MAKATI, PHILIPPINES — Where does one find the first brick? Is it from your friends’ invitations? Is it from the captivating publication materials that you see in your timeline? Or is it because of the free food and the LinkedIn connections that you gained after the networking session?
To some, those could be the reasons. And it’s okay and valid because those are my reasons as well. We all come to tech events for different reasons. And on top of all that, I find an even deeper passion when inspiring leaders and hardworking people surround me. It’s like a magnet that, when I get close to it, I find myself pulled in a direction I didn’t know I needed to go. Today, that direction led me to Rockwell, and it turns out that was my first brick.
On Sunday, May 31, 2026, the cloud community of AWS User Group e:Novators Philippines held its annual General Onboarding. With a theme of “Brick by Brick: Building the Blocks of Innovation”, the pioneering onboarding event ran from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM, hosted by official venue partner Common Grounds, 8 Rockwell, Rockwell Center, Makati City. This jam-packed event marked the beginning of each member’s journey within the organization.
Program Overview
True to its theme, the day was built brick by brick, with each segment laying its foundation to ease new members into the community they were about to call home. The program opened with a motivational keynote from AWS User Group Philippines leader Isaeus Guiang and an e:Novators 101 session by Community Lead Marvin Barrios, giving attendees the context and inspiration they needed before the most defining part of the day: the office breakout sessions. In small groups, new members met their office leaders, and onboarding became belonging. The afternoon expanded that sense of belonging outward, with guest speakers from the technology industry sharing perspectives on AI integration, cloud career development, and real-world project building, all woven together with icebreakers, games, and a networking and snack session that kept the energy alive. The day closed with a formal Membership Oath and Certificate Giving — leaving every e:Novator with a blueprint of what they’re going to build next.
Building Blocks: Talks That Laid the Foundation
Community Lead Marvin Barrios opened the conversation with a simple but powerful reframe: a community is not just a group of people, but a process of building bridges one step at a time. Through e:Novators 101, he guided new members through the gaps the organization seeks to close, specifically those between knowledge and action, students and the industry, and ideas and execution. He also outlined the tangible ways the community supports its members, ranging from assistance with website creation and startup exposure to providing pathways for working students steadily building their futures. Perhaps most memorably, he concluded with this thought: “Your community is your witness.” It is the space that sees you lay each block before the rest of the world sees the finished wall.
That foundation was reinforced by Dr. Lutzer Reyes, whose talk on technopreneurship completely changed how new members should view opportunity. No structure is built alone, and your community serves as your greatest advantage in ensuring you never have to work in isolation. Groups like the AWS User Group (AWSUG) shorten your learning curve, connect you with mentors, and open doors to collaborations that you could not access on your own. Opportunities, he reminded the room, do not come from skills alone; they come from the connections you make.
Where the Bricks Come Together
The defining highlight of the day was never just the talks; it was also the 30-minute office breakout sessions that turned a room full of strangers into a community. Grouped by office, new members sat down with the organization’s leaders for focused discussions that served as the true heart of the onboarding. This was the moment where names became faces and faces became community.
Furthermore, the event featured guest speakers who added their own contributions to the foundation. Gen AI Philippines explored how AI model integration is reshaping the way SaaS products are built, while CloudSensei shared its social mission and the Dash2Career skills path, highlighting that empowering futures is a vital form of building. Tutorials Dojo offered one of the day’s most grounding messages: you learn by shipping, rather than waiting until you feel ready. Stealth concluded the guest lineup with a challenge to build things that truly matter, because not every structure deserves to stand.
Among the partners who have stood alongside e:Novators Philippines in this mission is the PUP PYLON Technology Business Incubator (TBI). This space was built on the belief that every great structure starts with a single idea worth nurturing. PYLON TBI, guided by its mission, “Your Startup Journey Begins Here,” has been a meaningful part of the community’s growing network by supporting student innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs as they turn concepts into real-world solutions. As e:Novators continues to lay its own foundation, the hope is to extend that collaborative spirit further. By connecting with more TBIs across the Philippines, the goal is to ensure that no matter where a builder comes from, there is always a community ready to hand them their next brick.
That spirit carried into the latter half of the program, where the Start-up Initiatives segment gave the floor to members who are already laying bricks of their own. Led by Start-Up Development Office Director Dave Ailler Rivas, along with his Associate Directors Fahad Hadji Esmael, Lawrence Panes, and Mary Jean Navarro, the session spotlighted the organization’s commitment to turning ideas into execution—one of the very bridges Marvin had spoken about earlier in the day. Alongside this, the Ambassador Spotlights put faces to the people who have been quietly holding the structure together, showing new members that leadership here is not just a title; it is a habit of showing up.
By the time the Membership Oath was administered and certificates were placed in each member’s hands, the theme had already proven itself. “Brick by Brick” was never just a tagline; it was the blueprint. By the end of the day, every person in that room had become part of the build.
None of this day would have been possible without the people who worked behind the scenes. To the entire e:Novators Philippines team, including the officers, directors, and every member who showed up early, stayed late, and ensured every brick was in place before the doors opened, thank you. Events like this do not run on themes and programs alone. They run on people who care enough to make them matter. You did not just organize a day. You built something that people will carry with them long after they leave the room.
What’s Next: The Wall Is Still Being Solidified
The General Onboarding was never meant to be the destination. It was the groundbreaking. Every session, every breakout conversation, and every handshake during the networking hour was a brick laid in preparation for something larger. For the new members who took the oath, this is only the beginning of their e:Novators journey, and the organization has made it clear that there is plenty left to solidify.
Watch out for upcoming community initiatives, startup development programs, and events that will continue to bridge knowledge and action, students and industry, and ideas and execution. If today was about finding your office, meeting your people, and understanding what this community stands for, what comes next is where you actually get to build.
The blueprint is set. The community is here. And the wall is still being solidified, one brick at a time.
Stay connected with AWS User Group e:Novators Philippines and be part of what gets built next.
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About the Author
Mary Jean D. Navarro is a third-year Computer Science student who somehow finds herself in every room that matters and then volunteers to help set it up. She is the kind of person who believes that you go further with a crew and that the New World is always worth sailing toward together. She has a soft spot for microphones, meaningful conversations, and the kind of communities that make people feel like they were always supposed to be there.
She is part of Arterion PH, Tutorials Dojo, KadaKareer, and WorkFlow PH, which are spaces that have quietly shaped her into someone who knows that the best things you learn often come from the people you meet.
Within AWS User Group e:Novators Philippines, she serves as Database Associate Director, which is one of the roles dedicated to making sure everything holds together. Mary Jean is dedicated to a simple, personal mission: to help grow communities that celebrate collective growth, empathy, and the quiet power of showing up for one another to create a lasting, positive impact.
