“I am glad my heart which evidently whispered me to attend ruled over my mind. So proud that I became a part of one of the Zambales’ firsts. I gained new friendships, connected with like-minded women and found a venue to turn to when I want to come out of my comfort zone.”
For those who do not know yet, “Connected Women is a startup founded by Gina Romero whose goal is to empower women – entrepreneurs and professionals, and freelancers alike – through a technology-driven movement.”
When Jen Cajucom – Connected Women Zambales’ host, who also authors The Digital Commuter/Founder of Zambales Online Entrepreneurs and Virtual Assistants asked me if I can co-host the said event, I was actually half-hearted. Ever since I settled to work from home again 3 years ago, I’ve never involved myself to any of this kind anymore. My life would only revolve with family gatherings, work meet-ups, mommy duties, and frequent trips to grocery stores and markets. But I’m glad I agreed and attended, otherwise, I would have missed such fun and empowering night!
The event was held last November 7, at Segara Villas in SBMA. A few started coming in as early as 6pm, and the room was finally filled with waves of laughter and different happy voices by 7pm. At the registration area, selfies and group photos happened even without the official prompt (as part of the programme) given by the hosts. By then, we knew that this event will be a successful one!
Jen & I along with our two other co-hosts, Meshyr and Ella started the night with a groufie, of course made possible with my ever reliable selfie stick hahaha!
Before we proceeded to the most exciting part of the programme, Jen shared a little bit of history on how Connected Women started, its goal and purpose – to share, connect and learn!
Though we only had 3 hours to do all the activities lined up for the night, too short you may think, but it felt like we got to know each other deeply when everyone came up with their own versions of taglines and hashtags, witty and info loaded introductions, and never-ending photo opps, left and right. Just imagine when women start talking to each other all at the same time! I wonder how we all managed to do that hahaha! In fact, our official male photographer that night quoted “The women I’ve met tonight have ovaries made of steel.”
We had games in between, and of course, the most exciting part of the programme when everyone was prompted to upload selfies and groufies real time with the hashtags #connectedwomen #connectedwomenzambales #meetup #zambales.
It may be the final meet-up for 2018, but that night, Connected Women ran simultaneously in 33 cities across 3 countries: Philippines, Singapore, and Pakistan.
Indeed, it was an evening of celebration, an evening of empowerment, Jen said. No one can dare stop us!! Here’s a short clip courtesy of Sye Rai, also a resident of Zambales, a freelance photographer/videographer, who was able to capture the highlights of the first-ever Connected Women Meet-up in Zambales!
BEST Freeport Colleges, Inc
Skin de Syre – San Marcelino Branch
Subic Bay Radio – 89.5
Graham’s Artisan Meats
ZOEVAs
Our very own ZOEVA members:
Sye Rai, for putting the highlights of the event together.
April and Mhyls, for your patience in assisting everyone at the Registration Area.
Our co-hosts, Ella and Meshyr, who traveled from Masinloc and Castillejos to be with us.
Again, thank you so much for making this first meetup in Zambales a very successful one! See you on our next meetup!
To find out more about Connected Women, visit their site here. Join our fast growing community on Facebook.
If you’re within Zambales and would want to be part of our group, feel free to join here.
See related blog post by The Digital Commuter.
More photos HERE.
