2010

So much for blogging!

Imagine posting your first entry for the year at the last month of that year. Wow! Not that the year was hectically busy, I just lost the urge to blog. Simply put, it's not writer's block or what-have-you... just pure bohemian laziness.

Anyway, expect to see a flurry of posts from now until the onset of 2011, with zero leave credit left under my belt, there would be nothing much to do in the office save for this and some websurfing hehe.

Cheerios!

Kotex You-niversity

Another busy day... outside the office.

This afternoon, I attended the press launch for Kotex You-niversity at the Bulwagan ng Karunungan, DepEd complex. One of our junior brand managers was in-charge, and the rest of the team tagged along to show support.

The host turned out to be Andy Manzano, who seemed familiar to me even if it was my first time to see her in person. She was nice and courteous, and was so unlike other showbiz stars that, er, well... bring along their own universes each time they step out of the house.

It was actually surprising to see her alone (she must have driven to the venue on her own) without yaya or any semblance of an entourage. She was low-key and generally amiable, which is my type of artista =)

Anyway, except for the technical glitches, the launch did alright and the entire rigmarole of MOA-signing and speeches and photo-ops went by as quickly as it started. There weren't much guests around; I heard there were media agents from Inquirer and Myx (so much for G's Star Lifestyle fantasy). There were also some invited teachers and student representatives.

In any case, I just sat through most of the event trying to get my girl origami in order. One of the things introduced in this launch was the writing of one truth about a girl's BodyLife IQ in a piece of colored paper and then turning this into an origami rendition of a girl. That piece of art symbolizes the individual's commitment to ensuring that the truth encapsulated within gets passed on to another person.

My team had classes on the origami stuff long before the launch, and because I rarely paid attention to these, it took me most of the afternoon to finish my girl-origami (with some help from the girls, of course).

There was food, by the way. Since it was merienda-hour, caterers served pancit, puto and barbeque topped off with taho (which came in an igloo container, which was a swanky idea: who would've thought puwede pala iyon?). Waiters served softdrinks to my consternation (I have sworn off Coke and related beverages as part of my starve-to-be-healthy diet program).

Since the event ended early, my group gathered for a moment to have an impromptu meeting, er, for me. That is, my team leader spent most of the time listening to my concerns and updates.

After we split up, everyone went straight home... tomorrow would be another day.

Whew!

Off the Shelves

Today marks the first day that I help get a "marketing" product off the shelf.

Purity, the cotton brand I have been assigned to manage, will have its radio commercial break today at 6:30 am. It will run in the mornings and then again in the afternoons, typical rush hour periods when most commuters tune in to their favorite radio stations.

I hope everyone I know gets to hear the ad: it airs at 94.7 Mellow, 97.9 Home Radio and 89.1 Wave. These stations play soft, soothing melodies so I don't think it would hurt if you guys try these stations out (if you haven't already) while our ad is playing heh heh =).

Our ad would also be airing in Cebu and Davao, and in Cebuano, to help make the ad's message more relevant to the listeners.

Witty, naughty and decidedly funny, I'm positive this ad would stay with you for quite a while. Keep an ear out for it!

Career Move

Not much of it, since I'll still be staying in the same company. The organization re-structured, and I have been transferred from Category Development (the equivalent of trade marketing in most companies) to Brand and Trade Activation (which is mainstream marketing).

So I'm a marketer now! My internal title will be as an "activator" but externally, I'll be a brand and trade manager. I have been given a Kimberly-Clark brand to manage (an important albeit a local responsibility) and a regional area assignment.

It's a huge step for the local group, an experiment that hopefully brings along some successes in the next few months or so. And while the career change is exhilarating, I have found difficulties adjusting as well. Maybe next time I could write about it, but for now I just wanted to share this wonderful feeling of moving up in the corporate world. =)

Back to Nature

Woooooooo!!!

I'm back.

Been a while. Haven't been particularly busy... just plain lazy, is all. Hahaha.

Wow, almost a year, huh?

Been to a lot of places lately. Career moves and some pretty nice changes, too. Will be blogging about it in the next few days.

What else, what else? Hmm, better slow down and jut write about it over time.

Haay, glad to be back. ü

Bloody Inertia

People are leaving the company.
Old friends and acquiantances,
Batchmates and disillusioned souls.

Just the other day, I got a call from StratSearch. Obviously it is a headhunting outfit, but I wasn't in the mood to talk about the present and play dice with my future. So I was as honest as I could be to the pretty voice on the other end: I am busy right now, could they just call at some other time? Oh, yes we could accomodate you. Would three tomorrow be fine? Yes. Good bye.

They never called back. Which is just as well. I wouldn't have known what to say if they did.

It's an open secret. But everybody who's anybody in the biz have received at least one such call. Most entertain them, in the oft chance that life would deal them a better hand, or consent to reshuffling the deck altogether. Funny, a few even make active attempts to reach out to these "search firms." They call it their weekly habit. Which is the 8th, by the way.

Tonight I got asked by my rose. Did I ever consider leaving? I remember asking, to no one in particular, why some people make such a big fuss about it. It's about the future. Charting your destiny, she said. I hang my head and say nothing.

Of course I think of the future too. Our future. You and me. But would it be impossible to not leave, and achieve your dreams in the same breath? People who desert simply because something or someone made them grossly unhappy would only find the same reasons waiting for them elsewhere.

Don't they get it? I feel so sad and so alone.

Not forgotten, All forgiven

life is full of regrets...

it's sad when people you know,
become people you knew.
when you can walk right past someone
like they were never a big part of your life.
how you used to talk for hours
and now you can barely look at them anymore.