IAMS 1001 Donations Telethon

On Sunday I had the opportunity to be a part of the IAMS 1001 Donations telethon for the Winnipeg Humane Society (WHS), broadcasted on ShawTV. One of the electives I chose in the CreComm program was Live Television Production, a class that allows students to participate in a variety of different areas involved with organizing a telethon. I wanted to take this class because I watched the WHS telethon last year and it looked like a great time. Not only did I know I’d have a ton of fun in this class, but I was excited to get the opportunity to work on my on-camera skills while working towards a good cause.

I’ve been on T.V. a number of times for different things, but lately in the PR major we’ve been learning how to be a part of an interview with the goal of voicing your key messages. Although I took the role as the interviewer for the latter part of the telethon as opposed to an interviewee (as I’m most likely to be throughout my career) I still had key messages I wanted to deliver in short and concise sound bytes.  

In addition to hosting part of the telethon, a few classmates and I were part of the fundraising team, as our class wanted to donate funds to the WHS as well as time. Our fundraising team came up with the idea of selling homemade dog and cat treats before the telethon as well as during. We knew other people would want to take part in helping with this initiative, so we invited different high school cooking classes across the city to help us make treats.

It was an overall great experience and I know everyone had a good time participating. Thank you to everyone who participated, donated, adopted pets, or came down to the WHS to hang out with us. We all appreciate the help and support from all those involved, and I’m looking forward to watching next year’s telethon. 

Click here for a video recap of our fundraising initiative.

Winnipeg's Finest - Events Tonight

Two of my former guests, Laina Hughes and Amy Tuckett, are hosting events tonight to highlight the work they've done for their Independent Professional Projects. Laina will be launching her first book, Wolseley Stories tonight at 7:30 at McNally Robinson at Grant Park Shopping Centre. All are welcome to attend. Amy will be having a screening of Hell on Hells, a video documentary about the effects of mandatory heels in the workplace. Her screening is sold out, but I wish her all the best!

Good luck tonight ladies. Knock 'em dead!

Time Management...

I started this blog last fall as a requirement of the CreComm program at Red River College. I wasn’t sure how much I would like blogging, but after doing it for a couple of months, I really got into it. Lately I’ve had so many other projects on the go that require a lot of my time, and unfortunately I haven’t been posting on this blog as often as I’d like to. Ironically, some of my other projects have included maintaining a blog I created for the Red Dress Gala& Fashion Show I organized in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF). The HSF liked the work I did for my third party event blog so much that they asked me to create and maintain a blog for a shoe auction they’re hosting in April. So although it may seem like I don’t blog anymore, I am posting on two other blogs that take time to manage, and I invite you to check them out. As for the other projects I have been or are currently involved with, here’s a brief list in no particular order:

·         Nov/Dec internship with Brookline Public Relations in Calgary

·         Red Dress Gala held February 13^th at Stereo Nightclub

·         Blogging for the HSF

·         Making and selling homemade dog and cat treats to raise money for the Winnipeg Humane Society – in preparation for a live telethon being held on March 17^th

·         Organizing a battle of the bands event to promote Red River Radio (RRR), as well as to announce the winners of the RRC student election

·         Hosting Winnipeg’s Finest on RRR

·         Working on an integrated marketing campaign for FriendMatch

·         ....the list is endless...

Some of the projects I’m involved with are mandatory, and some are voluntary. I’ve always been the type to volunteer for almost anything and everything, as a way of exploring different things and helping to take the load off of someone else. I’m still learning how to manage my time as I do like having different projects going on at once, but I do need to remember to incorporate some me time. 

As for right now my main focus is on finishing the CreComm program with pride in the work I’ve had the opportunity to create. Classes end the first week of April, followed by another three-week internship I’ll be doing with Kildonan Place Shopping Centre in the communications department. There are still many things I’m looking forward to in the upcoming months that are bound to keep me on a tight schedule, but I promise to make a stronger effort to maintain this blog.

Stay with me...

IPPs = Busy Busy Busy!

It's a busy time of year for us second year CreComm students. For the past year we've all been working on our IPPs (Independent Professional Projects), and a lot of them are starting to wrap up. As most of you know, for my project I've chosen to organize a Red Dress Gala & Fashion Show in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, on February 13th. Although I knew from the very beginning I wanted to do an event as my year long project, many other students have written books, created websites, filmed documentaries...the list can go on forever.

There are so many talented students in the CreComm program, and it's been great seeing everyone's hard work come to life.

Good luck with your projects everyone! Show 'em what you got!

The Super IPP

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A few weeks ago, a couple of classmates and I created a short video for our T.V. production class. We decided it would be funny to incorporate humour surrounding our Independent Professional Projects (IPPs).

Check it!

I Challenge You

I recently did a marketing assignment in which I needed to choose a business or organization I thought could benefit from a rebrand. I chose an organization that deals with women and young girls of all ages who’ve been victimized, criminalized, or institutionalized. To clarify, someone who’s been criminalized doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve been convicted of a crime; homelessness can be seen as a criminal activity. 

I chose this organization because although they’ve been in Winnipeg for nearly 30 years, and have chapters all over Canada, they are not well known in the community. They don’t have the funds to hire a marketing or promotions specialist, and don’t have any staff members who have these skills to carry out a thorough communications plan. 

One main problem they’re having is receiving community support. They don’t have laughing babies or furry kittens to put on the front of their brochures. They deal with women who’ve lead unfavourable lifestyles, and who need help getting on their feet. They deal with women who’ve served time in prison, and don’t have any support when they’re released. They deal with women who can’t afford new clothes, food to eat, or feminine hygiene products that most of us take for granted. 

Most of these women have been victims or physical, mental, or sexual abuse when they were young girls, and haven’t been able to overcome those traumas. These traumas have led some of these women to trade sex for money, money for drugs, drugs for their life. 

There are so many organizations in the city that does a lot of good for all sorts of people in need. It can be hard to decide where to donate your time, money, or resources, and the fact that you’re even donating at all is phenomenal. But how do you choose who to help?

Winnipeg has ton of non-profit organizations and charities that are well known throughout the city. I myself am putting together an event to raise a sizeable donation for one of them. But what about the ones who never get the spotlight? Who struggle everyday to gain community support? Who don’t have the funds to create T.V. commercials, reminding you they exist?

Help is help and as long as you’re making a contribution to something or someone, you’re making a difference. But I do challenge you to step outside of your comfort zone, forget what’s easy or convenient, and steer away from things that have had their time in the spotlight. Try seeking out the underdog, and find out how you can make a difference in the life of someone you’ve never heard of, never considered, or are reluctant to help.  

We have so many people in Winnipeg who need resources that many of us have the luxury of having every day, so let’s try not to forget them. Choosing to help one person or group of people over another is not a bad thing, but the challenge is to seek out something new.

You’ll be surprised of what you’ll find.

Winnipeg's Finest

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve decided to host my own talk show on Red River Radio. 

Winnipeg’s Finest

Winnipeg’s Finest gives you the opportunity to get to know the different and interesting folks who walk the streets of Winnipeg. Our talk show has a variety of guests from fashion designers, to photographers, to young entrepreneurs. There`s a lot of talented people in this world to get to know, so why not start with the people in your own backyard?

Winnipeg’s Finest will be streaming live every Monday from 5PM-5:30PM, on radio.rrc.ca, starting October 1^st. For those of you with iPhones, soon you will be able to stream all Red River Radio shows directly to your phone! Be sure to visit the website for more details. 

October 1st Guest: Dee Karpa - Fashion Designer from Croatia!

Busy Busy Bee

So, on top of the work from my major,and 4 mandatory courses, and 4 electives, and working on my MASSIVE Red Dress Gala IPP (designers, models, sponsors, promotions, videos...), and working two part time jobs, and trying to keep a tidy apartment, and keeping up with friends, and working on being heathy, and frantically looking for places to stay during my first internship.....I've decided to host my own radio show once a week, starting October 1st. Details coming soon!

The Road Ahead

This year is going to be a year of change, excitement, growth, and adventure...or so I hope. 

It’s my final year at Red River College and I’ll finally get to graduate from a post-secondary institution. Although, I do still have a few credits left to take at The University of Winnipeg, but I’ll worry about that later. 

There are a number of things I’m looking forward to this year, but here are the top five:

1.       My Red Dress Gala & Fashion Show
2.       Graduation day
3.       Completing two internships
4.       My 25^th birthday (not too sure how I feel about this yet)
5.       Travelling

Yes I’m excited for the above five things, but the one thing I really want to make sure happens, is that I squeeze in as much travelling as possible. I didn’t go on one single trip last year, unless you count Grand Forks...which I don’t. Travelling is something I’ve always planned to do a lot of and its current standstill just isn’t cutting it anymore. I’ve been to many places across Canada, and was fortunate enough to venture out to Europe and Florida, but it’s time to keep the ball rolling. I even bought some cute luggage recently, to inspire me to do so.

So where do I want to travel to in the next year and a half? We’ll....I’ll tell ya...

November/December- Hopefully I end up in either Toronto or Calgary for my first three-week internship

February – A couple of us have been talking about possibly going to Las Vegas during reading week, so I really hope we can make this happen, as I’ve missed this opportunity many times already

April/May – My second internship shall be out of town as well. Also, last year some of the CreComm grads went on a trip to L.A. and I thought it would be nice to organize an end-of-the-year Crecomm trip for some of us 2013 grads...but we’ll see. 

June – My gal pal Kayla and I have been talking about going on an all inclusive trip to Cuba, Jamaica, or anywhere! If I’m lucky, this will be the time to do it!

December- My mom and I have only travelled together twice and we’ve both wanted to go to New York for Christmas. Next year just might be our year.

So many things to look forward to, and I can’t wait to share my experiences!