2 out of 5 stars = ( for the total experience
First, kudos to me for being able to wake up VERY early (5 am, man!) despite having to sleep very late (2 am..or is it very early? hehe). See, I can be a morning person with the right impetus! As I said, I had to manage my time very well so that I can arrive at the venue early as I knew that there'd be a lot of students..
My bro and I arrived 30 minutes before the start of the program; sadly, I couldn't go in just yet because my ticket was with Lysa - who was forever in EDSA! hehe = ) Anyway, Lysa and her friend arrived at around 9am and we still had to wait for another friend of theirs. Remember, I'm only "singit" here and I have to adjust to their scheds. We were able to get inside Araneta at around 9.30 through the backdoor after a few rounds of waiting, sitting at Starbucks, a few wrong turns at the coliseum, finally ordering at Starbucks and whew we found our seats (thanks so much to her classmates Giselle and Marvin who reserved the seats!)
We all were able to get in beyond an hour late but guess who was more surprised? Yes folks, the program was just about to begin! Although disappointed that the PMA-led event followed "Filipino time", I was partly happy that after all that happened that morning (with the waiting and all) I was still given the chance to listen to all the presentations.
THE BAD.
- too much echo from audio their voices just seem garbled
- crowd/guest control was just not right (e.g. if people would say they're going to the lower box seats to watch they wouldn't be let in vs if you tell the ushers that you'll just buy from taco bell in the lower box area
- super cute (i mean super small) fonts used in presentations...even with 20/25 vision, hey, I'm not superwoman!
- the food was just..oh no don't want to comment anymore about it
THE SUPERBAD.
I guess superbad has something to do with my expectations. I came to the conference because I thought that I'd be able to learn new things from the presentors. But all that learning was made very difficult by people who went there only for the sake of required attendance or just for a field day. Some thought it was a way to sashay down an imaginary catwalk and strut their stuff.
It's just so sad that I guess majority of the students there did not share the same intentions as mine. boohoo! I'm not trying to be self-righteous here or anything to that effect..what I mean is that if you will be shelling out Php 400.00 and a whole day for this event, might as well make the most of it!
- students passing around copies of FHM to pass the time
- boisterous laughter for I don't know what reason!
- students generally not paying attention to the presentations
- very very short attention span! (ADHD rampant!)
THE GOOD.
Despite all the bads and the superbads (and then some - which i don't want to mention here anymore), I would like to commend the PMA and the member schools for being able to put up an event like this and manage the logistics and everything else. Wish they could make it more economical especially for those students who don't have much.
A presentor commented that PMA changed how conferences should be and thereby made it available to more students..yes I agree that it was really jampacked BUT, is this method effective?
Hopefully in the following years, PMA could change or tweak some more the way they want conferences to be:
* Effective at driving their point and conducive to the learning process
* High student attendance and not just by "hoarding" students to the venue..isn't there an 'optimal' level for things?
* Profitable without milking students dry - more partners perhaps?
* More professional-looking presentations ... keynote, anyone?
I hope this can be remedied sooner than later so that students will not be traumatized and get the value for their money when the time comes that they'll be able to say, "It's so worth it and more!"
