Office Blessing x Happy 3rd Birthday, Ingen!

Well, hello. We've just had a massive celebration this past weekend.

Part-office blessing, part-anniversary party, the team went all out in celebrating the whole shebang, complete with yummy food, good music, the company of good friends & family, and of course, a mini-bar (with pretty cocktail waitresses) stocked with our favorite alcoholic drinks!

What a totally hilarious night!

We can't wait for the Christmas shindig to do this again. CHEERS! :)

Take a look-see what went down that evening!

Sharing the Brain Juice

Dr. Oponda is a man with a plan. The chair of the Math, Physics, and Computer Science Department of UP Mindanao, he hatched a plan to link with industry denizens to bridge the students' knowledge gap between what theories they learned in school and how different and fast-paced it really is in the real world. This, he said, would be a far better way for the university's graduates to cope with new and oft-innovated trends of the techno trade.

Meanwhile, in one of his "Eureka!" moments while doing something else entirely, John comes up with a dream to "Train the Trainers" -- an initiative to train the educators so they, in turn, could cascade the knowledge down to their students. It would be sort of a "giving back to the community" effort where Ingenuity would train select educators from different schools (free of charge) to update their knowledge base of the ever-changing industry.

By some happy twist of fate, the two met, mixed the brew, and have now amalgamated their ideas into one coherent and doable project: the UP Mindanao Training chuchubells (sorry, it doesn't really have an official moniker).

Last Saturday, September 8, 2012, was the first session and we are very happy to report that it was a smashing success! Save for a few, last-minute additional students who weren't able to bring their machines, and other no-shows, the first day, handled by Aljohn and Koon, went smoothly.

A total of 18 graduating students of Computer Science from UP Mindanao came to the office for the training.

This may have started small, but we are sure that with the combined efforts of all parties involved, this will be such a success, it'll be replicated across the industry, not only here in Davao City, but the whole Philippines!

Onward and more power!

Monitor Kabuhayan Showcase

Surely the kids were not naughty, but nice, as Christmas came waaay early when Wilma arrived at the office a few afternoons ago bearing these:

Now the devs wouldn't have to nick the PC's monitor for their own nefarious purposes! Yey! :) A million thanks to our very generous benefactor. We do hope there's more where these came from!

Lock(er)ed and Loaded

Philip and Jan, two incredibly OC individuals, love wearing slippers in the office to relieve their tired feet as harassed bank tellers working a 10-hour shift do.

At any given day, we could see Philip's red rubber shoes stowed away haphazardly either under the leather couch or in the pantry and him padding around in his cozy, plaid bedroom slippers. Jan, on the other hand, keeps his shoes hidden somewhere so secret, he has trouble remembering where they are.

In other news, there is good reason why my bags are so ginormous --- I stash my office stuff in it and ferry it back and forth endlessly all because I don't have anywhere safe in the office to leave them at.

Good news for us all then, that Progress has already delivered our two 24-door metal lockers!

It would be a twin-sharing affair for everyone else except for the testers, June, and I. Chez, Hapie, and Bash --- the inseparable three--- will share a cubbyhole, June wins one to himself due to seniority, and I need my own for my drug stash and other nursing things (First Aid Kit).

Here are the locker assignments. You'd know it's yours coz it is labeled with your name in these pictures, although in real life, only a sticker of you and your partner's mangatars are on it. 

Everyone is free to move in as soon as they have their own locks and keys! :)

Happy locking!

She wins at life!

Promoted to Project Manager and won a dinner for two at Tsuru for last Friday's Uniform-themed shebang! 
Congratulations, Baia! You are the shiz of the week! :)