On Friday, July 29, Gabriel Hutagalung went to Surabaya to visit 2 ColorLabs teams who were there, Mohammad Zulkarnain (@zulsdesign) and Edy Supangat (@edypang). The day coincided with the convening of FreShSby Gathering in July.

FreShSby, which is the acronym of the Freedom of Sharing Surabaya, is a community of creative industries from Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, with mission. Each month they held a FreShSby gathering as an offline discussion media between the creative industries in Surabaya. Mohammad Zulkarnain is one of the initiators of this community.

The theme of discussion that was raised on July’s FreShSby Gathering is the Actualization of Ideas Transforming into Achievement for Indonesia. The event was also a part of Indonesia Achievement Awards 2011 (IBA 2011) socialization movement series to the people of East Java, Indonesia under the age of 40. The event was attended by many who come from various cities in East Java. They were farmers, merchants, teachers, journalists, broadcasters, programmers, designers, public relations, business owners, and students. Some of them also come from various communities in Surabaya, among them are Radio Komunitas, suWec, KopdarSurabaya, and Kaskuser Surabaya. Perhaps only Gabriel Hutagalung himself came from Bandung, West Java and somehow stranded there. :)

Starting with the testimony of Mr. Lucky, Chairman of the Radio Komunitas, whom together with his colleagues built local radio to serve as a medium of information and education for local residents. The enthusiasm increased when Mrs. Ira of XL CSR gave presentation about the history and purpose of organizing IBA2011. Ira conveyed that IBA2011 is an appreciation and support for Indonesian who care, have the potency, creative, and achievers in the field of technology and the social environment.

Alvin Leonardo, a 16-year-old high school student and winner of IBA2010 is also a presenter in this event. He shared a bit of his experience starting from the quarantine phase to winning IBA2010. Alvin also presented his invention, the Blue Atom Antivirus. He began developing the Blue Atom Antivirus when he was only 13 years old and it has been certified by Softpedia. One of the jurors of IBA2011 was also present. She is Atiqah Hasiholan, who has received many awards an actress both local and international awards. She argued that movies is a very extraordinary medium to introduce the culture of the nation to the world.

Participants’ enthusiasms increased after hearing reviews about IBA2011 and also success stories of Alvin & Atiqah. Perhaps it is the reason why the Q&A session was so interactive. Most of the questions were about ways of actualizing idea into something that has value for the general public. In addition to providing practical answers corresponding to areas of the problem in question, the three of them agree that the use of online social networking, websites, and the global Internet network can be a catalyst for actualizing ideas into achievement for Indonesia and the world community.

The event was closed with quiz session and a little competition. And you know what? 2 out of 3 winners of the life-tweet competition were from ColorLabs, Zulkarnain & Gabriel! Not only that, Gabriel also won the main prize! Congratulation guys! To celebrate, Gabriel hanged out with the Surabaya gangs after the event at a burger joint.

Best of luck always to our friends at FreShSby & also for the organizers of IBA2011! Hopefully the Indonesia’s young generation can continue to create, to strive, useful, and achievement for the nation and the world!