Bea Alfar Evardone, COO of Republiq Group of Companies, talks about the upcoming Bai City Conference during the launching of the event at SM Seaside City Cebu.
Cdn photo/Jose Santino Bunachita
DIGITAL transformation has been on the rise worldwide and some small and big businesses have ended up closing down due to failure to adapt to this trend.
In Cebu, most businesses are slowly understanding this, according to digital transformation agency Republiq Group of Companies (RGC).
“There’s a bit of hesitation when we talk to clients about digital. We don’t blame them because there is a lack of understanding on this,” said Bea Alfar Evardone, chief operating officer of RGC.
It is exactly this concern that prompted RGC to organize Bai City Conference (BCC) — to focus on educating businesses about the digital industry.
Targeted at the business sector in the Visayas and Mindanao, the three-day conference is a push to make everyone shift to going digital.
It is scheduled on August 23 to 25 at the SM Seaside City Cebu which is also celebrating its Digital Month this August.
The conference will feature a roster of local and international speakers who are experts in their fields and industry.
Armed with experiences, models, platforms, and practical frameworks, the speakers will give attendees the tools that are needed to make it into the digital age through their quick talks, panel discussions, and fireside chats about different relevant topics.
Among the speakers are Gary Whitehill, global board of adviser for DELL Center for Entrepreneurs; Margot Torres, managing director of McDonald’s PH; Ron Hose, founder and CEO of Coins.ph; Donald Lim, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network; and Joey Ong, executive creative director of Designs of Joey Ong.
Other speakers are Jon Jon San Agustin, senior vice president for marketing of SM Supermalls; Dindo Marzan, managing director and vice president of Voyager
Innovation; Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing;and David Jones Cua, executive creative director of RGC, among others.
RGC is a local firm that has been helping businesses to get into digital marketing. They are also the same team behind Facebook’s new media channel BAI TV.
“The internet is the most powerful thing in the world but it is the most underutilized tool of businesses in Cebu. We don’t want businesses to close down because of this,” said Cua who is also the head of programs for BCC during a press conference and launching of the event last Wednesday.
According to Evardone, they also decided to put up the BCC after noticing that most of the digital conferences are happening in Manila and other countries in Southeast Asia.
Seeing the huge cost to attend these conferences, she said they decided to start BCC to give easier access to businesses in Visayas and Mindanao to know more about the digital industry.
The group is targeting 700 attendees with 20 percent coming from the academe or students and teachers.
But aside from the yearly BCC, Evardones said they also want to make this advocacy into a continuing one.
In order to do this, RGC has partnered with Aspace to hold monthly pop-up sessions with some businesses, for a cheaper price, to talk on different digital processes to help businesses in operations and branding.