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Last August 15, 2009, our group, Project Eiva, was invited to attend the First Cosplay Mini Summit and Open Forum at the University of the Philippines IT Training Center.  One of the goals of the event was to promote the cosplay community. The event was organized by USP Events Specialist Inc. and Holy Ground Productions.  A panel of speakers from the government and the creative arts industry were invited.  Various cosplayers were also invited including people from Cosplay.ph.

The panel of speakers included:

• James Romana, Division Head for Creative Industries, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM)
• Ramon Ibrahim, Cyberservices Comissioner, Commission of Information and Communication Technology (CITC)
• Eric Tamayo, Special Assistant to the Undersecretary, International and Economic Relations, Department of Foreign Affairs
• Ranulf Goss, Vice President, Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP)
• Ruel "Zyn" Abila, Game Master, ABS-CBN Interactive (AMPED)

The open forum was an opportunity for the government to have a better understanding of what cosplay is and what it is all about.  This was perhaps in a way for our community and the subculture in general to let our government have a glimpse of what we are like in the midst of continuous negative sentiment from various government officials.