The 19th Ad Congress: A stunning success!

T’was a great fun week in Cebu during the 19th Philippine Advertising Congress (Adcon) at the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug, which undoubtedly was a big boost to the economy of Cebu. There is no question that the gathering of the young and bright minds in the advertising industry results in a mini-economic boom wherever the Adcon is held. This year’s theme for the Adcon was "Ready for the World!" But are we really ready?

The keynote speaker last Thursday was Ayala Corp.’s Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (Jaza) who was oozing with optimism when he told his audience, "To go global… and all it takes is for us to make it happen!" I’m sure that Jaza was filled with vigor looking at the close to 3,000 participants who filled up the ballroom of the Waterfront Hotel, intensely listening to his speech. If there is anything good about the Philippines today, it is that people like Jaza, who heads the oldest business conglomerate in this country, always give a positive outlook despite the sea of negativism that permeates the nation’s capital… no thanks to self-serving, rotten-to-the-core politicians. Perhaps it is also because Cebuanos refuse to be swamped by this negativism.

I recall that Jaza also spoke before the Adcon here in Cebu when he predicted that the Philippines might be the creativity center of the Asia-Pacific. Call it timely that last week, the International Academy of Film and Television (IAFT) operated by the Bigfoot Company formally opened its doors in Mactan to those who wish to join the bandwagon of creativity. Jaza predicted that this would happen and it did! Now I can call Jaza the Prophet of Boom!

The newly opened Film Academy aims to teach a new breed of screen writers, cameramen, directors, actors and actresses to aim for the world market and it is happening right here in Cebu simply because our homegrown film industry focused wrongly on a very limited market… called Tagalog movies! We’ve written about this long ago that all that the Tagalog movie producers need to do was use English… then we’d even be better than Bollywood of India!

To put more meaning to his stirring words of optimism, Jaza, who is the chairman of Globe Telecom, used the Adcon to formally launch its 3G video call together with Globe president and chief executive officer Gerardo Ablaza Jr. Globe now holds the distinction of being the first telecommunications service provider in this country to give us a "full-motion, real-time video call between two subscribers." Ain’t technology great?

Yes, with 3G, you can call your family and friends and not only hear their voices, but see them talking on your cellphone screen. That, of course, means I need to get a 3G phone before all those yuppies clear out the shelves! What a better signal to cellphone users than to launch this new Globe service in Cebu dubbed as Globe country! Globe, no doubt, has always been the trailblazer in the telecoms industry, leading us into the future!

Where exactly is the future leading us? I learned from last week’s Time Magazine special feature on "What New Ideas Promise to Reshape the 21st Century" that "a well-educated workforce, financial backing, and a supportive regulatory framework are the key ingredients of innovation." Globe Telecom’s landline service uses the corporate name Innove… to innovate! Lets’ hope that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) would still be the supportive regulatory body that it has always been since the deregulation of the telecoms industry.

We saw the Adcon four years ago when it was held in Cebu. But this time, I attended the congress for the first time as a delegate of SkyCable, where I have my weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky." I just learned that our five-year-old TV talkshow in Cebu is the longest running talkshow SkyCable-wide. Proudly, we are also the longest running talkshow in Cebu, where we are pitted against mainstream TV channels and programs.

But while it may have been the 19th Adcon held in this country, it had its share of registration problems. For instance, it took me nearly three hours just to get my photo for my ID. This only goes to show that we still haven’t learned our lessons from our past mistakes. I also gathered that the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) didn’t join the Adcon… yet, with so many delegates to the Adcon, no one felt its absence; in short, it lost out on the chance to share in the stunning success of the 19th Adcon.

Knowing that the Adcon would bring thousands of delegates to the Waterfront Hotel, GM Marco Protacio also formally opened the new Uno interactive lifestyle restaurant built at a cost of P30 million. Finally, the Waterfront lobby has a great restaurant that jives with its excellent cuisine! Uno may now stake its claim as one of the great restaurants in Cebu City!

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On the lighter side of the Ad Congress, I also met with poker guru Rey Gamboa, our fellow columnist in The STAR, together with Pagcor’s Dennis Dacanay. He was around to drum up support for the Texas Hold ‘em Poker Tournament, which is shown regularly on Solar Sports TV channel, and being a poker player myself, we also started playing tournaments in Cebu last Aug. 26, our very first-ever poker tournament at the Cebu Country Club. It was a small group of 13 players playing on two tables. Justin Neri won first place, Willy Lim second place, and I got lucky to bag the third place.

Since then, poker tournaments run by the Cebu Series of Poker Inc. have been held regularly at the Cebu Country Club and at the Baseline Restaurant, where their fourth tournament was held last week. It was the biggest in attendance with 28 players playing on three tables. That tournament was won by Rogelio Osmeña, with Benito Unchuan and Loloy Uriarte landing second and third, respectively.

Last week’s Adcon revealed the huge popularity of Texas Hold ‘em Poker in the Philippines when Solar Sports Entertainment sponsored a tournament handled by Pagcor at the Waterfront Hotel. There were 48 players on eight tables. Mike Pomeranz won first place and Robert Browning second… and somehow I was the only Pinoy who made it to the top three. So far, that was the biggest poker tournament we have ever joined. By the way, Pagcor is also holding the First Casino Filipino Poker Tournament on Nov. 26 in Tagaytay City with a guaranteed prize of P1.2 million. Entry fee is P3,000; buy-ins at P20,000. To join, please call or text Mike at 0917-6242450.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.