Super Legit Press Conference

One of my favourite classes this semester is our IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication) Course. Even though this class takes place at 8am… ON A MONDAY!!!! I still like it, so that should give you a good idea on what the course is like.

This week, we hosted a mock press conference. For those who don't know what a press conference is - Let me break it down for you :)

It is basically an interview given to journalists (the media) by a prominent person/company in order to make an announcement or just to answer questions.

For this class, we held a mock presence conference because we (Nestle Purina) wanted to announce an event we are hosting in late august.

We wrote a news release and even compiled a media kit. This media kit is what we would give to members of the press. It was a Purina One branded backpack with lots of Purina One Swag like a water bottle, lantern, Purina products - just everything you need if you participated in our event :)

As fun as this sounds - the key component here is attention to detail. There had to be consistency across the board. Whether we were writing something on paper, to a pdf file on a usb, everything had to be branded and had to show our key message.

What made me smile - is the name cards we made for ourselves. I felt that is what made the press conference feel real. We were all assigned roles and that was reflected on the cards.

Check us out looking fresh as ever! not bad for 8am eh?

(from left to right - Migs, Me, Rebecca & Maria)

And the second half of our class - looking oh so beautiful :)

(from left to right - Rachele, Lindsay, Fredo & Bhavukk)

I wished we did more fun assignments like this in our post-grad year. It gives you an idea of the real world and it's fun! Isn't that what school should always be like :)

Break Week - Ha! I Wish

It is March Break, but as a post-grad, that doesn't translate to sleeping in during the day and partying it up at night. If only…. That was back in the good ole days!

As a post-grad, you legit have to work. Honestly, this break couldn't have come at a better time. Stress levels have peaked and personally I utilized this break to catch up and plan for the weeks ahead.

I want this post to be about how you can make the best out of your reading week! It wasn't all bad, I promise! I still made time for fun activities with friends :) 

But First! School Stuff - Take a good look at what is due in the upcoming weeks and make a list. 

Secondly, Make another list of things you want to accomplish this reading week and get it done! This could be everything from homework to side projects and everything in between!

Organization & Lists are OUR FRIEND! Make them your best friend if you need to, they are lifesavers that can school less stressful for you. I get an insane amount of clarity when I make a list :) Try it for yourself if you've never done it before! It is so satisfying to cross them off one by one.

Apart from a truck load of homework, Sheridan did let us sign up for agency tours! We had a choice of five different agencies, one for each day of the week. I chose to go to 2 out of the 5 of them - PHD Worldwide & Havas. I highly recommend going on these tours. It is a fantastic opportunity to network and also just to get a feel of the industry. An exclusive inside look at your possible future!

After Homework & Agency Tours, can you believe I still managed to hang with some friends! Betcha didn't think I had a social life! Jokes on you because I do :)

How did you spend your reading week? Any more productivity tips? Share some in the comments below :)

One Night: The Past, Present & Future Collide

                            Another networking night! Brought to you by Sheridan College :)

            This one, however, a different kind of networking that the one earlier in the semester. Tonight, graduates of the advertising post-grad program are coming back to Sheridan to meet with the current post-grads of the advertising program ( aka the awesome class of 2015! aka us!)

Photo Cred: Advertising Account Management 2015

From left to right (First Row): Lindsay, Maria, Rebecca, Fredo, Me & Rachele

From let to right (Second Row): Migs & Bhavukk 

            Since there are only 8 of us in this program, we broke off in pairs and each duo were seated at a table. The past grads would come up to us and we got to talk to them for 10 minutes before another round of grads came by our table. If you are thinking that this reminds of you of speed-dating, yep! it is exactly like that except more professional.

            I teamed up with Rachele and we basically tag-teamed our way to success :)  It was never a dull moment. We talked to A LOT of grads and personally, I found it really comforting to know that those who graduated from this program and doing incredibly well since they graduated, We even had a few alumni who finished the program back in 2014! just a year before us!

            I know that I want to get into Account Management when I get into the Advertising Industry, so I made sure to really do my homework and make it a point to talk to grads who have a position in Accounts. There weren't as many as I would have liked, most of them were in Media ( which Rachele was happy about since that is her field of choice!). None the less, I really loved hearing the stories of how they got their 'foot in the door.' Everyone's story is different, one grad actually got an internship from an alumni who attended Networking Grad Night the year before! can you say, HOLY **** ! and of course there were some that got their job through the contacts they made via their professors, applying on LinkedIn and these are just to name a few.

               Everyone I met were really easy to talk to and seemed genuinely interested to help us with all our questions or even connect us to other people. We even found out about internship opportunities! Check out my little video below, in all the excitement for tonight, I did forget to make a video! I remembered only towards the end, so there are a few people leaving and this is how our night ended :)

This may seem silly, but we got a booklet that had a list of all the grads that showed up tonight - basically consisted of their name, a photo, graduating year and a little paragraph about them. I smiled when I got to the back pages of the booklet, class of 2015 was featured and there we were. I know we were are going to graduate and we are the class of 2015 but just seeing it in there, in full colour just made it seems so… legit. Check out the pictures below, you will see what I mean :)