SteemPH Meet-Up Caravan 4th Stop - Davao!

My small family of four arrived in Davao about more than a week ago, and yet it feels like this is the first day of our vacation. Even before our plane landed, a lot of preparations have been made to make sure that all the planned activities will go smoothly. From the time we landed, I haven't felt at ease. I was always anxious about something, coming up with a checklist didn't even help. I feel quite better now that we have somehow pulled off the Homesteading Brigade and the Davao Meet-up.

In my post, Steem-Powered Outreach Event in Libertad National High School, Samal Davao del Norte, I shared our journey to Kaputian District in Samal Island to distribute planting materials and school supplies. A couple of days after that event, we had the Davao meet-up at Cafe Demitasse as part of the SteemPH Meet-Up Caravan.

After the Bulacan Meet-Up Plan evolved into the full-fledged meet-up caravan that it is now, Red and I came up with objectives that will be aligned with the topics of our discussion.

• Start or improve engagement between existing Steemians located outside of Metro Manila
• Provide educational materials to improve existing Steemians' experience in the platform with the help of @steemnest
• Encourage Steemit promotion among existing Steemians by requiring them to bring a non-Steemian friend to the meet ups
• Explore community related events in each location to improve visibility for Steemit, and support @steemph's vision

We kicked off the meet-up caravan in Bulacan, then had it in Cavite, then Antipolo, and just a couple of days ago, in Davao.

The Venue

Like in the previous meet-ups, Red and I needed assistance with looking for places where we can hold the meet-up. I am beyond grateful that @jacinta.sevilla and the rest of her awesome family did not hesitate to offer their unconditional help. They scouted for the perfect venue for our meet-up, and provided 3 options, we later on decided on Cafe Demitasse. We made an ocular visit the day before the meet-up and we were not disappointed. The place is pretty with it's dainty walls. Their staff and crew are very accommodating. We tried their cakes and coffee, which we found delectable.

The Meet-Up

We had to leave the house a bit later than we planned and when we got to the venue, @jacinta.sevilla, her father @gems.and.cookies, and her brother @vocafrost, were already there. I was so happy to finally meet them. Not only are they most talented, they also have the biggest hearts. They brought their non-steemian friends and soon, our area was filled with guests.

@steemitph (Red) and I started by introducing ourselves. Red led the discussion on the Blockchain and its different use cases. How Bitcoin, Etherium, and Steem are being utilized to decentralize different economies. He dwelt on the different DApps that are built on top of the Steem Blockchain, and showed the tools we normally use to make tracking Steemit activities easier. He went to great detail when he talked about Utopian and how everyone can also contribute.

I have been posting the SteemPH Davao Daily Featured post for more than a month now and I know for a fact that Steemians in Davao are incredible writers. I rarely have difficulties in finding posts that meet the criteria, and so Red and I opted not to discuss the @steemnest lessons in great details. We did tell them about @steemnest and how they could benefit from it and how to find it, we leave the rest to them. We did focus on why they would want to create quality content. We shared our vision for the Philippines to be known for quality content creators and how we can all benefit from creating content that we can be proud of.

Like Antipolo, there is an existing SteemPH arm in Davao. However, @steemph.davao actually doesn't have any core members aside from the Lead role. Although I accepted the role last December, it has always been my intention to pass it to someone who would be able to do a better job by being physically in Davao. I shared to our audience how it important it is to grow the Steemit community in Davao, and how a solid core group can make that happen. I told our audience to think about it and to reach out to me for their intention to fill in any role. I am happy to say that I have received a couple of applications, which I will relay to the rest of the SteemPH Core Group.

Our program was graced by the beautiful Ms. Pamela Janson. Pam was one of the candidates in Miss Earth Philippines 2017 and is one of the friends that @jacinta.sevilla invited to the meet-up. They both shared valuable information about environmental issues. I myself have learned quite a few things and I actually regret that my daughters weren't present at the meet-up. I would have loved for them to hear what Pam and Eve shared about plastic pollution and how we all can make conscious efforts to avoid doing further damage to Mother Earth.

After their presentation, Eve gave away items to participants who were able to answer a few questions. I really am quite impressed with her dedication to this advocacy. She recently hosted an Art Contest about Plastic Pollution and it's one of the most successful I have seen here in Steemit. I am excited to work with her in making a beach clean-up activity happen soon.

_{@jacinta.sevilla's artwork that I have been so honored to receive}

Before we wrapped up the event, we also offered the option to open the account of non-steemians who were interested to join the platform. We informed them of what will be required in return (consistently posting in their first two weeks, and powering up so they can build their own SP). In the next few days, Red will be creating those accounts, one of which will be for Alampat Productions, advocates of promoting the local culture of Davao, and wish to bring their works and projects in Steemit.

I am very happy with how everything turned out. This vacation has become more meaningful because of Steemit, and one of the reasons why we go around the country spreading the word about the platform is because I want that meaning to touch other people's lives too. These projects would not have been possible if not for you. Your upvotes, resteem, and your encouraging words are fueling the SteemPH Caravan. From the bottom my Dabawenya heart, Daghan Salamat!