Freebie culture or free culture?

Once again, thanks to azrael for the invite to join bloggers at AIM (Asian Institue of Management). The invite was posted at plurk, and since it is a bloggers gathering, and I’ve been wanting to get immersed with the bloggers activities here in the country, I requested to be invited.

But what I thought as a listening event turned out as a talking event for me. The veritable Pinoy adage “Nautusan lang bumili ng suka” (asked to buy vinegar) applied to me this afternoon. I signed up to listen and lo, I was invited by Regnard to be in front and join the rest of Pinoy bloggers who have made and continue to carve their names in Pinoy blogosphere.

AIM offered the course Winning Internet Marketing Strategies & Tactics for the first time to marketing & media executives. The sharing of bloggers and interaction with the course participants were very informative for me. I gained new insight and learning on blogger’s credibility and maintaining loyal readers through blog content.

Well although I am becoming more of a blog pragmatic more than a blog romantic (with all the ads that clutter my blog), the session was a good chance for marketing and media executives to understand the kind of animals bloggers are and the kind of jungle they would want themselves to engage in their attempt to catch up with the current trends of bloggers promoting and marketing products and services.

Although one of the negative and downtrend effect observe by Noemi lately with bloggers being invited and promoting events is the rise of “freebie culture” (although, I subscribe to the advocacy of Lawrence Lessig FREE CULTURE). Bloggers tend to become too dependent and expectant of freebies from these events. And the sole reason for them to blog is to promote events. Although bloggers have the right to blog whatever they want but their credibility and status among their fellow bloggers would be judged based on the kind and quality of their blogs. So perhaps more reason for event organizers to tap such kind of bloggers!

Well, then, I would not be so surprised to see more of promotional bloggers, events bloggers, marketing bloggers, paid to blog bloggers and the like with the interest of marketing and media executives to tap bloggers services. Good or bad? Well it is the economy that is stupid or otherwise? Whatever, this is a new development, I will watch and see!

Also at AIM, I got to meet new blogger friends like markku, anton, jayvee, and jonel, do visit their sites by clicking their name.