RECENTLY IN Mad Crowd News CATEGORY

Alas, we've been away from this blog for too long [insert apology here]. But that does not mean we have been inactive. In fact, we recently (and happily) completed campaigns for some of the largest brands in the country, and we've got more on the hopper.

We're also happy to announce a new member of the group, one who's name a lot of you have become familiar with in your inboxes. But just in case, we are pleased to have Aisha Abubakr on board. She's moving things up and actually helped Mad Crowd Media record it's best month ever! We know that Aisha will be an important part of Mad Crowd Media's future, and look forward to all the fun she's got in tow.

Finally, I've often defended why we refer to "bloggers" as "publishers" -- big deal daw. Well, read article. Rest case.

We continue to busy up our calendar with meetings and proposals. In the past few weeks, we've moved from proposal stage to operationalization stage for two projects. Thank you clients and bloggers!

We also received, gleefully, an honor from Michael over at Basang Panaginip. Thanks for the props. It's made Maddie the Robot very happy.

Finally, this week we're looking forward to meeting three well-regarded bloggers from the network for a campaign we're looking to kickoff late January. If meeting Connie, Abe and Kiven weren't exciting enough, I have a feeling I'm going to run out of words (or witty comebacks) with this group.

All for now.

It's been invariably hectic. For one, we went through a carousel of extended vacations (planned well ahead of Mad Crowd Media) which had us thinning out our appointment books. Now that we're all back on board, meetings and presentations galore.

What has been on our minds is how best (or better) to introduce advertisers to the new channel -- and to the potential of blogs. It's easy enough to preach to the choir, but the trouble with convincing non-believers on our part is not having any miracles to show for.

Turning to -- and staying with -- Christian history for answers, those who came to evangelize without the benefit of the miraculous powers of the Christ had instead his parables to tell; and, most of all, the infectious simplicity of his teaching: love one another.

These days, we are getting people to listen and believe in what we are doing. But, and this is where my Christian metaphor must end, translating the belief into opportunities has not been that straightforward. We think our propositions are airtight and very appealing (although I sent out the presentation to some publishers for comments and a total of zero got back to me) but we have want of parables and miracles.

We're not miracle workers, but we know we can make it work.

I'm chiming in to break the silence, but I will be brief: we've moved in. Though the office isn't in tip-top shape yet (we need our windows frosted and our floor needs some kind of treatment), it's functional and at least it puts us all in one place of business.

Okay. Time to make nice to the neighbors -- and bum some drinking water.

For the last seven weeks, we've been working to bring the best Filipino independent publications together in the network. The process, which has been likened internally to organizing small pox viruses (I like the epidemic metaphor) has been nothing short of amazing. With some publishers traveling, others unable to check email at work, and others living overseas, the carousel of emails, meetups and phone calls have been dizzying -- but very well worth it. No other blog reader out there has had coffee with the publishers we all have. I even got to meet one of your moms!

We've gone ahead, maybe prematurely but certainly in good footing, and held discussions with a handful of media independents, advertising agencies and advertisers. The value proposition is clear to them, as it resonates throughout every member of Mad Crowd Media. Our race to develop creative service offerings (such as co-branded banners) and determining CPM rates has heated up: everyone we spoke to has not only expressed interest, but is keen on using Mad Crowd Media.

Moreso now, I believe, that we've recently revised our monthly impressions estimate: we have just learned that we can easily deliver 8.5 million pageviews a month. That's an astonishing number from a local independent network. That's your number, so you should be proud.

Finally, advertisers are even more impressed at how we've put quality ahead (quality takes in the largest stake in our criteria to determine CPM rates). To them, our balance of quality and quantity (in this case, pageviews) is the perfect platform for their brands. Again, kudos to you for all your hard work in developing great content. We hope that our efforts will reward you soon.

We are happy to share this news: we have a handful of new and very exciting publications in the network.

SELaplana
Shutter Box Philippines
Ivan About Town
Pinoy Blogosphere
The Coconuter
Darang Sisa
The Unlawyer
Pinoy Life At Large
Pinoy Tech Blog
Yugatech
Motorcycle Philippines
Pinoy Travel Blog

As you can imagine, we are very pleased and very giddy. Hence, we've busted out the Kona coffee.

Hello there, Mad Crowd!

Moving to our new offices has proven to be quite difficult, and still a lot of fun. All this while expanding our network, consulting with advisers and lawyers (both proving equally important), and working on this website.

However, our determination is far from being dimmed. For one, today we reached 50 high-quality, highly-differentiated publications, and there's no sign of stopping. We are inundated with urls and we're trying to keep up with reading your websites.

Here's the Mad Crowd Media network as of this writing:

1. Philippine Week in Technology
2. Bakla Ako, May Reklamo?
3. Alaism
4. Flair in the City
5. Our Awesome Planet
6. Bulletproofvest
7. Bryanboy
8. Walk This Way
9. Chuvaness
10. Drivebyshooter
11. Gibbs Cadiz
12. Gigi Goes Gaga
13. Jessica Rules the Universe
14. The Four-Eyed Journal
15. The Daily Dose
16. Pinoy Rickey
17. Beautynomics
18. The Mineral Make-up Blog
19. The Wily Filipino
20. Bikoy.net
21. A Nagueno in the Blogosphere
22. The Mommy Journals
23. Pinoycook
24. Pinoy Moms Network
25. The McVie Show