Helo CDO and Iligan

This year has been unfortunate for some of our brothers and sisters in Cagayan de Oro city and Iligan. Due to typhoon Sendong, many people lost their lives, families, homes, livelihood, et cetera. Everyday, I try to devote a little time to  pray for them and help them as  much as I can.

Click THIS LINK to donate to Red Cross and extend your hand in helping out our brothers and sisters who were victims of Sendong. God bless the Philippines and Merry Christmas.

This Handsome Little Crooner: Miguel Antonio

Photo by DJ Tadena

When I was called up by his uncle to cover some PR work for him, I was so excited. I heard about this handsome little crooner weeks ago and boy, I was so proud when I knew that he was a Davaoenyo.

WNCAA/MNCAA Mindanao Launched Today

 

DAVAO CITY--Mindanao ushers in a new era in school sports when the WNCAA/MNCAA Mindanao is formally launched here today at the Abreeza Mall.

 

Delegations from 30 schools in Davao City alone and a host others from the neighboring regions converge at the Ayala-owned mall for what could be the biggest school-based sporting organization in Mindanao.

 

Today’s grand launch will be highlighted by a running and cheerleading event ushering in the birth of WNCAA and MNCAA as an official chapter of the 42-year old association.

 

Former Olympian-turned Commissioner Akiko Thomson-Guevara of the Philippine Sports Commission will spearhead a projected huge field predominantly composed of high school and college students, athletes, and sports officials for the 3-kilometer WNCAA/MNCAA Pep Rally Run which will be staged in a loop course from Abreeza’s Robinson’s ramp to Robinson’s Cybergate at Lanang, starting at 5:00 in the morning.

 

A field of 20 schools will be crowding the hunt for the prestigious title as Mindanao’s top pep squad which also involves text voting through Smart, the event’s co-presentor. The event will feature high school and college pep squads in Mindanao.

 

Holy Trinity College of Gen. Santos City looms as the heavy favourite for the cheerleading competitions with heavy challenge from Davao’s best squads AMA Computer College, Assumption Collee of Davao, Davao Doctors College, San Pedro College, University of Southeastern Philippines, Holy Cross-Sasa, Brokenshire College, University of the Immaculate Conception, Stella Maris Academy, and Sta. Ana National High School.

 

WNCAA/MNCAA is organized by Bravetower Events Promotions with SMART as co-presentor. Also supported the event are Enervon Multivitamins and I-on Energy Drink as “Official Energy Providers”, Mindanao Travel Channel, City Government of Davao and the Philippine Sports Commission with media partners Mindanao Daily Mirror, Gold Star Daily, Mindanao Tribune, Mindanao Times, Mindanao Travel Channel and 102.7 FM One Radio.

 

Registration fee for the WNCAA/MNCAA Pep Rally Run is pegged at P100 only with free Smart Sim and baller. The run is unique in itself as the participants will be flagged of by school delegations and will be doing their school cheers along the route.

 

Highlights of the run and cheerleading events will be shown on Mindanao Travel Channel via Channel 2 of Sky Cable TV.

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PR  Materials from Bravetower Productions

PR Powers from Your New PR Girl

TESDA Releases Over 2,000 Scholarship Vouchers to Students in Davao

Earlier this year, a study conducted by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) released data that out of our total GDP, 5% of that has been earned by the IT – BPO (Information Technology – Business Process Outsourcing) industry. Despite the market’s newness, this percentage is equivalent to a whopping P 9 billion pesos.  That said, it is no wonder that IT – BPO is really one of the most promising emerging markets in the Philippines.

As a response to this data, the Office of the President, through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), has granted the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) scholarship subsidies for the IT-BPO industry in the form of scholarship vouchers under the Industry-Based Training for Work Scholarship Program (I- TWSP).

In Davao city, the highlights of this program are the following career lines: Contact/ Call center training, Software development, Animation and Medical transcription. TESDA will be giving away more than 2,000 scholarship vouchers for our young Davaoenyos. Creative communication anddesign school JoBS Academy will be handling the applications for scholarships in Animation and Software Development. The Contact Center (CC) training will be handled by select technical-vocational institutions with accredited Contact Center programs that are under the ICT – Davao umbrella. Also, leading transcription training ground MTC Academy will handle the applications for the Medical transcription training.

What is different with the I-TWSP is that each industry association must ensure that at least 70% of all graduate from their allocation of the I-TWSP vouchers are employed within six months after the completion of the training.

“Our confidence for this project is very high. We know that the IT- BPO industry is one of the most promising emerging technologies not just in the Philippines, but in the whole world. It’s true that we’re a leading player in this market but we must not take this time to sit on our laurels and instead, focus on training and development. We might be #1 now, but other countries are also keeping up. That is why we are thankful for this opportunity. After all, it’s easy: Innovate or stagnate.” This is the meaningful message of Belinda Laya-Torres, President of JoBS Academy, newest member of the ICT-Davao (Information and Communications Technology).

The I-TWSP Davao leg is spearheaded by the ICT Council, under the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines.

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Your New PR Girl is the organizer of the ICT Davao press con for this amazing news. :) Free education. Who isn't happy about that?

For more information, you may visit the JoBS Academy's website: www.jobsacademy.edu.ph. Or call them up at 282 1470.

How to Keep Your Cool in the Office

Managing your temper and cracking a smile is the most difficult thing to do under stress. This is especially true if the work you’re in demands a lot from you at a split-second pace. When it comes to making crucial decisions that involve your company, and being faced with incompetent staff and a demanding boss or customer, you just want the earth to open up and eat you! However, before jumping out of the 23^rd floor becomes your only option, you should remember that there are better ways at addressing pressure than killing yourself. Along the way, you might realize that it’s the best option...and that this is one heck of a career advice.

When you’re trying to reach a hectic deadline, or at rush hours in the office, make sure you silence the unwanted. This means that anyone who may ask anything that doesn’t involve the crucial papers currently at hand should get out of your space. Make sure that while you’re working and sorting out the details, you listen to the right people, ask the right questions, and get relevant answers right away. Finish everything with a good time margin of about 5 minutes as allowance. After making sure that everything is handled well and delivered on time, take a breather, and get back at it!

Under normal, ordinary office circumstances, dealing with difficult people will be more challenging. You know that you’re not in the position to insist on being a corporate bitch because nothing “special” is happening to necessitate an attitude. Just like what most unhappy lovers do, just fake it! No one really knows whether you’re listening or not, anyway. Might as well, take advantage of the situation and put a smile on your face and think of happy thoughts. You can even divert the stressors’ attention away from you, in order not to pop your last nerve.

Making sure that you have grace under tremendous amounts of pressure or stress is very taxing. It requires from you a great sense of self, patience and a fully charged music player! Bear in mind that if you stay as the professional that you truly are, you’re still the winner in the end. No one can become the champ if they’re the one to lose their temper first. Besides, the best revenge you can give anyone is not by being as difficult as he/she is, but killing them with kindness. Realistically speaking, there is nothing more irritating for a grumpy workmate than to see you smiling while he’s moping and miserable.


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When I am pissed in the office (around a year ago, when I still worked in an office), I surf the net for some funny videos, stories or good music. Sometimes, I also take a couple of deep breaths and close my eyes for an energy recharge. Sometimes I go out for a short walk around the office compound. I bring my umbrella, of course. 


What are your ways to keep your cool in the office?

Tips for Effective Communication in the Office

As children, the scene where we are rushed to the room when we have visitors is familiar. Because of this, a lot of us grew up timid and afraid to talk to strangers. Hence, we find it hard to express ourselves when it comes to public speaking. This may be one of those classes in college or high school that you just wanted to get over and done with. Though at times it might be fulfilling to know that you just passed this course, your next boardroom conference with the CEOs might get back at you for that. Don’t worry! It’s never too late to master the basics of public speaking, especially if applied to the office environment. Here are some pointers you’d want to consider:

Basic public speaking lessons would tell you that confidence is the core of effective communication. Well, this is true and false. While it is true that you need this boost in order to speak properly, you also risk not being able to relay your message properly. It may be that because of too much confidence you place on yourself, you forget your audience along the way. The moral of the lesson is to be never too arrogant in speaking. You should have empathy with respect to your audience, especially if they’re the people you need to impress for a bonus of promotion. Strike a balance between these two always.

Furthermore, mastery of the topic will always save you from humiliation. Although most of the time, you’d be asked to report on something you do, along the way, you might encounter unfamiliar areas. This might be because of the work of a colleague who passed the last minute and you just copied his work unto the final presentation. Don’t run away scared! You can manage this by reading his part of the report thoroughly before you place it on to the presentation. If that doesn’t work, ask him to explain it in your behalf. As a last resort, just be honest and say you’ll get back to that once your data’s good to go.

Lastly, never present yourself in a boring manner. Always use hand gestures and keen eye contact on the people you need to do the report on. There are observable patterns in the crowd’s facial reaction that’ll indicate whether or not they follow you. It’s not as easy as observing your friends, but you’ll get there with more exposure. Being able to effectively communicate needs a lot of practice, so there’s no instant pill you can take. When you do get the hang of it, you can only get better at it with time.

PR Shoutout for Gifts Davao Bouquets

Four years in the business and it still looks better!

Gifts Davao has helped more than a hundred men (and women) please their loved ones through high quality floral bouquets and excellent service. It actually started as an idea for a Mother's day gift, the Hershey's Kisses Bouquet, and then interest picked up.

Today, Gifts Davao serves 5 major orders:

*The Ferrero Bouquet - A bouquet of flowers, with decorated Ferrero Rocher chocolate stems.
*The Kisses Bouquet - A bouquet of flowers, with decorated Hershey's Kisses chocolate stems.
*Dozen Roses Bouquet - Simple and classy. One dozen long stemmed roses.
*2 Dozen Roses Bouquet - When one dozen is not enough, double up!
*Mixed Flowers Bouquet - Basically, anything goes. Roses, mums, liliums, dendrobiums, lilies, gladiolas, vergattos, ferns, white lace, asters, margarets and bundles of baby's breath come together for a nice visual feast. The simplest combo is roses and mums.

Here are the advantages of ordering flowers from Gifts Davao:

*Fast transactions - all you need is to text one number: 0933 973 4990. Unless you're texting during unholy hours, the owner will reply to you in a jiffy. For out of town and out of country orders, email correspondence also proved to be seamless.

*Easy choosing - a HUGE portfolio is on Facebook. Click THIS LINK to see it and like the page as well.

*Hassle free delivery - delivery is always on time, and they cover shipping through LBC (plus special packaging). Moreover, deliveries to far flung areas in Davao, such as Cabantian or Toril, are also welcome.

*Wide choices for payment - You can pay via deposits in Gcash, BPI, BDO, Unionbank or Metrobank. You may also do money transfer through MLhuiller, Cebuana Lhuiller, RD Pawnshop, Palawan Pawnshop, Western Union and even Paypal.

*Free consultation - Sometimes you don't know what to give, which colors for a certain type of girl, or what flowers to put depending on the depth of your relationship or on the occasion. Are you saying sorry? Do you want to get back? Just want to make her smile? Celebrating your 8th anniversary? They'll help you out.

*Additional requests are welcome - Want a teddy bear to go with that? How about a cake? Or a song? They'd gladly acquiesce!

Here are some pictures of the beautiful bouquets at Gifts Davao:

Aren't they lovely? Order your own bouquet now! Text 0933 973 4990. :-) You really won't regret it!

Did You Just Fall Out of Love With Your Business?

It's the Christmas season again, and love and festivity is just all around us. Symbols of love are everywhere—the color red, Christmas trees, Santa, gifts, et cetera. What also caught my attention was the  massive business going on. Lantern stores sprout on busy sidewalks, beggars are now singing carols, and the price of fruits and flowers slightly shot up.

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I had no problem with any of those. However, as I contemplated on the business part and on all the love brewing around, I suddenly thought: what if you fall out of love for your business? What if you just lost it? What do you do to fall back in love again?

See, perhaps the best job in the world is to be one’s own boss. And even though it’s not that easy or as loose as it sounds, many people still jump into the bandwagon and try to come up with their very own gigs. At first you like being the king of your time and being able to have the say on everything; however, when the realities of business ownership and management settle in, it’s also easy to just lose the zest for your business.

Imagine, you have to worry about financial management, employee relationship, sales and most of the time, you even get to work on weekends as well. When your to-do list starts to lengthen more than usual, there will be times when all you want to do is shut yourself out and sleep all day.

If you need help falling back in love with your business, here are a few time tested tips:

The first thing that you need to do is to set your mindset right back on track. Ask yourself why you are doing what you do and what your business stands for. Or, if you want to amp up the purpose of your business, ask yourself, “what is the most important aspect of my job?”. Whether it’s giving jobs or providing above satisfactory services, you need to remind yourself what your purpose is. Take time to pause for a while and reflect on what we are there for. Usually it’s the daily drill that just gets into us, and reflecting on our purpose re-energizes us back into taking those drills more seriously and purposefully.

Now, if you think that it’s the huge mound of tasks getting into you, start delegating some of the little ones to a trustworthy delegate. Pass some important-but-easy-and-time-consuming tasks like website maintenance, social media marketing and calendar scheduling off to an assistant. This will give you more energy and time to focus on the more important aspects of your business or future projects.

Lastly, don’t forget to take some time off. Take a quick vacation (one weekend will do) to inspire yourself and perhaps generate fresh ideas and more innovative perspectives. Indulge your employees to these kinds of mini vacations once in a while as well.

See, it’s not very difficult, isn’t it? You just have to start with the right mindset and work from there. And for a while, take your time off the numbers (sales, debts, etc.) and work on the heart of your business—the purpose. Once you get it right from there, the numbers will eventually concede.

Need more help with business revamping or mindset recharging? Drop me a line at the comment box or email Your New PR Girl at karlastefansingson@gmail.com.

Facebook Etiquette for the Working Ones

We all know how famous Facebook has become. And we all know what this fame can do to our careers. Now that bosses and employees may get cozy and may take a peek at each other's personal live through Facebook's social networking magic, there are unwritten rules about Facebook Etiquette for employees. I'm listing down those that jump out of my mind:

1. Don't send a friend request to your boss. It's just wrong. However, if he adds you up, clean up your profile (meaning: no drunk and obscene pictures) and click "Approve". Also, you might want a grammar check on your info.

2. Don't whine about work on Facebook. Even if you *think* your boss won't see it, it doesn't mean it won't reach him.

3. Don't badmouth your boss or your officemate on Facebook. It's very unbecoming.

4. If your motto is "Work hard, party harder", change it. Stick with "Time is gold" instead. Haha!

5. No slutty pictures, videos and language. Once in a while, swearing is okay. But don't make it about work!

6. Don't Facebook while you're at work! AND DON'T PLAY FACEBOOK GAMES in the office! Just don't. Unless it's part of your job.

7. Use private messaging for posting personal news. Nobody likes to see you scream on the Facebook walls. Your workmates will thank you later.

8. Avoid oversharing. Enough said.

Here's some more social networking new bits:

A recent survey conducted in 2008 by Jackson Lewis LLP, one of the nation’s largest management-side employment law firms, surveyed 100 employers in New York to determine how on-line social networking sites have affected the employer-employee relationship. Some of the findings were as follows:

• 56 percent of the employers admitted to monitoring employees’ Internet use to determine whether they are accessing on-line social networking sites, among other potential inappropriate behavior.
• 38 percent of the employers blocked employees from accessing such websites.
• 16 percent of the employers admitted checking out on-line networking sites to see what current and former employees might be saying about them.
• 12 percent of the employers use social networking sites to recruit new employees and to assess applicants before extending a job offer.
• 6 percent of the employers have terminated employees for utilizing on-line social networking during work time.

You're welcome! :)

Love,

Run for Peace Tomorrow

Run for peace tomorrow (October 30, 2011) at Davao Medical School. This FUN RUN is spearheaded by Fr. Robert Reyes and Avy Silva.

"It is not through war that we can achieve peace within our nation and even throughout the world. It is through Peace itself. Let us all unite as we support this Peace process for our fellow Filipinos. War is NOT the solution."

Personally, I'm tired of hearing war stories. Sometimes I even catch myself finding pleasure in reading showbiz magazines because I want to dodge the stress that comes with reading about the harsh realities of war. What appalls me more is the fact that there are actually a lot of intelligent people who are pushing for an all-out war in Mindanao and hailing it as the panacea. Tsk tsk. When has war ever made things better?

But that's another story. For tomorrow, let's just run in peace. And hope that that peace in our hearts multiply.

How to Deal with a Difficult Officemate

Confrontation never looks good, especially if it’s in the office with an officemate. Nothing is better than preventing any conflict from arising to begin with, but when it does sprout up, you should be ready. Sometimes the usual misunderstandings are work-related, which is relatively more manageable. The worse kind of conflict you can face if it’s personal by nature. Here are 4 easy conflict-resolution steps you can follow so you know how to deal with a difficult officemate:

Firstly, know who you’re dealing with. The approach to problems with a higher-ranking official in the company is totally different with the approach you can take with a peer or subordinate in a department. After this, make sure you objectively assess the problems you have with him or her. If it’s work-related, you might want to consider approaching the appropriate level of management or human resource official to help you with the situation. Otherwise, try to take matters into your hand first.

Now that you have a general overview into the problem, be ready to talk with him or her outside the office. It’s always best to talk about settling conflicts outside the office first, before you let other people in the office know about it if it does become more difficult to deal with. You can talk with your officemate at a cosy café or anywhere else that both of you can feel relaxed. You don’t want sparks to flare early on in your meeting before talking with each other about settling the issues that you confront.

Next, you should be open about your opinions with your difficult officemate. Along the way into easing up the confrontation into an objective assessment of your relationship with him or her, be willing to make or propose compromises that both of you will observe from thereon. This is important so that your officemate may feel that, despite your misunderstanding, you’d still be willing enough to give him or her importance as your colleague.

When everything has been sorted out, never come off too casual with a joke or sensitive topics that may be related with your conversation. Don’t assume that everything’s going to be fine and dandy right away to the point that you want to laugh about what just happened after settling your issues. Don’t even try to haggle up a deal that you’ll be bringing a prostitute over to his apartment to patch things up. At this point, don’t make things awkward and just leave everything time to heal the remaining wounds. 

Corporate Social Responsibility Shoutout: North Palm Hotel and Garden

Last October 8, 2011, with the event planning and management headed by PREP Davao, an eco-friendly hotel opened. It was North Palm Hotel and Garden, located in Lanang, Davao city.

Aside from having the opportunity to own the eco-friendly hotel branding, North Palm can also help a lot in educating people on environmentally sound ways to take care of Mother Nature.

Here are some of the things that North Palm does to pay their share in taking care of our environment:

• Using solar heat to warm up your showers
• Utilizing rain water for cleaning your rooms, bathrooms, the entire hotel and for watering the plants.
• Employing waste management systems inside the room so you can properly segregate your waste
• Keeping the hallways open to let natural breeze flow through
• Using only organic detergents and cleansers for all cleaning activities
• Application of eco-friendly paint all over the hotel
• Putting the No Smoking Ordinance under strict compliance
• Use of recycled wood for flooring and stair treads

Aside from North Palm’s eco-friendly commitment, they’re also keen on aiding advocacies that help uplift livelihoods, families and communities.

Kudos to North Palm Hotel and Garden! Don't forget to show them some love! Click this link to like their Facebook page.

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Photos by DJ Tadena

Opening Event Coordination and Full Event Planning by PREP (PR, Events and Promotions)

Business Advice: Bigger Vs. Greater

There are a lot of people who resign from their jobs and start out on their own because they want to work on their own terms. They want to be the kings and queens of their times, and they want to explore their passions. On one hand, entrepreneurship does make a lot of hard work pay off in bigger terms. However, it is not the best business advice to hurry on expansion once you see income pouring in.

Many entrepreneurs commit the mistake of hasty expansion. They want to branch out ASAP when they find that their first venture is earning a lot of money. They want to get as much mileage as they can, make the brand as famous at it can be and most of all, they want to invest their income before these investments get watered down to careless expenses. They want to be big, big and BIG! In this light, sadly, most of them lose their focus.

One way to avoid losing focus is to remember why you created your company in the first place. Rethink its purpose and through this, you can begin to re-define success. You don’t have to change anything. Sometimes, all you need is to remember. 

Remember the time when you were up and about, thinking about the things that you wanted to do for your business. Remember the time when you were convincing your friends that you had a great idea and that it would be a really good business endeavor. Remember that particular time you mustered efforts to ask your stern professor about sound business advice. Remember the time when you were trying to borrow money from your parents, and arguing a little about it. These things will remind you of what really matters in your business; and what really makes your business idea great.

Any small company will be given an opportunity to widen their range of products and services. What is important is that they maintain (or preferably, surpass) the benefits that their clients get from their current offers, as well as maintain the good experience of their employees. For this, you might want to consider a little survey.

See, bigger isn’t always better. Companies are not just evaluated by their revenue or their number of branches. These things sit side-by-side the number of employees, their growth rate, their location, and their openness to other opportunities for moving forward. Here's one great business advice: there are a lot of instances when growth is not from the outside but from the inside. Does your company still provide what your employees are there for? Does your company create the impact that you want it to contain? What do you want to be known for? And is that emanating? Those things make you not just big, but great.

You are What You Do... No More!

Today, a lot of people have their personal lives and their professional lives all tangled up. And for most youngsters, we have certain passions that we also want to pursue, plus the desire to make a difference. Given these responsibilities and different facets of our existence, it’s easy to blur the lines among them.

What I find the saddest with such situations are the times when one loses his/ her identity to his/ her job. See, after spending years and years of effort, time, money and passion on trying to make an education stellar, achieve AND keep a high profile career, we start identifying ourselves exclusively to what it says on our business cards.

We go through life this way: waking up to fulfill tasks demanded by the job, we go home at night to rest, to have a clearer mind when we go back to our jobs the next day. We take vacations, but dread the last days of it because we’re going to “go back to reality” again. At the end of the day, we all believe all these are paying off; we now hold high positions in the companies we are working at and sometimes, we’re even successful enough to garner enough credentials and capital for a personal business. We look around us; we feel so “up there”; we know we deserve it. Although this might help in keeping a healthy self esteem, it’s too big a gamble for personal identity.

For, what happens when you suddenly lose your job? Or your business? Your affiliations?

Whether you’re a en employee, a businessman or simply a socialite, you must be ready to shake your title off anytime. Why is this so?

When we enclose ourselves to our job titles, we jeopardize ourselves emotionally. When something bad happens at work, we take it personally. A disaster in the middle of our big event? We break down. If you fall into this kind of trap, you lose your presence outside of your office or your business and this will (sadly) lead to you seeing people (outside that world) of less value. You can only get to value and appreciate people who are there to help you advance in your career.

Chill out a little, fellow. Take certain passions that help you breathe easy, those which you have been dreaming since you were a child, or those which you have been dying to do after college. Volunteer work, some art lessons, dancing workshops, whatever. Stop looking upon others and comparing yourself to them. Instead, focus on you, on your well being, and lastly, take a second look on your health. Many youngsters nowadays are unbelievable workaholics that sometimes it shocks me to see them work harder than a single mom who raises 6 kids. And for what? Most of the time, they are not really sure.

Don’t wait for the time when you lose your job and you won’t know how to introduce yourself to a new friend. So really, stop being a workaholic and take time to smell the flowers. Even literally. Trust me, it helps. 

Davao Tourism Unveils Newest Branding: Life is Here

Davao city rises to the top of the almighty list of Philippine tourist attractions with their newest branding: Life is Here.

The idea behind this tagline is to show that Davao, with its lush greens, superior security, vast lands and unbelievable talent base, can be the best place to spend and celebrate life in.

Your New PR Girl will give a more detailed explanation of this brand new campaign. For the  meantime, cheers to Davao, my home! Visit www.davaotourism.com if you love Davao. :)

Career Advice: Get Rid of Burnout, Urbanity's Most Dangerous Trap

"Burnout happens, not because we’re trying to solve problems but because we’ve been trying to solve the same problems over and over and over." Susan Scott 

If the word burnout is familiar to you, I hope it’s just familiar because you heard it from others…not because you are experiencing it yourself. However, if you are, indeed, experiencing it yourself, that doesn’t surprise me either. I, too, fall into this urban trap.

According to studies, more than three-fourths of the Americans and more than half of Filipinos admit to suffering from burnout. The sources of this urban stress comes from work, family, romantic relationships (or lack thereof) and business. It also doesn’t help that modernization demands a lot from us, yuppies, nowadays. We are pressured AND EXPECTED to have a great career, a great relationship, great taste and great looks. When we fall short of these “great” stuff, we are deemed underachievers. Worse, stupid.

These demands can overwhelm even the most amazing achievers. Come on, there are only 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and our bodies have physical limitations. We must never forget what we usually hear from Nutrition month jingles: that we must drink 8 glasses of water a day, sleep at least 6-8 hours every night. Even these things get easily forgotten due to the pressures that engulf us lately.

Perhaps the first thing that we have to do is to admit to ourselves that we are not Superhuman. We must always keep realistic expectations and slowly let go of the unnecessary pressures that we bestow upon ourselves. This way, we banish one of the deepest sources of pressure: guilt. When we feel like we are not doing enough, we feel guilty and then we overcompensate. If we banish this guilt, we will slowly begin to accept that it is not our fault that we cannot do all the things that we want to do in a certain period of time. When we accept that it is not our fault, that is when we can move forward.

Moreover, it’s also helpful that we accept that yes, we can be stressed and pressured but there has to be a certain amount of stress and pressure that we can take. When we realize that we are stressed, we must hit the brakes and distract ourselves for a while. A little change of environment wouldn’t hurt. For example, if you are having a tough day in the office, you can simply switch your PC’s monitor for a while, close your eyes and listen to soothing music. Or you can take a short walk in your office block and take in a deep breath of fresh air. A movie a week is also helpful. And when your wallet gives its green light, take time to go on a short vacation.

Stay tuned for more Marketing, PR and career advice! :-)

Love, 

Your New PR Girl

Davao Cinemas: Showing from Today til Sept. 13, 2011

Abreeza Cinemas


Cinema 1 - Fright Night * Colin Farrel * Suspense * PG 13 (12:50, 3:00, 5:10, 7:20, 9:30)
Cinema 2 - One Day * Anne Hathaway * Drama/ Romance * R 13 (12:35, 2:45, 4:55, 7:05, 9:15)
Cinema 3 - Wedding Tayo, Wedding Hindi * Eugene Domingo/Toni Gonzaga * Comedy * G (11:40, 2:00, 4:20, 6:40, 9:00)
Cinema 4 - Bad Teacher * Cameron Diaz * Comedy * R13 (1:05, 3:00, 4:55, 6:50, 8:45)

Gaisano Citimall Ilustre

Cinema 1 - Final Destination 5 * Nicholas D Agosto * Suspense * R13
Cinema 2 - Wedding Tayo, Wedding Hindi * Eugene Domingo/ Toni Gonzaga * G
Cinema 3 - Fright Night * Colin Farrel * Suspense PG 13

Gaisano Mall Cinemas

Cinema 1 3D - Fright Night * Colin Farrel * Suspense PG 13 (12:50, 3:00, 5:10, 7:20, 9:30)
Cinema 2 - Thelma * Maja Salvador * Drama * G (11:30, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30)
Cinema 3 - Wedding Tayo, Wedding Hindi * Eugene Domingo/ Toni Gonzaga * G (11:00, 12:50, 3:00, 5:10, 7:20, 9:30)
Cinema 4 - Final Destination 5 * Nicholas D Agosto * Suspense * R13 (11:30, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30)
Cinema 5 - Zombadings 1 * Comedy/ Horror * PG13 (11:30, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30)
Cinema 6 (VIP) - Fright Night * Colin Farrel * Suspense * PG 13 (11:30, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30)
Cinema 7 (VIP) - Colombiana * Zoe Saldana * Action * R13 (1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30)
Cinema 8 (RedCarpet) - One Day * Anne Hathaway * Romance * PG13 (1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30)

SM City Davao 

Cinema 1 - Fright Night * Colin Farrel * Suspense * PG 13 (12:00, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 8:35)
Cinema 2 - Thelma * Maja Salvador * Drama * G (12:30, 2:45, 4:50, 6:55, 8:35)
Cinema 3 -  One Day * Anne Hathaway * Romance * PG13 (12:20, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 8:40)
Cinema 4 - Wedding Tayo, Wedding Hindi * Eugene Domingo/ Toni Gonzaga * G (12:20, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 8:45)
Cinema 5 - Under renovation
Cinema 6 - Under renovation

Don't worry, this will be a weekly thing. *kiss*

You're welcome,

Your New PR Girl

Are You Addicted to Achievement?

(published @ Mindanao Times, Late 2010)

Whenever people ask me what I do, I tell them that I teach Marketing at the Ateneo de Davao University, and that I write online and in print. But really, that’s not even half of the real story.

The truth is, I organize weddings, debuts and corporate events, run an online gift shop, do marketing and PR consultancy, run a small food processing business, teach Marketing, write for a newspaper, write for magazines, write for websites and write for art’s sake.

Usually, when people really have this full list of all the stuff I do and do on the side, they usually say “What a workaholic!” Every time I hear it, I usually laugh because for me, they might sound a lot, but that’s already a summarized list. I don’t even take up a full time office work because usually I get bored and I felt a little unproductive if I physically stagnate in the office.

I recently came across an online quiz which was entitled “Are you addicted to achievement?” The title struck me but I didn’t dare take the quiz because I knew what it’s going to tell me. That I am a sucker for achievement. For quite sometime, I always felt the need to achieve something, to do something that I think I can do just to prove that I really can do it. However, whenever I ask myself about the fulfillment I feel everytime I finish a task well, deliver great results or simply a Facebook message from a class saying they missed me for the day, I knew all those hard work finally paid off.

But not all women think like me.

There are a lot of women who admit to being workaholics and then losing the “meaning” that they used to see in their professions. What used to be careers simply became jobs, and these situations kept women from self actualizing. I even have close friends who admit to being so burned out in their jobs but then they couldn’t let it go because these jobs were paying the bills. (Mostly, credit card bills. Bah.)

There was a recent study in the USA that showed some positive life fulfillment stats during the recession. It said that there were a lot of women who lost their jobs because of the economic downturn and it made them reconnect with their family again.

“I was always busy, I didn’t have time to think things over. The demands of my job kept me distracted.” This was a quote from Dominique Browning, a once-career woman who lost her job and then realized that she found a different form of fulfillment with spending time with her children. Before, she just used to spend extra time with her office mates because she needed to keep up with their office gossip and other worthless things like celebrity chitchat and fashion updates.

My tip for a lot of career women out there—don’t forget to nurture a great personal life. Go date, party, spend time with your family, read a good book, take vacations once in a while, maintain a healthy lifestyle and most of all, don’t be too dependent on your phones and laptops. Also, remember that the more time you spend with work, the higher your expectations will go. And if you’ve got a sky high expectation but then the reality just fares a little above your head, you’ll only end up frustrated.

It’s also best to take some time alone and just enjoy the company of yourself. Get a massage, curl up with your favorite magazine, watch a much-awaited romantic comedy movie or sci fi documentary…whatever floats your boat. Don’t be like those other women who burn themselves out at work and then when their paychecks arrive, they appease themselves with material things that are oftentimes useless. Be a smart spender—of time and money. Invest in the right things. Great investments also make you feel fulfilled.

So if you ever find yourself getting addicted to achievement again, simply reassess your goals. See if it’s worth all the pressure. Put your happiness and fulfillment at the top of the list.

How do you feel about achievements and achieving? Hope you're not burning yourself out there, woman. 

Dating for Workaholics

I know a lot of people in different industries who seem to have just little time for recreation, let alone dating. Also, “I’m busy” holds to be a very good excuse for someone who hasn’t done much dating lately. Well, let those days be gone! Here is a quick guide for dating workaholics, or dating when you’re a workaholic.

1. Are you really a workaholic? The first step is to determine if you’re really a workaholic. Psychological studies show that all the “-holic” tendencies (shopaholic, alcoholic, chocoholic, etc.) means a compensation for something else. So if you are a workaholic you’d have to admit it to yourself. Do you ALWAYS work the extra hours? Do you have a job (a department, a boss and a company) which demands excessively from you? Are you struggling to get promoted, or get a “regular” status? Try to track if there’s something wrong in your chosen career and try to lessen it or, better yet, kill it. If you can’t then work with it and make sure the problem is not long term.

2. Prioritize well. If somebody puts you off because they’re “too busy” then it means that they are working on other things but not on you because YOU ARE NOT A PRIORITY. Yes, that’s the cold hard truth guys. BUT if you use the busy excuse to put off dates, well, you might have an issue with yourself. Maybe you’re not really ready to date and you just need a quick way out. Also, if you have more than one date lined up for the week/ month, try to prioritize which are the ones which are more important. If you are with just one partner, remember the more important dates and determine which the best dates are for your partner to enjoy them the most.

3. Pay attention when you are on the date. Switch off your Blackberries and your laptops. Hey, if you really wanna land with a partner, you better pay attention to the potential ones. Dates are the perfect times to balance your work and your personal life. When your date is talking, listen to them. Observe. Affirm. Get to know them truly. Do not half-listen while running in your mind the next-day tasks. Switch off work mode and immerse yourself in the moment. Also, try not to talk about work with your date. It’s nice to share funny and charming anecdotes but no complaining/ nagging please. If you think that you have found someone to go serious with, or have already gone serious with this person, take a breather from your day job and send them an email or a quick text message saying that you are thinking of them. Communicate well. It might sound like so much of an effort to you, but really, it’s worth it.

4. Start a life outside work. If work eats up most of you, then it must have eaten the best of you already. Avoid this by starting to have a life outside work. Pick a hobby that you’d be glad to improve and invest (not spend) a lot of time working on it. Also, try to broaden your horizons by having fun activities with people who are not from your office. It will really take your mind off work because you will talk about, laugh about and even argue (in a friendly way) about different things. So when you’re out in the dating market, you are not that boring old folk who is always talking about work and people from work. Yes, no matter how funny they are. Besides, getting out of the office is, by common sense, the best way to meet NEW people. That is, if you’re still single, okay?

Okay now workaholics, those busy excuses are all disqualified now. Enjoy dating and cherishing one very good investment—a long lasting relationship.

On the same breath, please do not use dating as an excuse to slack off at work. Haha!

Let me know what you think, workaholics. :-) And if you're not out on a date, rushing off for a date, please take time to like Your New PR Girl's page. Thank you!