RamblingDyna

My company, Inquirer.net, had a booth at two Asian festivals last month in celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month. We baked in record temperature weather in San Francisco Civic Center –Little Saigon and the next day in Sacramento, Old Sacramento district. You can read my complete festival news stories on: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view/20090522-206481/20000-join-Sacramentos-Pacific-Festival http://globalnation.inquirer.net/features/features/view/20090525-207041/Filipinos_join_San_Francisco_Asian_Festival I attended similar cultural events before for fun. Professionally, I managed and worked the Sega of America booth at professional trade shows such as the Licensing Show in New York. Totally (first time typing and saying "totally") two different scenes, environments and subcultures. I definitely found the Asian festivals more fun so it didn’t feel like work. I interviewed two professional athletes, Mark Munoz (“Philippine Wrecking Machine”), an up and c...

Click on above title link for complete news story. See my video on INQUIRER.net VDO - Inquirer.net Video caption should read "Sad Day for Same-Sex Marriage Supporters" It was an eerie moment as I waited for a half hour behind a barricade with hundreds of other people including the media in front of the steps of the California Supreme Courthouse building in San Francisco. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting for 10am, when seven judges announce their decision of whether same-sex marriage is valid in California. About 30 community organizers and representatives had the opportunity to the be first ones to get the news as they lined up on the courtroom steps, cornered off from the masses . Around 10 minutes before the closing bell, they entered the building. 10:02, 10:03, 10:04. Not a word. The crowd and cameras started to get restless jostling for a closer look or ear. Then I saw one of the men who entered the building step out and did a thumbs down as he shaked his head. Within ...

I've been soooo busy these past two weeks that I neglected my blog. Like a plant without water and proper sunlight, my blog has laid dormant in the dark lone corner. Time to rejuvenate and give it a kick start! Ding dong...Bueller? Bueller? I'll start by summarizing why I've been away. Two weeks ago I played SF city tour guide host to my friend (and former Sega of Japan colleague) who visited me from Tokyo for four days. Half the time I was working so thank god she knew how to take public transportation by herself (Bay Area Rapid Traing (BART) and the MUNI cable car). Since s he stayed in the heart of Union Square, we walked through Chinatown all way to Northbeach. Strange, but for a Friday dinner night, Chinatown wasn't busy with the usual foot and car traffic. Northbeach was pretty oh hum as well. Yup, it's the effects of the poor economy. Last Tuesday , I was in downtown San Mateo for dinner and it was a ghost town. A sign that more people are making their...

Attention all current and future entrepreneurs! San Francisco is celebrating the national Small Business Week. In various venues throughout the city, the week long festivities include resource events, networking mixers, sidewalk sales and workshops in social media, green business, technology, marketing, etc. Learn, educate, inspire or (get inspired), sell yourself (but not your soul), distribute your business cards and make connections. Make it happen. http://www.sfsmallbusinessweek.com/

I attended HubSpot’s San Francisco Meet Up at Julian’s at Metreon on Monday. HubSpot is the ultimate internet marketing machine powering up small to medium sized online businesses and organizations like the non-profit Future Women Leader’s (FWL) site. The Cambridge based software company is in town for the two day Inbound Marketing Summit, its co-founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah are guest speakers. I say machine in a figurative sense to describe their extensive services such as marketing analytics and lead tracking…and…just for kicks, since it’s such an archaic term that represented the 1ate 18th and early 19th century when great discoveries and inventions, such as coal and electricity, transformed society and was only made possible by an entrepreneurial and capitalistic spirit. Fast forward 180 years… That same spirit was buzzing all night at the mixer as I weaved my way through a reserved corner section of the bar. Approximately 60 or so of the mostly 25-35 year old l...

Filipino welterweight champ, Manny Pacquiao (Pacman) who put his boxing idol, Oscar Del La Hoya into retirement last month, made a special appearance at San Francisco's AT&T Park last Tuesday, as part of the annual Filipino Heritage Night which celebrates Filipino culture and history. In the "Battle of East and West" Pacquiao will fight Great Britain's Rick "The Hitman" Hatton this Saturday on May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bobble Heads in his likeness were given out to the 11,000 Heritage Night ticket holders and he threw the ceremonial pitch before the San Francisco Giants grand slam victory over San Diego Padres (8-3). Last year 4,000 attended the event. The $50,000 raised from the event will benefit charities in San Francisco and the Republic of Philippines.

I took a City College of San Francisco podcasting class and about nine of my classmates and I had the unique opportunity to shoot, with our college loaned Flip Cameras, a live evening radio show at the Coffee Bar, a two level, industrial and contemporary loft size corner building in the Potrero hood of San Francisco. I used my Canon to shoot the latter half of the show, since the Flip’s zoom feature was inadequate. Unfortunately, since I didn’t return to class the following the week (blame my work schedule) I couldn’t access and use the Flip videos. This video is from my Canon only. Now back to the bar. What it lacks in dessert selection, makes up for it with its healthy sandwiches, good coffee, rich hot cocoa, and generous wine and cheese/fruit pairings. It’s no surprise that a majority of the crowd were sipping red wine on this clear Wednesday night due to the topic of discussion – booze! Get Smart Radio is a monthly 1.5 hour live broadcast hosted by Deborah Pardes who sings and p...