Congratulations Graduates!

It was just like yesterday when we were the ones planning our own crazy Graduation Party.

Time flies so fast that last Saturday, we enjoyed a party organized by our good friends who just officially said goodbye to college! 

We spent the time catching up with our good friends, sharing our own experiences of how it is when it comes to the real world and how we, of course, miss college life sometimes. We undeniably enjoyed Good Earth's cocktail drinks which we deserved after a long week's work :)

It was a well planned party that it deserved to be shared to all our friends who were not able to join us. We wanted to share the love and discreetly make them jealous by subscribing to SMART's new offer: FB10. It allows us to post our photos on Facebook for only 10 pesos! Imagine being able to access unlimited FB for one whole day at an affordable price? We just had to try it! And it was a fast upload, to be honest :)

To our friends & newly grads, cheers to a job well done! It's been a long ride of learnings but this we assure you, in the real world, more learnings are yet to come and we'll always have each other to #LiveMore during the weekends :) CONGRATULATIONS! 

#TimeToChange SMART Switch Madness

As Social Media Specialists, we get to engage with a substantial number of non- smart subscribers who want to change their network subscription. Hence, SMART, the biggest network, gave a lot of people a chance to be able to switch easily and conveniently.

It is indeed the #TimeToChange so last September 28 and 29, SMART hosted the Switch Madness Event at Shangri-La Plaza Mall to make it easier for subscribers to switch to a more reliable network. Exclusive offers and big discounts for postpaid, prepaid and broadband were made available to consumers during this "madness"

It was no surprise that many took the time to go the mall and switch :)

It felt good to personally meet one of the actual switchers who got an iPhone4s :)

We also had the chance to be with the famous Boysnightout of Magic 89.9, who helped facilitate the event with contests and promos

A lot became more eager to partake in this event when Elmo Magalona (@SuperElmo) and Julie Anne San Jose (@MyJaps) came up the stage to perform and entertain the crowd!

To all those who have participated in this Switch Madness Event, Congratulations and welcome to the BIGGEST Network! You just made the right choice to #LiveMore with SMART!

 Remember, the less of it you waste, the more of it you live! :)

(Views are our own)

#iPHLGood

Nowadays, we rarely think what we post on the internet. Our social media accounts become our personal diaries and these thoughts are instantly shared with everyone. We are not aware of the consequences of our words, and with the looming Cyber Crime Act, it is only apt to have events like this.

Last September 22, we attended the Social Good Summit at Asian Institute of Management organized by @Rapplerdotcom, @TweetUpMNL and @Mashable. It is a global event that discussed the promise to do social good in Social Media. With a wide array of topics from various speakers, we knew we were in for a show!

We were only able to attend the afternoon session which kicked off with Department of Tourism Secretary, Mr. Mon Jimenez. Being the man behind the hit tourism campaign “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”, he and his team used Social Media to spread nationalism in a modern way. The campaign was evidently successful with more than 75,000 memes, and a huge increase from 8 million local trips in 2008, to 29.5 million in 2011!

Secretary Jimenez was followed by Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang, who talked about the correlation of Social Media and the government. He presented how the Official Gazette of the Republic of thePhilippines, which was first produced in 1906, is now available online. Hecited other examples of exceptional service in Social Media like the Twitter account of MMDA, the site of PAGASA and Project Noah, and the President’sFacebook Fan Page – proving how efficient our government is online.

From how the government utilizes Social Media todoing social good in corporations, Mr. Mon Isberto, Smart/PLDT Public Affairs head and one of the friendliest bosses we’ve met, discussed leveraging corporate social responsibility by using Social Media. One example he cited was how Smart continuously develop apps necessary for social good. Another story he shared was about how publishing the school paper online became the solution for lack of resources for printing. 

The next speaker came as a surprise. It was the infamous Chris Lao, popular for being cyber-bullied when he appeared seemingly arrogant on national TV. He told his story on what he went through after thousands of Filipino tormented him mentally and emotionally. It was an enlightening experience hearing the voice of someone who went through distress and agony from cyber-bullying.

After that heavy talk, Bianca Gonzales livened up the mood with her talk on “10Twitter Rules I Try to Follow”. As an influencer with the most number of followers, she deliberately shared her personal experiences and thoughts about each rule. Everyone was probably guilty with a couple of those. Our favorite was Rule 10: live in the present! Read more athttp://www.rappler.com/move-ph/33-editors-pick-moveph/13018-bianca-gonzalez-be-the-twitter-user-you-want-to-follow

Lastly, Maria Ressa discussed the chemical reactions happening in our bodies we get from responses to what we post online. Her creative yet intricate visuals supplemented her talk on how information spreads. Through this, she showed the “God’s eye view” on how weconnect through Social Media.

During the event, there were luckier ones who had the chance to win free #SmartIphone4s! Congratulations to them :)

The event deepened our familiarity with online behaviour and the consequences of our actions. We have more responsibilities once we engage with people online. It is how we use our profiles that reflects who we are as persons. Respect and be constructive to everyone, regardless of what medium we use, and never forget to live in the present!

As @SMART_Myka, @SMART_Tob and @SMART_Kimberly, we wish and also try our very best to apply what we have learned to the consumers we engage with

(Views are our own)

#SmartLTE Pocket Wifi

Last September 21, the three of us had a jaw- dropping experience. 

For the first time, we were able to witness and try the new #SmartLTE Pocket Wifi. Before the event started, we tried testing it with Mr. Ron Molina by going around Glorietta 4 while streaming an HD movie. As we went outside the mall, used the subway and went back to Hard Rock Cafe, we were waiting for it to buffer! IT DID NOT!

SMART wanted to share the experience with others hence we invited top bloggers and The Morning Rush to welcome and try this new device.

Mr. Ron Molina, Mr. Mon Isberto and Ms. Abbie Real introduced and talked about the #SmartLTE Pocket Wifi. 

We remember them saying how this device is going to put smiles on people's faces, very soon :)

Who's excited? We are :)

(Views are our own)

#LiveMore at The Mind Museum

There are those times when we get tired of the usual events we go to. The three of us don’t want to call it “monotonous” but we somehow find it difficult to escape from that kind of life. Although we always deem that a getaway means an out-of-town weekend trip to leave everything behind, we found a way to enjoy and take our minds off things.

We were too excited that we planned the trip a week in advance to the famous Mind Museum! We invited our friend Marcelo (@akoposimarcelo), whom we met at the Smart LTE launch. A common friend of ours, Jodi, also joined us (@jodillanto) and was equally excited about the trip.

The museum had scheduled time slots which we thought was not enough to experience every installation. Nonetheless, we made the most out of the three hours we paid for. The post-modernist façade itself was purely captivating, educational and entertaining. We mostly enjoyed the hands-on stations; imagine creating a tornado with your own hands or seeing a huge macro display of an ordinary cockroach. We were also overwhelmed with the information that came along with the displays. The huge T-Rex exhibit was fascinating – the first and only in the Philippines!

This trip was surprisingly different from the common places we visit. During those three hours, we were able to escape from the “city stress” and benefit from the learning experience the five of us had.

To give you a good glimpse of the place and the adventure, here is a video! Enjoy :

#LiveMore at The Mind Museum from Myka Pauline Ong on Vimeo.

Good Times with Good Friends

After a long day's work at the SMART LTE Launch, we treated ourselves to a night out with some of our friends. It was also our friend's birthday celebration so we made it a point that no matter how tired and drained we already were, we still managed to be there and enjoy like how we do each time. After all, no amount of exhaustion can stop us from spending good and quality times with our good friends.

We met up at Whistlestop Restaurant, our favorite spot in Makati to have a few drinks and do some catching up too. As expected, there were no dull moments, not even a while. As what most people say, drinking becomes more fun when you exchange stories. After Whistlestop, we then went to Jill's at Fort Strip to dance our night away and cherish the fun!

Now sharing with you through photos, the kind of night we had with our friends 

And the birthday celebrant that night, Happy birthday Niko Valerio! We hope you enjoyed your celebration :)

So this is pretty much how we Live More with our friends, making the most out of every Saturday night :)

(Views are our own)

Live Faster, Live More!

Yesterday, August 25 2012, SMART officially launched the first LTE in the Philippines. It was during the same day that we were officially introduced to our favorite bloggers and personalities as the SMART social media specialists: @SMART_Myka, @SMART_Tob and @SMART_Kimberly

We were really busy working but this did not stop us from giving ourselves some time to stare at our celebrity crushes. It was hard for us to act professional, we ran after them to get our photos taken.

We were lucky enough to steal a second or two from Elmo Magalona, to see Troy Montero, Aubrey Miles, Divine Lee and boyfriend Victor Basa, Will Devaughn, BNO and more!

As much as we wanted to give the kids a chance to be with their favorite characters, we went "cray cray" over Iron Man and Megatron!

It was nice to be introduced by Ms Abbie Real to some of our favorite bloggers. We did not have any chance to have our photos taken with some of them because we were busy listening to their advices about great blogging. Thank you, you know who you are :)

Thank you SMART for bringing the FIRST LTE here in the Philippines! No interruptions, buffering, real high- speed connections all of these made possible by SMART. We are not really techy, hence we suggest you visit this website www.smart.com.ph/LTE :)

(Our views are our own)