August 22, 2008, Friday. Last day of the week and this is always something I look forward. I do not really look forward about my Biology class though. And then there’s this Biz Max Upsize Seminar for the IFJMA or the Association for the Marketing-major students. So what about it? I wish to spend the whole afternoon sleeping and get ready for my graveyard shift. But I already bought a ticket last Tuesday, so I guess I just have to attend and enjoy what this event could offer.

Me and my friend, Ruby Ann, whom I’ve met in my least favorite class–Biology, agreed to meet prior to entering the Cinema 3 of SM. To my surprise, there were around 700 marketing-major students who attended the said event, or at least that’s what speaker said our attendance was.

Going on the event proper, the first speaker wasn’t at all impressive to start with. He’s the Marketing Director of Mayad Studios—a proud Ilonggo photgraphy and videography company. Well, I think we share the same problem, like the “uh” stuttering. I wish he didn’t talk much and just showed the videos of their master pieces. When you get to see them, you’ll be really like ” Wow, hanep pang-world class nga!”.

The second speaker was Jason–or Jake–as he wants to be called–the Advertising Director for Level Up Online Games in the Philippines. He started his talk by asking the online gamers and helping me and the others, who haven’t been in the online gaming world at all–to understand what it’s like. He looked like a Korean, but again “Wow, hanep pang world-class nga!” for he is a “full blooded Filpino”, as he put it. He talked about advegaming–or advertising in online gaming and showed clips of how advertising in the gaming world helps companies gain the interest, and eventually, the trust of teenage consumers. He also pointed out that advergaming wouldn’t replace traditional advertising, only to enhance the retention rate, and the efficacy of the advertisement. Well, the way I take it, advergaming helps the sellers hit two birds, or in the case of online market, million of birds, with just one stone. The game developer profits, the advertiser profits, and yes–the player also does, or as he believes he is.

Mr. Guerro from BBDO Company spoked about outhinking the world through creativity and imagination. His presentation was fantastic, aided with many clips we all loved due to its humor. I love the interactive advertisement made by Adidas when instead of the traditional billboard of 2 football players, they hired professional wall climbers and did the stunts for the advertisement. What a brilliant idea! Why haven’t we thought about it here in the Philippines?

The last speaker was plainly positive Mr. Willy Bantigue of Business People, Inc. They are a distributing company, major distributor of Nestle products. He spoke about paradigms, wrong paradigms, shifting paradigms and many other classic e-mail stories that he has eventually saved and implemented into his life and business. He talked about how Christopher Columbus has made an egg stand on its own. How? He broke it and so the egg stand on its own. He said that if we want a breakthrough, we need to break with. He also shared that if we would usually go with the rest, we would most likely be wrong just as when 520 years ago, the whole world thought that the world is flat and that the Earth is the centre of the universe.

My skepticism of the said event, Biz Max Upsize was dissolve, or perhaps only diminished when I heard the speakers speaking and showing how marketing can change or control the world. As for us, Filipinos, only one thing matters, we’ve got the drive and we need to act towards changing what we want, and what we can. How? Ah, that’s the question I’ve failed to ask..Let’s see..study hard? OR STUDY WISE. Go get high grades? I’d always get the same answer, START FROM WHERE YOU ARE. Or as Raphael said, “with what you have”. What I have now is the decision that even if it’s hard to work and study at the same time, I’ve got to finish a bachelor’s degree and won’t just settle for the Computer Programming diploma that I’ve got from STI Kalibo. The decision to change what I can, no matter how hard the risk.

The committee must be commended, except for the Pizza Hut crews who failed to serve my drink since I was in the last seat of the row (and the guys from I guess it was UPV or were they from CPU as well, only them knows if ever they’d remember) didn’t even care to pass on that drink. It’s okay, I’m not into an upsize iced tea. I’m for the thirst for success that has just been powered by the speakers of the said seminar. Seminars, they always inspire. Getting successful people talk about how they’ve made things happen.

Marketing after all is not an easy task, but fun and rewarding when you get things done. Imagine and Create. It’s either the ideas would scatter, or they’d matter.