Bohol Hosts Geeks on a Beach Tech Conference

By: Jerome Auza

The laid back venue at a beach in Panglao, Bohol, the shorts and rubber sandals do not indicate a fast paced, information packed technology, design and startup conference. The province of Bohol hosted this year’s Geeks on a Beach on August 25-26, 2016 at the Bellevue Resort Pavillon.

On the 24th, there was a pre-event investors only roundtable discussion followed by the Techstars and Startup Weekend Appreciation Night sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and TechTalks.ph. Techstars had just concluded its APAC conference on the same venue.

The conference kicked off with Ms. Tina Amper, founder of Techtalks.ph, delivering the opening message. Mr. Mon Ibrahim, Innovation Consultant of the new Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) spoke about the how the government is working with the community to empower startups to innovate.

“Geeks on a Beach” (GOAB) is a unique international conference featuring the cutting-edge of the tech world in a laid-back atmosphere. With the theme “Empowering startups, leading change”, GOAB4 will once more highlight communities of startups or innovation-driven enterprises based on software or apps, which have seen remarkable growth in the Philippines in the last few years. GOAB has greatly contributed in empowering Philippine startups.

“We are looking at startups taking the lead in strategically leveraging opportunities offered by a bigger regional market of ten countries with some 617 million people and a combined GDP of US $2.1 trillion opened up by the Asean integration,” said ​Ibrahim​.

GOAB is rganized by TechTalks.ph and the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) and co-presented by PLDT SME Nation, Ideaspace, PLDT Innolab and SmartDevNet.

Some of the brightest minds in the industry from the USA, Singapore and other countries will be on hand at the 2016 GOAB. Invited to speak in the confab are Techstars Co-founder and Managing Partner David Brown, Startup Weekend Co-founder Marc Nager, Chris McCann of Greylock Partners, Crowdsourcing Week Founder and CEO Epi Ludvik Nekaj, ​500 Startups Managing Partner/Investor Khailee Ng, 500 Startups Corporate Innovation Director Arnaud Bonzom, Zalora Philippines Managing Director Constantine Robertz, PLDT SME Nation Head of Community Partnerships Francis Oliva, Ideaspace.ph Managing Director Diane Eustaquio, ​TechTalks.ph Chief Content Officer Robert Cristobal, Citrix Principal UX Designer Philip McKay, and STAC Silicon Valley President Cristina Laskowski.

Tina Amper, founder of TechTalks.ph who has been instrumental in conceptualizing GOAB said those who are into digital technology, web design, and innovation should not miss this opportunity to learn about the latest developments in the industry and meet the key players in the tech startup world.
“The Philippines’ remarkable work-play environment complemented by the famous Filipino hospitality and a unique cultural mix of East and West makes it the natural cultural doorway to the ​ASEAN​ for geeks and investors alike,” said Amper.

The first day of the conference was concluded with a dinner and cultural show hosted by the Provincial Government of Bohol. Bohol Governor Edgar M. Chatto welcomed the guests and encouraged the participants to explore the province not only for its tourism assets but also for the business opportunities that would be compatible with Bohol’s ecotourism and agricultural industries. Chatto highlighted that the IT/BPO industry and other technology ventures would be ideal for Bohol.

Senator Paolo Benigno ‘Bam’ Aquino IV was the guest of honor and spoke about the legislation that he has been working on in the Senate to support startups. He also requested participation from the startup community in crafting the laws to help make these more effective and relevant.

The crowd was entertained by various performers including the Loboc Youth Ambassadors Band which got a standing ovation from the participants.

The highlight of the second day of the conference was the pitching competition where 7 finalists were given a few minutes to make their pitch to the judges. EngageSpark won and received a trophy, a microfund and various other prizes.

Silicon Valley’s 500 Startups is thinking of creating a new microfund for the Philippines, according to managing partner Khailee Ng. It’s not yet a commitment or a promise, he adds.

Internet.org by Facebook hosted the cocktails and party that ended the 4th Geeks on a Beach conference with a blast.