Challenge yourself during the winter break

I've read a couple of articles and blogs online about preparing for Christmas and it inspired me to give some of my own advice before parting ways for the winter break.

CreCommland is a very busy place where students spit out tons of work every week. I'm sure the amount of brain energy one CreCommer uses in a week can be measured in thousands of kilojoules of energy (where 1 kJ = 1000 joules).

Before I get lost in the chemistry of this blog post, I'd like to make the point that CreComms shouldn't just sit on their talented butts the entire winter break. There are a variety of things a CreComm can do to stay on top of their CreComm game, keeping them fresh and ready to go for the semester to come. After all, this is summer break so don't completely shut off your brain!

Here are some tips you can do to be on your CreComm game:

1) Use the break to catch up on exercise. I'm a firm believer of keeping a healthy body would keep your mind (and soul) healthy in the long run. But it all starts with making the right decisions this holiday season. I'm not going to tell you to skip the gravy boat at your Christmas dinner but try not to eat excessively. Start the year right and maybe jump start your New Year's resolution of eating healthy. I know this is easier said than done but actively thinking about it is definitely a positive step towards reaching your goal.

2) Relax and do what makes you happy. As part of cooling down the machine (your brain) that powered you through the first semester of this school year, remember to spend some time doing the things that you've always wanted to do during the semester but didn't have to time to. Read a book, watch a movie, play video games, knit a sweater - whatever floats your boat. Use the time to recollect on the busy semester and think about how you conducted yourself through the hard times. What worked? What didn't work? What are some of the key learning points you took away from the semester? How can you improve yourself for the next semester? Do all this as you find your "inner zen" as some people might call it. This is the part where you get to do whatever you want but remember not to over indulge.

3) CreComm revisited. There's no better time to reorganize your notes and update your resume and portfolio than the time given to us during the winter break. I realize there are a lot of commitments during the holiday season but finding the time to do all this is the challenge I'm talking about. Remember, you used to be able to write a proposal, make a presentation, write an article, and blog all in the same week. I'm sure finding the time to leisurely work on your resume or portfolio wouldn't be as difficult. Hint: it requires less thinking!

It would also be wise to use the time during the winter break to update assignments and see where the work could be improved to make it a portfolio piece. For some people, this time period will be used up to work on their IPPs. Some people might finally have the opportunity to look for a part time or seasonal job to earn extra cash to help pay for tuition, supplies, etc. Some people are legitimately doing work here at the college even before students come back for second semester (the Projector editors). Dianne Livingston suggested to students taking her web design course next semester to practice on Dreamweaver so the skills we learned are kept fresh.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure that what you're doing has purpose. No sense doing it if your heart is not into it.

Of course, these are just suggestions on what to do over the winter break. I'm not not, by any means, telling students this is what they should do or worry about being on top of the CreComm program. I already know some people that wouldn't do anything at all during the winter break and I know when they come back they would be feeling refreshed and ready for another hard semester. All I ask is for you to have a plan and don't just waste the three weeks of break we have. It will fly by faster than you think!

Your telephone number should be BlackBerry friendly

I'm sure I'm not the first person that this has happened to.

Try calling 1-888-AIR-MILES from your smartphone. If they call them smartphones, why can't a BlackBerry dial the customer service number for Air Miles? Or did Air Miles not anticipate this would be a problem with QWERTY keyboards?

The reason I was trying to contact Air Miles was to redeem some points towards a cordless phone set as a present for Christmas (yeah I know, I'm cheap but I'm also a student!). The customer experience I had was less than satisfactory because the mailer I got only had the number above to contact Air Miles. At least if you're going to use the spelling of the company in your telephone number then provide an alternate numerical equivalent of the contact number on the mailer.

iPhones didn't have this problem because its keypad still displayed the letters that corresponded to each number = 2 is to ABC, 2 is to DEF, 3 is GHI, etc.

1 point iPhone, 0 BlackBerry.

So going back to accessibility options for customers, it looked like the best option for Air Miles at this point was to also include the numeric equivalent of the word A-I-R-M-I-L-E-S in their contact info - especially for material where customers would be more likely to call in for redeeming their Air Miles points.

Come fly with me

Semester 4 of my Creative Communications journey will be kick start with a work placement at Winnipeg Airports Authority.

As I recollect the events in the fall of 2005 until winter of 2006, I couldn't help but wonder where I would have ended had I pursued a career in aviation. When I left Providence College, I vowed I would return to the aviation field once more. This work placement is key to achieving that dream.

The first round of work placements for second year CreComms start on January 3 to January 21 with the second round happening in April 11 to 29 with the hopes of landing a job after the three week placement.

Getting placed in WAA was exactly where I wanted to be. Students were able to choose from different types of organizations varying from corporate, not-for-profit, government, to name a few. They were asked to number their preference and a work placement advisor was assigned to each CreComm student.

Melanie Lee Lockhart is my work placement advisor and was able to get me a spot in WAA. I will be reporting to Melanie and keeping her updated with my learning progress at WAA. Christine Alongi, Director, Communications & Public Affairs, will be my contact and supervisor during my work placement in January.

Looking at WAA's web site, I am amazed by the number of social media outlets WAA has. WAA has a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook page, and a YouTube channel. How cool WAA!

I don't have expectations of what I'm going to be doing at WAA but I'm hoping I get to do some social media and communicate the idea that travel by air is safe and passengers can actually have a pleasant experience at the airport if they are better prepared.

Having previous experience flying in planes allow me to be the passenger, the pilot, and the flight attendant. OK, maybe not a flight attendant. True story: I applied to become an air traffic controller in 2008. Working at WAA will be very interesting and engaging for me because of all these previous experience in the aviation industry. This time around, I can't wait to be learning from and working at the organization that controls how airports in Winnipeg are operated.

To get my head in the clouds, I'm posting some pics from my flight training experience at Harv's Air in Steinbach.

A fraction of Harv's fleet

Airplanes have names called identifiers. This airplane is called Delta Tango Alpha (DTA)

Cessna 152s only have room for two people

As the airplane climbs from the end of the runway

Not a lot to see out in Steinbach, Manitoba

View as the airplane leaves the runway behind

Are puzzles editing too?

Yes they are.

We went through three different types of vacuums in the last seven days, trying to find the one that sucks the most - haha.

In an effort to return the products in its original packaging, I had to carefully remember how the vacuum was positioned and packaged in the box.

The first one was a Hoover and it was easy. The box was nice and big and the vacuum itself was sandwiched between two Styrofoam wedges with all the attachments and instruction manual thrown on top. We had to return it because it kept shutting off on me after just five minutes of use.

The second vacuum felt just right - it had a good price and it was feather-light. The only problem was it sounded like a lawn mower. My neighbour four houses down would know when vacuum day was; it was so loud. So back to Canadian Tire it went. This was were I struggled.

As you can see, the people at Dirt Devil invested more time on designing the packaging than making sure the vacuum operated on a satisfactory noise level. It was such a pain to figure out how to put this demon back into its original packaging. It felt like I had to cram 100 pieces in a square the size of a shoebox. It was very annoying to say the least. I wondered if this was part of Dirt Devil's effort to dissuade consumers from returning their product for a refund.

That's when I thought trying to figure how this thing fit was like a puzzle and how a puzzle was like editing because you keep editing your steps in order to reach the end point you had drawn in your mind.

When you have an idea of how a puzzle is supposed to look like, you put that image in your head then try to recreate that image by working backwards. Before you know it, the image you had in your mind is created before your eyes. Puzzle solved! Amazing Eman!

So, armed with post-modernism in one hand and patience with the other, I solve the vacuum puzzle and managed to find the proper place in the box for all the tools. The boxed closed nicely and taped back together. The beast was put back into its cage.

The third vacuum was eventually purchased from Future Shop and proved to be the winner of the vacuum challenge. It was another Hoover brand vacuum, top of the line in its class ;)

The CreComm connection

As the semester wraps up, I can't help but think about my future outside of CreCommland. I'm sure gonna miss it!

I was speaking with Desiree earlier this afternoon about how CreComm forced us to make friends; forced to mingle with, and eventually got to know the people in our major.  There are a lot of amazing people, not only in my PR class but also in all of Creative Communications.

Desiree and I discussed that the connections you make in CreComm are invaluable connections because without CreComm, we all wouldn't have met. CreComm is a place where every single person in the program was hand selected by a panel of instructors who thought they all had something in common. In my first year as a Creative Communications student, I looked around my class and thought if it weren't for CreComm, I would never be friends with some of these people - they are just not my type. When in reality, we are all the same type - the CreComm type.

As the program ends next semester, I'm already thinking about what I would miss the most - the everyday interaction with my CreComm-type friends at Red River College. Only in CreComm are we able to see each other EVERYDAY, partly because we have to for class. It is because of this consistent time together that we are able to get to know each other, some even forming bonds that would last our lifetime.

It is also nice to know that there are other types like myself: creative and competitive, and that we have dominated the Manitoba market. I'm not sure yet if this is good or bad because dominating means fewer jobs for our graduating class. What I do know is that if I ever need support, the CreComm Mafia is always there to help - and occasionally, take out a few people.

The connections you make in Crecommland could come in handy later on when you are working at your dream job. Even if you feel you haven't made enough friends or feel that you haven't come out of your shell to show everyone what you're really like, rest assured the words "I went to CreComm!" goes a long way in making new friends.

Make the last semester count!

Auto correct function on cellphone more like auto mistake function

Ever tried to text a message only to send the wrong message, making you think you should have not sent a message at all?

I was told about the website called "Damn You Auto Correct!" and there's some truth in there.

If you ever thought you were safe with your predictive text feature on your cellphone when composing text messages, think again. Even though you'd probably never make a spelling error, you have an increased chance that you wouldn't get your message through. This was because the predictive text feature would try to predict what you were trying to spell by the pattern of your keystrokes.

See below for the unfortunate (but funny) auto correct victims:

This hasn't happened to me personally because I know enough to set my sms composing options and turned off predictive text capabilities.

If there was one thing to learn here, that would be never to trust your cellphone's auto correct function (or computer's) and always check your writing by giving it a read :)

Happy textile texting.

How to create a public relations plan

I was driving on the way to the airport to pick up my sister when I thought about what to blog. Then I thought about the word 'relations' in PR and how that pointed to building relationships.

So for the sake of my own amusement, I Google searched "How to make public relationships". Here was a snapshot of the website I found:

The article from the website was titled "How to Create a Public Relations Plan" actually had some useful information. It talked about the key points to know like finding a person in the organization to represent the company; developing a media contact list; determining your organization's key messages; knowing your company's key audiences; support the key messages by using effective tools like news releases and corporate events; and finally, have a plan for crises.

Was this how public relation-ships were built? By doing all these things effectively?

When I was interviewed for a seasonal position last Christmas, I was asked why customer service was important. I replied:

"I think customer service is important because there are a lot of companies competing for the same market these days (in retail). I think companies should focus on having excellent customer service values to retain the store's customers. It is more expensive for companies to acquire new customers than to retain the ones they already have. By having excellent customer service, you build loyal customers, and loyal customers are repeat customers. Customer service is important because it builds relationships."

I thought this was a different approach of building relationships. In some cases, the sales representative was his or her own company and the method he or she did to make the customer interaction a memorable one was the PR tool in the plan. What I meant by this was that a sales representative might use the tactic of answering questions properly and well. The sales representative could also make the customer's shopping easy by being their personal assistant in the store - not so much as tail them around the store but being available when the customer needed assistance and anticipating that opportunity when the customer might need it.

This blog post was not to educate people about how to be better sales representatives but to emphasize that relationships must be built in order for public relations to be present.

Needed: quick edits

When I worked for a telecommunications company in the summer, I was required to work on a tight deadline. That meant editing internal communications articles that were posted on the company intranet every week. During the festival season, I had to edit festival write ups every Monday so I could get my manager's approval on it then send it to translation. It became so routine that I knew to input my changes as soon as possible whenever I saw that piece of paper sitting on my chair. That meant my manager has input his edits and it was time for me to accept them and send the article to be translated to French the next day.

I knew time was of importance when it came to editing my festival write ups because of the process involved to get it onto the intranet site. There were some things in life that required consistency and a regular schedule. This could be experienced while working for any company.

Take for example working for Shoppers Drug Mart. Whenever they put on a sale, someone would have to 1) put on the sale tags before the sale (before they opened) and 2) take the sale tags off when the sale was done. Why? Because they wouldn't want anyone asking for the sale price when in fact the item is no longer on sale. It was very important for them to remove the sale tag prices after the sale was done to avoid negative customer interactions.

But how about the example below? Why would a billboard company like Pattison or Viacom wait to edit Judy Wasylycia-Leis's old mayoral ad on Portage Avenue and Sherburn Street?

reads: "Because you deserve better, Judy for Mayor"

Maybe there was a signed contract? Maybe Judy wanted it left on to make people in Winnipeg think she won? Maybe Judy was not aware this actually exists? Maybe it was taken down and Sam Katz paid to put it back on? I don't know.

Either way, someone has to act fast.

My first IPP shoot was a realization that I am a communicator

Let me tell you a story...

Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010 was my first shoot for my Independent Professional Project (IPP). I booked a video camera, sound kit, and light kit from our department to prepare for my first round of interviews for the promotional video I was shooting.

My experience that morning was one I'll never forget. I was very nervous and anxious while waiting for the interviewees to arrive at Princess Street Campus. As I set up the tripod and three-point lighting (with the help of Chase Gouthro and Steve Dreger), I quickly realized that filming was not an uneasy undertaking, especially when you have to do it all by yourself. In TV class, we usually worked in pairs or in groups of three. Setting everything up by myself was definitely a challenge and I didn't want to miss a step like doing the white balance on the camera or the sound check on the microphone.

I finished setting up by 12:30 p.m. and my first pair of interviewees were scheduled for 1 p.m. I had lots of time to look over my interview questions and thought about how they might answer. The promotional video I was producing was for the Cultural and Language Mentor Program at Red River College. The video would help promote the program by encouraging students, faculty, and staff at RRC volunteer their time to meet either an international or immigrant student and help them get acquainted with Canadian customs and Canadian living. So essentially, the stories that were going to be shared in the video were happy, feel-good stories.

I was very nervous at the beginning of the shoot, worrying that the lighting and the set up wasn't good enough to be RRC-approved. I needed this video approved so the department I was producing it for could eventually use it when it is completed. The first couple of interviews were definitely a realization for me that this IPP was on its way to becoming something that I could show other people. It was really weird for me to be directing my subjects to do what I wanted them to do in the video and they looked back at me like I knew exactly what I was talking about; like I was an expert. I explained to them that this was just a school project. But for me, it wasn't just a school project: it was my IPP. It was the project I chose out of four other IPP ideas.

At the end of the video shoot, I would say that something awesome took place in me - that I gained more confidence in being a communicator armed with a video camera, a microphone, and fancy lighting. Until now, I've only wrote and designed communication pieces for school and at my previous job. Directing, producing, and editing videos was a whole new area that I would now need to explore in order to be the all-encompassing communicator I need to be.

After the shoot, I sat in amazement in what CreCommland allowed me to be. Eman Agpalza learned something new this weekend and that was: I know more than I think.

Headline writing: more than one way to write them

As we learned to write headlines in Editing Print and Online Media class, I couldn't help but try to edit all the titles I saw around me. I really found the Canadian Press Stylebook's topic on headlines really useful in writing good headlines that attracted readers. Gone was the excuse that "I didn't know" because now I was informed of the proper techniques to write engaging headlines. Now, I just couldn't write the first thing that came to mind as my title. I have been given the knowledge to write better and more interesting headlines.

Headlines have so many different uses: it could be used in a news release; in an advertisement copy; in an article or a news story. The purpose was to grab the reader and entice them to read your article. Without a good headline, your article or news story could fall by the wayside and not be read. The good thing about headlines was that there was no one way of writing headlines and that encouraged me to keep looking for a better way to write them.

Post election evaluation: I learned a lot

I would pin my learning to a combination of things, but I'm thankful that it happened.

As you view the results posted on City of Winnipeg Election page and on other media outlets, you would see the breakdown of the voting results down to the number of people who voted for each candidate. I thought this was very interesting because it showed exactly how many supporters each candidate had. Seeing the exact numbers was like seeing how many friends you had in Winnipeg. Scary.

I was talking with my dad one morning before school and essentially interviewing him on his thoughts about the election's outcome. He volunteered at a candidate's campaign office so he was able to tell me more information about the results that individual candidates got about there results. The candidate gave their volunteers more detailed information about polling results including how many people voted at each individual voting location in their ward. The information included the exact number of votes per candidate in the specific voting location so it gave a picture of how many supporters each candidate had in the area of the voting location. This was important for the candidate to know because it showed what areas of their ward they were most popular. My dad also told me that they were given information regarding the demographic of the voters. My dad said, though unconfirmed, that voter turn out for the ward he volunteered in was up from 33 per cent to 60 per cent of voters coming out to support.

This information was particularly useful for candidates so they can reassess their campaign strategy, if they were to run again. I just found it so interesting that candidates were given that much detailed information. Now if it were only that easy to use that information, it would make for a better campaign.

Bellamy's writing on campaign flyers: personal touch or tacky tactic?

And and he misspelled Daniel McIntyre on his Facebook web address as "danielmac" - not a big deal but I think spelling out the entire ward's name would have been more proper.

 What do you think about Keith Bellamy writing on his campaign flyers as he or someone from his campaign team (most likely) stuffs it into the constituents' mailboxes?

This is not the first piece of writing that I've seen Keith Bellamy write on with the words "Sorry I missed you! -Keith" on the front panel. Earlier in the campaign, candidates introduced themselves through a printed bio and that, too, had this same tactic.

So does it work? For me... not sure how I feel about it. I wish I had the other piece of paper so I could compare the handwriting and determine if there are any inconsistencies, maybe send a copy to CSI and get the letter strokes analyzed to see if it was Keith Bellamy's handwriting. While they're at it, maybe CSI could also check my front porch for fingerprints to see if Keith Bellamy was in fact the one that hand delivered it into my mailbox.

Looking at it from a PR perspective, I think it would be neat if I saw Keith Bellamy walk up to my door and drop off the flyer. In reality, did he actually mean to knock at my door to speak to me or was he just sorry I wasn't there in that three seconds it takes to put the flyer into the mailbox? I don't know, somehow I can't picture Keith Bellamy wanting to talk to every single household everytime he needed to drop off these flyers. And it's not like this was the only flyer he had to put out. This was, I believe, the third flyer to occupy my mailbox space. So if you do the math, three flyers times the number of houses in the Daniel McIntyre ward = I, too, am sorry I missed you Keith Bellamy.

Report on KFC's Double Down sandwich in Winnipeg

*WARNING: some images might be offensively
delicious*

And no, there's no mistake with the size of this image; it really is this big on purpose. That's because KFC's Double Down sandwich is that big!

First of all, I really shouldn't call it a sandwich. Sandwiches use bread, Double Downs use none.

Here is a description:
"2 Original Recipe chicken breasts, crisp bacon, processed pepper jack cheese, our very special Colonel's Sauce, and all the bragging rights that come with taking one down."

 

Well I guess they were out of bragging rights sauce when I ordered one because I did not feel like bragging about that experience at all. I think I know now why it's called the "Double Down".

The first Down takes down the brain's ability to communicate with your body. As I sat in the bus home from school, I couldn't bring myself to pull the signal to stop. I was afraid I'd miss my stop but managed to pull the chord. Then I couldn't feel my legs...

The second Down takes down your consciousness. I just woke up from a two-hour nap, no further explanation required.

The fun thing about this whole experience is that both of the times I went for a Double Down, I was always with friends.

Neil Babaluk, Jeremy Giacomin, and I were in Chicago in May with some other guys from Red River College for a and we went to a KFC just to test this thing. It took a bus ride and some walking but we found it. The first experience was definitely better, only because we still didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. The three of us vowed not to ever return to KFC for a Double Down experience again.

The second time we went (today) was with a handful of enthusiastic CreComm students, of whom four of six students were Double Down first-timers. You'll see the enthusiasm deteriorate at the end of the experience.

My final advice about the Double Down: have it if your health can afford it. It is very tasty. The texture is notable because there is no bread to hold it together.

Chicago:

Winnipeg:

Don't make the same mistake

I got my communication strategy assignment back from Red River College instructor Melanie Lee Lockhart. Everyone in the room tensed up, dreading the infamous CreComm autofail - where a 50 per cent deduction was incurred for proper names spelled wrong.

I opened it to the marking summary and, alas, an autofailed section. I quickly scanned through the pages and what I saw shocked me, more so, made me laugh at my own stupidity.

The funny thing about this fatal error was that the word '10HUNGER' was completely made up by me. I just wasn't consistent in spelling it the same way as the other 30 times I spelled it in my communication strategy.

So how did this happen? I suspected I hit 'ignore all' on my spell check twice: once for the first time I made up this word and second when I actually ignored this one with two h's. I just didn't pay enough attention and didn't even bother checking that I was adding to the exception a spelling with two h's.

Autofail: 50 per cent off. Mark deduction: 7.5 marks gone. Learning opportunity: priceless. For everything else there's pay attention to your words carefully!

When you're countrymen fail you

I was doing some research on my PR assignment called PR in the News. I decided to do it on the topic of the Philippine tour bus hostage taking in Manila that happened on August 23 of this year where eight Chinese tourists were killed after being held hostage for 12 hours by a disgruntled ex-police officer Rolando Mendoza.

As I was doing research, I ran into this video.



I heard of people in the Philippines, specifically the police, taking pictures in front of the empty tour bus but I didn't imagine that it would have been made a tourist attraction by the people in the area. What were these people doing posing (and smiling!) in these pictures? I would understand taking a picture of the bus itself to show the kind of damages it incurred from the previous night's event, but to be taking pictures WITH the bus was totally inappropriate. I thought that was very insensitive for these people to act this way and disrespectful to those who have been affected by this tragedy.

I will be discussing what happened, how it happened, and how it could have been avoided to my PR class on Tuesday, Oct. 19. I thought it would generate a good class discussion because the way the event was handled by Philippine police was pretty controversial. How would the Philippine government mend its ties with Hong Kong China? All I knew was that the Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs would be busy for the next little while...

"Both officials expressed sadness and regret that the August 23 hostage incident took place. Assistant Foreign Minister Hu said both Governments should continue to work closely together to appropriately deal the matter." - according to a news release from the Department of Foreign Affairs posted on Oct. 13, 2010.

"Edit your words properly, young man."

Imagine that you could edit words as they came out of your mouth; that somehow the words fell onto an imaginary caption line just below your chin and as you spoke out words, you could delete the 'ums', the 'likes', and the 'you knows'. But the reality was, you couldn't! What you say in front of an audience - whether it was a friend at a coffee shop or a room-full of your co-workers - was exactly what they were going to hear.

How important was it to properly edit your words first in your mind, then breathing life into those thoughts by positioning the lips, the tongue, your jaw, then with a final exhale, bringing the word into existence. Once you say it, you can't take it back.

Sure you can clarify by saying "Oh, what I meant was..." or by saying "Sorry, I take that back" for the words that you actually didn't mean to say. Once you've said it, the damage was done.

So before opening your mouth and saying something you would regret later, why not think, pause, then say what you really wanted to say? Easier said than done. Unfortunately, this was a skill that any communicator needed to master, me included.

We recently did our first speech in oral presentation class, and this blog post reminded me of it. Our presentation was recorded on video so we would be able to see the strengths and weaknesses of your own presentations. I would have posted my own video here but, unfortunately, the video has not been captured digitally.

I remembered writing 'Barack Obama' on my paper when instructor Cathy Hanson asked the class to write down the names of people who we thought were good at public speaking. After watching these videos, I never would have noted him down.

This was an example of knowing what you were going to talk about in the event the teleprompter failed.



Here were some tips from the pros:



Always be prepared with notes. It is good practice to have two or even three copies of your speech with you in case something happened to one of them (like spilling coffee on the notes or losing the copy). Just make sure you don't keep all the copies in the same spot. Leave a copy with an assistant or secretary or leave a copy in an envelope.

Know what to say by first editing your words in your mind then speaking them. Don't rely on technology and always be prepared with a back up plan. Once you say it, you can never take the words back.

IABC Meet & Greet more fun the second time around!

On Thursday, Oct. 7, 30 enthusiastic CreComm first and second year students packed the basement at King's Head Pub for the annual IABC networking event.

The event was organized by PR student Christa Campbell and IABC. Eight professionals from the communications field were invited to share their experiences and the path they took to get where they are today. The set up was the same as speed-dating even with the exchange of numbers. The idea was for CreComm students to network and meet real professionals in the industry. Both student and communicator had two minutes to interact and get to know each other before Christa, holding a timer, had to break them up by yelling "switch!".

It was a fun to see that the first year students were getting something out of the event. I was once in their position when I attended last year's networking event. I didn't know why I was there and what questions to ask. I managed to think about a handful of questions that I really wanted answered:

1) How did you know you wanted to be a communicator? Why PR?

2) At what point in your career did you realize you made the right decision? Did you have a defining moment?

3) Where did you see your career going? What is the future of a PR practitioner or communicator?

Although I don't remember the specific answers I got from the people I talked to, I know (and I'm confident) enough to be able to say that I have a future in PR because it is my passion and I love everything about it. I don't normally use the 'L' word but PR makes me that kinda guy...

I love PR!

Oh-no-Matt! Pee-Ya?! Matt goes Pssssss... How about onomatopoeia?

"The first pair of cups contains a Guatemalan. Sluuuurp. “Do you feel that buttery mouth-feel?” says the older man, Don Schroeder, after spitting expertly into the small sink beside his stool. Next is a Kenyan. Sluuuurp, spit. Notes of fruit and wine. Sluuuuurp. The Sumatran is earthy, even musty. No. 4 has the mild, almost neutral flavour characteristic of the world’s coffee mecca, Brazil"

- Dawn Calleja, The Globe and Mail, How Tim Hortons will take over the world


 I once shared a dorm room with a guy from Japan. After school, we would work on homework at our desks in our room facing the opposite sides of the room. While doing homework, we would talk about random things about our day. Tomohito would ask me questions about English: the meaning of idioms and when to use slang. This lead to me asking him about words in Japanese they would use to describe sound. In English, I think we call it onomatopoeia.

To my amazement, Tomo said Japanese loved their onomatopoeia and that they have a sound to describe pretty much everything. So I did a Google search and found JapanSugoi: Everything Cool about Japan.

This site was unreal! You really have to check it out. There was a long list of the sounds they used to describe the sound from the roaring of flames (goooo) to what you would hear if someone were to slip off their clothes (sulu). Again, these weren't Japanese-to-English translations of the actions. These were Japanese onomatopoeia!

But please, don't get these sounds mixed up:

• kaaa = (energy blast charging up)
• kaaaa = (glow)

or

• pasa = (light falling object)
• dosa dosa = (falling objects)

At least Japanese have a guide. How about English? What do we use as a guide for proper use (and spelling!) of onomatopoeia? What does The CP Stylebook (The Canadian Press Stylebook) say? My answer: I forgot my CP Stylebook in my locker :(

So for the clip above from The Globe and Mail, how do we edit the word "sluuuurp"? What is the slurp sound spelling standard? If you asked me, they used one letter 'u' too many.

Here, Japanese would use "pan!" to describe a slap sound

Is tipping at your favourite restaurant good PR?

What principle of persuasion did tipping follow?

Was it:

A) Identification principle - What was in it for the waitress if I ordered?
But the tip came after the good service, tipping was never disclosed before the service was done... So what was in it for you waitress? Nothing. At least not until I get my food.

B) Action principle - Did I make it easy for waitress to agree to allow me to put in a late order?
Again, the tip came after and you didn't use the tip to make the waitress put in the food order. The only action I could have done was told her I was outside the restaurant ready to pick up my order once it was ready. Another thing I could have told her was that I was ready to pay with cash, making the transaction quick and easy. But none of these have anything to do with tipping.

C) Clarity principle - Was my request clear to understand?
I think it was pretty clear to the waitress that I was being an annoying customer that wasn't respecting their business hours.

or was it

D) Familiarity and Trust - the use of a reputable symbol, object, brand, or person.
I didn't tell the waitress Mayor Katz was the person that was going to eat the pancit. So she knew that I wasn't some celebrity that she needed to extend special treatment to.

Now here was my argument:

My dad was down with the flu and was wanting Filipino food from one of our family's favourite restaurants. I got his voicemail to pick up some food at 6:56 p.m. so by the time I called the restaurant to order pick up, it was 7 p.m. - exactly when they closed. Sure enough the lady answered and said they had already closed. I asked nicely and told her my dad wasn't feeling well and wanted their famous noodles (pancit (PAN-sit) - Filipino noodle stir fry). She said they were closed and I asked if there was pancit left over as I knew they cooked them in big woks. She hesitated, apologized, and paused, as if reconsidering if she would still allow me to order food. Again, I asked nicely and inserted another please in her silent pause. She agreed and got one of the cooks to prepare an order of pancit for me. Sweet!

When I got home, I was [almost] attacked when I told the story of how I got the pancit and the amount of tip I left the nice lady at the counter. The pancit order came up to $9.97 after taxes and left a $5 tip. In the States, a 20 per cent tip was considered a "good tip" by TripAdvisor. I tipped her 50 per cent and my parents said that was too much.

Now here was my reasoning and I hope you agree:

A 20 per cent tip would have been $1.99, let's say $2. So I told my parents what's an extra $3 to show that I really appreciated them taking my order after they closed. I didn't mention that I had to wait a bit because they cooked my order fresh!

So my argument was: for an extra $3 dollars ($2 tip was a given), I showed the staff that their efforts were appreciated. Actually, they asked for your name for pick up orders. The first thing the owner said when I walked into the restaurant was "Oh, so you're Emmanuel." Because I left a pretty good tip, she'll remember me as a customer and I'm sure if this were to happen again, they wouldn't hesitate extending me the same customer service once again. Now wasn't that $3 well spent? I thought so!

Should we have a tighter reash on imported English?

OK, clearly this picture was meant to make fun of the subject. It was taken from Engrish.com. You'll quickly realize what the entire site was about once you visit the link.

The sad part about the products that were shown on that site was that these were not meant for export. Most of the products were reported to have been spotted around Japan. None of the products were being resold in the United States or Canada (at least none that I've seen). So I thought it was okay as long as these products stayed in countries where English was not the first language.

So how about products made for export? Should we be more critical of the English content printed on the product's label?

Take this item taken from the Agpalza pantry for example:

1) Yaki Sushi Nori - Roasted Seaweed. (Don't ask me why we have this in the pantry. My sister used to make sushi when she lived at home. To be honest, I don't think this is safe to eat as I don't even remember how long this product has been in our pantry.)

On the back of the package was the instructions on how to use the contents and the steps to roll the sushi.

Imported by Hi-Rise Enterprises Ltd. - Vancouver, B.C. I didn't have a problem with the "spoon a tablespoonful" because, to me, I still knew what was meant by it. It just sounded funny. Based on what I learned in journalism and writing, as long as the reader/audience was able to understand the message the writer was trying to convey then you didn't have to change the words. If you were looking at style specifically, then the writer should have considered rewriting that first sentence.

The part that bothered me was the lack of capitalization and spaces between the punctuation. C'mon, my eight-year old cousin could write better than that! Which brought me to the thought of editing. Should it be the importer's job to make sure that products they imported were up to North American standards? Who should edit the copy on the labels? Manufacturer or importer? As you could see on this label, the copy was printed on the packaging itself so that meant it was printed in China. The importer's name was printed on a lighter sticker label that was probably stuck on when it reached Vancouver. So, couldn't the import company have placed a sticker over the instructions as well to correct the bad English?

We learned in a PR lesson today that individuals working in enforcing the law, educating our children, providing medical advice, should be more careful about what they do in their private lives (making sure nothing 'bad' ever came out) if they wanted to be credible in what they do in the public eye. Not knowing the language in which your market communicated would definitely have negative repercussions on your business.