Andrew's Blog

From Comm 299 I have learned that I am fairly confident public speaker with the ability to think on my feet.

From public speaking class I was able to easily speak without any notes in front of me.

I started off using uh and um’s a lot but after practice and repetition and thinking before I spoke I was able to hammer that out of me.

Comm 299 taught me how to properly write a cover letter… believe it or not apart from the CACEE form I had never had a cover letter done. In fact I would always avoid writing cover letters because I did not have one nor did I have the structure to write one. Now I believe I have a strong cover letter and a tools to create new ones in the future.

The greatest lesson I ever learned from someone else was not to always think highly of yourself. Think just below arrogant and narcissistic. That way you exude confidence.

It was the greatest lesson learnt for me because it helped me mould myself into the person I am today. I thought to myself… I should always be proud of what I have achieved, I should never be ashamed but never satisfied at the same time. This keeps me wanting more and keeps me motivated to continue.

A great example of this is in the gym. I am very proud of what I have accomplished while working out and when people ask me “what do you squat or dead-lift” I can proudly say the numbers, I would still proudly say the amount even when it was not high. I seemed positive and confident all the time.

However I stress it should not be taken to heart and too seriously because then that leads to Narcissism… Now I do agree everyone should love themselves and be happy with themselves but there  is a certain point where Narcissism is just plain stupid…

You need to draw the fine line between the two 😛

So since one of the newer crazes out right now is Jersey  Shore and House “Fist Pump” Music I thought I would show you of one my favorite blogs that I visit.

I generally don’t look at peoples blogs for music however this blog is just incredible!

www.fistpumpmusic.com

I really like this blog because it doesn’t talk about a lot of the rabble you read on the net. Instead it gives you something for free! I think most people really like websites that give you stuff for free! In this case its downloading music and mixes from different DJ’s from around the world. I believe that a few people run this blog together and they have created quite a great blog! Here you can download the song and state whether it was an “Instant Hit” or “total trash”

Some of my favourite songs are on here and some of my favorite DJs I found on here! Its great because its not just the mainstream stuff that everyone hears when they go to Caprice… or Venue… Its underground stuff and very exclusive stuff from Europe… aka the place for the best trance and house music!!!!

I think a lot of younger people enjoy House and Fist Pump type music because of the lifestyle portrayed on the Jersey Shore! Its all about partying and “hooking-up” and drinking! Although its not the most practical life, these tv stars have marketed their lifestyle to us! And in a way many people want to emulate their lives in the same way. This however cannot work… I particularly like to let “The Situation” live the Jersey Shore Guido lifestyle and  I will live mine!

Even though his lifestyle and sense of clothing is a bit too much for me, I do really love the music he listens to. DJ Pauly D is one of my favorite DJs and Ive heard him DJ twice now! House music and Trance is just at a new level of music! Its really loud and has to be heard with good deep bass to be really appreciated but it really is amazing! Its not pioneer music thats going to change the world! But everytime I listen to a good Trance song I get overly pumped up and am in a much better mood, or I use it to relax and calm myself  down. It depends on the kind of song! AND NO IT IS NOT TECHNO! Techno is more rowdy and crazy! And has a strobe-light feeling to it, with those glow-in-the-dark tubes. Trance and House are more relaxed!!!

Just thought I’d educate you on my favorite music!

I was reading a fellow classmates blog recently and realized that I am not the only one who hates Rogers!

https://blogs.ubc.ca/morris91/2010/11/11/rogers-and-false-advertising/

A while back I was having major issues with my Iphone 3G! Yes wonderful that it was, it was constantly dropping my calls and the battery just plain sucked… Well anyways it was still under warranty and Rogers technically had to replace it! Now they claim to carry a guaranteed warranty with a loaner phone to help you out! Well seeing as how I had a Iphone 3G with a data plan… one would expect to receive a loan phone with similar capabilities as my Iphone… all I really wanted was a phone that I could search the internet on… I’m not talking about those old phones with a junk mobile browser… I wanted a phone with an Edge network at the least!

Well when I called Rogers and told them what I was first informed when I signed up with my plan they said “Yes sir you will be given a temporary phone to use while your Iphone is repaired” When I went to the Rogers store I gave them my phone and they gave me a junk phone!

One that kind of looks like this… Minus the sweet design and fancy buttons on the top… I was a little confused… I was expecting a nicer phone…

Rogers markets themselves by telling their customers they have the best Customer Service… well when I called Rogers I was given the worst customer service… the CSR on the phone was not sympathetic and did not seem to care…

This seems like a lot of ranting and talk… well it took them 2 weeks to fix my phone and finally after another week I was received it… I was without for Iphone for 3 weeks…

Now youre probably thinking… “oh big woop… poor me…” Well yes thats fine… its not a big deal except that my plan costs me nearly 95$/month! And I could not use about 45$ worth! SO I CALLED ROGERS TO DEMAND A REFUND ON MY PLAN!

They say sorry… I start to tell them about how they call themselves a great customer service company… When in doubt all they are is a really good marketing company! With all their flashy and smooth commercials they convince people to sign contracts with them claiming “We have the best network in Canada”… well I now have an Iphone 4 and let me tell you I DONT GET RECEPTION IN MY ROOM! and I used to with my Iphone 3G. I highly doubt the Iphone 4 has worse reception than the 3G… therefore it must be a Rogers problem… because the only thing that has changed is the phone… and it has been upgraded to a better one!!

Getting back to Cause Marketing and Product (RED)

This is the RED (Starbucks) ad campaign.  I really like this ad because its simple, it causes you read not just listen and watch and well Product (RED) is really doing a good job, trying to help people around the world.

I don’t particularly like Starbucks coffee so I wish Cafe  Artigiano would endorse Product (RED) as well… because then I can buy Artigiano coffee, which is 10,000X better… (I may be a little biased though seeing as how I worked there for a  while) and know I’m giving back to someone less fortunate.

The problem most people have with Product (RED) is that the price  jumps a little, and God forbid someones coffee goes from 5.50 to 6.25…

I think that if we all watch this ad campaign and learn what exactly Produt (RED) is, we will start to understand that that extra 75 cents is actually going to someone who really needs it!

To give you an idea… I did a little bit of research

Product RED goes to help fight AIDS and HIV in Africa.

In 2007 88% of the worlds HIV and AIDS and 92% of all HIV/AIDS-related deaths occurred in Africa. HIV/AIDS kills 6,500 people every day in Africa. Product (RED) was set up by Bono and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Global Fund sends 100% of its Product (RED) dollars straight to Africa to help fight AIDS/HIV. Since Product (RED)’s introduction it has generated $150 million and has helped more than 5 million people in Africa fight HIV/AIDS and give them one more day to enjoy on this earth.

So my last blog was of one of my favourite commercials… And I wanted to build on that topic… Old Spice Commercials…

Have you ever really liked a commercial alot… then you find out the company released  a new commercial and thought it must be just as good… then you watch and its well short of terrible… well thats how I felt with the  Old  Spice commercial with the same guy with a mustache… It was just awful… clearly they tried to market to the same group of people… the same people that found the older commercial (see below) hilarious and very appealing… however they completely lost me (I’m assuming others as well)…  I guess all companies do it… once they find a good marketing strategy they try to run with it… but they generally just over run…

Then they came out with the commercials with Terry Crews… who by the way is HUGE!… He is a kind of an odd man… he is such jacked and ridiculously huge yet he always plays the weirdest roles in movies which he does again in the  Old Spice  commercial…

Although I still believe the Old Spice ads are better than the disgusting Axe Body Spray commercials where guys lift up their arm and people are sprayed by their sweat and smell… Those commercials repulse me!

So if I had to watch one of them against my will… it’d be the OS commercial… even though I would much rather watch The Big Bang Theory… 🙂

This is quite possibly my favourite commercial ever… Which most people have seen…

this ad did so well amongst users that if you look on Youtube there are hundreds of versions of people trying to copy it or change it… well their all parodies but it just shows you that people really enjoyed this ad.

I think its worth noting that after this ad came out Old Spice deodorant really gained popularity with younger people. I for one just bought an old spice deodorant the other day and as I thought I dont really see the difference between brands… however if I find it works well I may just keep it…

I was going to write about the Iphone 4 and my experience but I decided to look at a first blogs first! AND HEY I FOUND SOMEONE WHO ALREADY WROTE ABOUT IT!!! YAY!

https://blogs.ubc.ca/mykhayev/2010/09/23/lets-rock/

Anyways… So the Iphone 4… well everyone wants it!! and even if they say they dont… theyre just kidding themselves or trying to not make a big deal out of it! I know… I was one of those people… up until I found out I could get one for cheap!!! 🙂 Then I sold my iphone 3G and got it!

I used to work downtown near Pacific Centre at the United States Department of Commerce and every lunch I would go PC with a few friends who also worked downtown. and OH MY GOD! People would be waiting in line for hours! I would ask some of them and they would say we’ve been here for 5 hours… I would just laugh and walk away… little did I know I would be doing the exact same!!!

I waited every day for 3 weeks outside the Rogers store  when they would get their afternoon shipment in of phones… was never sure if they had them and they didnt know either… but after one day of them lying to me and telling me they did I SNAPPED AND DECIDED I WAS GOING TO GET ONE! So one day my friend and i took the day off work and woke up at 4:00 and waited in line at 5:30… we got the iphone but the amount of people waking up at hte same time as us… OMG! There was sooooo people! And I got to talking to a few… people had been lining up everyday at this time and then going home if they didnt get them to try again the next day!

This is successful marketing! Apple and Iphone have created such a buzz!!! And now a month after I got my iphone I hear that the line up is still happening and people still cant get the phone… My friend waited in line the other day… when he called me later and told me all I could do was laugh because that poor old sod used to be me!!

This is an example of the line up if you have never seen it…

Well let me start off by saying soccer is kind of my life… I wake up in the morning go directly to ESPNsoccernet.com and check the daily news, at lunch I check the news again because its usually nighttime in Europe… I check the news and anything about my favourite teams at least a few times through the day… mainly when I’m bored and cannot think of anything else to do (yeah i should probably be doing homework or reading for class but sometimes you just cant do that stuff).

Anyways there is this ad I saw during the World Cup that I really really liked… apart from the fact that it was 3 minutes long. It was Nike’s official ad campaign. The ad shows the world best soccer players all playing for their respective countries and scoring game-changing goals or making HUGE saves… it then fast-forwards to them being idolized. For instance Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a great free-kick goal… then it fast forwards to some town in Portugal erecting statue of him and having a movie of C. Ronaldo. The ad goes through several players and lasts for 3 minutes. I think it is a very interesting marketing campaign because they used some huge names, not just in soccer, they have Roger Federer in it.

The only problem… the ad is 3 minutes long. You start to stop paying attention to the advertisement because they just keep it going for so long… the only thing that makes you want to continue is because they have actually used the biggest names and have made the advertisement so glamorous with CGI editing and what not.

Anyways I thought you’d all enjoy this. Hope you do