his readers on his blog. The aim of the contest was to rank high on the SERPs of the “Pinay Scandal” keyword through the use of SEO techniques.
• Why I Blog Seminar (Oct 24) BlogandSoul.net sought to teach the teachers on how blogging can be used as a an alternative form of teaching method to the students. The event was held at Lagro National Highschool.
• 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit (Oct 27) The Usual Suspects
  coordinated the very first Mindanao Bloggers Summit with the slogan "Spotlight Mindanao: Blogging for Culture, Identity, and Understanding".

November

• 10th Philippine Web Awards (Nov. 23) The winners of the annual Philippine Web Awards were announced to the public. Noemi Laradizabal-Dado of Touched by An Angel won the Best Blog Award under the Blogging Category. Check out the other winners here.
• Filipina Writing Project Awards Night (Nov 28) The winners of the Filipina Writing Project was announced at the Ponciana’s Kitchen, South Triangle Quezon City. The list of winners can be found here.

December

• Alternative Classroom Learning Experience with Bloggers (Dec 11) The BlogandSoul Movement and Bloggers Kapihan held a seminar to promote the world of blogging to the Medicine Students of UP manila.
• Red Box Bloggers Christmas Party (Dec 18) Pinoy bloggers celebrate Christmas over at Red Box Greenbelt.

If there are events that you want to be added on the list, e-mail me at PinoyBlogero@gmail.com.

Happy blogging and happy new year!

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