The Year that was 2011

After the frenetic pace of 2010, I decided to slow down a bit in 2011 and regain some semblance of a normal life by toning down the number of events I organize and the projects I take on in a given year. It seemed to have worked as I was generally happy and less stressed this year (though I doubt if it can be totally eliminated).

It doesn’t mean however that nothing was accomplished in 2011 (far from it). Here’s a look back at what happened last year.

January

January was my third month working for oDesk Enterprises (I started in November 2010) and it was probably one of the busiest months of 2011 for me. I was managing two projects for their two biggest clients and it was quite a challenge and a learning experience.

Johnny and I, together with the UP Bugkos, Graphic Literature Guild, and the UP Painters Club were busy preparing for the 2nd KomiksTrip, UPLB’s very own comic book convention.

February

February 19, 2011 Saturday saw the second year of KomiksTrip presented by the UP Bugkos and JonasDiego.COM in cooperation with the Graphic Literature Guild and the UP Painters Club.

March

March was learn-something-new month for me as I attended a Google Tech user’s seminar and a 2-day workshop about stock market investing.

I was contemplating on organizing another 24-hour Comic Book Challenge but my two projects with oDesk Enterprises was still ongoing and decided that there wasn’t going to be enough free time for me to juggle two activities at the same time.

April

We began preparations for the release of Pocket Comics and the Komikero Anthology on the Summer Komikon in May the next month.

May

JonasDiego.COM participated in the Summer Komikon held at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig City (which was a most excellent venue).

We released the Komikero Komiks Anthology no. 7 and Pocket Comics no. 1 and made brisk sales.

We also had a mini-fund raiser during the event for Lapis at Papel, a charity effort to provide school supplies for under privileged schools in Mindanao. The Komikon organizers also tapped Gerry Alanguilan, Johnny Danganan, and me to act as auctioneers (which we always enjoy) for several art pieces that needed to be sold off for a separate charity.

June, July

I spent the month of June and July delivering copies for sale of the Komikero Komiks Anthology no. 7 and Pocket Comics no. 1 to various outlets such as Comic Odyssey and Sputnik Fantastik.

August

I took on a month long project for Tim Kainu, a US based graphic designer and photographer, who wanted to increase his traffic, improve his online presence, and monetize his sites.

September

I spent the month helping the 2nd Cebu Comics Convention organizers promoting their event.

October

I attended the 2nd Cebu Comics Convention held at the University of the Philippines Cebu this year.

The open air was quite refreshing and it was a well-attended event which also included comic creators and retailers from Metro Manila.

I brought copies of the Komikero Anthology and Pocket Comics to be sold at the convention.

Activities this year included cosplay, toy and art displays, local comic books give-away, comic book sales, mini-seminars, contests, and a zip line.

November

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JonasDiego.COM participated in the Komikon, the most awaited comic related convention in the Philippines. The venue was still at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig City. This year’s Komikon was one of the most attended I’ve ever seen with lines stretching out even before the event opened.

We put out another issue of the Komikero Komiks Anthology (no. 8) and sold copies of the Komikero Komiks Anthology no. 7 and Pocket Comics no. 1. We sold a good number of copies and made more than decent profit on sales alone, definitely enough to cover cost for table rental and upcoming expenses for the San Pablo Comics Festival next month.

I also started this month as a project manager for Special Glue – a web, social media, and mobile technology company based in Melbourne, Australia.

Development on other fronts included an invitation from Joe D Mango to produce Radyo Komiks for his Love Notes radio program airing twice a week, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 12:00 MN to 4:00 AM and will be livestreamed on DZMM and shown on Channel 26 and on TFC (The Filipino Channel).

Click here for more details.

December

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December was the month of the 3rd San Pablo Comics Festival, a comic book event organized by Komikero Publishing and JonasDiego.com in cooperation with the Komikero Artist Group and the Graphic Literature Guild from UPLB. This year’s Festival was held on a Saturday December 3, 2011 at ULTIMART in San Pablo City, Laguna accompanied by the Komikero Art Exhibit running from December 2-4, 2011.

Click here for more details.

JonasDiego.COM also partnered with JobsDB.COM this month which means that JonasDiego.COM blogs will now be carrying the JobsDB widget (particularly I Want Work) and you’re going to see the JDCOM logo on their partner page.

Click here for more details.

I also got a second project, working as a project manager for Minibee, an educational start-up engaged in reviving grassroots parenting through the sales of music focused nursery books and media.

The company is founded by the husband and wife team of Hamlin and Amy Au and is positioned to brand itself to the “Yoga Mommies and Hipster Babies” of Generation Y.

Click here to see the stuff that I did for them so far.