Flickr 24 in Manila: Grand Party!

Straight from the Naked Art shoot at Megamall B Megatrade Hall 3 in the afternoon where we shot bands and body-painted models, and from the Montalban Zoological Park (Avilon Zoo) with loads of shots of tarantulas and poisonous scorpions on our CFs, we head off as the contingents of Flickers Photo Club (FPC) to the Ayala Museum to join other Flickr members in welcoming Yahoo and Flickr staff.

We came to welcome them on their "Flickr 24 in Manila" stopover, but they threw us the best of surprises! At the registration table, we were greeted by Yahoo/Flickr staff with a loot paper bag with the "YAHOO!" logo. Inside was the "24 hour of Flickr" coffee table book, a flickr shirt and a bunch of button pins and stickers! We could have went home after the bags were handed to us! Hahaha

Of course we wanted to go inside and meet the Flickr team, especially fellow-Filipino Manny Ventura, from whom we got the personal invite in the discussion threads. Going inside with my wife and 3 more of us, we saw our fellow FPC members already intimate with the food and drinks!

Then almost out of nowhere, there was in our midst a short, amiable guy welcoming us. He said he was Manny V.! Oh! I didn't expect him to be looking that young; his avatar looks older (which he might need to change therefore! Haha). We shook firm and a brief conversation ensued between us and him. Someone with a Polaroid camera (I should look his name up, I know!) came over, took shots, and gave the out-of-cam prints to us! Cool! I handed him my cam and asked him to take a group shot of us.

We let Manny go as he has a lot more people to welcome, and we got down to business, i.e., food and drinks! There was a cafe-ful of them! The bar was open for all, and the food was just inexhaustible! We found our table and made it our "food station." Many more FPC members and other flickr members came in. In fact, the cafe was just filling although we were already 30 minutes late. I had a short chat with Sir Jimmy Hilario (known in flickr as "Stitch") and introduced him to my wife (they already met at an earlier party, I was reminded! LOL). Sir Jimmy is an Admin of the "Philippines" group, where we originally, vicariously met online. I saw also Bingbing and Jolengs (also coming from Megamall), admins of the group.

A short program went underway. I got over the other side to listen but couldn't get through. And the public address was too weak I cannot hear the parts. I met Stevie at the bar and had him take a shot of the proceedings because he was tall. Three shots and they all were the same, with the walls and ceilings occupying much of the frame! LOL! I looked at him and by the looks of it, he must already have been "very intimate" with the lips of the beer glass! (Photo below was shot by Stevie, with walls and ceilings cropped out) I found Ian and had a shot of them. Then I took blind overhead shots of the program through the crowd. The program was over in a while, but the commotion had just started! Flickr is giving away FREE PRO ACCOUNTS (costs about P1,250 per year)! In moments, Tara, who was in possession of the "For You" cards was swamped with flickr people, both PRO and Non-PRO alike! My wife got one for herself and I got my niece, who I am teaching Photography, one of them cards, right off from Tara's hands, after we were photograph by Little Mix Mix.

Pat, one of the FPC admins, came in with her daughter Mika(k.i.f.a. "Little Mix Mix") about 8:00 pm. Pat gave Manny the promised FPC shirt. He had no camera but Mika has his PowerShot A620 in her hands. It became hers in an instant! And she loved taking photos of the crowd with it in her hand. Pat handed her a lens cleaner once in a while, and she would religiously wipe the LCD screen. Mika became the darling of FPC and the darling of the crowd! Everyone would pose for her. Later on, her photos would be flickr-blogged (blog.flickr.com/en/2007/08/27/two-down-two-to-go/) and become the most interesting photos of the event.

Then Mika suddenly "had it" and egged her Daddy to leave. Without our darling, we turned to and made fun of ourselves! The projector was spewing colorful lights and the projector screen provided an interesting background for some creative shooting. We had group photos in front of the screen. The light would play different effects and it was quite exciting to look at the photos and see how the light had hit the subjects. Then, we got bored of group shots and made shadow action figures on the screen. Of course, there was only a short span of time we could amuse the crowd before we get considered annoying! Haha

After that, the stairs, where we shot several group photos. My flash would not let my camera fire up (later on I realized it was short of battery, having been fired from morning to night). At the stairs, five of our members was playing tantrums and decided to have their souvenir shots taken with each one of them on a stair up to the landing. I had a good shot of them and it really appeared to me like a shot for a band album so I put title and description like it was a band album photo! It made it's way to the flickr blog too! Cool! We had some fun too with the "Mickey ears" (the flickr blue and magenta circles), too!

We met a few more important people. Ingrid, Lyn and a lady from a popular daily. Cody too. He was taking a shot of the projector screen when I found him; he pointed his camera at me and I also got a shot of him. Then 3 members who just got their "For You" cards from Tara arrived and posed flashing their cards with Cody. There's much more I can remember but I must already be sounding boring! Haha

Yes, the "Flickr 24 in Manila" event was a sorry-if-you-missed-it party for flickr members. Thanks to Yahoo and Flickr for the food-drinks-and-giveaways-charged flickrmeet! Coolest one ever that happened in the Philippines! -- RER

To view all "Flickr 24 in Manila" photos, click HERE
To view FPC-only "Flickr 24 in Manila" non-exclusive photos, click HERE
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Here are some comments from FPC members (most in Tagalog):

Thanks to tara. Actually, salamat kay JC na sinamahan pa akong humingi kay tara ng free pro account. at sa lahat ng mga taga-FPC, Philippines, atbp. Di ko na-meet si sir Manny. Or baka na-meet ko kaso sobrang gusto ko nang umuwi at i-activate ang free pro account ko. hehehe...

Late kami dumating ni small wonder. Wala kaming freebies na yahoo! bag. Hingi na lang ako kay Lyn. Ang laman ng yahoo bag ay libro. t-shirt. Malamang may mga stickers at kung anu-ano pa. Sayang di namin naabutan. Ang lapit lang namin sa m-cafe kaso may trabaho pa. Tumakas lang:) at bumallik upang i-activate ang pro account na bigay ng flickr. woo-hoo!

Masaya yung event:) Nakita ko lahat ng mga nasa likod ng iba't-ibang pangalan sa mga larawang kabigha-bighani. Kaskasan ng siko. Barilan ng camera. Ang gaganda mga lente nila! iba't ibang camera. May lomo. May homo. May old school film cam. May polaroid. Powershot, Cybershot. at kung anu-ano pa.

Minsan lang ako mag-blog [sa FPC discussion thread]. usually sa Multiply. Baka kopyahin ko to at ilagay dun. Kaso wala naman silang pakialam sa kung ano man itong kasiyahan ko ngayon:)

Maraming salamat sa Yahoo, Flickr, FPC, Philippines, at mga ka-flickr. Salamat sa inyong mga ngiti. Kita ulit tayo sa susunod na grand eyeball! hehehe...
-- Addikkk


PRO extension na 'to!!!

Actually, madaming natuwa at nagulantang ng namigay sila ng free PRO account. Kahit kami nakapag-extend for free din! Sarap pa ng food, appetizers, lalo na open bar! Woohoo!

Thanks to Flickr, FPC, Sir Manny & to all the Flickr guys!
-- Erxkulotz


Ang astig nung event! libreng book, libreng shirt, libreng food, at me libreng pro account pa!!! thanks to flickr! :D nice to finally meet a lot of online buddies in the flesh! :)
-- Redsago


Ei guys! Just got home from the event. Whew!!! Sooo many freebies. It's an awesome experience meeting the people who made the flickr. And also once again bonded with the ever cool cool people of FPC... rock on guys!!! yahoo!!! c",)

And yes! Yes! Yes! The food and freebies are great too!!! I got to take home cool flickr shirt, lots lots of stickers, souvenier key chains, coffee table book of the 24hours [of] flickr, a polaroid picture (with the official flickr logo -- take note -- hehehe), and the cool goody bag of yahoo. And YES! THE FREE FLICKR PRO ACCOUNT!!! (Thank you sooo much sir Manny)... yay!!! It's really worth going in there. Tthe people behind flickr are great and very warm and friendly. I feel like i'm with the stars... awww!!! I hate to leave early... waaahhh!!! They are still in there... :D
-- *JC*


Sa lahat po ng nagpunta sa event... nice seeing you guys again... especially those na hindi ko pa kilala... hehehe
-- Lothariel


BIG THANKS TO FLICKR!!! Was nice to see and chat with other Flickr pips around.
-- webzer


Thanks sa PRO account!!! :D
-- Ryuji23


Hahaha! Nakahingi din ako ng isa pang pro account. Daming free stuff. And i was surprised napasama sa photo exhibit ang photo ko. Kakatuwa. Nice meeting you Pat, DGM, Jobaracuda, angrylittleboy... Yung iba hindi ko na matandaan pero FPC rocks!
-- EdzL


Thanks to sir Manny V. And to all flickr guys for the pro account and goody bag!

Galing ni Mika. May kakampi na si kuya Pat! :P
-- LadyShutter

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Grabe busog ako sakaka-kain ng finger foods/appetizers. Naka-kain siguro ako ng 100! Yun roast beef salap din!

Nice seeing everyone again and meeting new ones =D
-- John Edward

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THE BEST PARTY EVERY! Free food, free drinks (open bar), free shirt, free sticker, free book, free lens cleaner, and finally, FREE PRO ACCOUNT!!!! Thank you flickr!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Woohoo!!!
-- Ian ong

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