Filipino Mountain Climbers Unveil Pink Flag Atop Africa’s Highest Mountain

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Faced with icy winds up to 20 degrees below zero, six Filipino mountain climbers unveiled pink flags and banners to show their support for presidential candidate Leni Robredo and vice-presidential candidate Kiko Pangilinan.

Team leader Rofil Sheldon Magto and climbers Yelena Nina Magto, Andrei Nikolai Magto, Grace Feraer, Vanessa del Rosario and Gregg Yan endured a week-long 70 kilometer trek through alpine and sub-zero conditions to reach the highest point in Africa, the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro at 19,341 feet (5,895 MASL or meters above sea level). 

The Filipinos proudly waved the Philippine flag and a pink flag, along with banners bearing the text Gobyernong Tapat, Aahon Lahat at 5895 MASL, Gusto Namin High Altitude, Hindi Yung May Attitude, and Mountaineers for Leni. Philippine presidential elections shall take place on May 9^th 2022.

“It was not an easy feat for average Filipino climbers like us. We persevered despite the odds because we know that we are not only representing our country but also showing the world that our individual choices and actions, when made collectively, will have a positive and lasting impact for years to come,” said Rofil Sheldon Magto.

Mount Kilimanjaro is located in Tanzania, East Africa and is the highest mountain on the African continent. It is one of the world’s Seven Summits, pertaining to the highest mountains per continent. 

The other Seven Summits include Mount Everest in Asia, Mount Aconcagua in South America, Mount Denali in North America, Mount Elbrus in Europe, Vinson Massif in Antarctica and Mount Kosciuszko in Australia. So far, only two Filipinos – Romi Garduce and Carina Dayondon – have been able to complete all Seven Summits. 

Three Stars and a Sun. The Philippine flag flutters above the highest point in Africa. Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania rises well above the clouds at 19,341 feet or 5,895 meters. (FC Mtey & Gregg Yan)

View from the top. Fierce winds up to 20 degrees below zero keep snow and ice from melting, despite sun rays that can cause sunburn in mere minutes. Scientists fear that global warming might cause Mount Kilimanjaro’s remaining ice caps to completely melt away. (Gregg Yan)

 

UP student makes film campus cut in Italy

Wazzup Pilipinas!

A creative writing student from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman has been officially selected one of ten successful candidates to the Far East Film Festival (FEFF) Campus at Udine, Italy.

Eunice Joyce Helera, a BA Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Filipino (Creative Writing in Filipino) major from the UP Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas, is the only Filipino to qualify this year for the FEFF’s prestigious education program for aspiring cultural reporters and film critics from Europe and Asia.

For the first time in two years, the FEFF is conducting the school of journalism as an onsite event for the students to meet and learn from directors, critics, curators, producers, and other film professionals.

“I wanted to improve my writing and how I view films,” Helera revealed her reason to join the FEFF Campus. “I have always been insecure about my writing, my interpretations, and how I construct my reviews. Instead of hiding away and giving up, I've always tried to find opportunities where I can learn,” she added.

Mathew Scott, one of the FEFF campus coordinators and her mentor for a short course on Asian Cinema Education under the Five Flavours Film Festival (Warsaw, Poland), encouraged her to join the program.

Helera, who is still in Italy as of presstime, feels exhausted but she relishes the unique experience of attending the FEFF Campus. “I have Cine Sundays to thank for. Being a moderator in the community, especially when I have to fill in at the last minute, has trained me to converse and create questions,” the young film buff said, referring to the online film community established by director Dan Villegas.

“The sessions we’ve had throughout are a good briefer to know all fields of the industry and that's how it has helped me so far now that I am immersed and seeing these people up close. The same way, the diversity of films that we analyze through Zoom, somehow adds to our knowledge of the different genres, that gives me that familiarity of structure, for the films being shown in this year's film selection,” one of the Cine Sundays core team members shared about the experience she gained from the program.

Helera, whose “love for film is rooted in her love of discovering the world,” is also part of the UP Cinema Arts Society or UP CAST. She is currently a film criticism fellow for UP Cinema’s Pelikolektibo. Last year, she became a festival curatorial fellow for Movies that Matter’s Cinema Without Borders (Netherlands).

The other selected aspiring journalists are Elizabeth Alpaidze (Georgia), Amarsanaa Battulga (Mongolia), Greta Elettra Broms (Sweden), Veronica Calienno (Italy), Eunha Lim (South Korea), Harry Robinson (United Kingdom), Jolie Fan Yuxuan (Singapore), Mariona Borrull Zapata (Spain), and Zhu Zijiao (China).

FEFF festival director Sabrina Baracetti said that they are “thrilled to have FEFF back fully live in Udine to once again welcome guests from around the world – and that includes our Campus family.”

“We were impressed with the high standard of diverse applicants and the obvious passion they showed for Asian cinema and are proud that we are able to forge these connections between film lovers everywhere, thanks to the many Campus supporters,” Baracetti added.

Selected attendees will have direct access to the FEFF Talks series of seminars and guest appearances. Since the “business of film” is high on the agenda for this year, they are also expected to gain insight into the inner workings of the industry through FEFF’s Focus Asia and the 13th Ties That Bind Workshop.

New Web Design Tricks That Will Draw Buyers

Wazzup Pilipinas!?



Success in the field of ecommerce does not only rely on marketing and advertising. You can have a great logo and a solid digital marketing campaign. However, if you have a bad website, you can still turn off your potential customers, and all your efforts will just go to waste.

Your website is like your physical store in the virtual world. It has to entice people not only to enter but also to look around. It should give everything a buyer needs—access to high-quality products and a great customer experience.

How can a website provide these things?

What Are the Qualities of a Great Website?

You may not have a bad website, but one that’s “okay” is also not good enough. Your website has to be great. If you have a great website, internet users will think that your company is also great and want to do business with you.

A great website must:

1. Be Visually Appealing

A website has to look good to attract people. It should look professional and tidy, even with different colors and elements. More importantly, it should reflect your brand personality.

2. Be efficient

Websites should work the way they should. All the visuals can work only for so long. After some time, your visitors will decide to leave once they realize that your navigation and links are not working.

3. Be User-friendly

Digital Authority Partners said that websites should treat their visitors like a VIP. People nowadays are living fast-paced lives. Having a website that is easy to navigate can help users find the information they need right away.



4. Have Up-to-date Content

Websites should provide something fresh. Create engaging content that people can consume to keep them engaged with you. Posting content allows you to let people hear your voice and learn more about your brand.

5. Have Clear CTAs

Websites have to serve a purpose. It is vital to make this purpose clear to your visitors. Without a distinct call-to-action (CTA), you will not be able to guide people to do what you want them to do.

6. Work on Mobile

Websites should work on both computers and mobile devices. Now that people are always on the go, they use their phones and tablets more. So it is essential to optimize your website for mobile use.

7. Have All Critical Information

Websites should have all the essential information. Aside from your products and services, your website should also have all your social media accounts, contact numbers, email address, and location with a map.

8. Be Easy to Find

Websites have to show up on search engines so that people can find you. However, with so many websites, this is not easy. You have to use search engine optimization (SEO) to rank high on search engine results pages (SERPs).

How to Have a Well-designed Website

Experts continue to find ways to improve ecommerce in different ways. New website trends emerge year after year. As the population’s way of life shifts, websites have to catch up to stay relevant and reliable.

Your website should include your company profile and stories. It should also carry your products to allow people to purchase your goods. But before that, your design should be able to generate leads to turn them into customers.

Here are some tips for creating a website with a good design:

1. Focus on UX/UI

If you want your website to stand out today, you have to go over all UI/UX functionalities. It should run smoothly without any disruption. Achieving this requires thorough knowledge of web design.

Either get to know all the technicalities or hire a professional agency to help you. Improving user experience involves speeding up your site, optimizing your website, and putting all elements in the right places.

2. Use the Right Colors

Designing a website does not involve only technical concepts. It also has a bit of psychology. You need it to help you choose the right colors for your website so that you can draw out the right emotions from your audience.

People associate colors with different emotions. Some colors make a person excited and eager to buy something. Meanwhile, other colors promote a relaxing atmosphere.

3. Keep It Simple

You want your website to be attractive but not too complicated at the same time. Bombarding it with too many features may be counterproductive instead of helpful.

Determine the features you need for your website. You can add some extras like animations and graphics. However, make sure people can still easily use your website.

4. Maximize the Use of White Spaces

White spaces—or negative spaces—are blank spaces. They do not contain any images or text. These spaces may seem unsettling, but they improve your website’s appearance.

White spaces make articles more readable. They make the page easier on the eyes and encourage more interaction. In addition, blank spaces can make your CTAs more visible.

5. Add Some Videos

As mentioned earlier, you can add different elements to your website as long as they will not complicate the overall structure. Videos are an excellent opportunity to tell people about your company and demonstrate your offerings.

People love to watch videos, especially if those videos are compelling enough. They are interested in high-quality videos with images, music, and easy-to-digest information.

Final Words

In recent years, the rise of online shopping has changed how the internet serves our lives. As more and more people buy their needs online, the internet has to keep up. Websites and social media sites have to reshape themselves to fit people’s desires to serve them better. They add new functionalities such as shopping carts and chat support.

However, these features are not enough. Websites should have other things such as a great design. An eye-catching design catches people’s attention and makes people stay for a while. Hence, a website should not only look pleasing, but it should also be easy to use.

Websites are good tools for generating leads and converting them to loyal customers. So investing in one is definitely worth your while.