July 6, 2015 Meeting

                The day was July 6, 2015. The first Monday of the month of July. We need to go to school as early as we can, because we are having our second meeting with our facilitator, Mr. Randy S. Gamboa as what we have already agreed last time. The meeting will start at 7am. But, some of us had a minor problem. I and my classmates, and along with our batch mates will going to have a quiz on our Programming 3 subject on that morning at 7am. Same time, a freaking conflict. I was thinking how we can manage to attend Mr. Gamboa’s meeting since our Programming 3 schedule is from 7am to 9am. We are also afraid to risk on not attending Mr. Gamboa’s meeting because I know that we will be going to face a mighty and probably a horrendous punishment, or sanction (Haha! I am just exaggerating things here. But, seriously. We are afraid of the possible punishment). It took us a long time to sort things out, but we have come up with a solution. We will just simply ask our Programming 3 professor, Mr. Ariel Pabilona that we are going to excuse ourselves in his class, because we have a meeting with Mr. Gamboa. I know that Mr. Pabilona will not say “No” as answer, because it was Mr. Gamboa who we’re dealing with. He knows what is better for us, and I know that he will excuse us. So, we went inside the Institute of Computing Laboratory 2 or known to all as the IC LAB 2. We were preparing ourselves for the quiz and for our mission to persuade Mr. Pabilona, but only to find out that Mr. Pabilona was not around and the quiz will be an online quiz. We were so happy because we can go out and immediately proceed to the IC LAB 1 to meet Mr. Gamboa. Then there, we took the quiz, we did our best to answer it as fast as we can, but also to making sure that we are answering it right. It took me a couple of minutes to finish the quiz. I finished the quiz and I was damn disappointed. I only got 3 out of 15. I know it is sad, but I must shove that thing out of my head, cause there was something that was waiting for me, for us down there, and that is our meeting.

                

We rushed our way down to the IC LAB 1, and we slowly opened the door so that we will not interrupt the on-going class. We were so afraid, because we are late. For Mr. Gamboa, being late is a mortal sin and it has a price to be paid. Well, yes. There is a punishment for those students who are late. We were already warned about this by our seniors who are also our friends. They gave us everything that we have to know about Mr. Gamboa when we were still at our second year and third year. Those late students will have to perform on the front. The performance can be either singing or dancing. Or the worse, you need to do both; to dance while singing or to sing while dancing. There was a time before when our seniors was under Mr. Gamboa’s technopreneurship class. Mr. Gamboa abolished the sing and dance punishment for the late comers. The new punishment was to bring a snack for the whole class. We were so terrified about knowing that. We were afraid that it will happen to us, and if it will happen to us, then my pockets will be nothing but a hole. Okay, let us now go back to the present. So, we were such in a state of fear because of the possible punishment while we slowly opened to the door to avoid interruption. When we opened the door, we slowly slipped ourselves in to the room. The first thing that I noticed is that the room was so silent. I know that the class should be silent when Mr. Gamboa is around. But, that kind of silence was very different. It felt so unusual. It seems like they were scolded by Mr. Gamboa. Then, the second I noticed is that there no more chairs left. So, my friend and I went to the spot near the door and on the vacant seats there. But later on, another of our classmates came in and they were girls, so as a gentle men, I and my friend stood up and gave the seats to them. I was wondering why are my classmates are so silent? Then Mr. Gamboa uttered a word, saying that we are not prepared. I was shocked. I asked myself, why? I found that none of my classmates were ready to pitch in front and they do not have any power point presentation of their proposed idea. Mr. Gamboa asked if are there really no one that will pitch. None of my classmates responded to Mr. Gamboa’s question. Mr. Gamboa was so silent, he speaks in a low tone manner. From that moment, I am afraid of what will happen next. Judging from what happened, and by the looks of Mr. Gamboa, it seems like we are all doomed. I fear that he will be mad at us. I fear that he will be furious about us being incompetent. I fear he will turn his back on us and walk out the door. I fear due to our incompetency, another reflection that worth thousands of words will be born. But luckily, I am just too paranoid. Mr. Gamboa decided to lecture us since we have nothing pitch. He started to set up his pocket speaker and microphone and stood in front of us and started to lecture us.

There are things that I cannot remember due to my poor memory, so there is a great and a huge chance that I might missed to include some happenings or maybe the chronology will be messed up. And as of now, I want to apologize early if I cannot properly organize the things that I liked and the things I liked the least because I have this poor memory. I might be able to remember it while typing down some words, so it will be mixed. So, please do not be surprised you read a part where I stated my liked, then moments after, you will read a part stating my least liked. You will read what are my liked and least liked parts of the meeting randomly as this goes on. So, from what I can remember (which I remembered it so bad), Mr. Gamboa wanted us to be a very successful person in the future. Now, let us pause for a minute. I am totally not sure that it was the first thing that Mr. Gamboa tackled on that day. But, that is all I can remember. Okay, let us go back to the topic. He wanted us to be a very successful person. He does not want us to end up on a wrong job, a job that is not related to our course, and a job where we cannot use of skills, and especially, he does not wants us to end up being on a call center. He pointed out that we studied for years or more and acquired knowledge and skills that other people do not have and we will just end up picking up phones and talk to customers. He told us that is as a privilege that we got in to the Institute of Computing. He reminded us about our scores. He told us that a lot of students had a score so low that they can only enroll on a 3-year course, and we were lucky to be able to enroll on a 4-year course. He also told us that out from lots and lots of students who applied for the Institute of Computing, we were one of those worthy students who were accepted. So, he wants us to remember how lucky and how special we are. Within that span of time in college, you learned how to code C++, Java, Android, Data Structure, and you’ve learned other information technology skills that is worthy as hell, and you’ll end up on a desk, picking up phones. It is okay to work on a call center agency, but you should be on the technical or IT department so you could use your IT skills somehow. He aims to make his students a successful individual in the through teaching Tenchopreneurship and he is so committed about it. That is one of my liked part of the meeting. Another thing that belongs to my liked part is when he said that he wants us to be successful through business, then he said that there are two kinds of business. I cannot remember what those kinds were. But, the thought it was, there is a type of business that promotes innovation and to end people’s suffering. I guess that was called “innovative business”, if my memory serves me well. And the other kind is the imitative business.

All I can remember is that he gave us advice not to establish an imitative business. That is the kind of business who imitates other business due to its trending status. For example; those beverage stalls the sells chocolate, black gulaman, buko pandan that we can see outside. I can still remember that it was only one stall who is selling those, but after many months, there are many similar stalls who popped out of nowhere like a freaking mushroom. You can see them if you look from left to right. It very clear and obvious to see that those stalls imitated the original stall. Why? It is because they have the same flavor they are selling. They are not even trying, they do not have any twists. They have just imitated the original directly. I really hate those kind of business person. It clearly shows that they are a total loser. They cannot even think of a new thing. If they want to compete with the original vendor, they could have added a twist at least. But, nope. They do not have something that distinguishes them to the original. Now, there are new stalls who added different flavors such as halo-halo, and pinya (pineapple). But, the thing is when they saw that the other stalls added flavors, some stall added the same flavors on their menu. I also witnessed a business that imitated a business of my friend. I have a classmate who has a friend who established a business. It is an eatery type business. The name of the establishment is Grillicious. They aim to promote a grill-it-yourself eatery just like Yakimix, but is much affordable. After a few months, their business was a boom. People would flood Grillicious. But, something stupid happened. The owner of the spot they are renting had them kicked out. So, they looked for a new spot, and fortunately, the found a new spot which was near their old spot. The new spot is just a 50-second walk from the old spot. But, we were shocked their old spot has been re-opened. They made an establishment there. And guess what, the establishment they established was a copycat of Grillicious. A grill-it-yourself eatery. Mother of imitations! They kicked out our friends so they could establish a copycat eatery. So, what drove these people to imitate such thing? What is the underlying psychology of this? Well for me, if one established something and that thing became so popular and many loved it, people tend to think that they could gain money from the same thing due to its popularity. So, they would imitate that thing and hoping that there will be lots of costumers who will come. On the good side, they could gain customers because the customers would think that it is the same thing that they are getting. But on the bad side, they are just living behind the shadows of the original vendor. Okay, back to the present time. Mr. Gamboa shared a scenario of imitative business. He told us that back in the days, internet cafes were so popular, but only few can establish one because it was so expensive to establish an internet café before. Mr. Gamboa established an internet café because it was a trend before. He told us that the rate before was 150 pesos per hour, and that made our jaws dropped on the floor, because right now, the current rates are around 5 to 15 pesos per hour depending on the management. There are even promos like 5 hours + 1 hour for only 50 pesos. Back to Mr. Gamboa. Mr. Gamboa’s internet café failed. Why? It was because that internet café business grew faster and faster as technology improves and easy to afford. The rates even dropped down. That is why he told us to be careful to go along with the latest trends, cause it will fade soon. By the way, if you got lost on the track, I will remind you that the things I mentioned above was my liked parts. If you are reading this part, then I am still extracting memories from my brain so that I can type down what happened on that day, and so I can type the things that I liked the least. If you can remember from my reflection (My July 4, 206 reflection), I wrote there that I have a messed up memory. I usually forget all things so easily. It is like a curse that is running our bloodline, I got from my mother. But, it is not bad at all, after all, it is an illness or a disease at all. Actually, my short term memory is not the sole reason why I forgot the things that happened on July 6, 2015. Actually, I also have a mind that would slip away without me noticing it.  So far, there is nothing that I can think of parts I liked the least. But, I still have fragments of memories of what happened that day in my brain, there are still parts of that day I like, and I am still remembering it, so please bear with me. I really hope you will bear with me.

The way I remember what happened last July 6, 2015 is very weird. I feel so unsure about it. I do not trust my memory, since I have mentioned that I have a messed up and bleeped up brain, so there is a chance that these things. These image in my head was totally created by my mind. You know what the brain can do. It can deceive you that is why you should never trust anyone not even yourself cause you can be deceived by yourself. So, how is this thing kind of possible? Well, let us take myself as an example. I was tasked to write a 5000-word essay about the meeting that happened last July 6, 2015. But, the thing is, I cannot barely remember a damn thing. For a guy who has a messed up memory, forcing myself to remember such happening can lead my brain into mixing some memories with the others. Or my brain might fabricate a happening that is so real just for me to have something to type. Yes, this is very hard for me. If this there is some that I liked the least, it was not at that day, it is right now. I hate it. No, I do not mean that I hate remembering things just because we are obliged to do it and will face certain punishment if we fail. What I mean is that I really hate remembering things cause I know that my memory sucks. Of course, there are still parts of that day that I can remember, but I will save it up for later. As I also mentioned earlier is that I have fragments of memories on that day. I could just type here what are those memory fragments, but I choose not to, because I am still hoping that I can piece these fragments together to form a clump of memories so I can extract information and explain it thoroughly to all of you who are reading this. I am sorry. I will apologize again because until now I cannot give the part of that day which I liked the least.

A lot of parts on what Mr. Gamboa’s lecture on that day, July 6, 2015 were the same as what he had lectured on July 4, 2015. He brought back those topics that we have discussed on Saturday. And maybe these are the things that I liked the least during our meeting at that time. For example; he opened the nine dots challenged again to us. No, I do not that he made us to it again. What I am trying to say is that he tackled it again for the underlying meaning or message what the challenge was trying to convey to the people. If you have already forgotten the nine dots challenge, then I will give you a recap. The nine dots challenge was about connecting the nine using only four strokes without lifting the pen. Sounds hard doesn’t it? Well, cause it is really hard. The only way to connect the nine dots using only four strokes without lifting the pen is to overlap the stroke line. Yes, you have to overlap it from the nine dots. It sounds like cheating, but that is how you do it. Well, as we all know that the message behind the nine dots is to think outside the box. We do not have to limit ourselves, we should use our imagination to sort things out, even if it is weird or very way off than the usual thing. Just because the nine dots form a box pattern or figure, it does not mean that you have to apply the strokes along the box pattern/figure. Thinking outside the box is very helpful in real life. It is very helpful because it is not every minute of every day we can think of something new or something unique. If you are a business man and you wanted to establish a business, and it seems that every business around you are building coffee shops or tea house, it does not mean that you should do the same. Well, you could, but you know this to yourself that you are copying them, and you have a small chance of gaining customers cause there are lots of tea houses and coffee shops that are built. Unless if you do something very unique. If you want to build a coffee shop, then make sure that the coffee shop you are trying to build is unique and that would stand out from the others, put a twist. Maybe you could build a coffee shop, but you have something that sets it apart from all the previous coffee shops that were built and something that differentiates it from the rest. Maybe your coffee could have an arcade where the customers can play, or a jukebox where the customers can listen to some groovy oldies music. Or you could just build a themed coffee shop. It is all about the gimmick. Just because it is a coffee shop, it does not mean that you should only do what a normal coffee shop would. Think outside of the box. Use your imagination. Another thing that Mr. Gamboa retold us was the incubation hubs here in Davao City. If you cannot remember then, I am here to tell you. Incubation Hub(s) is a place or usually and office or headquarters where people stay to harness their skills, talents, etc. They train, and learn vice versa, until the harnessed or enhanced their skills, wits and intelligence, or we can say until they will be developed and ready to face the world which is full of challenges. And oh! Did I mention that it is for free? Yes, it is free to be in an incubation hub. They give you anything that you need. And office, internet connection, etc. (that is according to Mr. Gamboa) So, if my brain is not playing with my memory right now, it was Ateneo de Davao University who was supposed to have the first incubation hub here in Davao City, but that was not continued because they chose to top their old students which are now successful person with their newly graduated students who are starting life after college (that is how I remembered it). And if I remember it correctly, it was Brokenshire College who successfully built an incubation hub here in Davao City. They built an incubation hub out of two containers piled to make a two-story incubation hub, equipped with air-conditioning, electricity and internet connection. They got the idea from the Nankai University according to Mr. Gamboa. Another he told us again was that how late or how behind the Philippines is to Japan and other countries.Mr. Gamboa said that the Philippines is 10 years late from the technology of Japan, and Davao City is 5 years late from the technology of Manila. Well, that is pretty obvious to see if we are aware of our surroundings. If there were enough IT companies or facilities, the Philippines would so much better than it is today. He also told us again about the SEED, but this time he explained it in detail. He already told us about SEED on the July 4, 2015 meeting, but was short. It was like an overview of what is, and unfortunately, I forgot the words Mr. Gamboa spoke about the SEED at that time, because of, you know. Poor memory. He also taught what Technopreneurship truly is. Well, Technopreneurship is simply just entrepreneurship merged with technology. Or we can say it is technological entrepreneurship. It aims to promote innovation, destroying the old and creating the new. Technopreneurship has this course model which they call “SEED”. SEED stands for Self Mastery, Environment Mastery, Enterprise Mastery and Development of Business Plan.

The first thing is Self Mastery. Self Mastery is about knowing yourself. It is the phase where you must identity, and analyze yourself as if you are a specimen, or an object that has specifications. Once you know yourself, are now able to determine what you want and do not want. You will know your strengths and your weaknesses. So, how would you know if you are a self-mastered person? You will be able to know if you are a self-mastered person if you have these traits; A self-mastered person not need a high IQ, so it is okay to have a low IQ, you do not have to be smart, no need to worry. Despite of not needing a high IQ, a self-mastered person does need a high EQ and AQ or also known as Emotional Quotient and Adversity Quotient. It is important to have a high level of these two because it helps when you are emotionally strong. That means you can handle things around and not letting your emotions take over you. It is also important to have the ability to stand after failures and is ready to shift attitude in order to adapt. A self-mastered person has to be a natural performer which can be competitive and efficient. Epicure which can be sensual and cheery. A boss who takes charge of anything and who loves to take a fight. Needs to be a whole-brained person. And must have a personal vision.

The second thing is Environment Mastery. Environment Mastery is about generating business ideas and seeking opportunities from his or her environment. This can be achieve through serendipity walks, crises, trends and many more. Serendipity walks refers to when you are walking around and you suddenly stumbled onto a new idea in a very unexpected manner or you saw something that triggered your brain to generate an idea. For example; you were walking around the park when suddenly something hits you. Something that came from out of nowhere. No, not an object, but an idea. The next is crises. This is about generating or drawing ideas from a certain crisis or the crises that are happening. For example; the Philippines, especially Davao City is facing the threat of fake rice. One of our classmate drew an idea out from this crisis. He thought of an application that would determine whether the scanned rice is real or fake. Next is trends. This is where you draw idea about the latest trends. Example; the current trend is having a pair of sunglasses that has an x-ray vision. You know yourself that manufacturing and selling the same thing could get you money. So, you could either imitate it or do something similar of it but with a twist. An Environment-Mastered person should understand the industry that he or she is in. Of course, he or she must know how the industry works, must know its secrets, its shortcuts. He or she must see the opportunity not the problem. This just like I mentioned earlier about my classmate who thought of an app that would identify a fake rice. The problem is that fake rice is hiding in plain sight, but he saw the opportunity to have a possible solution and the opportunity to make money out from it by selling it to the customs and etc. Must be on top of the situation, not under the situation. Well, this trait here is important. There are situations that are so hard to handle and to face. We are swallowed by it sometimes. But taking the situation under control is a sign of strength and courage. This trait can be found on a great leader.

The third thing is Enterprise Mastery. Enterprise Mastery is about running a business and knowing the different kinds of enterprise principles such as: creating the business, marketing management, operations management and financial management. An enterprise-mastered person should understands and integrates the functions of management (marketing, human resource, operations, and finance). Understands and integrates the process of management (planning, organizing, directing and controlling.). And should lead and inspires rather than manage. Of course, one must have the knowledge of these things, like how to handle money and financial stuffs to be called an Enterprise-Mastered person.

The fourth and last thing is the Development of Business Plan. The Developmeant of Business Plan covers the following things: writing the business plan (of course it is pretty obvious). Presenting and defending the business plan. This is the first step on getting your plan into life. While presenting your plan to them, be prepared to defend it cause other will criticize it and will ask you questions. Next is adding refinements to the presented plan. Of course, your plan is just still a plan. There occasions that you will change your plan or change a little, that is why it is better to add some refinements to the presented plan if they seem to be unappeased.  

Another that Mr. Gamboa taught us that day was the difference of a technopreneur and an entrepreneur. Well, we all knew that this is just a simple comparison. An entrepreneur has these traits: Likes to compete, Is a self-starter, Is able to do many things. While a technopreneur has these traits: Likes to innovate, Is part of a team, Is innovative and has a greater vision. Well, to put things in a simple manner. Technopreneur is an entrepreneur who venture in business using technology. Another thing that Mr. Gamboa shared was HELF. HELF is the basis of being a successful technopreneurship. HELF is just the acronym of these things: Human Resources Components, Environment Component, Laws and Policies, Financial Resources. Under the Human Resources Components you have the people that are involved on developing and establishing your business such as, Financier, The Thinker, The one who generates idea, the one who innovates. You also have the people responsible for the development such as technical staff. In Environment Component, you have the community or services that will aid you on developing your idea or to promote it such as incubation hubs, internet, institutions and many more. Under the Laws and Policies, you have there the rights laws, rules, legal action you should abide. It also the Intellectual Property Rights to, Technology Licensing Office to tackle about the rights and ownership of a thing. Last but not the least is the Financial Resources. Well, you already know what is under here. Under here you will the factors that would that are related to money that would revolve around you. Such as Investors, Funding Agencies and many more.

So far, majority of what I have wrote are my liked parts, and there are some of them that are the parts that I liked the least. That day was such a very normal day for me. As what I am keep on saying, I cannot hardly remember a thing about what happened that day, and it saddens me. I wish I could have given you more and more details about what happened that day and give a concrete reflection of five thousand words that is divided into two. I wish I could have given you a reflection where two thousand five hundred words are written for the liked part, and another two thousand five hundred for the parts I like the least. What I give you now is an abomination. A total wreckage where the points are not organized and arranged well. Maybe next time I will listen very eagerly to Mr. Gamboa. But if there is one thing that I would like to point out before I end this. I had disliked part of that day. Okay, that is when my classmate and I stood up during the period of the class. Why? Remember what I wrote earlier? When my late classmates went inside of the room, they found themselves nothing to sit on. So, we decided to give them our chairs and stand up. We stood there for like three hours and listen to Mr. Gamboa. It was very hard and uncomfortable for us. But, we did not mind that since we are gentlemen and we know that we can endure that kind of problem.

So, that is all, folks. I really do hope you liked this even if this is a wretched post. Thank you, and good bye!