In The Company of Bloggers.

Shai Coggins and the local crew of B5Media organized a quaint little Bloggers' Mix-Up last night at Kape Isla in Serendra at the Bonifacio Global City. No agenda, really- just a wonderful opportunity for fellow bloggers to meet, hang out and relax a bit, talk shop, and do some networking through good ol' fashioned human interaction.

It was the first time I attended an event like that. See, I was thinking that if I wanted to be a serious blogger, I might as well check out how the other (more serious, more seasoned) veteran bloggers are doing. Plus, I like the idea of socializing outside my usual circle- make some new friends, gain a few new contacts, relax with people into the same thing as I am- sounds good, right?

And it was good! The organizers (the b5Media crew) were able to close off Kape Isla that night just for the party, and it was filled with a sizeable band of 20 to 30 bloggers from everywhere- many of whom already know each other, but there were also those just like me, who just started blogging, and also just started getting to know these cool chicks and dudes! That's me, by the way, chatting it up with Carlos Castellon of MarketPlace 2.1.

Shai played the gracious host, spending a little facetime with everybody who showed up- and I gotta hand it to her and Sasha (of StyleManila.com, who I found out last night, turned out to be her sister!) for working up the crowd really well with great company, with food and drink for everyone, even raffling off some cool prizes for those present. That's Shai, btw with Toni Tiu and Noemi Lardizabal-Dado.

I won myself one of these cute little art journals- which I found out later on, was handcrafted by Shai herself (so I had her autograph it!). She sells these babies online as it turns out. I thought it would've been cool if it were locally available; they'd actually make great Christmas gifts and giveaways :).

Of course, just as in any fun social gatherings like these, you have cameras flashing everywhere! So, here are some pics- these in particular were taken on Noemi's cam (and posted on Facebook for all to see!).

All in all, it was a great night. I met several new friends, learned a lot of new stuff, snagged myself a cool art journal, scoped out the new Asus Eee PC (which we'll talk about more on another post), realized that digital photography and blogging go hand-in-hand (which means, after I get me that sexy little Asus Eee PC, I should get me a good SLR), tried out a cool new venue at Serendra (first time I checked out Kape Isla- you should come visit when you're in the area), ranted about the whole Trillanes fiasco, and traded insights and ideas with fellow local bloggers.

Cool. This should be a great opportunity to check out their stuff online too. Which I will do, right after adding them up to my Facebook account!

Thanks Noemi for the pictures! Cheers!