Mobile Pilipinas
The 2nd Mobile Pilipinas event was held again at the Greenbelt Expo last September 16-18. The event was bigger, though I wouldn't say better but it was sure fun to be there to see the latest gadgets exhibited as well as meeting with other friends in the geekworld. I didn't expect to be there as an exhibitor, but when I came in, I found out that Pinoy Windows Mobile has a booth and Carlo Ma. Guerrero, President of PWM and former Editor-in-Chief of PC Magazine Philippines (he's now a Contributing Editor for both M|PH and PC Mag Phils.) was there alone manning it. Of course I had to volunteer, however there were no products to show off. Last year, we had the Smart Amazing Phone 2 for display and a lot of people flocked our booth to see it. We also had the Asus A620BT, the HP iPAQ 4350 on display as well. It's a good thing though I brought my Pocket PC along with its accessories for exhibition. Carlo was kind enough to lend me his HP iPAQ 6515 Mobile Messenger (which I gave a short review here in my blog), the Margi-Presenter-To-Go (though I didn't get to use it) and the Bluetooth keyboard (which I didn't get to use it either.)
Some of the items on display in our booth, most of the accessories are mine.
(Photos in this section were taken using the HP iPAQ 6515 Mobile Messenger's 1.3 Megapixel Camera)
This year, we are sharing the booth provided by Microsoft with Airfagev, which I used to be active in. Giveaways were given and I was able to get a keychain and a shirt that has the Windows Vista logo. Jackets were also given for a limited no. but I didn't get one anymore as I already have one.
But I got more back issues of M|PH for free! I stopped buying the magazine since last May so I missed 4 issues already. On the first day, they gave me 2 free issues of my choice so I chose the May and June issues. Then on the 2nd day, I received a free copy of the latest issue, which left the July issue missing. Off I went to the M|PH booth and bought their July issue for only 40 bucks, half the price of their usual selling price! I have just saved P280 bucks for all 4 issues!
picture of me, Microsoft MVP / Airfagev Wembaster Rey Vegafria and Cristeta at the booth. Yes, Rey and I are friends again 
The Best background among all booths!
If you ask me, I like last year's Mobile Pilipinas more than this year. The venue looked bigger because the booths then were smaller. I feel there are lesser booths this year compared to last year. And though the weather was cool outside, inside it was hot, literally speaking. They turn off the airconditioning once in a while and we sometimes find ourselves sweating.
This event gave me an opportunity to meet with some of the famous people in the geekworld. I was finally able to meet Charo, aka rcdigun who is the President of MaPalad. I also had the chance to meet Jayvee Fernandez, one of the editors of M|PH. I was thinking of buying his "famous" iPAQ 4350 which was broken last year because he kept putting the fragile device inside his jeans pocket. And after not seeing him for almost 4 years, I was finally able to meet Adel Gabot, newly appointed Editor-in-Chief of M|PH. The first time I met Adel was when he had an EB with the mailing list of 103.5 K-Lite called Litemail. His radio name back then was Little David and was also the station manager of the said station. After he quit the radio business in March of 2002, he went back into writing and 2 years later became Editor-in-Chief of a men's lifestyle magazine called Manual. During that time, he was also appointed as part of the Editorial Group of M|PH replacing Jim Ayson. It was during the event that I found out that he had already replaced Jason de Villa as EIC so out of etiquette, he quit his post in Manual even if they are 2 different magazines.
Newly appointed M|PH Editor-in-Chief Adel Gabot
It was nice to talk to Adel again when I found him resting outside the Greenbelt Expo on Day 3. Surprising as it may seem, he brought up how K-Lite had changed. I took the advantage of telling him how I became disappointed with the program changes, and how I missed those times when they were still there. But at least Adel is doing well with the magazine and I feel that he rightfully deserves this position.
Also on Day 3 was the return appearance of Pinoy Windows Mobile Vice-President and my good friend, Norbert Aquende. It's nice to see Norbert active again and now that we're complete, we'll be able to help revive the group again.
Pinoy Windows Mobile's President and Vice-President: Microsoft MVP Carlo Ma. Guerrero and Norbert Aquende, Chairman of the Philippine Hentai Foundation 
Nope, they're not watching Hentai movies! Norbert is showing Carlo a video of the Windows Vista's (formerly Longhorn) impressive features
There were some old members who dropped to check out the booth and the iPAQ 6515. Other visitors inquired about the group or general questions of what a Pocket PC can do. I was supposed to be interviewed by a TV show reporter (I forgot the name of that show) but I was smart enough to refer him to Carlo instead, he he he! There was a nice lady doctor who patiently listened to my explanation on how a pocket pc can help her do her work, and there was a call center agent who annoyingly bragged that he was going to be promoted and needs my advice on which device I would recommend, with the matching "twang!" For all I know, he'll just be promoted as a floorwalker...
After 3 days, Mobile Pilipinas has finally ended with someone from a call center company winning the laptop as a grand prize. If there's one thing I would mention that would end this event in a happy note - it's about not losing or breaking any of my devices or that were on exhibit.
