A good portion of the Philippine blogosphere (including myself)  considered September 6, 2008 a special day because it was WordCamp Philippines 2008 day.

And that day started really early because I had to polish the presentation I was going to give as a plenary session for WordCamp. My topic was something very close to my heart– Web Standards and WordPress– two of the main components of this blog. Since I left the house late in the morning, that meant I had to miss a significant part of the day’s talks. (This should be a lesson to me not to wait for the last day/hour/minute.)

The past week was already  doozy for me because I had already given a talk at the Y4IT Conference on Wednesday, and then the WordCamp a few days later. (I think Jayvee and Juned had the same schedule) The two talks were significant, yet contrasting. Y4IT was like a rock concert, and WordCamp was more like an Unplugged event where it was more grounded and intimate.

When I arrived at the College of St. Benilde, it was in the middle of the i.ph talk. I met a few folks from the organizing committee who were extremely helpful. What they lacked in facilites, they really made up by the personal attention towards me and effort.

I was slotted after Aileen‘s Google Analytics presentation and once I got to the stage, I had some more clarity to what WordCamp was really all about. Unlike talks I’ve done before, I didn’t feel like an expert lecturing people, but a peer to the audience sharing what I like and do. We were all bloggers or somehow involved in blogging, so it was easier to draw from my experiences. In the end, I really felt good about giving the presentation.

Unfortunately, I had to scoot immediately after my talk because of another commitment so I wasn’t able to meet more bloggers and get my photo taken with WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg. (Damn!) I did attend the afterparty at the mag:net cafe where I went up to the stage again and performed with the resident Rock-a-oke band, the Johnny’s.

Kudos to the Mindanao Bloggers, the volunteers and the Pinoy Blogosphere for making WordCamp Philippines 2008 possible.

I’ve culled this list form Jehzlau’s blog (I hope he doesn’t mind), where he has a compilation of the WordCamp Philippines 2008 posts. This list is up-to-date as of this writing so check his blog post out, which he updates:

1. The Best and Most Memorable Blogger Event in the Phils by Jehzeel Laurente
2. I Got Wordcamped! by Tess Termulo
3. The First WordCamp in Southeast Asia by Adrian Jeric Peña
4. My WordCamp Experience by Master Betong
5. WordCamp Philippines by Hannah Rika Villasis
6. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Nina Fuentes
7. Matt at WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Binary Silver
8. Matt Mullenweg Highlights from WordCamp Phils by The Bachelor Girl
9. WordCamp Philippines Report by Fear the Spork
10. WordCamp Philippines Shirt Please by Evenly Piece
11. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Alrenz Cabasa
12. WordCamp Philippines 2008: A Success!
13. WordCamp Phils, 1st Southeast Asia WordCamp by Ana Katharina Pena
14. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Aftermath by Zero Blade
15. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Mae Paulino
16. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Green Bucks
17. Matt Mullenweg by Charmed Mom
18. WordCamp PH 2008 and Afterparty by Carlo Reid
19. WordCamp Philippines After-Party by The WordCamp Philippines Blog
20. WordCamp Philippines 08 by Project 365 Days
21. WordCamp 2008 Philippines by Karla Redor
22. Live Blogging from WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Spilled Lustre
23. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Aja Lapus
24. Experiencing WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Here’s to Life!
25. WordCamp Manila Blow-by-blow by Jonel Uy
26. Just got home from WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Jayvee Fernandez
27. Bloggers’ Event: WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Ada Lajara
28. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Winners and Bloopers by Funny Sexy
29. WordCamping 2008 by Billycoy
30. Ernie Meets Matt Mullenweg by AJ Matela
31. Matt Mullenweg, Volunteers, and WordCamp Phils by Misteryosa
32. The WordCamp in Philippines by Mark Aethen Agana
33. Matt Mullenweg by Animo Hosting
34. WordCamp Manila 2008, I was there! by Sha Ang
35. On WordCamp 2008 and Meeting MrWordpress by Diventare.org
36. My WordCamp Philippines 2008 Experience by Regnard Raquedan
37. WordCamp Philippines Status Report by AWB Holdings
38. Live from De La Salle CSB, Marocharim is at WordCamp! by Marocharim
39. For the Love of WordPress by Kristina Ana Matanguihan
40. WordCamp Pilipinas Success by Ikabon
41. WordCamp 2008: For Healthy and Wealthy Blogging by Hitokiri Hoshi
42. WordCamp 2008 Philippines Success by Arvin’s Thoughts
43. WordCamp, Meeting Matt Mullenweg by Miss Wicked
44. Meeting Matt at WordCamp 2008 by Urriza.net
45. Finally, WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Estan
46. Toothache VsWordCamp Philippines by George Putong
47. Notes and Photos, WordCamp Philippines a Success by Tonyo Cruz
48. Some WordCamp Philippines Afterthoughts by Undercover
49. Live Blogging in WordCamp by Pageman
50. My WordCamp Experience by Junele Malaga Caravana
51. WordCamp Philippines A Success! by WordPress Philippines
52. Bakla Goes to WordCamp Philippines by Bakla Ako
53. My WordCamp 2008 Experience by Micaela Rodriiguez
54. WordCamp 2008 Philippines: It’s a success! by Joyceish
55. My WordCamp 2008 Experience by Fitz Villafuerte
56. A Personal Evaluation of WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Danny Arao
57. An Event Which I Failed To Attend by Dexter Panganiban
58. The WordPress WordCamp Fever by Pinoy Web Listing
59. WordCamp Philippines by Batang Yagit
60. Philippine WordCampers 2008 by Sabrina Lajara
61. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Roanna Roro
62. On Meeting with MrWordpress, Web Standards and Other Stuff by Shari
63. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Highlights by Sophia Lucero
64. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Mong Palatino
65. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Rowjielogy
66. I was WordCamped by The Industrious Time-Waster
67. HURAH! for WordCamp Philippines by Migs Hipolito
68. WordCamp is on today at De La Salle – CSB by AIM CSB
69. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Updates by Teacher Julie
70. My WordCamp Philippines 2008 Experience by Icezorg
71. I was at WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Gail Villanueva
72. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Ramblings by Sarah Cada
73. Weekend Snapshots #6 WordCamp Philippines by Joni Ang
74. WordCamp Philippines 2008: Bloggers Made Better by WazzupManila
75. My WordCamp 2008 Experience by Paul Villacorta
76. Success! by WordCamp Philippines Blog
77. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Tina Elaine
78. On Being a Remarkable Responsible Blogger by Scrumptious Anime Blog
79. Word-F’N-Camp! by The Deranged Writer
80. WordCamp Philippines 2008 – a success! by The Mindanao Bloggers
81. WordCamp Philippines, below expectations by Kevin Georg Paquet
82. My WordCamp Experience by The Grape Bunch
83. WordCamp Philippines 2008: Wicked! by Andrew Dela Serna
84. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Video Highlights by Buddy Gancenia
85. WordCamped by La Dolce Vita
86. The WordCamp that was by Oliver Robillo
87. WordCamp Philippines 2008: A Blast! Rein Winds
88. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by On the 8 Spot
89. WordCamp Philippines 2008: Awesome! by i.PH News and Updates
90. WordCamp: Developing WordPress Plugins by Markku Seguerra
91. A Day of Firsts! by Sablay.Org
92. WordCamp Made Me Sick by Charmed Mom
93. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Aileen Apolo
94. I was at WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Sun Choke
95. My Wordcamp 2008 Experience by Chiq Montes
96. My WordCamp Philippines 2008 Story by Ria Jose
97. WordCamp Philippines = WIN by Dean Lozarie

Please let me know if you have a post about the event; I’d be glad to add it to the list of links.

I also have some rough photos of the event:

–
UPDATE:

Found this news article covering WordCamp Philippines 2008 from GMANews.TV