my stratmark experience

2 out of 5 stars = ( for the total experience

First, kudos to me for being able to wake up VERY early (5 am, man!) despite having to sleep very late (2 am..or is it very early? hehe). See, I can be a morning person with the right impetus! As I said, I had to manage my time very well so that I can arrive at the venue early as I knew that there'd be a lot of students..

My bro and I arrived 30 minutes before the start of the program; sadly, I couldn't go in just yet because my ticket was with Lysa - who was forever in EDSA! hehe = ) Anyway, Lysa and her friend arrived at around 9am and we still had to wait for another friend of theirs. Remember, I'm only "singit" here and I have to adjust to their scheds. We were able to get inside Araneta at around 9.30 through the backdoor after a few rounds of waiting, sitting at Starbucks, a few wrong turns at the coliseum, finally ordering at Starbucks and whew we found our seats (thanks so much to her classmates Giselle and Marvin who reserved the seats!)

We all were able to get in beyond an hour late but guess who was more surprised? Yes folks, the program was just about to begin! Although disappointed that the PMA-led event followed "Filipino time", I was partly happy that after all that happened that morning (with the waiting and all) I was still given the chance to listen to all the presentations.

THE BAD.
- too much echo from audio their voices just seem garbled
- crowd/guest control was just not right (e.g. if people would say they're going to the lower box seats to watch they wouldn't be let in vs if you tell the ushers that you'll just buy from taco bell in the lower box area
- super cute (i mean super small) fonts used in presentations...even with 20/25 vision, hey, I'm not superwoman!
- the food was just..oh no don't want to comment anymore about it

THE SUPERBAD.
I guess superbad has something to do with my expectations. I came to the conference because I thought that I'd be able to learn new things from the presentors. But all that learning was made very difficult by people who went there only for the sake of required attendance or just for a field day. Some thought it was a way to sashay down an imaginary catwalk and strut their stuff.

It's just so sad that I guess majority of the students there did not share the same intentions as mine. boohoo! I'm not trying to be self-righteous here or anything to that effect..what I mean is that if you will be shelling out Php 400.00 and a whole day for this event, might as well make the most of it!

- students passing around copies of FHM to pass the time
- boisterous laughter for I don't know what reason!
- students generally not paying attention to the presentations
- very very short attention span! (ADHD rampant!)

THE GOOD.
Despite all the bads and the superbads (and then some - which i don't want to mention here anymore), I would like to commend the PMA and the member schools for being able to put up an event like this and manage the logistics and everything else. Wish they could make it more economical especially for those students who don't have much.

A presentor commented that PMA changed how conferences should be and thereby made it available to more students..yes I agree that it was really jampacked BUT, is this method effective?

Hopefully in the following years, PMA could change or tweak some more the way they want conferences to be:

* Effective at driving their point and conducive to the learning process
* High student attendance and not just by "hoarding" students to the venue..isn't there an 'optimal' level for things?
* Profitable without milking students dry - more partners perhaps?
* More professional-looking presentations ... keynote, anyone?

I hope this can be remedied sooner than later so that students will not be traumatized and get the value for their money when the time comes that they'll be able to say, "It's so worth it and more!"

StratMark (July 29, 2008 | 8-5 | Araneta)

Serendipity is what I call this!

For the past two weeks, my brother has been waving a ticket he says is for StratMark which I totally gave no attention to because I thought it was purely college stuff and well - I'm not in college anymore.

I'm so glad that I caught Lysa (dyosa) online JUST NOW! and we talked about it and turns out it's big stuff, organized by the Philippine Marketing Association (PMA) no less!! They're so lucky the famous "Doc Nards" invited them personally to attend this event while Sir Benny..hmm, may have forgotten to inform us about this altogether..

So, curiosity and spontaneity got the better of me. I decided to scrap all my plans for tomorrow (not that I had any important matters to attend to save for an interview which I wanted to esacpe from...bad!) and just be there in Araneta to attend this conference and yeah, skip the interview *lol*

At my age, I'm lucky I can still camouflage myself into a sea of college students = ) but still be able to bring it with my masters classmates.

Excited excited!! I have to wake up extra early tomorrow so that my bro will not leave me in the house harhar..but then again, his ticket is with me so I guess he has no other choice! = 0

Details of the event:

StratMark (Strategic Marketing Conference and Competition)
29 July 2008 | 8am - 5pm | Araneta Coliseum

credits to PMA for this

TOSHIBA Warehouse Sale! (Jul 31 - Aug 1 '08)

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click on the image to view the map


**Major Credit Cards Accepted**

where have all the children gone?

is this the little girl i carried,

is this the little boy at play?
i don't remember growing older,
when did they?

-Sunrise, Sunset from The Fiddler on the Roof

Time seems to be moving at an UNconstant rate. It does not feel like it's ticking with a fixed interval..sometimes it's oh so slow and sometimes you never know just what hit you. Wasn't it only a few years back when I had to don a high school uniform everyday, making new friends and sharing my life (and of course my food) with them? Those were the days when I only had to worry about my homeworks and exams - no heavy stuff! Fast forward 10 years, nothing really is the same!

I wasn't able to keep all the friendships I made from those years of my life but luckily I've managed to maintain a network of very close friends. Some I have lost track of...some of them I only see through Friendster. When I see their pictures and the updates on what is happening now in their lives - where they're working, who's the current boyfriend/boytoy/fling...I feel transported back to our days of innocence and bliss - the happy feelings that high school just keeps on giving and giving. Of course I feel happy but when all the memories flood my mind, sometimes I can't help but feel melancholic and long for that kind of life again..it makes me smile but it makes me pine for those days and my friends as well.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that 1 of them has gotten married already (and didn't invite me! hmmph...kidding!) and 2 of them are already moms or soon to be moms!! There seems to be a disconnect in my mind probably because I never saw the events unfolding with my eyes or probably because to me we still are the happy high schoolers, unmindful of the things that are happening outside our walled school...

I'm happy for them both as I'm sure they are also happy with their lives now. It's just that it has never been more certain than now that we cannot anymore go round and round our batibot (aside from the fact that it's not THE batibot anymore), or talk for hours with our nightly telebabad (gushing forever about our crushes and the latest nakakainis girl), attend marian campings (i believe the sisters of st. paul abolished this one...) or just do whatever underneath the sky that's above SPCP (labo no?!)

To the new moms, Rain and Joanne, I salute you and wish you all the best..the oft-spoken phrase, "Ninang ako ah!" will now see fruition.

Baby Mama Joanne, Baby Daddy Rhecster and Baby Sophia Ysabelle

Baby Mama Rain and the baby boy growing inside her tummy

it pays to ask

omigosh i have literally spent an entire day worrying (again) whether i was doing the right thing or not. you see i have to report on developing marketing strategies tomorrow for my masters (marketing management) class.

i pretty much got everything in the bag except for one sub-topic: types of strategies for primary and selective demand. i kept searching and searching my memory if i have encountered this topic during my college days...hmmm..NOPE! i asked around to check if my friends have tackled this too well it turns out that this is a phantom subject! kidding! hehe..imagine it's written clearly in the syllabus but i can't find it anywhere - not in our book, not in the other books (i borrowed 4 from the library), not in the internet!!

the only thing that stuck to my mind were porter's basic strategies and for a good 4 hours i had decided to bet on that path. yet and still a feeling that something's wrong kept lingering..so i thought that something definitely was wrong.

i was getting frustrated that i can't find the answers in these books little did i realize that maybe i was searching for the wrong things or maybe i was searching the wrong way..guess what, i was doing both!

i researched again on the topic and found a new set of answers..somewhat related to the first but they're still world's apart ---> product life cycle strategies. now it felt wrong-er..which should i choose?

this just made me realize that even in the advent of the internet or of subject indexes at the end of each book, you still have to use that thing between your ears to process the information available to you and make something intelligent out of it. life should not be mechanical or automatic at least in this sense. just because we're having things easy, we should not let go of our human functions of curiosity, analytical thinking and resourcefulness.

just because the topic is written that way doesn't mean that it would also appear that way in the book and in the internet.

of course, if you really can't find the answer within...what are teachers for? so to stop this nagging feeling (you know of doubt, of worry, helplessness) i called up my prof to verify if it was indeed the PLC strategies..bingo! got it!!

felt more like a challenger on survivor or other reality tv shows..you're only given the problem, the riddle and the clues..it's up to you to solve it = )

=======================

Update!! Update!! ---download my presentation below--

The report went okay! Or more than okay I should say = ) I'm glad and proud I was able to do it by myself successfully (while some groups were in 2's or 3's..i did this by myself because my groupmate quit masters this early!!)

For those who would need a reference material, here's the copy of my Keynote presentation (in pdf version). Please click on the link to go to the download page:

>>Developing Marketing Strategies

the psychology (pathology) seminar

Today I had a blast to be with 70 or so delightful kids for the psychology seminar that my friend and classmate Don, had arranged. It was held at the Pope Pius XXII hall (U.N. Ave., Manila) and although it was raining, I'm really glad that attendance was 99%!!

Me, a resource speaker? Yeah it was my first time to do it I guess..even more shocking I suppose were the topics assigned to me: cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus and mental retardation. It took me a week to research and read up on the topics (no matter how draining they were) and a couple of days to put together my presentation.

I'm really thankful to have been given that chance to share a part of myself to those kids. I also love that although these were "nosebleed-inducing" topics, they were able to listen intently and participate in the discussion. Most of all, their very welcoming attitude and their playfulness. = )
I just hope that all the things I have shared to them, they will be able to apply in their lives.

Just too bad I don't have a picture huh?! Well, as they say, there's always next time!

To the kids if you're reading this, download the file after this jump>>

the powers of friendster

Remember the survey I was ranting about?

Well, I need to finish that soon...as in soon! For now the areas of concern are Quezon City, Muntinlupa and Las Pinas. I'm glad that someone gave me a bright idea (i think...i suppose it is and it should work!) to use Friendster to accomplish this endeavor.

I'm really preventing myself from having to waste a whole day in Mcdonald's or Jollibee or in some mall ambushing people for this survey so I'm giving this game plan a shot. As you know, Friendster has millions of Filipino users - and counting. What's good about this plan is that I don't have to disturb everybody by sending mass e-mails/personal messages which might only make me look like a spammer; prospected survey respondent's profile can be actually streamlined to target just who we need. And even better - I can do it in the confines of my home while the respondents can also accomplish the survey with the same comfort.

Bright idea isn't it? I *heart* Friendster!

As for the success or hit rate...I'll let you know next time!

Thanks in advance to everyone nice enough to accommodate my request!

=========
By the way, if ever there are helpful visitors in this area, kindly help me with the surveys by clicking on these links:

Please click this link to download the Survey Form

thanks super!!!

change of blog design/template

Hi everyone, although I had much fun with the blog template I was previously using (Thank you very much to Isnaini [Music]) you know the one where it was all white/gray, with a girl in the corner listening to music through very big earphones and over-all zen-ish feel..unfortunately I had to retire it already.

Reasons:

• It's not that easy to customize / manipulate
• If I was highly knowledgeable in HTML it might have worked for me but I simply don't have the time to learn all that stuff
• Well...there are lots of options which are much easier to use (such as the ones already here in blogger)
• If one would want to earn through blogging, I realized that that template was not the most effective one to use. = p

Actually, the single most important (underlying) reason is simply everything I learned from the Internet Marketing Workshop of Jomar Hilario that I attended today. I would love to blog about it now but DAY 2 is not for tomorrow...so just hang on and I'll probably post the things I learned here..(why not?)

adidas is IN, universidad is OUT!

DLSU Marketing Communication Office
Have replies sent to the DLSU MCO

TO: THE DLSU ACADEMIC COMMUNITY

Part of our recent partnership with adidas Philippines is the license to exclusively use the University's registered and applied trademarks to co-brand official DLSU merchandise such as t-shirts, jackets, caps, and jerseys, among others. All other entities are prohibited from the production and the commercial selling of merchandise bearing DLSU trademarks.

As such, please be advised that Jardy Marketing, as a manufacturer of the brand Universidad, is no longer authorized to produce and sell merchandise bearing DLSU trademarks. Please do not patronize their DLSU products, for they continue to deprive the University the opportunity to raise funds that will support efforts to provide more scholarships to the less privileged. Their refusal to abide by the rules of trademark ownership and intellectual property are considered illegal, and therefore, must not be condoned.

Thank you for your support.

------------

There you go..so from now on forward, please patronize only DLSU sporting products made by Adidas Philippines..not just for trademark issue...it's for a good cause (education advocacy or scholarships for the less privileged!)

i can cook pala!

I spent most of my morning worrying on things I should do and things I should have done concerning my masters and my other extra-curricular activities. I know it's a bad thing to do to keep on worrying but sometimes it's the first thing one does upon realizing that your pending tasks are indeed worrisome. = )

For starters I was supposed to go the whole nine yards to survey (the S word!) moms from all over the Metro. It's good that I have 2 other very efficient and reliable groupmates (Hi Crissy and Don!!) but this task (survery close to 300 people) we had to divide among us three. I know I should have started the past weekend but physically, I just couldn't. But I'm all better now and am really raring to tick this off my to-do list - only to realize that I might have started too late. Looking at my assigned areas is enough to make one's head go loco loco!! Add to that the sheer number of respondents I have to accomplish!

1. Mandaluyong - got this covered since I'm from here
   
2. Manila - bf got this covered (thanks so much baby!! super life-saver..more on that later)
   
3. San Juan
4. Las Pinas
5. Muntinlupa
6. Pasig
7. Pateros
8. Quezon City

It was just so overwhelming for me, I guess that my mind went to panic mode!! In times like this, who ya gonna call?? I'm so glad that there are very generous and gracious friends who were more than willing to help a crazed and dazed girl!

Really it felt more like a test on how well you'll be able to manage logistics, time and your network. So instead of me having to go around like a headless chicken, thinking how to juggle all these activities, I stopped my panicked self, sat myself down and just really fixed my gameplan. So since photocopying is much cheaper in the UST area, bf got on to it. He'll take 20 and distribute to his classmates. My brother (also studying in UST) will bring home the rest for me and will also distribute some to his friends. Internet power was also maximized as I sent copies to my former officemates and classmates. As Bo Sanchez said, if you just bite-size things and plan ahead, everything seems more manageable - indeed I agree!

But before I calmed down to that level, I paced the house like crazy thinking and worrying of all those to-do list that I simply had to go out and do something! And then I remembered the episode on Quickfire (a QTV-11 production) where they made a simple (read: easy to cook like I can make this on my own) and seemingly delectable dish (EVOO fried chicken breast fillet, with taco salsa, cheddar cheese, buttered corn) which I intended to make this weekend. But it can't wait anymore so off I went to Pure Gold (just a Php 8.00 jeepney ride away) and bought the stuff needed. Despite the possibility of rain, I went anyway.

Not a pro in the kitchen department but I think I did a pretty good job cooking it. The second version tasted better - and everyone in the household gave a thumbs up! I'm so happy! = ) This is the first time I realized that cooking has its calming, soothing effect too! And the happiness grows once you see everyone enjoy the food!

THE VERDICT:
1. Mom: Do this again on saturday and I'll give some to Tita Rica for her to try
2. Dad: Uno!

With a fuller tummy, and a less-tense me..now I can concentrate on my next immediate task:

preparing for my pathology presentation for sunday!!
will write more about this by sunday! gosh i'm excited! (wheee!!)

and my second immediate task:

my (masters) presentation on developing marketing strat!

======================
so no to panic-stricken, downtrodden, tense spirits and YES to cooking, eating and enjoying!

The case of the chori burger fix

I don't know why I've grown hungry tonight, probably because I had been sick for the last 4 days (and i need all the nourishment i can get..yeah!!) but I feel that my stomach has hit this state of emptiness - like vacuum empty!! Could be the coffee or the medicines I took..I really don't know.

What I know is that out of this hunger grew a deep craving for....CHORI BURGER!!! But I know it's only available in Boracay so I began my search for the chori burger recipe. Spent an hour looking for it in the internet but to no avail. What I found were only pictures of it and how other people longed for it too - both of which only intensified my craving..big time!

That's me enjoying every bit of my chori burger and jonah's shake in Bora (Mar 2008)

But not to despair...I found out that although I may not get the real thing as of now, there are worthy alternatives. From other people's blog I discovered that I need not board a plane to bora just to eat chori chori burger..all it takes is a drive to Metrowalk or an MRT ride to Trinoma and I can eat (read: hoard) all the choris I want from Bun on the Run (BoTR)!! Well, that plus a great deal of other burgers to try next time - Brother's Burger, Bite Club, Cafe Breton's Mozzarella burger...oh the list goes on and on and on...

I just hope the chori burger tastes as Boracay-ly (not the sand okay?) as the one I had in Bora. Otherwise I'd be forced to concoct my own recipe. Now I just need to go get a fix of Jonah's mango milk shakes!

Jonah's pricelist (Mar 2008). What's your favorite shake?