Internet Mover & Shaker: Jaime Enrique Y. Gonzalez

In preparation for iBlog3: the 3rd Philippine Blogging Summit, I will do a series of features about some of the speakers who can be considered as one of the local Internet movers and shakers.

Let me start with Jaime Enrique Y. Gonzalez (Enrique) who is the founder, incorporator, and currently Chief Executive Officer of IPVG Corp.

Enrique can be considered as one of the Philippine Internet's successful entrepreneurs as he had a series of start-up internet ventures including match.ph (that is now itzamatch.com) which were acquired by Bigfoot Ventures (NY, USA), and Adobo Interactive which was acquired by Philippine-listed subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate MBf (now IPVG). Enrique also sat on the board of Edsamail, formerly a leading I.S.P and e-mail provider and previous experience in investment banking having worked on cross border structured finance deals involving investments upwards of $10M USD.

The commercial launch of e-Games last March 31, 2006 challenged the online gaming industry with its free to play (free2play) model under MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) and casual games.

IPVG Corporation (PSE: IPVG) is a major sponsor of iBlog3: the 3rd Philippine Blogging Summit. I'm excited with this development as Enrique will be one of the speakers on this two-day gathering to talk about "Building Communities: One Blog at a Time. The E-Games Experience".

He will speak extensively on how user generated content, blogging and viral marketing techniques formed the foundations of growing their online gaming portal, via its gaming arm, IP E-Game Ventures, Inc. (IP E-Games).

“Word-of-mouth marketing has been taken to a whole new level through the use of blogs, user-generated content and IP communications. With over 3.5M E-Games members, we now manage one of the largest and most cohesive communities in the country. Our company supports the active use of blogs as a community platform.” says Enrique.

IPVG is publicly listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE:IPVG) and engaged in the information technology and communications space. IPVG owns three operating subsidiaries engaged in information technology and telecommunications, on-line gaming, and business process outsourcing.

Playing with online games

It is no secret that online games is the primary revenue driver for most Internet cafes in the country today. With nearly 5.6 million Filipino online gamers and US$14 million in revenues, according to International Data Corporation, this comes as no surprise.

This community is also seen as potential for in-game advertising. One exciting company worth watching out for is e-Games due to its Free2Play model. Despite that, new games like Freestyle, among others are expected to build a growing user base. With Filipinos becoming experts in online gaming, they perhaps be able to follow the footsteps of overseas-based Filipino professional gamers someday.

The Filipino language, Tagalog, is also influencing international games such as The Sims(TM) native language, Simlish, where it is partly based. Another game, similar to our child's play Jack 'en Poy, is also gaining international popularity because of its mix gaming arcade and card collection approach.

The popularity of online games is also creating a new form of virtual income. I've met individuals who are now earning a living by playing a person's game character and by selling them. Joel Yuvienco challenges educators to harness this as a tool for learning.

Definitely more games are expected to come in the country from Korea, Japan, USA, among others.

E-Games.com.ph Commercial Launch

I got invited this Friday for the commercial launch of e-Games game titles---RAN Online, O2 Jam, Battle Position, and Dreamville. I guess this will add to more income possibility to professional gamers for hire. Hmm..