ICON…and the story continues…

On that day, Leonel Escota from New York sat down on his computer and created a Yahoo e-group that would serve as an online forum for Nora Aunor fans. There were no grand visions or plans as to what shape it would take or how it would impact people's lives. For Leonel, a veteran of moderating international e-groups, he simply wanted to make sure that hosting Nora's e-group would not fall into the wrong hands of enemies and detractors who would use it for malicious purposes.

Four years later, the e-group, now known as the International Circle of Online Noranians or ICON has grown with more than seven hundred members from all over the world (582 active members and 126 bouncing).

It was slow in the beginning. Leonel's first post (09/23/00) was about Nora's September 9 show in San Diego. Three days later, Freddie Buan of Andrew Koenig Textile Agency, was the first to reply with "Hello Noranians!!!" The year 2000 ended with seven postings, five from Leonel and two from Freddie.

Nine more members joined in 2001. Three of them would remain active to this day: Rosephine Grant from Nebraska who signed in the day they bombed the World Trade Centre and would be the most senior among what would later be known as the Red Ladies of ICON; Myke Obenieta, a poet and columnist from Cebu City; and Noel Boado from Texas would later become the Vice-President of ICON. Discussion threads focused on among others, Nora's failed gubernatorial bid and her troubled relationship with daughter Matet. The year 2001 ended with 42 postings.

Membership grew steadily with thirteen more members signing up in 2002 including film critic Noel Vera. Others from that year who remain active to this day include Lloyd from Los Angeles (making him the most senior member from the East Coast), Lulu from Illinois, and yours truly from Bangkok. Perhaps one of the most significant additions to the group that year was Ken Gonzales from Vallejo or Pinoymovies as he is more well-known. Ken linked the e-group to his Nora tribute site and promoted it to other sites. It was a small group that kindled intimate discussions of articles and reviews read and sites visited - anything concerning Nora. The year 2002, which began with only one post in the month of January (a report by Leonel on Nora's guesting in Kuh's concert at the Music Museum), ended with 306 postings. The most active month was October when Nora's soap opera Bituin premiered. It was a good year that found a small group of Noranians celebrating online not just a shared devotion to their idol but a new home and a new family.

In terms of growth, 2003 would see a sharp increase in ICON's membership and activities both in the Philippines and abroad.

Among the members in the Philippines who joined that year and would actively contribute in the discussions and support ICON activities were the following: Marlon (signed up Jan 22), Tim (Apr 4), Noey (May 14), Nestor (Jun 4), Ron (Jun 11), Manny (Oct 10), Jonathan (Nov 20), Vonnel (Nov 22), Albert (Nov 26), Marc (Nov 26), Rommel (Dec 1).

Albert Sunga of GANAP, Willy Yabut of Federation and Dr Diane delos Santos joined ICON on November 26.

Elsewhere, AR of Canada was the first to sign up that year (Jan 12). Others included Anthony from Frankfurt (Jun 28), Alipaktong from the Middle East (Jul 21), Nikos from Bangkok (Aug 8), Danny from Toronto (Sept 11), Dennis from Indianapolis (Oct 11), Jojo from New Jersey (Oct 15), Mario from Florida (Nov 10), Mario from New York (Nov 19), Ray from New Jersey (Dec 14) and Epee from Daly City (Dec 22).

There are more names to dig up in the members list but although membership went on to double and triple in numbers, it was not until towards the end of the year that ICON truly served as an effective forum for Noranians in meeting their goals through a series of events that firmly anchored ICON's popular position as a force of fandom to reckon with.

On the first week of November 2003, ICON stood up in defense of their idol when Sharon Cuneta aired a birthday special for Vilma Santos, Nora's arch rival in a TV show that depicted their idol unfavorably. Postings raged. The number of messages posted in the month of November totaled 989, more than double the combined postings of 2000 to 2002. Letters of complaint were sent to entertainment publications. Members were quoted in the local papers and members cheered as the group recognized its potent force in the local entertainment media as a voice of Nora's fandom worth listening to.

On November 12, 2003, Vonnel met Norie Sayo and Nora Aunor at the old office of Ace Entertainment in San Juan. It was a momentous occasion that introduced ICON to the Superstar. Four days later on November 16, Vonnel met three ICON members at SM Megamall, the first ICON eyeball meeting in Manila with Nestor, Tim and Marlon attending. On November 22, 2003, ICON members logged in and were welcomed with a personal recorded message of Nora Aunor to ICON members (Nora's recorded MP3 message can be downloaded from the ICON file).

Abroad, geographical distance did not prevent Noranians from promoting ICON and Nora's artistry. Leonel had met Jojo sometime in October. Ken created a public forum in Pinoy Exchange which would later be nurtured by Marlon, Mario, Leonel and most notably Jojo DeVera, who generously pioneered the sharing of his to die for collection of Nora's films.

With a growing membership and activities being suggested left and right, strategic planning was deemed necessary and solidifying the organization, the key. Spurred by a series of hour-long teleconferences with ICON members, Noel Boado began looking into the possibility of incorporating the organization. With Leonel as President, Noel would be appointed as Vice-President, Jojo as Secretary and Alex Rodriguez from Daly City to head Finance. Dennis and Mario would later complete the list of officers appointed abroad.

From 15 members in 2002, ICON's members increased to almost 200 in 2003 while postings increased from from 306 the previous year to 5,374.

On November 28, 2003, Nora Aunor staged a concert at Casino Filipino and in her opening spiel, publicly acknowledged the group for the first time.

(To be continued...2004)