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Spotlight on Ace Reston

Its been awhile since I’ve done a spotlight post but I’m going to try and get back on track with them.  This spotlight goes to Ace Reston, a good friend of mine from the Philippines where they take their photography and their boxing very seriously (Congratulations to Philippine native Manny Pacquiao in his defeat of Oscar De La Hoya, confirming his reputation as the best pound for pound boxer in the ring today).

Photographer: Ace Reston

On the web: Multiply, Flickr

Camera(s): Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi

Location: Philippines

I met Ace earlier this year through my job at WorthPoint.  He works for our Drupal consulting firm NewHelix out of Iligan City, Philippines.  He describes himself as an apprentice for Peter Parker.  It took me awhile to get that one; he’s a web slinger (developer) by day and a photographer by night.  Kind of opposite of Spiderman but you get the point.  He’s highly skilled in both areas but lets concentrate on the photography side for now. Continue reading »

Philippine Travel Journal

As much as we in the USA believe we have heightened security measures its a real eye-opener to visit an area like Mindanao.  Armed security guards are a way of life here in every aspect of public life.  Men in uniform wielding M-1 rifles, machine guns, shotguns and sidearms are commonplace.

The one main difference I’ve noticed here from the other similar areas of the world I’ve visited are the guard’s personality.  In the middle east and other high violence areas security personnel are not at all friendly, they speak…you listen.  Here in Mindanao the security staff carry the same air of authority but they do it in a very polite and friendly manner.  They truly appear to be here to protect and serve.

From stepping off the plane I was immediately approached by the local police representative at the airport to inquire about my purpose of being here and to ensure that someone I trusted was going to meet me there.  I stepped outside to smoke a cigarette with him and he showed me a poster listing the most wanted terrorists in Mindanao, each accused of kidnapping or other heinous crime.  This wasn’t a scare tactic as much as his way to let me know this was something to take seriously.  He seemed very much relieved when I talked about our NewHelix staff and how I was going to be working with them the whole time I was here.

Armed guards at the entrance to the local mall in Cagayan de Oro:

Philippine Travel Journal – Prologue

Today I say goodbye to the USA as I travel to the island of Mindanao in
the Philippines. I will be visiting the cities of Iligan City and
Cagayan de Oro.  The purpose of this trip is to spend some time with my off-shore developers at NewHelix in Iligan.  NewHelix supports WorthPoint in the development and maintenance of our public-facing site along with many other efforts on the back end that our visitors never see.

When I first started at WorthPoint my first responsibility was to establish an Agile development methodology between the requirements providers (product owners), management and our NewHelix developers.  The implementation has been received with mixed reviews, some good and others identifying room for improvement.  My CTO, Andy Forbes, and I both realized that we could not reach the level we required in our development efforts without some face to face communications.  Skype is a great resource but can only facilitate communication to a certain extent.  Cultural and language differences, though they are fewer when working with a Philippine company, do not help either.  I’ve found it increasingly difficult to present certain concepts like design, development and management techniques.  This trip is for me to present the WorthPoint expectations, identify areas of improvement, encourage the areas they are currently doing well, and then ensure that the information is received correctly on their end.  Once this is accomplished then Skype communications should flow much easier.  I do plan on making recurring visits though not as long as this first one.

Travel to Mindanao is not trivial matter.  I’ve gone through my rounds of immunizations, fought the passport office, taking my Malaria pills, researched the area on Wikipedia, Flickr and YouTube.  To be completely honest I’d rather be heading to Tahiti but Iligan will do for now.  This is an area of the world I’ve never had a chance to explore.  My Navy days had me spending time all over the Atlantic, Caribbean, Mediterranean and Persian Gulf.  I have to thank WorthPoint for this opportunity to expand my cultural experience.

Funny story…I went to get my Typhoid immunization and the doctor reviewed what I should look out for while I was there.  She covered Malaria and Dengue fever, both spread by mosquitoes.  It appears the mosquitoes in Mindanao have their own version of a labor union.  The Dengue fever carrying kind come out during the day and at dusk they go home and the Malaria group take over.  I had to laugh, it reminded me of the old Warner Brothers cartoons where the sheep dogs clocked in and out to protect the sheep from the coyote.

So today I commence my journey by spending the next 30 hours either in flight or in an airport.  Check back for more journal entries throughout my trip.  I’ll see you on the other side!

If you have stories to share about a visit you’ve made to the Philippines I’d love to hear them.