BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast: Tina Amper: Geeks on a Beach, 12M Filipino Diaspora Reverse Culture Shock & Burnout to Community Leader - E489
Tina Amper, Strategic Director of Geeks on a Beach, and Jeremy Au discussed:
1. Burnout to Community Leader: Tina shared her experience of migrating from the Philippines with an engineering degree from the University of San Carlos to California’s booming tech industry in the 1990s. She excelled in product marketing and business development roles, but ultimately burned out after years of travel and high-intensity work. By 2010, her mother's declining health prompted her to take a sabbatical and return to her hometown Cebu, which was being transformed by the growing business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. This proved to be fertile ground for her exploration and cultivation of a thriving local tech community. 2. Geeks on a Beach: Geeks on a Beach (GOAB) launched in 2013 and started as a casual idea between Earl Valencia, cofounder of IdeaSpace and QBO, and Paul Pajo, a Filipino tech evangelist, to create a tech conference blending work and leisure on the beach. With participants ranging from 400-500 people annually, GOAB has become a key platform for fostering collaborations between startups, investors, and business leaders. Tina emphasized the importance of support from government bodies like the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). 3. 12M Filipino Diaspora Reverse Culture Shock: Tina's return to her motherland after living in the US involved overcoming reverse culture shock while also reconnecting with her roots. She shared her advice for the 12 million strong Filipino diaspora considering a return home. She discussed how she personally found her purpose by contributing to the local tech community through initiatives like TechTalks.ph.
Jeremy and Tina also explored various community archetypes of lurkers vs. champions, paid membership communities vs. casual tech meetups and financial sustainability strategies.
BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast with Jeremy Au
BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast: Tina Amper: Geeks on a Beach, 12M Filipino Diaspora Reverse Culture Shock & Burnout to Community Leader - E489
Tina Amper, Strategic Director of Geeks on a Beach, and Jeremy Au discussed:
1. Burnout to Community Leader: Tina shared her experience of migrating from the Philippines with an engineering degree from the University of San Carlos to California’s booming tech industry in the 1990s. She excelled in product marketing and business development roles, but ultimately burned out after years of travel and high-intensity work. By 2010, her mother's declining health prompted her to take a sabbatical and return to her hometown Cebu, which was being transformed by the growing business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. This proved to be fertile ground for her exploration and cultivation of a thriving local tech community.
2. Geeks on a Beach: Geeks on a Beach (GOAB) launched in 2013 and started as a casual idea between Earl Valencia, cofounder of IdeaSpace and QBO, and Paul Pajo, a Filipino tech evangelist, to create a tech conference blending work and leisure on the beach. With participants ranging from 400-500 people annually, GOAB has become a key platform for fostering collaborations between startups, investors, and business leaders. Tina emphasized the importance of support from government bodies like the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
3. 12M Filipino Diaspora Reverse Culture Shock: Tina's return to her motherland after living in the US involved overcoming reverse culture shock while also reconnecting with her roots. She shared her advice for the 12 million strong Filipino diaspora considering a return home. She discussed how she personally found her purpose by contributing to the local tech community through initiatives like TechTalks.ph.
Jeremy and Tina also explored various community archetypes of lurkers vs. champions, paid membership communities vs. casual tech meetups and financial sustainability strategies.
Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://youtu.be/5qsT5Ia-zXg
#GeeksOnABeach #Philippines #FilipinoDiaspora #Cebu #Startups #TechConferences #CommunityBuilding #StartupInvestments #TechMeetups #BRAVEpodcast
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