New Era Trash Talk Ad

I hate baseball but love heated rivalries and I this one is great. Fairly simple concept and plays off the familiarity of trust principle. Baldwin kills it and the actual product placement is subtlety presented in the form of a single red sox hat. Overall enjoyable and got me a little excited to see how these teams fair this season.

Reporter Extraordinaire

In second year at creative communications students are asked to choose between Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations, and Media Production. At first I was journalism all the way. I loved conducting interviews, writing the stories, and most of all being in front of the camera. But as the deadline drew closer I began to question my intentions. I could go into journalism for attention but then my creativity would be compromised as far as design and creative writing. Also the fact that only a small portion of students ever get to actually be on air played into consideration, that and the shitty pay (duh). Ultimately I decided to go into advertising because I knew I would be good at it and I could still take Steve Vogelsang’s Sports Journalism class which was a great experience. We did three separate video stories in which I wrote, shot, and edited without any prior experience. So check them out if you like or don't, see if I care.

RIP Nate Dogg

Believe it or not but hip hop music has played a fairly significant role in my life. Growing up my mother loved Motown music so the house was always overflowing with the sound of Marvin Gaye or Diana Ross. Therefore I grew up loving music and the natural evolution of Motown lay in the foundation of hip hop music. To my surprise my mother evolved as well and thoroughly enjoyed this relatively new genre of music. She didn't like the swearing, violent threats, or sexual references but one man made up for all of that, and that man was Nate Dogg.

His melodic, deep, and sexy voice added the flavor that would turn any hardcore rap song into a crowd pleasing party track and in my case mother friendly. Nate made the songs memorable, singing the hooks that will stay in my head forever. He showed people that rappers aren't just about violence and sex but fighting for your rights and making love.

Nate Dogg is best know for his friendship with rappers Snoop Dogg and Warren G. The three of them were members of the Rolling 20's crips in Los Angeles. When they started making music they called themselves 213, Warren G would mix the beats, Snoop would rap and Nate Dogg would sing the hooks. They cut a demo tape and that tape just so happened to be playing at a house party Dr Dre just so happened to be at and the rest is history.

Nate was easily one of the most widely liked members of the rap community. Even if his actions werent always angelic his voice always was. He died at age 41 of congestive heart failure, he will be missed but his music will live forever at high school dances and on my mother's i pod.

HIGH Television Series

Over the past two years I have taken my love of the entertainment industry to a whole new level. Growing up I was obsessed with celebrities, films, and television. Having been the fruits of a broken marriage I was basically raised by Hollywood. It gave me my first experience with the concept of humor, death and even sex.

So as an ode to the shows that acted as my surrogate parents, I decided to write my own screenplay. I knew I wanted it to be about sports because it was something I knew a lot about. It has been a while since I have seen something original done with hockey and I knew that the subject alone would be popular in Canada. So at what stage of hockey player would I use, the obvious choice was high school, where drama is always present. Now the challenge was creating something that was fresh, relevant, and somewhat controversial. The stereotypical teenage drama usually happens in a uber rich community where the characters have limitless funds, lavish parties, and never go to class. I wanted to stray from this, so I choose to write a show about Winnipeg's North End, a mosaic of culture with aspects of passion and danger.

So I went with the idea and wrote six 45 minute episodes. I found myself wanting to change the channel while I was writing plenty of times but overall everything worked out and the story came to a definitive close. The only thing left was to add a visual component to the project. I always had an idea of what I wanted in my head but it wasn't until I began working with Jeremie Wookey that my idea came to life. Together we hit the North End and got some great footage that really captivates my story of overcoming your surroundings and ultimately being a good person. Here is the intro video for HIGH.

High TV theme/intro from Jérémie Wookey on Vimeo.

IPPP's

So last week I had the pleasure of co-hosting the 2011 Creative Communications Independent Professional Project Presentations. Along side Jeremy Williams and Jeremie Wookey, it was a veritable Jeremy threesome. Instead of ending in jealousy and awkwardness, this threesome ended in some good old fashioned entertainment.

We had great chemistry and had no problem coming up with jokes and other gimmicks. For example we came up with our very own patented prize giveaways just seconds before going on stage and only minutes to think of ways to make fun of our classmates and in turn show them how much we truly care.

Overall it was an experience to remember and I only hope people had as much fun watching as I did hosting.

Ad Wars

So yah, like most normal people I watched the Super Bowl last night with some friends. It was nothing special, just a modest meal of beef tenderloin, duck nachos, illegally imported cheese, and Coke Zero. I liked both teams in the game so I was ready to sit back and relax. But then came the commercials, they flooded my thoughts with visions of companies at war, competing for a spot in our brains. There was many battles fought on Sunday and some came out better than others.

Cola Wars

Win

Fail

Car Wars

Win

Also Win


Fail
Trailer Wars
Disney Double WIn

Fail

Manitoba Moose Internship

For my work placement I was working at the True North Sports and Entertainment offices located at the MTS centre.

More specifically I worked in the communications department. I began my placement a week early because they needed someone to do media relations for the under 17 international hockey tournament. I acted as the media and scout liaison distributing credentials, addressing issues, sitting in on operations meetings, and doing music and announcing during games. Once the tournament was finished I started at True North. During the days I attended Moose practice, wrote articles, games notes, press releases, cover letters, brainstormed and developed ad campaigns, press conferences, and promotions. During the games I sat in the press box, interacted with the media and owners, and wrote game summaries for the Moose website.

The positive aspects of this placement were endless. I was able to witness and contribute to a side of sports and events management that others rarely get the opportunity to see. Everything from locker room to the board room, I gained a plethora of knowledge when it came to dealing with controversy, working with the media, crisis management, executing ideas and strategies.

The negatives were very hard to come by. I mean some may say the 15-hour days, parking problems, or eclectic meal options were issues but I enjoyed every minute of it. I found it all fascinating and took every opportunity to contribute any way I could. The only thing I could think of is some employees were weary about speaking in front of me about controversial or confidential issues. But once it was established that I was a trusted professional I was welcomed into the loop.

The thing that surprised me the most was how fun being “professional” can be. As long as you complete good and thorough work there are a lot of opportunities to joke around and have fun with the employees, players, media and owners.


I learned a lot about public relations and event management. When completing documents for the Moose I learned how important it was to be accurate with statistics and statements. I learned how to address the media from dealing with misleading or accusatory questions. I learned the how fragile some information is with regards to leaks about players being called up or traded to new concerts and events. For event management I saw how much work goes into the logistics of events, how to manage volunteers and how to troubleshoot in crucial situations.

I wish I had known more about the AHL. I love hockey but don’t pay enough attention to it to know all the prospects in the AHL. This would have come in handy when doing game notes, writing game summaries, and even just when interacting with employees. The knowledge would have promoted my legitimacy as someone with wide sports knowledge.

This placement has affected my career plans by showing me public relations can be extremely interesting and something I am capable of doing. I have always loved sports and this experience has opened another world of them. I would love to work for an organization like this, I found it fascinating and fit right in.

I had a great time, met a lot of insightful people, and firmly planted my foot in the door.