On November 27-28, 2009, there will be the two-day conference entitled COALESCENCE of the Organizational Communication Program for the Organizational Communication students of both University of the Philippines Manila and the De La Salle University Manila.
COALESCENCE, as defined by my resident dictionary, iFinger, is the coming together [to] form one mass and whole, or the combining of elements in a mass or whole. The word originated in the 16th century, from the Latin word coalscere, which meant “with” “grow up” “nourish”.
This event is being organized by the Organizational Communication Society of the University of the Philippines Manila and the Team Communication of the De La Salle University Manila. It was named COALESCENCE because both organizations envisioned a gathering of the Organizational Communication students from two different schools that will allow them to grow together as they learn the core meaning of their degree program.
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Because I am an officer of my organization, I am aware of the nitty gritty details of this project. More than that, I am part of the persons who meet up with Team Communication to plan better how this event would spell success.
One of the speakers of the conference would be Mr Barrientos, my professor in Communication Trends and Styles. The cause of all the blog posts, viral videos, and all my new social media activities (except of course probably the Social Networking Sites and websites I’ve loved since fetus-age). I guess there is no reason to conceal this since the course is nearly ending.
For a couple of weeks, we have been engaged into writing blog entries to complete the course requirements and to make it to top blogs–some requirement that we have been encouraged to participate in. It wasn’t a cruel requirement, as I see myself continuing on posting in my comm-blog, only in a less constrained-in-topic fashion.
I would have to admit. It felt tiring to keep on thinking of blog entries that would totally become an interest to possible stakeholders in the online world. We have been used to writing personal blog entries revealing deep thoughts and putting it out in the public–exactly the kind of writing I’m doing right now.
Personal. Self-attached.
I am disobeying all the advices that were given to us in establishing and maintaining our wordpress accounts. However, let me, just this once, for I am in the mood of revealing it all.
I found it annoying to be forced to write. I loved writing back in high school. I regularly maintained my blogspot account–even xanga, asian avenue, and others like. I loved releasing my thoughts online.
I liked blogging a lot.
However, to be forced to write weekly because it is a course requirement was one of the reasons that stressed me out in college. When years ago, it was so easy to write a funny entry that will earn 20 comments from my friends, this time, the idea of it being required made it all hard for me to think of a specific topic to write about, or even to relate it in the lesson-for-the-day discussion.
I was fine with the lessons I learned about wikis, podcast, viral videos, vlogs, corporate blogging, conversation prism, social media dashboard, social media releases and all the communication trends and styles.
But I guess required blogging became somehow difficult, with the thought that it is required.
At first I found it easy. If one would recall my first post, I wrote there something like, “how can required blogging be difficult? I used to blog everyday.“
Again, since I am an officer of my organization, I got to be involved in the planning of COALESCENCE. Such that would include asking prospect speakers if they would agree to speak in the conference. To ensure that the discussion meet the common grounds of the Organizational Communication program of both schools, I had to get the course curriculum of Communication Technology of the program in DLSU.
And I saw how they also had blogging as their requirement.
And then I felt ashamed of myself.
How could I have felt negative towards blogging.
And then it hit me–Sir Barry did say this to us, it just probably did not seem real as how it is becoming now:
CORPORATE BLOGGING IS INEVITABLE IN MOST COMPANIES.
It is the reason why we were weekly practiced to maintain the blog and start to be professional. And it is the reason why in Communication Trends and Styles and Communication Technology, this activity is a basic requirement.
Write often, read daily.
This will be my often. 
And in the last remaining days of this subject, I realize how much Comm Trends and Styles has heped me. And I’m sure, come COALESCENCE day, a lot of undergraduates will enjoy the talk about this program, and learn a lot, the same way I do!
