Smart bags three awards at the ACA 2012...

In a recent blog post, I wrote about how I was missing what I used to do back in the Philippines to pay my bills - Corporate Communications/Public Relations.

Thanks to a message from my former Smart colleague Monet, I found myself at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel last night covering the Asia Communication Awards 2012 for Smart.

Whooppee!

Smart was nominated in 6 categories, including CEO of the Year and Operator of the Year and my former colleagues at the Public Affairs Group needed someone to do event coverage.

How can I not say no? (Well, I would have if I was not able to find a DSLR to borrow.) Plus, it's sort of a raket as well. Yey! Hehe!

At the end of the night, the Philippines' leading telecommunications (writing that sounds very PR... LOL!) brought home three awards, including Operator of the Year!

That's a back-to-back win for Smart. I checked the ACA website and the company won the same award last year.

I'm glad that I can still remember most of the things needed for these events. Aside from taking photos, I was scribbling down notes on how the event was going.

It was also nice to hear a compliment Smart boss who attended the awards night for the company. He said something like, "Good thing you thought of asking the guy to stay behind for the photo. You really know these things."

Nice words to hear. :) Definitely "inspiring." *wink wink*

Congrats again to Smart! Double congrats for being the telecoms company who won the most number of awards! :)

Tagaytay planning...

Big shoutout from Tagaytay.

Planning's going well. Day one was not as toxic as I thought it would be. Haha! The four teams of the group presented their accomplishment for the previous year and the targets and strategies for this 2010. This year is going to be quite challenging, especially because of the elections. But it's good because this will be quite a learning experience. Haha!

Uhm, anyway, we finished on time yesterday so that gave the group a chance to have some bonding time. We headed to the Cliffhouse and had late dessert at Cafe Breton and fray from Fling. Of course, being Public Affairs people, camwhoring was definitely part of the night's activities. Hehe! The restaurant or inn across Cafe Breton had beautiful interior - crisp, clean and white. The couch was gorgeous and it was just perfect for a photo op. Hehe!

After the sweet treat, we went back to the hotel and spent a good couple of hours hanging out and chatting with friends from abroad. Wifi connection was really good so I got to Skype with former colleague Rej (who's in Singapore), and another friend who's in Toronto. Gawd, I just love the Internet. We got to talk for a loooong time for free. Definitely good, huh!

Today, we started quite early. Schedule for this morning include recapping and alignment of programs. Later this afternoon will be the continuation of more quality time for the group. Hehe!

I'm tired and sleepy because I slept at 2AM(!!!), but I'm really glad with how things are going. And again, I'm thankful to be where I am right now. It's challenging, but it's really fun and every day is a learning experience.

Back in Manila tomorrow. Hope you all have a nice Friday.

Sombrero holiday party...

This is a long overdue post.

We had a simple but really meaningful and super fun Christmas party to end the year and to celebrate the holidays as well.

The party organizers decided to do a hat party. Everyone in the team received a plain buri hat, which we were supposed to decorate. Best hat gets a prize. Because we were so busy trying to finish everything before offices and people go on holiday mode, I wasn't sure whether people would have the time to really work on their hats. Some colleagues and I got to work on our hats only during the night before the party.

Man, was I wrong? (And definitely happy about it! Haha!) Once our party started, each one brought out their decorated hats. Definitely impressive and pleasantly surprising! This is one of the nice things about being in the team where I am. Each one has been blessed with a great amount of creativity and skill in the art/aesthetic department. Hehehe! And even during last minute situations, we still manage to find a way to make whatever it is we're working much more creative/better.

It was difficult to judge which hat was the best. In the end, colleague Deivid's was declared winner. He did a Filipiniana theme. Sequins and glitters to form the Philippine flag on the hat. Galing!!!

The other highlights of the party were the rewards & recognition portion and the exchange gift. For the R&R, I'm happy to have received a number of Starbucks GCs and other goodies. The exchange gift, on the other hand, was a bit different than the usual. Let's just say that friendships were put to a test because of a Powerbooks GC. Hahaha!

The year has really been something and the people I work with definitely played a major role in making sure that we all get through the year in one piece. Haha! I'm really glad to be part of the team, and I'm definitely looking forward to having a bright 2010 with these guys.