Life has been a trip, the last several years... The things I've done, sights I've seen. Life changes.
Creative Communications student, you'll occasionally see assignment related posts.
First and Second semesters are coming to a halt. Classes are done,
save a couple of assignments, and the stress levels are coming down.
The Creative Communications Media Awards were last night with some fabulous examples of work from our program. It's full of industry folk and it doubles as a grad night for those finishing the program.
I've certainly talked about school a lot here this year, but it's really been
the only major thing in my life for the last 8 months. I've never really
done well at school, in fact I dropped out of high school two credits
short, but I realized a few valuable lessons this year:
I
clearly have ADHD and I finally recognize the symptoms. It feels so
clear to me now that I'm surprised nobody said anything. Having
recognized it, I am able to recognize my issues and deal with them.
It took accepting nothing but success through adversity for me to realize it, and I did.
Summer's just three short assignments away, and the weight already feels like it's being lifted.
I have no plans yet for the summer, but rekindling friendships, at least one trip and some camping are on the horizon: becoming a normal human being.
We looked at this comic in our creative writing class. I plan on reading it this summer.
The last week of school is coming up and videos seem to be the theme.
A Big Rock Eddies video submission, a media production video montage, and an example of a video project for my independent professional project.
I love it; by far video shooting and editing is my most passionate part of this program. I can sit for hours engrossed in video editing.
Back to the grind for several video reshoots.
For my first video interview, I spoke with J. Williamez last night about his experiences as a comedic musician in Winnipeg and about him touring small towns in Manitoba and Ontario.
You have a shinny, flashy, hip new app for your business, and you even remembered to budget for its promotion.
Last week, in our public relations class we prototyped an app. This week, we'll be looking at marketing it.
But first... check out this video of an dude driving the wrong way in front of school during rush hour.
The app is for the King's Head Pub and Eatery in Winnipeg. They have no knowledge of this app, nor have they given permission for the prototype.
The app's purpose is to have a high rate of repeat business and increase revenue during off-peak times.
Let's take a peak at the PR side of marketing this app.
The PR's 4 principles of persuasion:
identification
action
clarity
familiarity and trust principles
The identification principle—What's in it for me?
Why should I download it?
What's the benefit for the end user?
Make it clear to them that they can save money by using the app. Tell them what the app does.
The idea with this app is to let users know of food and drink deals, the schedule of bands playing and an all-in-one place for everything King's Head, with an addictive game you can play while waiting for the bus.
The action principle—Make it easy for them
Make the app simple. Make it easy to use. A one-click-download from the website makes it easy for them.
Train the staff to install the app for the clientele and show them how it works.
Be active on social media: promote the app and answer questions they may have. Show them it's easy.
The clarity principle—Make it clear and easy to use.
Great, so they downloaded the app. Now what?
If it's not easy to use, or doesn't make sense, there's really no point.
Cut the fat from the app. Don't make them signup, but leave it as an option.
Make it an option for push notification. Let them know about these deals, but don't be annoying.
Show screen shots of the app, or make a short promotional video showing how easy it is to use.
There are screens attached to faucets in the washroom; Why not use them to show the screenshots or the promo video?
The principle of familiarity and trust—Oh, does Ace Burpee use it?
Why not get an opinion leader to review it for you?
Do you know a local celebrity? Ask them to check it out and let their followers know.
Send pitch emails to news media, radio personalities, and local bloggers and celebrities. They will have more sway than advertising, and it's cheaper. A review in the Free Press vs. repeat ads in the Free Press, one's free(they don't accept complimentary items) and one costs money.
Don't just expect to throw money at an issue, more than likely it won't be effective.Just remember as a business owner, or Joe Q. Public, it's always better to work smart, not hard.
What do you think about an app for your business? How much do you have to spend on one? Do you feel you would benefit?
Free Beer is coming out tomorrow at the Creative
Communications magazine trade fair. Between noon and 4 pm the Red River College
Exchange District Campus will transform into a fun atmosphere with the magazine
booths all vying for your attention. In past years there has been bowling,
video games, social spreads and the not quite legal bales of hay.
Coming down will earn you a ton of snacks, beverages and
entertainment.
The Free Beer magazine booth will offer beer-pairing advice,
snacks, root beer sampling and kicking it old school with your favourite video
game from childhood.
Bring a friend, bring your children or just bring yourself.
As school is slowly winding down into summer vacation,
there are a lot of fun things coming up.
The magazine trade fair is this
week. The magazines showcase of all the first year student's skills in electronic layout, writing, photography, ad development and group work.
Two video montages: one for the Big Rock Eddies and one for our media production class.
Both montage assignments are wide open for our decisions on content, theme and style.
Here's Lindsey Dorie's video montage from last year.
Here's a submission from last year's Eddies contest.
February 14 was a special day—for some. It was the 10 year anniversary of YouTube.
TVs are a thing of the past and along with it TV advertising.
A borrowed subscription to Netflix, the occasional YouTube video, the annoying auto-playing Facebook videos and the even more annoying auto-playing videos, with sound, on some 'news' websites.
Once pseudo-addicted to television, aside from the news, I haven't really watched TV in about 5 years.
The rise of how we consume media has changed vastly over the last 10 years.
I feel as though we have a certain level of control of what we consume—as long we don't blindly follow suggested videos.
I scored some ridiculously high mark on my entrance general knowledge test to this program. In my interview the panel asked how I consumed my news. My answer: Facebook.
Its also seen the rise of clickbait and the eventual immunity of the victims.
It also has the ability to shoot users like PSY into internet superstardom and beyond with his Gangnam Style music video.
It's also saw the rise of OK GO. Billy Corgan's accused it of using its videos as a gimmick.
Just the other day, The Winnipeg Free Press, a still profitable daily print, announced they will be starting to charge for its online content, as it feels that subsidizing online content through subscribers is wrong.
Do you think OK Go's videos are gimmicky? What'd you think about paying for news?
Tell me what you think! Write a comment below.
Gimmick or not, I like the artsy videos.
End Love
The latest video I won't let you down.
And the giant Rube Goldberg machine, funded by State Farm, that is This Too Shall Pass.
Watching hockey, drinking tequila, the sugar shack and being semi-secluded, I was out of town for a couple days for a school travel assignment.
I managed to get a private tour of a teaching-convent-turned-museum in St Pierre-Jolys. The nuns originally taught Grade 1 to 10 to girls around St. Pierre. They were taught in this second floor classroom and some lived on the third floor in the dormitory.
On the same property is the Sugar Shack.
The 25 annual St. Malo Family Tournament also was held this weekend.
For another assignment, I wound up in a dairy barn shooting b-roll for our submission to the Big Rock Eddies due on May 4. This is just a sampling of what I shot. I threw in a reading by David Duchovny.
You always have to make time for yourself. That's probably the best thing I was reminded about this week. A time to turn off my phone, to turn off my brain, and to put the things weighing me down aside—for an hour a day.
What should you do when you have free time? I've actually given up most hobbies when I started school. After a pretty messed January, I lost the idea of taking this break even more.
It turns out my state of mind is the most powerful thing to help relaxation.
Thursday was the first time in over a month that I was conscious of this, and boy did it work. All it took was turning off the world, hanging out and watching a movie.
I was told this needs to be a daily thing.
Travel, photography, working on my car, having coffee/beer with a friend; totally escaping the weight of life for a moment—every day
What do you do to relax? Post your best tips below!
This is a pic with my buddy Everet last year on our trek to Churchill last September.
Brewing, I haven't had the chance to partake in it for far too long. Reading week gave me the chance to do something for myself-for the first time in a while. A chocolate coffee oatmeal porter and a lager SMASH recipe. The last time I did this porter people told me it tasted like Stir Stick Stout but better! I spent about 12 hours running around getting grains, boiling liquor, and sterilising equipment.
Brewing, I haven't had the chance to partake in it for far too long. Reading week gave me the chance to do something for myself-for the first time in a while. A chocolate coffee oatmeal porter and a lager SMASH recipe. The last time I did this porter people told me it tasted like Stir Stick Stout but better! I spent about 12 hours running around getting grains, boiling liquor, and sterilising equipment.
After a day of wondering around checking out this majestic town, my first night ever in Manhattan brought me to the West Village, looking for a blues club.
I found one, The Blue Note Jazz Club on West Third. The doorman was wearing a tuxedo. I didn't really feel like going to jazzed up jazz club at that point. Right across the street, there was a dingy looking bar—the 3 Sheets Saloon. I went in to talk with the bouncer about different clubs in the area. He gave me the lowdown. I stuck around for a beer. I met some interesting folk from Jersey. I paid $7 for my first beer, a nice IPA. For a dollar, you could have a pint of one of the most boring beers—Budweiser, Bud Light, etc.. They also had Michelob Light, which was surprisingly decent.
When the Jersians left, I met a threesome from South Africa. Chris was completing his doctoral residency in town. His friends were visiting while on an extended trip through the US. We spent a lot of singles over their stories. They were heading to work at an Aspen sky resort next.
After we split up, I caught the to head back uptown to the hostel. With less than four hours of rest, I fell asleep on it. I woke up thoroughly confused as to where the train was. Then, I accidentally closed the map on my phone. It took another 5 minutes until I started to recognize the stops. It turns out I rode to the Bronx and back.
3 Sheets Saloon is part of a group of hilariously named bars:
The second time in this two-bit town, and I can't remember where on earth this bodega is.
• • •
Pat was probably getting annoyed about my fixation on finding this place.
This time around we were driving. The roads were even shittier than the ones found in my home town of Winnipeg. I thought the roads would be better.
Anyway, we rolled in to town a day before. I commandeered our trek as soon as we got through the tunnel. Murray's bagels was our first stop. A plain bagel—not toasted—with half-a-pound of cream cheese on it. If that was the only reason for the whole trip, I would argue that it was worth it!
We heard from Nik at this point. He was haggard from the night before. We had to kill some time, so off to the place where dreams—and debt—are made. An intricate setup of conveyor belts, and dumbwaiters filled the rafters of this two story monstrosity. All the camera, music, and audio equipment you could think of.
It was a warm day in Toronto on College Street. I seem to
be on this never ending trek of finding hole-in-the-wall restaurants on my
travels. Ani had suggested this place, the banana oatmeal pancakes are a must.
Ani's brother Sid, Pat and I wound up waiting for a table. Aunties & Uncles.
An old rickety table, with old rickety chairs, probably from the 50s. Just inside the door an old light yellow bookshelf, covered in dust. There it was
The night before I was at the Monarch Tavern, with Heather, singing Only Girl In The World with Choir! Choir! Choir! led by Daveed—Nobu was out sick that night.
It was an interesting scene, a dark aging tavern kind of hidden Downtown, a couple blocks off College Street.
When we were leaving, Heather told me about the panzarottis at Bitondo Pizza, which necessitated a stop. God damn, it was one of the best panzarottis I've ever had. Even if I lived in Toronto, Bitondo's just off the beaten path, and I'm sure I would have never found it without Heather's help!
Guess whom our waiter at Aunties was? Daveed of course!
I just found this old 'note' I wrote myself thought it would make for an interesting blog post about life this week.
Nov 20th, 2012
Sitting
here in red lake, at work, I'm thinking about the future, I'm actually
kind of nervous about it! I just applied for school last week, a very
competitive program at red river, also my job ends in a couple weeks,
and have yet to know if I have one in winnipeg.
Being an ENTP, I
look at the potential success, vs the potential failure, and have always
taken the easy road. Yesterday, Patrick told me he could see me going
into anything, and succeeding, he could see me going into advertising;
he concluded with saying that he could see me doing a whole bunch of
different things. Of course this put a smile on my face!!
I'm
nervous about the portfolio, the interview, and most of all, getting
into the program... Succeeding will be a new challenge of it's own,
being in school for two years will be insane, changing of spending
habits, striving for something instead of just coasting, savoring my
time off, and probably not working a whole lot!
