Story and photos by Harvey I. Barkin
SAN FRANCISCO – A group of non-profit organizations put together a 3-day event of dialogue and networking to find opportunities and resources in different sectors of the digital age.
The San Francisco Filipino American Chamber of Commerce, the San Francisco Cosmopolitan Lions Club (District 4-C4) and the One World Institute hosted the San Francisco Forum by the Bay last November 13 to 16 at the San Francisco Filipino Cultural Center in Mission Street.
The 46th Forum’s theme was Digital Transformation and encompassed trends and issues in leadership, management, education, women, financial tech, health, security and even agriculture tech.
Focus Group Holdings, Ltd. Managing Director and partner Gary Mingle hosted fireside chat-style discussions with principals from the different sectors throughout the three days.
It was an easy and cozy initiation for entrepreneurs and business leaders from the Philippines into the Silicon Valley way.
Speakers included TIGO Health Founder and CEO Jay Elliot, Impact Venture Capital founding general partner Jack Crawford, Booth Bay Area Angel Network investor Ryan Humphreys, Riverside Company partner Karen Pajarillo, Mober Technology PTE CEO Dennis Ng, Kultivate Labs Executive Director Desi Danganan, Feed AI, LinkedIn Engineering Manager Abdullah Al-Qawashme, Global Conglomerate CEO Nina Mangio, Safe Harbor Associates CEO and Managing Director Tony Wolf, Brain Sentinel CEO and President Michael Girouard, CrownSmart.io Strategic Advisor Richard Swart and others.
Speaking about Disruptive Innovation in particular, pioneer Apple employee and book author (The Steve Jobs Way and Leading Apple with Steve Jobs) Elliot revealed several anecdotes about the iconic Apple founder and connected IBM, Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, Blackberry, Sony Walkman to the development of Apple products.
Interestingly enough, in a panel discussion about investment, side stepping into traditional and women’s roles, Gena Bane talked about her niche business, Males Matter. An on-line subscription box that curates personal care and grooming products. She said that actually, “ the male market is the fastest but underserved.”
The SF Forum by the Bay was also the venue for some providers to showcase their products and services.
Among them, the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) in Mariveles. FAB is the only freeport in Manila Bay, strategically situated for domestic, regional and global shipping easily within reach of China, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. FAB boasts of a natural deep harbor and lots of tax incentives.
Mandani Bay in Mandaue City, Cebu offers a world-class 20-hectare 21 waterfront residential and commercial towers with its boardwalk and footbridges. Their second development, Mandani Bay Quay boasts of even more US-standards like split-type air conditioner, shower glass partition for the toilet, water heater for the bath, a range hood and induction stove cook in their 2-bedroom units.
