The Lake!!

This winter has been so beautiful. So much snow! I had a wonderful opportunity to go out to the Kenora area for a weekend with some great friends. Since it had just snowed, and the roads weren't plowed, we had to move all our luggage by toboggan. We sat around the fire, shared some laughs and relaxed. It was an amazing weekend. The scenery was breathtaking and the weather, perfect. Here are some scenes that I captured.

Enjoy!

The Day of Bag

This week in PR class we discussed the Day of Bag, a must if you are in public relations, event planning or anything really.

The Day of Bag consists of a long, long list of random items from static guard to clear nail polish. All these things are a crucial in case you have last minute "uh-ohs" and ends to tie up, literally. So we compiled a list of about 30 items, its reasonable, really. Our teacher, Melanie, a PR extraordinaire has a suite case full of stuff with all her Day of stuff in it. Proof that it is crucial to have.

Today I am packing for the lake and need a weekend bag. What things do I need to help me survive at a cabin that is snowed in and hasn't been visited in months?

glow sticks,(because they're just fun)
matches,
toboggans,
cards,
mitts,
lots of socks,
slippers even,
and kaulbassa, cheese and crackers.

Hey it'll do. :)

Happy Friday everybody.

Salvation Army Campaign - Dignity for All

"The Salvation Army believes that human dignity is a fundamental right for all people. This year’s annual Christmas campaign is aimed at raising money to support dozens of social service programs that work to restore hope and dignity for vulnerable individuals during the Christmas season and throughout the year."
-Dignity for All campaign description
http://www.salvationarmy.ca/2010/11/16/salvation-army-christmas-campaign-promotes-dignity-for-all/

Advertising campaigns are very interesting. It is neat to see the approach taken by advertisers to target and connect with their audiences. I always found non-profit advertising very interesting because of the fact that they are asking the audience for something. It is hard to create different kinds of advertising as many organizations use emotional ads with children or personal stories. That is why I found this year's Salvation Army Christmas Campaign very interesting.

I love watching T.V. with my friends who aren't in Creative Communications because I get to see their reaction to advertising. I get to see what advertising is interesting or appealing to them.

While I was watching television this past weekend the Salvation Army Campaign commercial for Dignity for All came on and it caught my bf's attention. Naturally I said, "Hey that is a great commercial! What a good concept!" and it is a great commercial! It is a different concept, rather not asking for something with a story or anything but showing the audience in a clever way, a way that is different and will catch their attention because it isn't the usual non-profit commercial.

Check it out at the link below...

---> Salvation Army Christmas Campaign

Freelance Business Examples #2

School hurts right now. I love school so much, I don't understand why it continues to increase taking personal time from me, it's like a greedy boyfriend. Anyways, that is why I will talk about something else. Design.

In our Desktop Publishing class, which I love, we were assigned to make up a fake business, I am assuming Soft Sky Creative is not a real company, hopefully this doesn't come back to bite me in the butt but hey, it's a harmless project people. Anyways, I created Soft Sky Creative. We were assigned to design a logo, business card, letterhead and cd case.

Since I am not an especially girlie person, and would rather create documents that are rich in magentas and roses rather than wearing them, I thought I would have some fun.

Here are some of the end products.

Freelance Business Examples #1

I am currently taking a Freelance Business Management course as an elective this year. I like diving into that side of the spectrum as one day I would like to have my own business. As a project for the class, we were required to create a mock business plan. We had to create a fake business, the name, and what that business did as well as where it was located, finances and so on.

I created ND Management. ND Management is a public relations company that provides complete design and marketing services to clients. More specifically, ND Management personally manages or rather, takes care of all your design and communication needs. The business is targeted to small business that need marketing and branding done. As well as rural business that don't advertise or market their services.

The cards above are what I designed for ND Management, as if it were a real business. :)

Now This is a Production Team!

Crecomms produce documentaries, short films, talk shows and so much more, fellow CreComms, imagine organizing this!

----> The Ultimate Project

Halloween Shinanigans

Even though I am under the weather this week, I couldn't not carve pumpkins and do the activities I planned so many weeks ago. Halloween only comes once a year people. I started Halloween costume shopping approximately a month ago and just last week, decided what I will be... A zombie prom queen. Brilliant, I know.

I also began watching scary movies about a month ago. Lots of wolf movies and vampire movies because I am not a fan of ghosts...

I continued the festivities with carving one of two pumpkins. The pictures above show the before and after. Ya I carved the cemetary pumpkin. It is awesome and I still have another to carve and I am excited about it. I even cooked the pumpkin seeds and they turned out sooo good. Delicious.

What I did was turn the oven on to 270 or so, greased a baking sheet and washed the seeds, put them on the pan and salted them. Then I put then in for 8 mins, took em out, spun em around, mixed em up, put them in for another 8 minutes, took em out, spun em around and then after that I lost count and put them in til I felt they were deliciously crispy enough.

Have fun this year everybody! Happy Halloween!

Apple. King of Quality.

Apple not only provides quality electronical devices that are known world-wide but they also provide quality services. After visiting the Apple store in Polo Park mall this week, I noticed the many characteristics of the store that make it so successful and unique, ultimately making it so much better than every other store in the mall.

The following are reasons why it kicks serious butt in the sales department:

1. Apple products including various versions of iPods, MacBooks and so on are provided in handfuls as display items that all customers can come in and interact with. People could spend days in there browsing and playing with each item.

2. There are a handful of staff on the floor during all store hours to help customers with inquiries. Compared to other stores, Apple probably has 5 more staff out there helping customers and they actually walk around waiting for you.

3. You don't have to wait in line and if you do, it takes two minutes, whatever amount of time it takes to swipe a credit or debit card. All staff have their own little electronical devices that they use to scan the item you want. Then once your card is swiped, you follow your Apple helper to a random table in the store and they magically pull out a receipt from under the table, just for you. Its like magic!

4. The environment is really clean and simple and not overly crowded unless you go there at 6PM on a weekday or rather, 2 PM on a Saturday or Sunday... but the environment is generally really neat and basic which is nice compared to loud, large box stores like Best Buy where there is only on person in the computer department to help you and the actual roof of the store is really high and you feel like you could get lost in the high stacked aisles.

So in conclusion, I believe that in the future, Apple will still be highly successful in customer service and sales. Apple provides quality services and appeal to its audiences of all ages. But we must remember that this all stemmed from a quality product, the Apple computer, or Mac computer that exceeds all other brands of computers because of its unique, reliable and basic system that everyone appreciates, values and wants.

I Gave In and bought an Ipod Touch

I've always had mixed feelings about iPods. I'll agree, their convenient. Super convenient. Though I can't help to think that I'm deserting my long time companion, the compact disc. That was my main issue in getting an iPod,I didn't want to switch from the shelf holding the collection of CDs that I adore to a coloured thinga mi gigger with lots of "memory." I just like the simplicity of CDs. Anways, the iPod Touch.

Three reasons why I got it,
1. I ran out of space on my old iPod. Couldn't fit anymore music on it.
2. I had no idea what "Apps" are or how they worked and why they existed and frankly, I didn't think they were my thing.
3. I am a terrible Blogger and Tweeter. I thought having the iPod with a camera, would help my creativity and productivity in the Social Media sector of my life as I could load videos and photographs and perhaps get excited about loading them onto the internet to show the world.

So, in conclusion, this is a personal experiment, to see if the iPod solves the problems I`ve outlined. The picture above, is what I did on Thanksgiving, quadding :)
all photos and videos taken from my new iPod

My Hobby - Going to the Park

Many of us have different hobbies. I like reading, writing, music, and cooking but when it is 20 out, I find it hard to stay inside AND we are all lucky it has been plus 25 out this week so I made a point of spending my evenings outside. That is my hobby, not being inside and avoiding being on my computer at all costs!

Bake Sale Mayhem

I'm learning a lot of new stuff this semester. My IPP is making me take the things I learned from my time in CreComm and apply them to my daily life in order to accomplish each task. This past week, for the first time ever, I organized a bake sale. Yes, this took effort. Probably more effort for my family who supplied many of the baked goods, but I still had to arrange for a table and gather bakers and social media the crap outta it.

Things to keep in mind when arranging a bake sale:
1. Target your audience.
I targeted all the hungry students tho I kept in mind, they don't have a whole bunch of money.
as well I went after random passerbys, they help too!
2. Location.
We were located right beside the elevator. It was great. We got all the students walking through the Atrium to get to class and all the randoms who were wandering around.
3. Define your product
We provided an assortment of baked goods, from take home packs to individual cookies.
4. Promotions!Make sure to promote everything via Facebook and Twitter, it seems those are the ways kids communicate these days...

All in all, I've learned how to successfully organize a bake sale. Now for the CCMAs...

Yes! Just Asking Does Work!

I've learned within the first month of being a student in the Creative Communications program that just asking, does work. I was hesitant in asking for an interview from someone, as well as approaching others for help but after being thrown into the Bomber assignment, the Moose assignment and a couple streeters without ever interviewing for a deadline before, I learned that there was a method to Steve's madness. We, the students would get some guts and automatically, unconsciously adapt to each interview, each situation in which we had to approach someone, for something. Out of our scary experiences, we would become seasoned professionals who can work a crowd and nail an interview.

Now, in my second year, I'm back at it, but this time I am approaching companies of all kinds for help with each social my IPP partner and I put on. These events include contacting the world for silent auction prizes, venues, sponsors, volunteers, bands, and attendees (I'm sure I'm missing some other things...). I have a full 6 months ahead of me that includes approaching others for help with my LIFE since school and my IPP is my life now. But, after already dipping my toes into the world of asking, I have been reminded that yes, just asking does work, as you will see when you come to our events and see how fabulously everything came together!

Anyways, to first-years who have their first Bomber assignment this week, I give you the advice of putting yourself out there! Talk to everyone! Don't wait until the end of the game to interview, and don't be scared of anyone. You will all naturally grow into knowledgeable, well spoken individuals who can conquer each assignment Vogelsang throws at you. Each mind blowing assignment is a step towards professional you. Remember, we're CreComms, we're here for a reason, because we can handle it all and because we have a need to succeed.

And my last point is that even though you may not be a keener going into the program like myself and many of my friends were, you will be a leader of keenness when you graduate, so why not start now.

Cheers

Organic Trade Show - Organic Meadow - Good PR

This past weekend I worked at the Organic Trade show that was held at the Convention Centre. It was awesome. I was demoing product for Organic Meadow, a Canadian company based out of Ontario that works with organic farms throughout Manitoba and Ontario to produce certified organic food products such as milk, yogurt, ice cream and cheese.
Over the past couple years, I've been working for the distributor of these products, selling and promoting these products, and have grown to appreciate the sales aspect of the grocery industry.

In public relations class at Red River College we talk about bad PR and good PR and one of my peers, Jasmine gave a great presentation on a company who produces eggs for consumers in the United States. The reason why this company was struggling with bad PR was that fact that it had to recall a massive amount of it's product. The company seemed to deal with this problem in a negative way, not letting the media into it's farms, not giving details to their farming techniques and so on. While in PR class, we are taught to be honest and reveal what is important to the consumer, what makes them trust us.

After Jasmine's presentation, I thought of Organic Meadow not because of bad PR but because of how well Organic Meadows showcased the good qualities of it's company. Why I say this is because at the trade show Organic Meadow had a family from one of their local organically certified farms come and spend time there for consumers and potential investors to talk to and ask about their work. Organic Meadow brought the people that help produce their product to the show, to the consumer, so that the consumer could ask whatever they wanted and see exactly who is taking care of the cows that produce the milk that they drink, etc. I thought it was a great PR tool because it really connected the brand with the consumer, plus the family had the two cutest kids ever, and they wore little Organic Meadow shirts, so cute.

Marker Social Time!

It's that time again people!
The annual fall bash is back and we want you to join us at the Shannon's Irish Pub Friday, October 15th for some good ole' quality bonding time and by that, we mean, writing on your friends with marker!
It is a great way to share some laughs, meet new people and mingle with old friends.
We invite everyone, friends, family, and other faculties to join in on the good times.

Visit ccmaonline.ca for more updates on when and where you can get your tickets.

Last year's Pics!

Volcano Pics, pretty amazing

And so it begins...

Blow your mind volcano pictures

The Awesomeness of Lite-Brite

When was the last time you busted out a classic toy from your childhood?
Well as a gift to myself, on my birthday, I unleashed the awesomeness of Lite-Brite into my living room and these were the results,
A beach scene complete with boat and palm tree.
Excellent.

Quit it Nostradamus

So every week I end up watching this terrible show, the Nostradamus Effect. Now I'm sure many people will disagree with my quite opinionated statement but it's true, it is a frightening and in turn, terrible show.
I label it terrible because it delivers the horrific news that the world will end, soon.
The Nostradamus Effect interprets the many predictions that Nostradamus made centuries ago. I find the predictions are pretty vague and that they can be interpreted in so many different ways, it is crazy. The show is crazy.
So recently I saw in the news that a volcano erupted in Iceland, a large and intense volcano.
In a previous episode of The Nostradamus Effect, they discussed how the world will start succumbing to natural disasters and bad bad things will happen as a result.
With all the earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes erupting, I am scared and the show makes me nervous.
Take a gander.
Also, I love how people are concerned with tourism instead of how the world is consumed with war and natural disasters, check out this article.
---->

Here Comes The Sun

The sun is here and so is my birthday :)
But wait, every year since I can remember it has snowed on my birthday...
So, I suppose we will have to see what happens...
In the meantime, I will decorate my apartment with bouquets from Safeway and jam out to the Beatles AND patiently watch my outdoor pool thaw.
Hurray.

IPP Presentations: Two Thumbs Up!

Yes spring is just around the corner and there is a lot to be happy about. The end of winter, almost the end of the school year and for the 2nd years, its the end of the IPP craziness!
Seeing everyone present their projects over the past couple days has been really awesome. Not only am I excited to start my own project but I am excited for the 2nd years as well, everyone rocked it!
What blows me away is how much everyone looked like professionals on stage. To me, us first years are just rookies and seeing the second years on stage really encouraged me as a student to embrace my studies. I can't wait to be those people next year on stage, with all that experience and just great personality and presentation skills. Even though many presenters were scared at first, everyone did a great job presenting.
You guys had so much fun and did such a good job with your presentations.
Congrats to you all!!
Lets go first years! we can do this!

Aww Not My Water!

I awoke one morning to my cat drinking out of my water glass. It's one of those moments where you roll over and think to yourself, "Ugh, I suppose he's been doing that for a while..."
Yes there's a good chance I've drank a number of violated glasses of water on my many late night moments of thirst.
My solution:
I put a coaster over my glass now.

What the... ?

This was forwarded to me via email. Two teachers gettin too rowdy at a pep rally in a school, in Winnipeg. What were these teachers thinking? Absolutely ridiculous. Teachers are role models and should try their best not to get caught up in stuff like this. I think it would not have been that bad if it didn't go on for like a solid minute and yeah, it got kind of... weird.

Check It.

Lovin the Olympic Apparel

So lately I have kinda been an Olympic junky, ignoring my blog, family, the gym... but it is for good reasons. I'm supporting my country! :D
I love how Canada has embraced the Olympics and really made it unique to Canada. While watching Brian Williams the other day I noticed the interior design of the set, so laid back, a nice fake fire place in the background, an area rug, some super simple couches meanwhile the people he's interviewing are wearing sweatpants and hoodies. I think it's great.
After watching the hockey game last night, Canada against Germany, Canadian ski-cross queen Ashleigh McIvor was interviewed and to my surprise she was sporting sweat pants.
Canada is putting a nice spin on the attire of the Olympics and I'm lovin it. Today, I am going to buy some apparel for myself. Maybe my next blog pic will be me wearing sweatpants and a touque. Go Canada Go!

Facebook vs. Twitter

Because I am a communications student I don't have much choice when it comes to immersing myself in all that is media. With the many different vehicles of social media, I try my best to stay involved, even when I'm a terrible tweeter and a slacker of a blogger, yeah I'll admit it...
To me, there are major differences in the various forms of social media. Facebook for example is a fun and very personal way of networking. You meet new people, you add them, you look at their profile, see pictures and create a schema of this person. Bottom line: you get to know them depending on how they have presented themselves in their profile.
While with Twitter you try to find a person, add them and then what? You read their profile... yeah... and then you see little blurbs of what they like or what they're doing or what they're pondering about. But you if you start following celebrities, who even knows if that is the actual celebrity tweeting all that stuff. There's a good chance it's some PR person tweeting for them.
Now in the world of public relations, I can see how Twitter is a valuable form of media. It connects you with others for one. The most important factor, I think, is that in the case of publicity, and something happening to a celebrity or organization, the celebrity or organization involved can respond whichever way they like. Say if I had a lot of followers because I was a celebrity and the papers accused me of doing something terrible. Depending on how I responded on Twitter, Facebook and on my blog, I could either get good or bad responses which equal good or bad publicity.
So in order to stay in the game, stay involved and on top of things, you really have to take part in all vehicles of social media, not just one.
Now in the case of "good" people to have as a friend or to follow, I really don't think there is such thing. If you refer to good as a person that updates their status on a regular bases then, the majority of people you're following and facebooking are "good" people.
In a public relations perspective, "good" people to have as friends and followers would be accomplished business people, companies, organizations, etc that play a role in your career. Take the media for example, I am a communications student so I want to follow CBC to be kept updated on events, etc. that is one thing CBC and I now have in common, you follow them on Twitter and you're a fan of them on Facebook. Bingo. You're in the game, you're on their tail and they like it.
Facebook adn Twitter is a form of communication that works is so many different ways. Both are beneficial to the profession of PR because both connect business to audience, person to person, company to company, provider to consumer. These forms of social media, take us out of our little bubbles and connect us to the world around us, get involved!

Why Bamboo Is The Best

Last year I moved in with a room mate and we went crazy with plants. We had some palm tree kind of plant, a couple ivy plants, a violet, and another plant that had some pink in it. Yeah, that one didn't survive. ALL our plants struggled except the bamboo. I still have it to this day and it is flourishing!

The first year I moved to the city, I moved in with my bachelor cousin. He asked me to get some decor for the place: candles, plants and such. So I did. I bought candles and a cactus and a bamboo. That was two years ago.. When I went over to my cousin's house for steaks a month ago, I saw my bamboo and it was alive! Perfect!

So everyone, bamboo are the way to go if you want to add a little decor and you want people to think you know how to take care of plants, all ya gotta do is water it from time to time and my cat even uses the bamboo vase as a water dish! Two birds with one stone, nice
:)

Enjoy

The following pictures are of those I took for a school project that I really ended up enjoying. These are the reasons why...

I like the first one because it combines many things that I enjoy. Wine, my cellphone, the living room in general, the remotes for the tv and that big whack of cds in the background as well as the door to the balcony because the balcony is where it's at.

In the second photo, I really like the shadow of the guitar against the speaker and I really enjoy the cerulean colour of the Gibson guitar. Its a beaut.

Music an leisure activities = good

In The Chamber...

I've never been to a play like the one I attended last Thursday at the Rachel Browne Theatre. The play consisted of two sets, Part One: Last Man in Krakendorf (Gordon Tanner) and Part Two: Last Man in Puntarenas (Steven Ratzlaff).
Both were Monologues... Both 50 minutes each...

I want to state that the acting was good. It was intense, emotional and well done. But that is about it.

Each set had a very intense underlying message that frankly, I didn't feel overly connected to. Now I will admit that I was physically and emotionally tired arriving at the venue which probably didn't help me care too much about anything but I'll just give my honest opinion.

What kept me from dozing off in the first set was all the random swearing. The topic, I didn't like. It was like the audience was witnessing some guy giving some other guy shit for being the head hauncho of some terrible company. It was a lecture. I felt like I was at school. There was a power point and all. Not for me thanks. When I think of the theatre, I think of an enjoyable and relaxing time. Yes I do like different topics. I'm aware that not all theatre is romance or friendship or whatever but the topic, hogs, was just odd and it threw me right off.

After the first set, I didn't mind the second. The topic was more personal and the actual story didn't include nasty hog pictures and vulgar swearing. The actual set of the play was also better.

All in all, I like the theatre but these plays just didn't do anything for myself. The main problem for me was that the script was too much like a lecture and the topics, too boring and dry. I really didn't care about what the characters were ranting about. But who knows, maybe it'd float your boat.

But people, let us make things clear here. Like movies, music, articles, etc., ya see things ya like and ya see things ya don't like, doesn't mean you should stop seeing those genre of things. In summary, I'll still go to the theatre even though when this play was over I was too mentally exhausted to stick around for free wine and cheese. Lessons learnt.

Great Music Video Concepts..

I came across these two videos and thought, these are a couple neat concepts.
The first video is so simple and I think it is really fun.
The song has a good beat as well. I also really dig the groovy dancing.
I'm sure you will too.

Friendly Fire - Skeleton Boy


The second video is weird because the first minute is just Jack White walking through a field with a machine gun in hand. The elements of the video are so random and well, odd. Machine guns, and the suburbs. interesting.. Like other Dead Weather videos, there's a lot of randomness. But that's what makes the video so different and the Dead Weather so bad ass. Though I think the video would have been better if the two characters were dueling it out in a desert.. But check it out for yourself!
This vid is kinda intense so watch yourself!

The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother

Pretty Pretty Woman

You know the Wonderful Wedding Show held at the Convention Center every year? Well the guide is now out and to my delight, a former CreComm and good friend of mine, Lara Reimer is on the cover! I cannot wait to see what else is inside!

check it out

Media Circus

2010. These days a lot of people want to and can create their own media circus within the public eye. Celebrities want money, they want attention, they want their names in things. You and I can both agree, this race for the public's love and the media's attention is entertaining. We can name many celebrities and companies that have made their mark in the past. Spears, Madonna, Kanye West, Paris Hilton, and how they made their mark, wasn't all just by chance... pseudo events are the golden key to all that is fame.

Here is an actually good event.
sponsored by Red Bull. The event: 2010 New Years World Record

Famous extreme sports professional Travis Pastrana sets a new world record by jumping his Subaru rally car 269 feet across some sort of sport field, landing onto a floating ramp.

This event was effective because:
1) Travis Pastrana has been in the public eye for years. He has had a successful career in extreme sports and has a wide demographic of fans.
2) people love him because he is crazy
3) people know and love Red Bull not just for it's trend setting energy drink but also because Red Bull have sponsored many extreme sport events
4) Red Bull and Pastrana set a world record on New Years! wicked!

What made this event newsworthy is the factor that the entire event was to set a world record on an already very popular and pumped up day. With the help of Pastrana, the event was a complete hit. Red Bull gets recognized for sponsoring the event, Pastrana gets his name in the books and everyone is super stoked, hurrah.

Red Bull went over the top. Many events were hosted on New Years but did those events include jumping a car over field and landing on a platform floating on water? Nope. Brilliant.

Check it.