Scaling Your Freelance Career thru Events & Networking

You don't just stick to online options. You go to events to meet the people. You can ask people, what's it like?

Hey, welcome to Work From Home Base, the official podcast from OnlineJobs.ph with your hosts Jehan and Jessica. Tada! Grab your favorite drink, sit back, and kick your feet up while we talk about remote work, real-life job seeker struggles, employer wins, and everything in between. Straight from the heart of the work-from-home movement in the Philippines.

Hi, and welcome everybody! Welcome back to the OnlineJobs.ph Job Seeker Podcast. Um, how's the weather in your city today?

Hi, John! Uh, it's very rainy. I can hear, um, your voice sounds Very different.

Sinisipon in ubo. Yeah, but—

Oh, I don't know, tabaho pa din.

Tabaho pa din, no latay magagawa. So forgive me if I keep, you know, sniffling during the entire episode.

Okay lang, yan. Latay na gagasa kete. It's normal.

And we had a series of earthquakes a few days ago, medyo malakas.

Oh wow. Honestly, I didn't even feel it. I only saw the plants, the hanging plants, so that's when I realized, "Oh, it's so beautiful." Yeah, the priority is keeping the plants safe.

Yes, and I'm so happy. I'm so excited for a new episode because it's more of events and networking and how you can really use your network or optimize your network para mascale ang yung freelance career with our guest, O'Neil Rosero, who is currently the lead for WordCamp Philippines 2026 and also one of the leads for WordCamp Asia 2027.

Hi, O'Neil!

Hi, John! Hi, Jess!

Hi, O'Neil!

Can you tell us more about that? I know, how did you get started with that? You mentioned that you're a Star Wars fan.

Yeah, yep. In a nutshell, my story is Star Wars— obviously I'm a Star Wars fan— led me to WordPress back in 2006. I'm part of a global community of Star Wars fans who wear costumes for— we wear costumes for charity, for fundraisers and hospital visits, which we do here in the Philippines and all over the world. The group actually is called the 501st Legion, and there are about 16,000 members worldwide. Here in the Philippines, we have about almost 200 already, and we're all over the country. There's a group in Manila. There's a group in Cebu. There's a group in Mindanao. We always do this for charity, and one of the requirements of being part of that group is to have and maintain a website. And I built the website for our group on a different platform, but I found it was harder for non-technical people to use, so I decided to use WordPress. So I migrated the entire site to WordPress, all of the, all of the posts, all of the schedules, and then the way to contact us onto WordPress. And I've been using WordPress since 2007. And then I didn't become part of the WordPress community until much later, uh, maybe around 2019. And then because of some of the local, very active, uh, WordPressers in the, in the local community. And then that led me during the pandemic, because everybody was online, that led me to the WordPress training team and the WordPress diversity team. And then because I was working with the diversity team, I was invited to become one of the organizers of the flagship WordCamp Asia, which happened in Bangkok, Thailand. So I became part of the speakers team back then, selecting the speakers who will be appearing and speaking at the event. And then that led to me being part of the organizing team also of WordCamp Asia 2024 in Taiwan. And then of course, when WordCamp came to the Philippines, WordCamp Asia came to the Philippines, I was part of the venue team. So coordinating with the venue, PICC or Philippine International Convention Center. So that was a very big deal for the local WordPress community. To have people coming from all over the globe being part of WordCamp Asia. And then I was also invited again to become part of WordCamp Philippines happening in less than 2 months in— going to be in Iloilo in August. And I'm also global lead for WordCamp Asia happening again in Penang, Malaysia next year.

You know, Ongil, I really love your backstory because it started with a hobby. Mas miya kasi diwa— you know, when we are very busy with our work, it's so easy to forget about hobbies. So I love it When professional networking, it happens organically. You know, something comes out of your hobby and then it becomes, eventually after a few years, you realize that you're so involved in it already and it's a good path to go because it's organic.

That's right. Actually, this is quote from a Star Wars TV show. I don't know if you watch Star Wars: Andor, which is showing on Disney+. There's a line that they use there because of WordPress, you can relate it also to the Star Wars. I have friends everywhere. So I have friends in WordPress everywhere. I have friends in Star Wars everywhere. And it's nice because it's not just people in Manila, it's not just people in Iloilo, it's not just people in Zamboanga, it's people all over the world. I have friends in the US, I have friends in Europe, I have friends everywhere you go, you'll meet somebody who uses WordPress, who's part of the community. You learn how to talk to different types of people, learn how their work brought them to WordPress and how they use WordPress both personally and professionally. It's very dynamic and it's a very welcoming community. There's always going to be be, you know, uh, disputes or arguments, but not big, big deals. Uh, there's going to be— there's always going to be people willing to help you and guide you and show you the way that worked for them and may or may not work for you. But it's always nice to hear how other people, uh, use it in their daily lives.

I'm just curious, is the website still up, the one that you created for your—

uh, yeah, uh, it should be 501st.ph. I also created rebellegion.ph, so it's the good guys and the bad guys.

So I'll ask you for the links later.

Uh, the global website is 501st.com. Uh, so each country and each— each country has different garrisons or different groups. I think about more than half of them still use WordPress primarily for their websites. But, uh, yeah, yeah, it's, it's a global community also that where you can find fans everywhere.

Yeah, so I was saying, I was going to say, it's a very pleasant surprise because when we were planning this and we wanted to talk about networking, we were mainly focused on the WordPress event that you were handling. So, pasaya, that, you know, as long as you network, my opportunities also for it on a professional aspect and not just, you know, not just purely hobbies.

Yes, actually, I didn't really know the opportunities that O'Neil got. I know that O'Neil is a big Star Wars geek, but your opportunity to do WordPress came from Star Wars. It was really a pleasant surprise. But are you still working with any of the people that you've met in 501st? Are you still working with them right now in any of the communities or work-related stuff, clients, all that?

I do. Sometimes it's just helping them. Well, within the 501st, a lot of it is the— I've worked with the web dev, web development team, the social media team. I've actually also worked with the ones who are fixing the arguments between people because it will always come up. So there are so many things that you get to realize, get to learn, get to talk about with other people. But primarily the beautiful part about it is that Like I said, same as with WordPress, people with the 501st is whatever country you go to, you'll always have a friend there. You'll always have somebody to sit down, have coffee, just hang out, talk about things, because there's always something that you can talk about that you can relate with. Both same with Star Wars and with WordPress, there's always something that is relatable within both your professional lives and both your personal lives. It's nice that WordPress is actually global. It's, it's, it's, it's international. So you, you meet people everywhere, and then you'll always have something to discuss. You'll always have something that you can share with people online, and when you meet them in person, which is the beauty of being one of the organizers of WordCamp, is that people you've been talking to online for a year, and then you see them at an event, and then it's like the only difference is you're on a screen. Nothing has changed. You're still friends, you're still colleagues, you've worked together, whether it's volunteer work, whether it's paying work, whether it's professional work. You are still the same person you are online as you are in person.

And then, um, let's, let's give O'Neil a backstory also as to how we met.

Uh, Jessica and I, uh, we started as trainers for the DICT, uh, training, which is the digital jobs, as RIS technical training and then nagibay ba ng Pangalan. But basically, na una sa kan si Jess, she was one of the original 10 trainers, and then na hire ako as trainer, and then we met.

Hindi tayong machado nag-goosap online ng Jess na before, although we know each other because there's a group for it.

Yeah, GC. Pero hindi tayong machado nag-interact, and then we met each other for the first time sa planning event which was held here in Zamboanga, and We didn't really become fast friends. We didn't become fast friends. Hi, hello, and a certain level of aloofness. But the friendship really blossomed during the pandemic, and eventually that friendship, that connection, turned into a work opportunity because Jess referred me to onlinejobs.ph, and that's where we're both working now. Nice. We're working together 2 years.

Wow, nice.

Yeah, we're also very passionate about talking about events and expanding your network through events because a lot of jobs, although of course there are a lot of jobs that you can apply for online, but it also helps when you network within a community where the person you're working with on a hobby can vouch for your work. Work habits, can vouch for your attitude. So, yeah, have you ever gotten like a paid project from your networking? Maybe not right away, but like someone that you met eventually was looking for, or maybe someone in your group?

Yeah, actually, that's actually the— yeah, like you said, it's the best way to find work. Is referring someone, uh, or like working with some— working with someone or working with certain group, you, you find, um, paying work, or which is actually more satisfying because you already know how the person is, how the person is, whether they're working, whether— like, like, for in my example, I started out volunteering with the training team, volunteering with the WordPress diversity team, and then that also led me to find some additional side hustles, side work that that help wherein I needed to help edit some videos, add subtitles, so that became— that rolled into over to additional paying work. And then later on it became additional work for in project management, managing the websites. I'm actually currently doing web development, project management for the company that makes musical instruments for schools. So this, this is also being done in the UK, in Australia. So it leads to Meeting the people whom you want to work with or who want to work with you because they know how you are as a person, they know how you are online, and then they find something similar or they find a traits in the, the traits in you that they want to work with, uh, or the, the work attitude or the work, the work ethic that they like. They find it in you by, by meeting you online, by talking to you online. It's actually the, the best way. Uh, I have some friends who have found their, their dream job by networking, by organizing WordCamp Asia. Actually, they started out just attending WordCamp Asia, meeting people, and then the next year they became an organizer, and then the year after that they were able to find work within the network, within friends that they found meeting people online and then meeting people in person. You find— you learn a lot about people by working with them in volunteer situations because It's somewhat different if you're doing something because you're passionate about it and you learn the dynamics of that person from that passion, and then that can lead to finding out what they're really like when they're working in a job, in actual work. So it's very nice, it's a very dynamic and very interesting way to meet people and then find something that you really love doing.

Yeah, that's what I actually really like about— and that's what really amazes me with the current leadership team or organizing committee, World Cup Philippines 2020, because everybody's a volunteer. Nobody's being forced to work, but everybody's really so passionate about doing what they do. Even though you're not paid for it, but you know you have to do it because it, it leads to something more. But one thing that I noticed is a lot of the people that we're working with in the organizing committee is introverts. If you're an introvert and you know you have to do some networking, what are some tips or some things that you can do as an introvert para hindi ka mag-overwhelm sa isang big event?

Yeah, I myself am a very big introvert. I can stay home, I not talk to people, uh, just be online, just chat if ever. If I don't want to talk to anyone, just ignore them. But I can also get up on stage and then introduce someone. I can get up on stage and talk about something at length. As long as you're passionate about it, as long as you know what you're talking about, as long as you feel very strong emotions about the thing you're talking about, you can get up on stage, do it. One of the workshops I used to run with the WP Diversity Team is finding your talk, finding what it is you can talk about on stage. Even if you're an introvert, you're an extrovert, sometimes the hardest part is pulling out the topic from your brain, pulling out the thing that you can talk about for 20 minutes, 30 minutes on stage in front of people. One of the workshops I ran was specifically to find your voice. This works especially for those who are not used to speaking, who have to do it at work, and then who are introverts especially. Because really, for extroverts, it's really easy for them to be able to talk to someone, to get up on stage. But for introverts, which majority of people in the tech field are actually introverts because we're so used to just chatting, being on keyboard, you know, dealing with people when you have, only when you have to, especially now in the, in the time of remote work. Unlike before when you actually had to be in the office, then you have to be face to face with a person for most of the day. But since most of us are working online, it's harder to pull out the person, you'll get them to come out of their shell. But one of the things that I do in that workshop is try to find what it is, is their passion, what it is they want to talk about, that they know confidently enough, that they know enough about, that they can, they can talk at length. 10 minutes is more than enough. 30 minutes is absolutely beautiful when you hear somebody who's passionate about building a website, building a theme, building or even organizing an event. Like you said, majority of the ones in the organizing team of WordCamp Philippines are actually introverts. But once you get them together in a room, or even in a chat room, sometimes there'll be 20, 30 messages in less than 30 minutes. You get, you get people who want to talk about what's happening in, in this part of the world, what's happening in this, this, about AWS, about PHP, about JavaScript. All of these things they can talk about at length because they have passion about those subjects. That's what I try to bring out in people. It's also part of what I do when selecting people who can speak at an event, because some people can speak in an event of 10 people or 20 people, but WordCamp Philippines will be an event that has 300 people in a room, 600 people in a room. You have to find the people who have the right voice, who have the right manner of speaking that will keep the attention of those and the interest of the crowd. That is hard but not impossible. You just need to find a way to massage them and get them motivated enough to get up on stage. So that's the same with the organizers. Like you said, some are introverts, some are afraid to speak up. But this is always— I've always said WordPress is a safe space. WordPress is a place where you can be yourself, where you can talk about yourself, talk about what you love, what you believe, because people will always be— there will always be somebody supportive and there will always be somebody listening.

I felt that support as somebody who really started in the community na wala si Jim Ross lang ang kahilala. Imagine that, I started as a participant lang in the Adoons World Camp Manila 2023, I think, and then my only kahilala there was Jim Ross and immediately anana lead organizer na ako ng WordPress Zamboanga in the following year, volunteer for WordCamp— no, 2025 WordCamp Asia, and here we are. So parang, it really helps to gravitate ka towards somebody you know and just find your safe space in the community. Pero, can we relate this? I think we can relate this to the Contributor Day na ten na. I don't know, if you're an introvert, you would really be able to find a safe space there. Tell us more about the Contributor Day.

Oh, Contributor Day. WordPress Contributor Days are a specific day during the event where you as a contributor, as an attendee, can actually find the specific team. WordPress has a lot of teams. There's the core team that works on the code itself. There's the themes. They create themes for how the websites look. There's the plugins team. So there are many teams. There's also Polyglots that help translating WordPress into many, many different languages. There's a community that works mostly for the events, for the activities, meetups. And then there's another activity that we're doing these days, Campus Connect, where we go to universities. I believe Jahed already organized one of those in Zamboanga, where at the universities you're trying to bring in the students to start using WordPress and then give them all the tools that they need. So there are many teams Many groups that you can join. And if you are a coder, then you can join the core team, but you do not have to be just in the core team. You can also be a translator with the Polyglots. If you like to translate into your own local language, which I love, I wanted to bring in people who would speak in their own local languages at WordCamp Philippines. That's actually one of the things I wanted to do. It would be great. You can join the Polyglots team. Polyglots is not just for Filipino language, Languages. It's for languages in other countries. They're helping translate everything so that we can reach out to more people, not just English-speaking people. Can be, uh, other languages. You can be part of the themes if you like designing themes, designing, coding your own plugins. During Contributor Day, we will have tables wherein each team will be represented. There will be local, uh, team members and then international team members. If you have questions, we will have what we call the open source books. There are actually human books, or what we call the human library. You have a question, we have experts who can answer your questions. If they can't answer your questions, then I'm sure we— I'm pretty sure we can find somebody else who's there or who can answer the questions. This is to help and encourage people to find which is their niche, which is their group, which is their core passion, and then find If they have questions, if they have something that they're unsure about, they can talk to people in person at the event. Or actually, you can do this on the WordPress Slack. You can ask any at any time. This is actually one of the nicest things about the WordPress community is that, like I said, there's always somebody willing to help, willing to guide, and willing to answer questions. So Contributor Day is going to be on August 28th. That's the first day of the event. There will be teams, there'll be organizers, and there'll be attendees who are going to be finding the teams that they want to join or that they're curious about or that they want to learn more about. And then this will help them find their way through WordPress.

Yeah, that's the kapag you're an introvert but you also want to join events. But let's do a little shift, O'Neil. So you've already found success success, or you've already found your freelancing success from communities, finding clients, employers, job opportunities through communities. But with that, do you think it would still be advantageous, or what are the benefits for somebody who isn't really into events if they, uh, platforms like onlinejobs.ph to secure a stable baseline free opportunity, pero on the side, events pa rin.

Yeah, online jobs page is actually a very nice way to find work. Another thing, the thing about events is actually you can find jobs online, you can find job postings online, like online jobs, but Events actually helps, so you actually meet the people who are from those companies. You can meet the people because sometimes we have those, those companies who are sponsoring the events, or even just people who are attending, or even people who are talking, speaking at our events. You can ask them questions about a certain job opening, you can ask them questions about certain requirements for this job opening, that job opening, and a lot of these events like what we do at WordCamp, there will also, also be what we call a job board wherein people will write opening for project manager at this company, send your email to this. So that, that's something that a lot of live events do. But also, it's a lot easier now to find work online, um, like onlinejobs.ph is actually one of the nicer looking sites that for finding the jobs. Uh, it's, it's actually because it's easier to reach out to people. It's easier to find and filter jobs that are, that are, that are you, that you're looking for. If you're looking for full-time, part-time, uh, remote job, hybrid, you just click the, the filters, click the selection, and then all the information is there. It's easy to find the, the The things that you do specifically that fits that job, that job opening, things that you can do, the skills that you have that are in that job opening. You don't just stick to online options. You go to events to meet the people. You can ask people, what's it like? Oh, I see you've been working for Company A for how many years? What's it like working there? That's actually one of the best ways to do an icebreaker because if a person is at a job and they've been there for a few years, that's the best way to get information. Because if they're still there, which means they're happy about working there, then you'll get their passion. They'll talk about why they're still there, why they're still working at that job, why that job is good for them, and then you'll be able to get firsthand information. Um, it's, it's, it's a, it's a great balance being online and being in person, but, uh, there are many options or many things you can find, many, many openings that you can find both volunteer work, paying work, or part-time, full-time work that you can find online and in person.

I have a question, O'Neil, since you're already talking about the passion. Kasi ikaw matagal ka na sa WordPress. Now we do have some job seekers who are still finding their niche, so they're willing to learn about the technical stuff, ganun, but they're not sure. Marami yan, marami ng tatao. What skills should I learn? What job should I look for? What would you tell someone if, for example, they have the potential to be a WordPress expert? Kasi mataglinoginuman and they're exploring things. What would you tell them that would convince them na siga you learn WordPress?

Um, yeah, what— there's this beautiful new thing now in WordPress, it's called WordPress Playground, where you can just build a site online. You don't need to host, you don't need to, to upload it anywhere. It's just basically just to test, just to find out if this works, if this design works, if this plugin works. It's basically just a sandbox for WordPress sites. Uh, you can just play with that, and then if you don't like it, reset it, start from scratch. What's nice about the technology now is that you can try so many things without committing to something. But once you find that, the thing that you love doing, that you like— like, for example, some people just love making plugins, they love testing, uh, plugins, they love testing themes. Some designers just like making beautiful designs. You have to find what it is that you love doing. That's actually one other thing that's also nice about volunteering for events. If you're willing to do it voluntarily for free, you should be willing to do it paid. And if you're good at it, you should be paid for it. You should be paid for your skills that you learn by volunteering, by practicing, by testing. You should be well paid for something that you've learned on your own or within the work, within the work that you do. Volunteering is actually very, very satisfying if you know something works. Like when you, when you make a program, or if you build something physical with, from scratch, you feel very satisfied when it works, when it's, it's functioning. Like when I build costumes, I build my own costumes, I assemble it, I paint it. You feel great when you put it on because you turn yourself into the action figure.

Together.

So I have Stormtrooper, I have like 10 different costumes, uh, I built costumes. My son has already had 12 costumes and he's only 9 years old. Um, my wife has multiple costumes. She's— that's part of our passion, building these things. And then you go out, you wear it, you, you see the satisfaction on people's faces when they see an action figure that they saw in the movie or character brought to life. Walking in front of them, talking to them, saying hi, interacting. That's the same way for some people when they build a plugin that works, when they build a website that looks beautiful, when they build— when they organize an event that is attended by a lot of people, where people learn, where people find, um, find their, their group, their tribe, as some people call it, and how they find their Satisfaction. When you see something works and you're able to do it on your own with your two hands, with your own skills, that is the satisfaction that you get from it. And then you deserve that, that you should be paid for that. That should be— if you're passionate, you can do it for free, voluntarily, you should be paid for it. That should be your goal. The hobby led me to this, uh, but the passion for volunteering, for helping, and the satisfaction of making things, seeing things work is what keeps me doing this.

I like how— I know, but I, I can really sense the passion, and I like how all of your examples are really rooted on Star Wars. Walang— walang iba example Star Wars. I like it. Do you join any of that? Do you join Comic-Con, something like that? But they have Do you have conventions for that where you dress up as Toy-Con? Toy-Con, yes.

It was just a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, actually we used to do Toy-Con every year. Before it was in Mega Mall, but now it's in MOA. So we used to do that always, almost always, the opening ceremonies. We'd be there in full costume. We'd always do the ribbon cutting or just the start of the event. I've actually worn my costume in Japan, Taiwan, US. So yeah, yeah, it's— It's international.

But you go to these events talaga really to have fun, but was there ever a time na nakahanap ka ng linkage or network or somebody to work with in these events na you were just there for fun just to show off your costume that you made yourself, but then eventually one thing led to another and somebody wants to work with you?

Yes, actually. Yeah, that's all really part of the networking. You're networking with people about Star Wars, you're networking about— with people about WordPress, you're networking with people about the things that you're doing. And then eventually that leads to a conversation. Oh yeah, so, so what have you— with what else do you do aside from this? So there's— you're always going to try to find out what you do outside of the, the hobby, outside of the, the passion. Oh yeah, I'm a project manager for web development. Oh, I need a website for something, something like this, and then I need somebody to take over handling this so that I can focus on something else. It's always, it's always in the conversations, it's always in the networking, or as, as they call it in the, in the tech communities, the hallway chats are always worth a lot more than the ticket you're paying to attend. Um, the ticket is what gets you your foot in the door, but what keeps you there is the networking. It's the talking to people, the, the beauty of the conversations, uh, meeting people. I, I I was just talking with somebody from the US a few weeks ago, and then they invited me to evaluate this long-term workshop that they've been doing. So I sit in, and then that leads me to meeting other people who need help with their sites, who need help with their event. So it's always when you meet some friend of a friend of a friend, and because you're all part of the same community, you are confident in referring that person because you know this person knows them, that person knows them. It's not, uh, it's, it's not too scary to work with people because you know who they are, you know people who they were, they've worked with, and it's easier to trust people within the community than it is from outside.

Exactly, that's right. So one thing, I think this is my, uh, this is one thing that really has been on my mind, uh, after— because when somebody told me before, now when you're talking to people on, uh, some events, even though, uh, very informal conversation, you need to make sure that they remember you. And if they give you their contact details, message them or text or drop them a message on Facebook or LinkedIn or anywhere they're active, para to remind them that this is you and this is what you talked about. Do you do this?

Yeah, I try to. You always almost always people in the WordPress community are on the Slack, the WordPress Slack, Make WordPress Slack. After an event, it's best to just message them, "Hi, hello, if you remember me from WordCamp Asia 2025, we talked about this. If you have any other ideas that you'd like to talk about it, that would be great." Then if ever, then usually they'll invite you, "Yeah, you should come over to our WordCamp, WordCamp EU, WordCamp in Spain, WordCamp in Argentina, you're always going to be invited. And then sometimes that may even lead to, hey, can you be a speaker at our event? If you come over to this, to our WordCamp, then you can be our speaker. You should apply as our speaker, 'cause I know what you're like. So it's like I said, they know who you are, they know what you've done. It always helps. There should always be a follow-up. When you meet somebody, you have their card, Always, always follow it up with a hi, hello. If they reply, great, that's— that's— then the conversation can continue. If they don't reply, that's okay, that's fine, uh, they're probably busy. But there should always be a follow-up when you meet someone. Always take it to the next level if they want to have a conversation, if they want to talk to you about something, or if you just want to say hi, greet them happy birthday. That's always a good thing. Always try to get their username. Sometimes it's going to be a social media handle. It's usually Before, a lot of people just give me your Twitter handle or what's, what's your handle on, on Facebook. Well, here in Asia, it's usually Facebook or LinkedIn. Yeah, that's, that's usually some of the best ways to, to contact me, which is also actually why I keep my social name very consistent. Yeah, so that across all platforms it's always almost always the same so that it's easier to find you. You. It's easier to identify you. And then just have a conversation. It doesn't automatically immediately have to be about work. It can just be, hi, hello, I had a great talk at the after-party, I had a great— I loved seeing your talk at the event, I wanted to know more about what you talked about, whether it's about AI, whether it's about hosting or agencies. Always continue the conversation. It's It's not a bad thing to contact them because you already started a conversation in person.

Yes, definitely. I will start doing that.

Hindi naman siya cold call.

Yes, indeed.

It's actually a continuing of your conversation.

It's a warm lead na.

Yes.

Yeah, it's a very good tip because especially if you're an introvert, you need to maximize. Someone who's a good network, so you might as well make sure that they remember. I have a friend, na whenever they meet someone and they— she connects on Facebook, she will tell the other person, "Diletso, I will message you now, ha? I will type here what we talked about so that you and I both remember." Because, you know, we meet a lot of people online— sorry, on events. So, baka sha din yung puso ko, baka makalimutan nila. So it's best to seal the deal when it comes to networking.

Right.

Nice. So Jan, do you still have any follow-up questions?

You know, I'd really love to talk more with O'Neil Pero. We're running out of time. So thank you so much, O'Neil, for all your snippets of, I don't know, golden crumbs of information that you gave us today.

Thank you for inviting me. This was nice.

Thank you, O'Neil. I really enjoyed the conversation, especially as a fellow Star Wars fan. So I will leave this question to our listeners because now we're talking about events and majority of our job seekers are introverts. So is there a certain event or kayat meetup lang that you were afraid to go to kasi naihiyaka and you were thinking about really not going, but then looking back, you know, after a few months, weeks, or years, you realize na Dun pa la, dun mo pa la mahahanap yung kamang network for you and your career. So please share your networking wins or hesitations or the really good events that you were able to go to in the comments below.

Yep, and thank you so much once again, O'Neil. Thank you for saying thank you to my invitation. Kahit pila ansha. I'm looking forward to meeting you in person in Iloilo City. Let's plug the event.

August 28th to 29th, 2026, Iloilo Convention Center, Iloilo City. This is going to be two whole day events, the contributor day on August 28th, and then the event day where we have multiple speakers talking about many different topics, uh, about WordPress, about AI, about agencies, about hosting, about so many things. Both local and international speakers. I hope tickets are on sale. Just go to philippines.wordpress.com www.onlinejobs.ph.org. So that we'll probably add the links to the show notes and then hope to see you there. We'll make it a big thing. We'll make it a big party.

Yes, thank you so much, Anges. Thank you so much for today, Ayaan. Everybody, if you're interested in listening more to our conversation, we are already on Spotify, Work From Home Base by OnlineJobs.ph, and we're also on YouTube Music. That's also Work From Home Base, and we are on Substack. So please, if you're on Substack, subscribe to our podcast. The first episode is out and our second episode will be published on Friday. Ayan, thank you so very much and have a good day everyone.

Thank you, good luck on your event guys.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, bye!

Hey, make sure to join the conversation in the OnlineJobs.ph Facebook group and subscribe to the OnlineJobs.ph Job Seeker newsletter. We're dropping even more tips and tea straight to your inbox so you don't have to navigate the remote world alone.