Can your barkada say 'OMG!?'
Written by: Enrico Miguel T. Subido
Publication: Lifestyle by Philstar.com
Date published: October 3, 2008
One thing that keeps a group of friends close together is the element of communication. No degree of separation should ever really break genuine friendship between individuals. But people want to stay in touch with one another because, after all, that’s what friends do. By doing so, friends remain up to date with the ongoing lives of their amigos; and being in the know means that the friendship remains strong.
In the Philippine context, this group of friends is commonly referred to as the barkada. A barkada can originate from a number of places, and, as it is in other countries, people become part of a group because of certain factors. Some of these include childhood friends growing up in the same neighborhood, grade school friends, high school friends, college friends, office friends, girl friends, guy friends, drinking friends, and so on. For some people, these categories overlap with one another; for others, these are totally exclusive groups, but still, it remains that the one thing that keeps a group of friends together is communication.
Last Saturday brought barkadas of all kinds to the “Oi, May Gimik” event held by Globe Telecom, Inc. at the SMX Convention Center beside the SM Mall of Asia. The day was filled with games, gigs, gadgets, and a phone sale, making it truly a day for friends to enjoy time together.
The day started at 10 a.m. with an E-Games tournament featuring popular PC game Cabal. This continued on into the afternoon with heated competition between rivaling (but still friendly) barkadas. While some played video games, other groups were treated to fun activities including wall climbing, Velcro wall jumping, and obstacle courses — one involving the use of a Globe cellular phone, and another with the aid of a small robot. Some lucky friends won a trip to Boracay for the entire group, while others won MyPhone, Nokia, and ZTE mobile phone packages. Others were lucky enough to win P10,000 cash in the hourly raffle.
“OMG” was the acronym of the day and the festivities were continuous. For the first time, Globe gathered celebrities from two major networks in a variety show that saw the likes of Angelica Panganiban, Ehra Madrigal, Michelle Madrigal, JC De Vera, Gabe Valenciano and Maxene Magalona. Participants in TV’s Pinoy Dream Academy also lit up the stage with performances from Laarni Lozada, Buboy Drilon, and Miguel Mendoza. “OMG” was updated every hour, live on both ABS-CBN and GMA.
Globe also introduced new innovations in the way it approached the issue of communication and staying in touch. Throughout the day at SMX, friends were able to experience Globe’s latest services such as unlimited Friendster and Facebook UPD8s (updates) and unlimited chat on Yahoo! Messenger. Computers were available for use at the venue for barkadas to create their own group profiles on www.24ever.com.ph to upload their stories, photos and video clips. The name of the web site itself is suggestive of how Globe aims to address this issue on connectivity.
“Barkadas love to be connected with each other and Globe is helping them to do this through unlimited chat on YM (Yahoo! Messenger) and updates on Friendster on their mobile phones. It’s fun, easy to use, and relevant to their lifestyle,” says Mark Castillo, Globe segment business head for Youth Marketing.
Later in the evening, to officially close the event, the audience was treated to live musical performances by popular bands such as Rocksteddy, Imago, Callalily and Paraluman.
I remember watching a play in my first year of college about a really close group of friends that had to go their separate ways after high school. In short, everyone went down different paths. During the last scene, the two closest in the group were talking and one of them said he was going to the United States for college. At that, the other one flipped and started saying all this stuff about “plans” and “paano na kami.” All the while he was crying, too. For real.
So although barkadas try to keep it tight, circumstances never stay the same and plans can sometimes change. Suck it up, I say; life happens. Everyone has to walk his or her own path sooner or later.
But that path needn’t be lonely, especially if you keep in touch.
* * *
For more info, visit www.24ever.com.ph or www.globe.com.ph
In the Philippine context, this group of friends is commonly referred to as the barkada. A barkada can originate from a number of places, and, as it is in other countries, people become part of a group because of certain factors. Some of these include childhood friends growing up in the same neighborhood, grade school friends, high school friends, college friends, office friends, girl friends, guy friends, drinking friends, and so on. For some people, these categories overlap with one another; for others, these are totally exclusive groups, but still, it remains that the one thing that keeps a group of friends together is communication.
Last Saturday brought barkadas of all kinds to the “Oi, May Gimik” event held by Globe Telecom, Inc. at the SMX Convention Center beside the SM Mall of Asia. The day was filled with games, gigs, gadgets, and a phone sale, making it truly a day for friends to enjoy time together.
The day started at 10 a.m. with an E-Games tournament featuring popular PC game Cabal. This continued on into the afternoon with heated competition between rivaling (but still friendly) barkadas. While some played video games, other groups were treated to fun activities including wall climbing, Velcro wall jumping, and obstacle courses — one involving the use of a Globe cellular phone, and another with the aid of a small robot. Some lucky friends won a trip to Boracay for the entire group, while others won MyPhone, Nokia, and ZTE mobile phone packages. Others were lucky enough to win P10,000 cash in the hourly raffle.
“OMG” was the acronym of the day and the festivities were continuous. For the first time, Globe gathered celebrities from two major networks in a variety show that saw the likes of Angelica Panganiban, Ehra Madrigal, Michelle Madrigal, JC De Vera, Gabe Valenciano and Maxene Magalona. Participants in TV’s Pinoy Dream Academy also lit up the stage with performances from Laarni Lozada, Buboy Drilon, and Miguel Mendoza. “OMG” was updated every hour, live on both ABS-CBN and GMA.
Globe also introduced new innovations in the way it approached the issue of communication and staying in touch. Throughout the day at SMX, friends were able to experience Globe’s latest services such as unlimited Friendster and Facebook UPD8s (updates) and unlimited chat on Yahoo! Messenger. Computers were available for use at the venue for barkadas to create their own group profiles on www.24ever.com.ph to upload their stories, photos and video clips. The name of the web site itself is suggestive of how Globe aims to address this issue on connectivity.
“Barkadas love to be connected with each other and Globe is helping them to do this through unlimited chat on YM (Yahoo! Messenger) and updates on Friendster on their mobile phones. It’s fun, easy to use, and relevant to their lifestyle,” says Mark Castillo, Globe segment business head for Youth Marketing.
Later in the evening, to officially close the event, the audience was treated to live musical performances by popular bands such as Rocksteddy, Imago, Callalily and Paraluman.
I remember watching a play in my first year of college about a really close group of friends that had to go their separate ways after high school. In short, everyone went down different paths. During the last scene, the two closest in the group were talking and one of them said he was going to the United States for college. At that, the other one flipped and started saying all this stuff about “plans” and “paano na kami.” All the while he was crying, too. For real.
So although barkadas try to keep it tight, circumstances never stay the same and plans can sometimes change. Suck it up, I say; life happens. Everyone has to walk his or her own path sooner or later.
But that path needn’t be lonely, especially if you keep in touch.
* * *
For more info, visit www.24ever.com.ph or www.globe.com.ph