It's been a week since my last day in GMA. Last night, my mind went back to the days when I was just starting in GMA.
I was hired by Josh Villanueva last May 3, 2010 - the day when the first Social Media team for GMA Network, Inc. came together.
I was only supposed to be a volunteer. He was supposed to only train us for #Eleksyon2010. But Josh is a 'Promil Kid.' It's hard for him to contain his talent. He just wanted to share with us his tricks right away. He trained us and trained us well.
I was hired by Josh Villanueva last May 3, 2010 - the day when the first Social Media team for GMA Network, Inc. came together.
I was only supposed to be a volunteer. He was supposed to only train us for #Eleksyon2010. But Josh is a 'Promil Kid.' It's hard for him to contain his talent. He just wanted to share with us his tricks right away. He trained us and trained us well.
We clicked the instant we met. He hired me 16 days before I graduated college.
It was my first job and it was the first time Josh was going to be handling anyone directly under him. We were virgins, figuring out how to handle each other. He would always ask me how was I doing and I would always answer with an 'I'm OK'. This cycle went on for quite some time.
But not anymore. I'm a ranting brat now. He spoiled me.
While ranting, I'd come up with ideas.
Josh has his ways of getting ideas out of you. You'd be surprised you even had those ideas.
"It's all you," he'd say. (But were they really?)
"It's all you," he'd say. (But were they really?)
The @gmanews Twitter account only had 12k followers when I first handled it. Josh appointed me to be the project lead.
Meh. It was just a Twitter account with 12K followers. At first I didn't know what to do. We were so behind @abscbnnews and @ancalerts by followers and that upset me sometimes.
Why bother, I thought.
Why bother, I thought.
Most people in the newsroom didn't really care about us then (oh except, Balitanghali who had Social Media polls). I was known just as the person tweeting for @gmanews. Sometimes, the person who downloads videos or the person who verifies YouScoop submissions.
Aside from this, people eat you alive there when you're not sure of what you're doing.
This, I have the TOC boys to thank for. They'd always have our backs. They welcomed us. Made sure we get to eat at 'pakains' in the newsroom when Josh wasn't around because we knew no one then and no one knew who we were. I owe them and I appreciate them so much.
With the help of people like them, I got my way around things. After 2 months, I started seeing @gmanews for the medium that it really is - more than JUST a Twitter account.
There was Edmark, who joined the team for a month, and Jeff who joined the team for 2 or 3 months. After that, it was only me and @rodneilquiteles who handled it all - DNG, YouScoop and Twitter. Only Lord knows how we closed the lead for the Twitter account.
There were a lot of trials for the 3 of us - there were people who didn't believe in us and then there were people who didn't really care. But they only made us stronger.
Few months later, @liannami came in just in time to join us welcome the lead we were about to gain on Twitter.
Nami was a firework. Her enthusiasm was cute and we let her. It was her turn. Before she came in, we were all just work and no play. This, I thank her - for reminding me it shouldn't be all work.
Finally, Neil and I didn't have to work 12-17 hours a day. I can finally get out of the office-house-office-house cycle and have a little fun. Admittedly, I became lax.
Gain lead for @gmanews. Check!
Make YouScoop super famous. Check!
Support all DNG requirements and develop a more organized workflow. Check!
This, I have the TOC boys to thank for. They'd always have our backs. They welcomed us. Made sure we get to eat at 'pakains' in the newsroom when Josh wasn't around because we knew no one then and no one knew who we were. I owe them and I appreciate them so much.
With the help of people like them, I got my way around things. After 2 months, I started seeing @gmanews for the medium that it really is - more than JUST a Twitter account.
There was Edmark, who joined the team for a month, and Jeff who joined the team for 2 or 3 months. After that, it was only me and @rodneilquiteles who handled it all - DNG, YouScoop and Twitter. Only Lord knows how we closed the lead for the Twitter account.
There were a lot of trials for the 3 of us - there were people who didn't believe in us and then there were people who didn't really care. But they only made us stronger.
Few months later, @liannami came in just in time to join us welcome the lead we were about to gain on Twitter.
Nami was a firework. Her enthusiasm was cute and we let her. It was her turn. Before she came in, we were all just work and no play. This, I thank her - for reminding me it shouldn't be all work.
Finally, Neil and I didn't have to work 12-17 hours a day. I can finally get out of the office-house-office-house cycle and have a little fun. Admittedly, I became lax.
Gain lead for @gmanews. Check!
Make YouScoop super famous. Check!
Support all DNG requirements and develop a more organized workflow. Check!
It was getting boring for me. When Nami came in, thank heavens it was time to expand. She moved for a Tumblr account. I volunteered to man the @gmanetwork Twitter account, which was then inactive and had less than 1k followers.
At this stage, the newsroom was already asking story pitches from us. They rely on us for everything social media. Suddenly, almost everyone needed us, so DNG was taken off of Neil's shoulder and they hired a whole new team for that - 3 people for what we usually did as 2, plus other things. For the Social Media and YouScoop team, @justinjoyas and @gaynakumar were hired. Justin for other platforms like Tumblr and G+, Gayna for community management, and the @gmanews Twitter account was given to Nami. Neil still leads YouScoop and DNG while the GMA News Facebook, which was then handled by GMA News Online team and had 250K+ (followers) fans/likes, was transferred to my accountability.
We also offered our social media skills to the public affairs department. Josh entrusted me with this responsibility. This load was joyous! I got to meet and work with people outside the newsroom.
We also offered our social media skills to the public affairs department. Josh entrusted me with this responsibility. This load was joyous! I got to meet and work with people outside the newsroom.
FAST FORWARD.
Imagine that!
Josh not only trained me, but introduced me well to the bosses and other 'big' people in GMA, who I now have the pleasure of brushing elbows with. Some of them, I even call friends.
Pia, a manager for TV and Web Synergy, shared with me before I left GMA, "Alam mo, tatlong taon bago ako nakilala ni JS."
FAST FORWARD 2x.
Now, Josh is with Rappler and Neil is no longer with GMA. Now, there's already a separate social media team for @gmanetwork.
@gmanews and GMA News Facebook is stable and keeps giving high referrals to GMA News Online. Now, the Social Media and YouScoop team is hiring over 15 people.
@gmanews and GMA News Facebook is stable and keeps giving high referrals to GMA News Online. Now, the Social Media and YouScoop team is hiring over 15 people.
I skipped a lot of things. There are people I have not mentioned. There's more to what happened than what I just shared with you, of course. But now, I'm just thinking, "That in just less than 2 years?" I'm excited to discover what else I can do or who else I can work with!
Idealism goes on! :)
Idealism goes on! :)
