A Bit of SOP History, According to KB

This post is not really the detailed history of SOP. It’s the history of SOP from my own perspective. May mga events kung san magkakasama yung core group, pero wala ako, so hindi ko na yun nabanggit dito, but nonetheless, those events were part of what forged to be the foundations of SOP.

As I always say, hindi naman ako talaga nag-SEO, I only do linkbuilding to improve my sites’ PR. Link seller ako. Because of this, I rarely participate in deep discussions about SEO. At dahil nga malayo naman sa akin ang mga nauna kong naging friends sa SEOPH – the Pangasinan boys – mostly online lang ako nakikisalamuha mga tao.

PierOne – SanMig by the Bay. This place had been one of the silent witnesses on how the “core members” became the core members. It was in 2008, nagyayaan si Almer, Zaldy and Rostum to meet sa Pier One sa MOA. Punta naman ako kahit na hindi ko talaga sila personal na kilala, aside from nakita ko na sila in several events. Sige lang, go. Never had I imagined that those drinking sessions would just be the first of many. Nagkaroon din ng Blogger’s Food Fest sa MOA, first time ko ng nameet si Ester and Anna. Sinundan yan ng BeerCon 2008 kung saan nilustay ni Edward ang kayamanan nya, pero hindi pa rin namin nagawang ubusin – dyan ko unang nakita si Maldita and Carol.

Wordcamps 2008, 2009, 2010. Wordcamps became one of the “get-togethers” ng barkadahan. Every year inaabangan namin yan, because after the event, didiretso ulit sa MOA for a night of drinking and sharing stories. Every wordcamp, dumarami rin ang sumasama sa amin. Dyan ko nakilala si Ricky (though mas matagal na silang magkakilala ni Zaldy), Spyro, si Noel, JayL, Pangasinan Boys Dilson and EricM, and Mito. In 2008, maraming bagong tao na rin sa forums ang active like Kim, Alvin, Carlo and Mike Catuira though I haven’t met them personally pa.

KKB with KB (2008). Naisip kong magdeliver ng lecture about what I was doing sa mga sites ko. So rented a room in UP then naglecture ako ng isang hapon. Dun ko nameet si Sheila, Arvin, Alvin, and Kim. It was also attended by Alfred (though nakilala ko na siya before in a CSS/HTML class of none other than Benj Arriola). I mentioned this because Sheila, Kim, and Alvin eventually became regular attendees sa mga meetups ng grupo, even in those meetups na absent ako. Marami pang events during those year na wala ako, but the spirit of sharing while enjoying drinking still lived.

MORCon 2008. During the 2008 Wordcamp, the group were talking about how pricey the SEMCON was. So I suggested that we create our own version of SEMCON, which was eventually called MORCon. The very first MORCon was held in UP Diliman, as usual. Benj, Alfred, and Cell (whom I met for the first time) delivered the lectures. There were about 25++ attendees but I came to know more people in the industry. Sayang nga hindi ganun karami ang nakapunta.

Christmas Get-Together 2008. Gary Viray attended the event, as usual sa SanMig by the Bay pa rin. One of the talks during that night was if SEOPH members really are members of the org. Wala kasi, di naman talaga magkakakilala, nag-uusap lang online. It’s more of just a forum, not really an org. Except maybe for us, na regular na nagkikita para magkakwentuhan at magshare ng mga info about SEO, the rest puro sa forum lang. Arnold Alvarez, the man with sites made entirely from Frontpage, became a regular attendee.

2009. Aside from Wordcamp, there were events like those in 2008 na lalong nagpalapit pa sa tropang SEO. One of those was our DolceSuperClub all night out where Rostum rented a VIP room sa Dolce sa Morato – P16k consumable. It was worth it. Bukod sa ambiance, the passion of sharing knowledge and ideas is gradually taking its full form. Nasundan pa ito ng BeerCon ulit ni Edward, that time in Kalipayan in Cavite. Hindi ako nakasama rito but I knew, tulad ng mga nagdaang events, fruitful din ang naging usapan.

There had been speculations sa SEOPH forum that a new org is about to replace SEOPH. I denied it, saying that I still believe that SEOPH will continue to progress and its members will increase. Sinabi ko yun since I know na yung samahan na nabuo in the past two years is more than enough to conquer ano man yung mga pagdadaanan ng SEOPH. In fact, modesty aside, KAMI ang mga active doon that time. Kaya malakas ang loob ko to say that SEOPH could be greater than what it was. I was then requested to prepare the papers for the formalization of SEOPH as an org. Those were my shortcomings. Because I was busy for my wedding preparations as well as processing papers for our New Zealand application, hindi ko na talaga yun naasikaso. Nonetheless, hindi nawala ang pagiging active, hindi lang ako, kundi NAMING LAHAT, sa forum.

Independence Day 2010. We had the first and only SEOPH National Eyeball in Ortigas. Gabi yun ginanap, sa Unionbank Building. Though not as big as this year’s Morcon, masasabi kong successful ang event. Maraming dumating from different parts of the country. First time kong nameet si EdC, Eli, Whin, Mark Acsay, Lloyd, Yuri at napakarami pang iba. Awkward nga lang, because many people thought that I am one of the pioneers of the org, ako lang naman ang isa sa mga nag-organize nung event. Tulad ng nakagawian, maraming lectures delivered (for free) by our generous colleagues. But before that, each attendee introduced himself/herself para mas makilala nung iba, lalo na kung sino sila sa forum. I missed the after-event inuman and knowledge-sharing but nonetheless, what transpired at the after-event changed the history of SEOPH and gave birth to SOP. I think that time, the absence of the pillars of SEOPH in that Eyeball, made the core group realized what was really the future of SEOPH as an org.

The Next Day. I was bombarded with a lot of messages in Skype and YM. People are telling me what had been talked about the other night and how it led to the idea of finally establishing a new organization of SEO practitioners. Ang sabi ko lang, barkadahan tayo eh. Kung nasaan kayo, doon ako. As long as solid tayo, even if people come and go, solid pa rin tayo. Hindi mawawala ang org, since its foundation lies dun sa samahan natin. So if we will put up a new org and set up a new forum, then I’ll support it. Sherwin, though based in Singapore, always extended has been always supportive with our plans.

Moving Forward. After several days, the new forum was up and running. Basic papers were prepared. An election was held for the Council of Advisers and Officers of the SOP. A Skype confe was formed, and future plans were laid out. Since one of the advocacies of the org is to evangelize the good news of SEO especially to students to show them the very big opportunity they can have without totally deviating from the careers they want to pursue, we thought of going to schools and deliver lectures to students for FREE. Tagged as SEO CAMP, it had it first stop at UP Diliman where I finally met Anna and the great Ed Pudol; followed by one in Bataan, then in AMA Cainta, tapos in Bataan ulit. We also had a Christmas party inuman sa Pier One Buendia last December 2010. First time kong na meet si hani, pbo, bryan, kristelLast July, we had the 1st National Assembly of SOP. Though attendees there were not really bonafide members of SOP, we got a glimpse of the SEO community’s reception of SOP. The culminating activity for the 1st year anniv of SOP was of course MORCon which we held two weeks ago.

Present and Future. I know our new set of officers has a long list of plans for the Org. It includes not only our established events like MORCon and SEO Camps, but also bringing those events outside of Imperial Manila. Also part of the deconcentration is the establishment of chapters for our members. Rest assured that the “core members” as we put it, and the growing family of SOP will continue to educate the Filipino people, bring SEO into greater heights, and create lasting relationships among its members.

*These events are part of my sharing in this SOP thread, though hindi ito yung exact na kasunod.

Incoming search terms:

• history of SOP
• mga lecture forum sa tagalaog
• mike catuira
• sophistory
• what is sop in skype