calling all sibolistas in nyc (and nearby)

ozzie purruganan ('82) has generously volunteered his place for a small sibol gathering/dinner on the 23rd, saturday. so far it's me, ozzie, jake hofilena, and possibly eugen palma and getty atienza. if there's anyone in the tristate area or who'd like to make a weekend of it, come join us. leave a comment or send me an email and i'll send you details.

the hope is that perhaps other sibolistas in other places have their own gatherings of sorts. just make sure to keep us posted (para naman mainggit din kami kung kayo naman ang nagsama-sama).

An update from Manila's interim alumni core group

this past saturday, a group in manila met at the ateneo grade school to discuss the creation of an official sibol alumni group. here's an unofficial report—it's really and cut-paste job of an email from boyet dy. read on and comment and volunteer as you wish.

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Hi again everyone,

Thanks again to GK, Ali, Tattel, Igo, Jojo, and Jonny for attending last Saturday's meeting. Thanks as well to Lex and Edwin for being with us through technology. PJ actually also wanted to join via phone-patch, but we weren't able to arrange for it anymore. Special thanks to Jonny for hosting us, complete with juice, turon, and lasagna!

Toward the end of the meeting, we were all very happy with how productive it has been. As we were saying, perhaps it just proved that it was indeed about time to start the conversation on this. The topic was ripe for conversation from the very start!

Attached is the minutes of the meeting [edit: available upon request], and Igo deserves the credit for that. We began with a discussion on the value/ importance of forming a Sibol alumni group. Based on the discussion on this segment, here's my first crack at pinning down what the group's Vision, Mission, and Objectives could be. What do you think about this draft articulation?

Vision: Sibol alumni that continue to live out Sibol values individually and as a group
Mission: Create integral opportunities for the alumni to reconnect with and support each other, Dulaang Sibol and its related activities
Objectives:
1. Build a vibrant community among the alumni for mutual support and continued growth
2. Coordinate alumni efforts to support the activities of current Sibol and the Sibol-initiated foundations
3. Coordinate alumni efforts to preserve and spread the legacy of Mr. Pagsi

After discussing the value/ importance of forming a Sibol alumni group, we spent a lot of time (the bulk of the meeting, actually) exploring the potential we see in harnessing the relationship between the alumni and current Sibol/ the Foundations/ Mr. Pagsi. After trying to imagine what can go into that relationship from both ends (what the alumni can provide to Sibol/ the Foundations/ Mr. Pagsi and vice-versa), we attempted to brainstorm on possible activities/ services that can address such a relationship. The list of activities/ services were then categorized into 5 clusters, and team leaders volunteered (or were volunteered! Hehe.) to thresh out the details for each:

Archive
Team Leaders: Jojo & Ali
Component Activities: coffeetable book; collection of photos, music, plays, posters, arrangements, etc.

Online
Team Leaders: Jonny & Igo
Component Activities: dynamic directory (which includes alumni fields of profession/ expertise); sharing of videos/ photos of current Sibol, Mr. Pagsi's reflections and talks, etc.; sharing of Sibol's calendar of activities


Traditions
Team Leaders: Boyet & GK
Component Activities: reviving the summer conservatory; annual homecoming; mentoring/ talks for current Sibol; regular open house where alumni can come home and share experiences and reflections; regular retreat for the alumni; regular geographical alumni gatherings

Resource Mobilization
Team Leaders: Johnny and PJ (Haha! We volunteered the two of you! Hope it's okay.)
Component Activities: fund-raising; fund-management

Successor Search
This is the biggest question mark for now.

The agreement was for the team leaders to thresh out the details for their assigned cluster and the agenda for the next meeting, which will be 4PM on February 20, is to hear each other out.

At the same time, there was a suggestion to send a 'press release' to the broader alumni community, perhaps through the E-groups and Facebook, to give updates on what's happening in order to start the process of generating interest and buy-in for the Sibol alumni group and its consequent activities. It would be a perfect way to sound off the entire endeavor as well. Any volunteers to work on this? :) Separately, perhaps we ought to update Mr. Pagsi directly as well, if only to inform him that we've met already and that we will be inviting him to join the discussions once we have something more solid.

I guess that's all for now. Thank you everyone for your time and ideas, as always!

Best,
-boyet-

facebook causes or paypal expert needed

is there anyone out there who's familiar (or an expert) with setting up online tools like ones mentioned above where we'd be able to collect funds through cyberspace. been setting up a facebook cause page and paypal accounts but been stuck at some point in the fundraising functionality part. any help will be much appreciated.

mr. pagsi on breathing in and out

here's a very rare video of mr. pagsi speaking of how we as sibolistas can stay true to our experience in dulaang sibol years or many years ago. very special thanks go to von totanes who given the task of reporting on how sir's doing went beyond the assignment and shot this video. he'll do another quick video and if you have ideas, topics you'd like sir to discuss, leave a comment below (a read of "i have a dream" perhaps. any/all thoughts welcome. my personal wish and some others': his thoughts on succession planning.)

meet the manila + overseas sibol alumni team (for now)

this saturday a group of former sibolistas are meeting on the idea of forming an "official" sibol alumni group as per sir pagsi's suggestion/wish. on the agenda are its purpose, values and all that fun stuff. here's the who's who of that group: igo gonzales ('07), jonny salvador ('84), gk galvez-tan ('00), ali figueroa ('94), pj bernardo ('97), jojo mendoza ('86), boyet dy ('02) and johnny bondoc ('91) (joining them online is lex favila, '99).

as they do their thing in the homebase, i'll try to get us overseas sibolistas organized as well. i've gotten replies from people from all over willing to help out. i name them here so that in case i missed someone, you can give me an online slap. von totanes (canada, '91), ray guinoo (malaysia, '97), getty atienza (connecticut, '92), david ingles (L.A., '78), marcy marcelo (santa clara, '96), bulit solis (ohio, '85), ed lapitan (australia, '86), pao abarcar (D.C., '03), ozzie purugganan (NY, '82). kyle baizas (boston '96), joel obillo (boston, '94). if there's anyone else interested, send me your info. nyu_jason[at]yahoo.com.

i've been in touch with the folks in manila and at some point we'll all mesh are goals and plans into one. that's the idea at least.

for now, stay tuned. in other news, von is actually in manila right now and is scheduled to meet with sir pagsi and mrs. pagsi on sunday. i've asked him to give us a "report" as well. von, no pressure but now that it's out in the online world, you'll owe us a story.

dulaang sibol alumni facebook page

to those wondering: yes, there is now a dulaang sibol alumni facebook group. considering most of us are on facebook, it should provide an added venue for interaction among sibol alumni around the world. click on link to become a member.

some stout-hearted men

nakakataba naman ng puso, sa ilang araw na inumpisahan ko 'tong blog, ilang tao na ang nagbasa at nag-email. at galing sa iba't ibang sulok ng mundo pa. may galing pinas (syempre), may galing california, new york, wyoming, illinois, boston, canada, hong kong, malaysia at kung san san pa. sa mga sumusubaybay, nag-email at eventually may tulong na ibibigay, salamat. special thanks to ray guinoo '97, dave ingles '78, brain zialcita '94, kyle baizas '96 , bryan atienza '00, at von totanes '91.

pero tama na muna ang shout-outs, business muna—

with the help of atty bernardo ('97), i got a copy of the most recent minutes of the sibol foundation board meeting. from it i learned that the benificiaries of the foundation are the UP PGH children's ward and the Laura Vicuña foundation. and due to the recent nosedive of the economy some of the funds and investments of the DS foundation came tumbling down as well. also, due to a very hectic schedule, the current batch wasn't able to go carolling this past holiday. nevertheless the foundation is still able to donate a total of PhP 100,000 to be paid out this month.

so what does this all mean for us? there's help that can be done. and that the help goes to the causes mentioned above and to sibol-hesus school.

i'm sure kating-kati na kayong tumulong. hinay hinay lang. mahina ang kalaban. i'll setup the paypal account soon.

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in the meantime kung gusto niyo ng palaisipan:

1. What is the value/ importance of forming a Sibol 'alumni group?'
2. What do you perceive as the needs of Sibol alumni?
3. What services to the alumni should the Sibol 'alumni group' make available so that alumni needs will be addressed and you'll want to be part of such a group?
4. What activities for the alumni should the Sibol 'alumni group' provide so that alumni needs will be addressed and you'll want to be part of such a group?
5. What role/s can the Sibol 'alumni group' play in relation to the performing group and other Sibol activities (such as the operations of the foundations, annual homecoming, etc.)?
6. Imagine a Sibol 'alumni group' that has been active for 10 years: what do you want to see the group has achieved in that time?

email niyo sa kin ang sagot nyu_jason[at]yahoo.com. at ibabahagi ko sa manila dulaang sibol foundation team na magpupulong sa sabado. ang mahuli, eh di hindi aabot. salamat.