Sun.Star and Smart bring Kadayawan to the world

 By Nelson C. Bagaforo of SunStar Davao (photos by Stella Estremera)

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

DAVAO CITY — After the successful video live streaming of the 75th Araw ng Dabaw highlights in March that captivated thousands of Dabawenyos here and abroad, Sun.Star will bring another festival, the 27th Kadayawan sa Davao, to the world in real time.

Sun.Star Davao once again partnered with wireless leader, Smart Communications, for the live streaming of Kadayawan highlights — the Hiyas sa Kadayawan on August 17, Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan on August 18 and Pamulak or the Floral Float Parade on August 19.

Powered by Smart, the video live streaming of these events will utilize the latest and most advanced fourth generation technology, the Long Term Evolution (LTE), improved further by the completion of Smart's mobile phone network as part of the P67-billion network modernization program of the PLDT Group. Smart first rolled out its LTE technology in Davao City during Sun.Star's live streaming of the Araw ng Dabaw celebration in March, this year. "For the first time, we will be deploying LTE in Davao City and we granted the Sun.Star website to utilize such mobile technology," Jess Rubino, supervisor for Smart's Network and Platform Application, said in a meeting formalizing the partnership between Smart and Sun.Star in March. The live streaming of Kadayawan highlights will be made available at www.sunstar.com.ph and Sun.Star Davao's microsite at http://davao.sunstar.com.ph/kadayawan/. [caption id="attachment_1164" align="aligncenter" width="576"] Me interviewing Mayor Inday Sara[/caption] Stories and photos of various activities related to the month-long Kadayawan celebration can also be viewed on the same microsite. Like the Araw live streaming, the Sun.Star website has been provided with capable Internet speed of up to 150 mbps for "super-fast uploading of high resolution photos and high definition videos." The live streaming can also be viewed on all types of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, running on Android and Apple operating system. [caption id="attachment_1166" align="aligncenter" width="576"] Interviewing the foreign interns[/caption] With the use of Smart LTE, viewers all over the world are assured that Sun.Star will be able to deliver crisp videos and best reception from the coverages. "This is our response to the clamor of Dabawenyos abroad to also bring them the Kadayawan festivities as they happened. We have been receiving requests for us to also live stream Kadayawan, like what we did during the Araw ng Dabaw celebration in March," said Tessie Pana, Sun.Star Davao general manager. [caption id="attachment_1167" align="aligncenter" width="576"] Setting up with Smart's Haydee Bernabe[/caption] She added that the microsite that will carry the video live streaming contains news and stories, as well as advisories of completed and upcoming events and a chat facility, where online viewers can share notes with Dabawenyos around the globe. Sun.Star Davao and the Cebu-based Sun.Star Network Exchange (Sunnex) have launched the microsite to help promote the 2012 Kadayawan festival and to keep abreast Dabawenyos, here and abroad, of the goings on during the month-long festival. Sunnex is the new media department of Sun.Star Publishing Inc. that manages the Sun.Star website at www.sunstar.com.ph. Last March, Dabawenyos from different parts of the world took part in the celebration of the 75th Araw ng Dabaw via the live streaming of events on the Sun.Star website. [caption id="attachment_1168" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Me and Mayor Inday Sara[/caption] Streamed over www.sunstar.com.ph and its microsite, specials.sunstar.com.ph/arawngdavao, were the Mutya ng Dabaw pageant, Sayawan sa Dan, Datu Bago Awards and, the highlight of the Charter Day celebration, the Parada Dabawenyo. Mildred Galarpe, Sunnex managing editor, said the live streaming resulted in an increase in the number of visits to the Sun.Star Davao website at www.sunstar.com.ph/davao and a rise in new visits by Dabawenyos formerly not aware of the local information provided by the site. "They viewed the events as they happened, listened to the sounds, and exchanged greetings or interacted with other readers," Galarpe said. A total of 11,349 views were logged during the live streaming of the Araw ng Dabaw highlights and 2,033 readers participated in the live blogging of events as they happened, Galarpe said. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)