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!