On lectures and workshops

I GOT invited by the Junior Marketing Executives Circle (JMEC) of the Liceo de Cagayan University College of Business and Accountancy as a resource speaker in the Regional Marketing Conference on January 22, 2010.
My task was to spill out hidden secrets of advertising, so to speak. The thing is, in advertising – there are no secrets. I only brought 2 things with me during the lecture, my brain and my sunglasses.

I guess the students were hesitant at first because I had no powerpoint presentation and no notes. To ease their wondering minds, I told them: “if I don’t know what I’m doing here, I’d be bringing along a powerpoint and a bullet guide.” That seemed to have eased them up a little, but I can sense they were still having doubts.
The topic that I was supposed to do was entitled: “Advertising and Promotions”. I said to myself, “this is a very vague topic to discuss in just 30 minutes”. 30 minutes because they have 4 or 5 guest speakers for the day.

Talk about blowing your mind. So I decided to discuss the factors that help you make an “AD”. The topic is mostly basic actually, and then the Q&A part was what I loved most.
The questions were either straight to the point or subjective. At least I know they were listening to the lecture, and that’s always a good sign. Some of the “marketers”, as my term of endearment to them, approached me after the lecture and said that they had a great time with the discussion.

That’s the most fulfilling part. Thanks to Ms. Labis, the JMEC Adviser for the confidence in me to do the lecture. Thanks also to the JMEC for being such intellectually stimulating people during the short lecture. I know you learned a lot.
Then February 3, was the first of a series of lectures and workshops I would be doing for the Liceo U’s College of Information Technology. The IT club, Wizards, asked me to do a workshop on photography. This is totally different from the previous lecture, the former was business, this one’s aesthetics.

I could see the excitement in their eyes as we started the lecture, but I quickly spoiled their fun, saying “no camera in the world is as best as they claim to be”. Then the rest was all about interaction and questions. Which I like when I do lectures, when the students ask questions relating to the discussions – it means they’re listening. Again, that’s a very good sign. Thanks to Ms. Cindy, and pf course Dr. Andrew Ponte for believing in my skills as a lecturer.
My February schedule is packed. February 15 – 27, my Mass Communication students will have a photography exhibit, February 17 – 20, I’m off to the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila for CINEMA REHIYON 2010, my second time to participate in this event as my latest short film – “Pili-ay” was chosen as part of the official film repertoire.

I will be joined by the winners of CineMagis 2 and of course, Hobart. Then, Liceo U’s Foundation Days are set on the 3rd week of this month. We are now 55! If you have time, join us in our festivities, I’m sure you’d want to see beautiful ladies vying for the title of Miss Liceo Emerald! Hehehe, Bossing Dante, Sir Nelson, Sir Ruel, surely you don’t want to miss this event. Until the next issue, LIVE LIFE, ROCK ON!
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I’d love to hear from you, email me at shaun_alejandrae_uy@yahoo.com