Kenneth Cobonpue, Cebu’s brilliant furniture designer and wildly successful entrepreneur, closed the Ocean 14 event on Sunday with a speech that “knocked it out of the park”. When he was done, people were on their feet clapping, cheering, and whistling at their loudest and most appreciative.
The setting was Ocean 14, the three-day Cebu-based extension of the World Economic Forum’s East Asia Summit held in Manila from May 23 to 25.
Like its Manila counterpart, it focused on the Philippines as the center for “The Next Asian Miracle” and emphasized inclusion from all economic strata and stakeholders (such as government, private business, educational institutions, and locally-based NGOs) in continuing to drive the growth of that miracle.
Also like its counterpart, Ocean 14 dealt frankly with the many challenges in making this happen, such as corruption, the concentration of income and resources at the very top, and widespread high unemployment and poverty.
It did so with talks by marine advocate Anna Oposa with her mission to Save the Philippines Seas and Shark Shelter Project, digital media pioneer Maria Ressa of Rappler, and the entire lineup of the Creative Economy session with its focus on the reemergence of digital animation as a major economic force in the Philippines.
The forum brought in experts from around the Philippines and the world to discuss best practices in igniting economic growth. Some examples here were Prof. Mark Vlasic on the power of public-private partnerships describing the Botswana Innovation Hub, Dr. Jayakanth Srinivasan of the Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management on “Digital Transformation for Emerging Countries”, and even Shamina Singh of the MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth who talked about the importance of electronic payment systems in lifting a nation out of poverty.
Plus of course the latest members of the WEF’s “Young Global Shapers”, the Cebu hub organized by founding curator (and one of the most creative business people anywhere) Jay Aldeguer, CEO of the Islands Group.
But after all was done except that final talk by Kenneth Cobonpue, I was left with a feeling of something missing. For all the outstanding speakers, great ideas to inspire and guide the growth of a thousand new businesses, and creative forums to interact and learn, I very much longed to hear more from the people of Cebu themselves about their new ideas, their new ventures, and how they were taking the reins themselves to craft a new future for this province.
And they were here of course. They were sitting beside you, standing in the hallways, and actively engaged in the learnings every step of the way. But – for the most part at least – that’s the only place they were. They weren’t “on stage”.
So when Kenneth Cobonpue gave his talk in the closing session, for me it was long overdue at the conference.
He spoke of his creative childhood, educational experiences in Florence, Germany, and in the US, and of the power of inspiration from leaves, flowers, the weaving in sweaters, the resilience and natural strength of rattan, and even how he created a beautiful (though not that practical) concept car of rattan and carbon fiber.
Each photo and phrase brought ever louder “ahs” and “wows” from the audience, culminating in the explosive final applause that I’m sure echoed well beyond the boundaries of the hotel grounds where the conference was held.
His final words in the talk were also quite telling, proudly proclaiming just how significant it is that he and his company have achieved. As he announced at that final slide, as the roar from the crowd went up: “This is what happens when we mix our local culture with our creativity.”
Even more important was the unspoken message that Cobonpue was also communicating. That Cebu has arrived – as a creative and powerful force to be reckoned with – and that it can and does now stand as a unique transformation agent for the future of Cebu, the Philippines, and the world.
And when the next conference of this kind is created, let us make sure all those creative powers that were mostly in the audience get on stage to lead it. Because they deserve not only to be on stage – but to be on center stage.
This is your time, Cebu.
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Article by by Brad Reddersen, Contributing Writer
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(Editor’s note: Brad Reddersen has been based in Cebu for the past four years and is CEO of Stranova, a consultancy engaged in strategic management, innovation and digital technology. His articles have appeared in CDN’s Infotech page. Email: [email protected])
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