Meeting Maria Ressa and 3 other great takeaways from Social Good Summit

Chinie Hidalgo Diaz

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

I attended the Social Good Summit on Saturday, Septembe 22, and it was totally fabbo

Chinie Diaz
Editor’s Note:
This blog was originally published on Chinie Diaz’s blog, Fab After Forty. This is republished here with Chinie’s permission.

I attended the Social Good Summit on Saturday, Septembe 22, and it was totally fabbo. So worth skipping my usual Saturday afternoon of pure sloth. And I’m not saying this just because Maria Ressa used some of my drawings as visual aids in her presentations.

 Yeah I tried to act cool when that happened.. you know, all “Oh hey, my drawings are up there and Maria Ressa’s talking about my blog… happens all the time..” but inside I was DOING CARTWHEELS!

Kind of like when I finally met her after the Summit and she said she liked my blog:

Yeah, right, whatevs with the graceful and slightly sheepish “Thanks.” This was my actual response inside my head…

Because Maria is AWESOME! So intelligent and and inspiring, and just bouncing with pep and positivity. (They should seriously consider naming an energy drink after her, I swear.)

But okay, enough of that.. because like I said, there was so much more to the Summit than my cartwheels and fan-girling.

I’m sure that much will be written by others about all the great points discussed by the excellent speakers at the Social Good Summit. I can’t possibly write (much less DRAW) them all, so I’ll stick to the three that really stayed with me. 

1. Say NO to cyber-bullying. – Chris Lao

I was really inspired by Chris Lao, who became one of the Philippines’ most famous victims of cyber-bullying because of an unfortunate incident involving his car and a flood last year. I nearly cried when he talked about his (& other victims’) experiences.

I honestly don’t think we realize how much damage we can actually do to a person’s spirit every time we jump on the internet-mob bandwagon and start letting loose on the latest target (whether we think he deserves it or not). It’s terrible. 

What really struck me about Chris was that as much as he suffered, he didn’t let the cyber-bullies kill HIS spirit.

Since then, he’s had a baby, passed the bar exams and has starred in a bank commercial, reenacting scenes from that infamous viral video. Chris is a living example of the good and bad that can come out of social media — he’s used the Internet to turn the tables on his misfortune and is now the poster boy of one of his advocacies, the passing of the Freedom of Information Bill.  – Rappler

Bravo, Chris. I love that dude. Even if when we had a chat, he insisted on calling me “Ma’am.”

And not in an “I call every woman ‘Ma’am’” type of way. It seemed like more of a “You’re pretty old so I’m being respectful, MA’AM”… Like I was MIDDLE-AGED or something…

But he’s cool. So I forgive him. And wholeheartedly join his stance against cyber-bullying because IT SUCKS and we should quit it. 

2. Bashers keep the balance. Be nice. – Bianca Gonzalez

SuperBianca is super. She really is. She shared 10 different Twitter to-do’s – all of which were really positive, full of sensitivity and sense – but I was most struck by her attitude toward her bashers. 

She doesn’t block them, and when she can, she responds with kindness — because she thinks they keep her grounded and real. And you know what? It works. She’s one of the nicest, most down-to-earth celebs I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. (We met in the bathroom, btw.)

It wasn’t awkward AT ALL. 

3. Turn the tables on adversity, and rise above. – Tim Yap

Okay fine, those weren’t his exact words. Here’s what he actually said, which was cooler.

I think Tim Yap – who shared his own experiences with bullies and bashers – wrapped the first two takeaways up pretty nicely (albeit in a bag of poo). What he said (and maybe how he said it) really resonated with me, and it’s something I’d like to keep with me as I continue my journey on this crazy cyber-superhighway we all love so much.

Bad stuff happens — in life, and on social media. Turn it into good. 

And that, for me, is what the Social Good Summit was all about.

Thanks to all the speakers, and to the wonderful people at Rappler and Tweetup Manila for making it happen. You all rock. – Rappler.com

 

More about #iPHLGood, the Social Good Summit in Manila

Morning Session: The Dialogue

Afternoon Session: The Summit

 

 

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