Mozilla Reps Kevin John Ventura and Bob Reyes spent their weekend in Cagayan de Oro City to attend Startup Weekend CDeO. Cagayan de Oro City (CDeO) is 783 kilometers south of Metro Manila. It is considered to be a hub outside of the country’s capital, especially in the field of Information Technology (IT).
Kevin and I took the after lunch flight from MNL to CGY via PAL Express.
From the new CGY airport, took us another 30 minutes via land to reach our hotel at Cagayan de Oro City.
Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs with over 1800 past events in 120 countries around the world in 2014.
My luggage, Firefox swags and banner standee for Cagayan De Oro City.
The Mozilla Philippines Community (MozillaPH) is an avid supporter of Startup Weekend (SW) events co-organized by Developers Connect (DevCon), but this is the very first time that the MozillaPH team is actually present at a SW venue. It is also the very first time that MozillaPH visited Cagayan De Oro City.
On final approach to the new CGY airport …
Startup Weekend CDeO started with a Night Reception last Friday at the Capitol University Auditorium. Participants were given a few minutes on stage to pitch their ideas. When everybody’s done, participants chose the best startup ideas and the top ones shall move on to the following day. Participants whose ideas were not chosen were given opportunity to join and form teams from emerging pitchers.
Exterior of the Capitol University. Kevin and I decided to scout the area (a short walk from our hotel) prior to the start of SW CDeO.
Inside the Capitol University campus.
Respected lineup of SW CDeO supporters and sponsors.
The following morning, teams were formed and they began to craft their business models revolving the startup ideas they had. Kevin, being a software engineer by profession, shared his expertise as mentor to the teams. For my part, I gave insights on electronic commerce principles that might work (and not work) on their ideas.
Kevin giving his words of encouragement to a team participating at Startup Weekend Cagayan De Oro.
Kevin participates in a group discussion and mentoring session.
Some of the teams making themselves busy during the brainstorming sessions.
It was fun to had networked with new-found friends in the industry and meeting old one from down south, as well. We will definitely be back to Cagayan De Oro City for a series of MozTours and Firefox OS Workshops soon.
Thanks to the awesome hospitality of the SW CDeO organizers. They took care of us very well. There was even a shuttle from the university to the lunch venue and back.
Kevin and I with our new friends from CDeO and nearby provinces during the lunch hosted by SW CDeO organizers.
Congratulations to the winners of Startup Weekend Cagayan De Oro 2014!
Janine
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Robert “Bob” Reyes
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