The Cebu Pacific Blogging Challenge
When we, the organizers of WordCamp Philippines 2008, were in the midst of preparing for that international bloggers’ event, we carried the banner of Mindanao Bloggers. The reason being, we wanted the world to know about the various blogs of Mindanao, and about the beautiful places here.
So, one of the attached activities we thought of doing for WordCamp was a blogging contest that would highlight Mindanao — as well as other Philippine — destinations. It’s like expanding the scope of purpose of MindanaoBloggers.com, which has more or less succeeded in achieving its objectives for the island.
We approached Cebu Pacific to sponsor WordCamp, specifically to help us conduct the planned blogging contest successfully. The airline company agreed readily, and even sponsored the organizers’ plane fare from Davao to Manila and back. So, in appreciation, we dubbed the activity the Cebu Pacific Blogging Challenge. This contest is our brainchild, not the airline’s.
(I was part of the organizing team of the first national golf tourney ever held in Mindanao, and it was called the Dole - Casino Filipino Philippine Open Golf Tournament. Guess why?)
The contest means to encourage bloggers to promote Philippine destinations, but not to have them sugar-coat reviews for the benefit of the airline. Contest entries are blog posts that should talk about a Philippine city or town, and not about the airline. However, the rule that says there should be no negative reviews of the airline in the entries is but natural. We’re not asking bloggers to do away with their freedom of speech, and we’re certainly not asking them to say anything that’s not true about our sponsor.
If you owned a company and wanted to promote it by sponsoring an activity, would you want to pay for something that returned bad press? I agree, though, that companies who offer customer service should maintain a high level of quality to ensure that there are no negative feedback. But, zero negative feedback: is that ever a reality? There is a saying, You can’t please everybody.
I’m not defending Cebu Pacific. But I am defending my team, the five (plus five) of us who organized WordCamp Philippines. We’re conducting this activity in good faith, and with the best interests of everyone concerned. Including Cebu Pacific, of course, because they’re instrumental in getting this bloggers’ activity off the ground.
So, my appeal to everyone is, please focus on the good that this blogging contest will bring. Imagine the publicity bloggers can bring to places like Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Laoag, Aklan, Davao, Cebu and many others.
September 16th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
blogie, i understand and sympathize, but see, the approach may have been a mistake.
had the posts’ requirements said that there be no reference to CebuPac at all, whether negative or positive, better.
(plus the negative feedback isn’t a small fraction. sayang, considering the airline’s coverage, but here we are na.)
all that said, i’m interested to see what bloggers have to say about these destinations (gaaaad i wanna go visit! davao first? hehe). maybe we can tell them not to speak of CebuPac na lang, para walang charge of kissing ass.
September 16th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Look’s like there was an issue (though when I read the details of the contest, I knew there will be an uproar)
As the saying goes… welcome to life
September 16th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Thanks for your feedback, jester & Sonnie.
In a perfect world, we would’ve conducted a contest purely for promoting Philippine destinations. But how will a contest be attractive to participants if there were no prizes, right? There has to be an incentive, yes? And what about the logistical costs on our part, how are we to cover that without a sponsor?
And if we don’t mention Cebu Pacific, or whoever the sponsor could be, what would be their incentive for sponsoring?
Like I said in my post, let’s focus on the objective of the contest. I hope bloggers will not let this worthwhile activity suffer.
September 16th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
It is good that bloggers are talking about Cebu Pacific’s weaknesses - hopefully, that will get the airline’s attention.
But Blogie is right. The contest that their running is worthy of better treatment. Lets do our part in bringing focus to Pinoy destinations!
Kudos to Blogie and the organizers of Wordcamp!
September 16th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
i guess we can compromise by some text like “this entry is to a contest sponsored by…”
ewan ko, really. tough decisions on your part, i’m sure.
i hope that bloggers do participate, especially since there are so many lovely places to visit, but few good stuff out there to read.
September 16th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
@jester — That’s right! More exposure for Phil. places. Bloggers just have to include a link to Cebu Pacific to make their post eligible.
Thanks for your support, bai!
September 17th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
It’s not a freedom of speech issue in my opinion, it’s a don’t-diss-Cebu-Pacific-if-you-want-their-cash issue. Really, Blogie, are there people out there making a Constitutional discussion out of a blogging contest?
I see it this way - I can say what the hell I want about Cebu Pacific as long as I’m not angling to win their money. Personally I’m disturbed about the problems CebPac is having these days, I understand why people are pissed off about it, but really, there’s no need to bring one’s personal gripes into a contest that Cebu Pacific is paying for!
September 18th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
indeed, you are right. im happy to know that many great bloggers are from davao.
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
i think we should stick to the “the blogging contest” rather than looking for flaws of cebu pacific, and using their shortcomings against them, i must admit, i also did not like their service before (when they started on their promos, there was no free food, drinks) but i do believe there’s always a room for improvement-by not repeating the same mistakes over and over again which most passengers are experiencing from them.
and for the management and staff of cebu pacific please be relentless in training your staff in being better prepared to serve customers better.. cheers..
October 6th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Hi Blogie,
I know I’m late in seeing this, and I understand that I’m one of the bloggers who’ve put up a negative reaction to Cebu Pacific sponsoring the contest.
I do wish to apologize if you felt that my criticism was against you or any of the contest’s organizers. It’s not. I just believe that you approached the wrong airline to sponsor the contest, and I felt that the clause regarding putting the airline in a “positive light” only served to underscore the issues related to their airline.
That being said, I still wish your blogging contest success: I hope it’d generate the kind of awareness regarding Mindanao cities that you’re hoping it would.
I know you’d find this ironic, but I’m also going to see Davao City for the first time this weekend. And we’re going to fly Cebu Pacific (crossed fingers) for it.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
@Jon Limjap — Thanks for your comment! I approached Cebu Pacific because, IMHO, they contributed largely to the way Filipinos fly today.
The clause in the contest was not meant to cover up anything. It was simply put there because they’re sponsoring the contest — no sponsor would want to shell out money for something that might potentially harm them, don’t you agree?
I’m glad that you’re going to fly Cebu Pacific — I sure hope you’ll keep an open mind, and that your flight will be as uneventful as possible.
Too bad, though, that I won’t be in Davao. I’m actually in Makati right now, and will stay here until 11 or 12 Oct. Enjoy your stay in our beautiful city!
October 6th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
hmmm… amazingly great!
October 25th, 2008 at 6:17 am
now i understand the contest… yeah, indeed, i perceived that the contest will be somewhat focused with the sponsor. at least now, i’m enlightened…
i can start to write things now, i have this passion of promoting Philippine destinations. Kudos!!! Let’s promote our beloved island of Mindanao!!!