Czech Made

Blogger, we need to talk...

2011-11-14T07:25:00.000-08:00

Dear blogger,

We have been together for more than a year and you will always have a special place in my heart. But the last few months I have felt like there is something wrong between us.

And believe me, it's not you...it's me. I know this is a horrible cliché but it's true. I feel like we have just grown apart. We are at two different places and I just can't pretend that everything is fine anymore.

I have tried really hard to keep this up, to make this work...for the sake of our relationship. But now I know that I have to do this for both of us. You deserve somebody who will give you everything and who will be there for you 100%.

I have to leave you. Yes, I have met somebody else but trust me, our problems started long time before that. Please know I will always cherish the memories of the laughter and the tears we shared. You have helped me through a lot and I will never ever forget that.

I hope you will find a place in your heart to forgive me and maybe, some day, we can be friends?

With love,

Petra

P.S you can find me here: czechmade.tumblr.com

Small things worth missing

2011-10-19T02:05:00.000-07:00

Bonjour mes amis!

Being an international student living far from my home and all, I sometimes miss the smallest things that differentiate the home from just a place you live. Usually, when you have these things, you don't even notice them but you start to miss them terribly when they are gone.

So, there is the list of things I miss the most.

Smell
I love the smell of my home. It smells like... a fresh spring day when you just sit on a terrace enjoying the sun and sipping lemonade.

Cleanness
When you enter my home everything is clean and tidy. Yeah, there are some misplaced things now and then but there is no old dirt. It's hard to get that when you live in a house with 3 other people who have different opinion on what clean actually means.

Being close to someone

Whenever I'm at home I don't have to talk to my mum that much, it's enough that I know she is in the house. But when I'm in Preston or London or wherever, I have to talk to her every single day (yeah, mollycoddle I know). Although I do have friends over here, I don't know them for that long (2yrs max) to feel safe enough to talk to them about anything. Simply said, my mum knows me the best.

Full Fridge

When at home, I don't have to think about the shopping, rising prices of food, and weekly budget. Whatever I want to eat is already in the magic fridge that is never ever empty. You just reach in and get a banana...just like that. No extra effort needed...

Bread

Czech bread is THE BEST!! Screw French bread, screw English fluffy basically-just-air toast. Czech bread is just dense, fulfilling, tasty...simply amazing.

My bed

I think I don't have to comment on that.

Disney has broken the heart of my inner child

2011-10-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

So, I'm back at Uni, enjoying the student life free of all worries. Kidding. In fact, I'm trying to stop myself from the famous burn-out syndrome. You see, I'm that kind of person who just hates having nothing to do, therefore, I'm just looking for things to do and end up having no time at all.

Currently, I have 'just' two jobs. I work in a Digital Journalism department as an assistant and than as a PR manager a company that sells LED lights and solar panels. Plus, I have decided to start an advanced French course that is far from being easy.

That takes me to what I actually want to talk about in this post. To better my listening skills, I've started to watch movies in French. The first movie on my list was Pocahontas. I used to love this movie as a kid so I was really excited to see it again as an 'adult'.

I found the French version on YouTube, watched it, and, surprise, still loved it. However, when I finished watching it I noticed that there was a link to Pocahontas 2. All curious, I clicked on it.

Pocahontas 2 basically picks up where the first movie ended. We see Pocahontas going to Europe when she hears rumors about John Smith being dead. Automatically, she becomes a new sensation in the higher circles of the society and faces the struggles that come with it: rotten society vs. pure life in the sync with the nature. That would be completely fine if the lovely people at Disney didn't decide to 'add a little spice' to the whole plot by creating a love triangle between Pocahontas, John Smith and...John Rolfe.

Suddenly, the whole big love story from the first movie is belittled into a meaningless affair as Pocahontas falls in the arms of John Rofle, who looks a lot like John Smith except the hair. it wouldn't be that bad if they didn't 'tweek' the Smith's character a bit so the break-up would fit the story and wouldn't make Pocahontas fans so mad (which it did anyway).

I know that in life people's feelings change and that love may not be eternal. However, Pocahontas' and Smith's story formed a huge part of my childhood. Yes, the movie may be naive, unrealistic, historically incorrect (common it's a Disney movie) and whatever. But I loved it for its purity, for the memories I have attached to it, for the image of love it portrayed (unlike other Disney movies there was no marriage or girls doing everything to get the prince).

For my own good, I have decided to forget that Pocahontas 2 even exists.

Day in London

2011-07-19T11:35:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!

I have finally finished the video I wanted to do for sooo long. Anyway, thanks to my brother's shaky hand and his impression that every video needs a little bit of 'action' (which for him equals loads of uncontrollable and fast movements) the quality is not as high as I planned. But, that's life...

Change of Heart

2011-07-06T05:21:00.000-07:00

Hi readers!
(I will have to come up with better greeting because I'm getting tired of this one)

I love food. I adore food. I wouldn't be able to live without food (surprising, isn't it). But not every food is actually food. I have come across a documentary called FOOD. Inc. that talks about the food industry in the USA. Don't wprry, it's not like one of those PETA videos that make you want to vomit after several second of watching them.

Food, Inc. gives you the full picture of how the current state of the industry seen through the eyes of consumers, farmers, supermarkets and big corporations. It shows you what a huge part your choice of what you buy and when plays in this monstrous system and how a little change can help loads of people.

Being the suspicious girl I'm, I have done my research around it just to be sure it's all based on some kind of truth. Honestly, most of it is pretty much straight-forward but I felt that some bits around the companies needed to be looked into further (I don’t like making assumptions based on just one resource). But, surprise, surprise, it was true.

I believe that people should be educating themselves about these matters. It's a no-brainer. If you vote, you should know a big dealt about politics and why to vote this or that party, person. If you eat, you should know a big deal about where your food comes from and what an impact your choices have.

Anyway, for those who are wondering how this documentary has changed my life...I have decided to buy food that's in season, local and organic. For all the Brits out there, here is a link to a great site that not only lists food that's in season each month but also gives you some great recipes you can try.

It's not about changing your diet. It's about changing your choices.So, why not?

Petra Opelova

2011-07-04T05:24:00.000-07:00

Petra Opelova: "This is your new Flavors.me page. To visit my personal page click on:
opelova.com
"

Sexuality in Ads

2011-06-20T02:28:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

I haven't done anything PR, ads related so I though I could throw something in.

Have you noticed how women are usually portrayed in ads? Either they are hopeless when it comes to tough stains on their white blouse or they are half-naked (or completely naked) winking on the camera and licking their lips.

And I get it, if you have an ad featuring a sexy girl being flirty with the audience, not many guys will change the channel. It’s cheap and without a hint of creativity but it works.

However, I think it can be done differently.Don’t’ worry, I won’t go all feministic on you. Days when a girl couldn’t choose whether to do a certain type of ad or not are long gone. So, if the girl wants to earn some good cash for showing her booty, it’s her problem. I’m not fan of it (and I certailny don't like the ad above), but I can’t judge anyone.

What I want to talk about is adding a little bit of creativity, or humour to it. Have a look at the next ad.

I love this one. I think it's just simply witty. It has the girls that many guys would love to watch, it has the humour and thanks to that, it will stand out. And instead of looking cheap, it looks smart.

Spanish Day!

2011-06-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hello my lovely readers!

As promised, I have some pictures for you from the Spanish Day Festival here in London. I must say it was a great day. I went with my brother's girlfriend, let's call her Miss Jimmy Choo (she works for Jimmy Choo so the name is more than appropriate).

So we started off by standing in a line with another 500 people waiting to get our hands on some free paella. 45minutes later, we were happily munching on our portion of golden rice with chicken and beans. I was really surprised that it was so good since they were making around 1000 portions at once.

They were basically making the whole dish on a huge pan in front of a huge audience.

Finished and ready to serve!

And there is me, being happy. :)

We have also seen the famous "Dancing Horses" (or how it is called). It was breath-taking. Literally. I didn't have any idea how much saliva can a horse produce during 15-minute long performance. Really remarkable. I just hope that the horses enjoyed it as much as the people watching them.

Free Churros (which look something like fries but it's sweet) with a chocolate dip.

There were little stands where you could learn about different parts of Spain and get some stuff for free. Usually, it was sampling of local food like Gazpacho (soup which is served cold - Red Dwarf fans surely know), or meat. I just loooooved the meat!

Overall, it was great fun. There was music, free food, dancing, horses, useful info...what else do you want?

Next week, I will have a video from the Royal Ascot for you! So excited!!

Online Dating

2011-06-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

Hello my lovely readers!

Before you jump to any conclusions, let me explain: No, I haven't ventured into the unpredictable territory of online dating. As an intern at Frank PR, I have participated in a focus group that was just testing a new online dating site called Somebody to Love. Honestly, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

First, a little bit of introduction. Somebody to Love is quite different from the traditional dating sites as it uses rather unique system. You don't have to fill in loads of info about yourself. The only thing you have to do is to put in your birth date.

The system is basically a merge of Western and Eastern astrology, so when you put in your birth date, it spills out your personality profile with some predictions for the future and stuff.

When you have enough reading about who you actually are, here comes the relationship bit: the system offers you matches.

If you already have someone you can try just submit his/her birth date next to ours and see how compatible you are.

Now, back to my story. I'm extremely skeptical when it comes to astrology and all this jibba jabba. Therefore, I took the whole thing as a great fun, and what a fun it was.

I was surprised that my own profile was spot-on. There were some things I would add but nothing I would take away. Then it came to matching me and my ex and that was when the real fun started. We were like 3.9% compatible. When I saw the score I burst out laughing. Again, spot-on (maybe should be even lower).

Then I read his profile (while laughing) and it was...spot-on. Generaly, the profiles, although they were not as generic as I would have expected, seemed to be more or less right. However, when I tried matching relationships of other people, I'm not sure the compatibility percentage was right for every case.

All and all, I think it's a great fun. I can see loads of people completely falling for it. And why not? It's an interesting idea. But not me. I guess I'm too skeptical and traditional for that.

On a slightly different note, the bloody DPD Domestic delivery did NOT deliver my video camera on time so I won't be able to make a video tomorrow. :( But I will post some pictures, at least. Plus, I have to go to the city anyway because when I was buying some stuff at H&M, the guy didn't take off the magnetic thingy from my shirt so I can't wear it now. He should have payed attention to what he was doing instead of asking me about the weather and other stuff. Well, there is nothing I can do about any of this today...so whatever.

Walking weekend!

2011-05-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

So, now I'm in London for the whole summer, I have decided to dedicate my weekends to exploring this city and showing it to you guys through my blue eyes. :)

I would also like to know whether you be interested to see some videos from London. I don't have a camcorder yet, but I want to buy one and this would be a perfect excuse to do so. :)

Anyway, this weekend I went to the Kensington area with my brother and his girlfriend. We started off by visiting the offices of Jimmy Choo, where my brother's girlfriend works. (btw: if you are curious whereabouts it is, just have a look at the map below. I have highlighted where we were going and places we took pictures of).

Jimmy Choo offices are on the right.

Entrance to Jimmy Choo offices.

Me, having a cup of coffee at COSTA.

After a nice cup of coffee at COSTA, we headed off straight to Kensington Gardens.

This should be an Embassy Romania. Fancy.

Kensington Palace

Small garden next to Kensington palace.

When you get to the nice gardens next to Kensington palace, you will definitely notice one thing: squirrels. These fearless little creatures are just everywhere. Because they are used to tourists giving them all kinds of stuff, they just walk up to you waiting to be fed. Unfortunately, we didn't have anything to give them so they let us be.

Fearless squirrel

Kensington palace gardens

Italian gardens...you can actually see Hyde Park from here.

I have totally fallen in love with these apartments! They face the Kensington Park and have sooo big French windows (again, I love French windows). Unfortunately, they are ridiculously expensive.

Here is the map of our Kensington trip. :)

View Kensington trip in a larger map

Hope you liked it. :)
Next week, I'm going to the Spanish Festival here in London. Let me know whether you would like me to do a video or if pictures are enough. ;)

My Internship!

2011-05-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Hope everyone is doing great. :)

I'm in London. Again. But this time I'm straying here for three months filling my free time by working for Frank PR, which is a PR agency.

I also have a new place to live. It's not far from Finsbury Park station.

It's quite nice, I think. I live with 5 other people who come from all different places (Italy, Brazil, New Zealand etc.). I will show you pictures of my room soon. Promise.

I just haven't had time to do anything besides working and sleeping.

So, how is my internship so far? I'm rather reluctant to say anything definite as I have been there just a week and a lot can change in the next 10weeks. But I think it's getting better and better. :)

On Thursday after work (which was around 7pm), I jumped on the underground to get to my friend's birthday party that took place in Bill's restaurant. I arrived to Covent Garden and started running around to find the bloody place. I asked loads of people for directions but everybody was clueless.

After about 15 minutes of hopeless searching, my friend called and her friend (so many friends in one sentence) finally helped me to get there.

When I got there, I was both exhausted and excited at the same time. I gave my friend Becherovka, which I had bought in the Czech Republic, as a present and he was so kind to open it and give everyone at the table to try. At first, I didn't want it because I knew I had to work the next morning, plus, it was quite late, plus, I was hungry and I didn't know what it would do to me. But he insisted. So, as it was his birthday dinner, I had to try.

Bad choice. Don't worry, I didn't get drunk. I "only" realized how delicious Becherovka is (well, it was invented in the Czech Republic, so it's no surprise. ;D). My friends said that it tasted like Christmas. Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn't. Either way, I love it!!

BTW: I hope you like the new design of my blog. It's still in progress but I will finish it asap!

Back from my online holiday

2011-05-03T02:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I'm back online. Why I have been away for so long? Because I just needed some kind of online detox for a few weeks and just enjoy being with my family and my dog.

I have been offline for a month or so and when I finally opened my email and looked at my Facebook account, I was a little bit shocked. Loads of people were asking if I was even alive and if everything is ok. Interesting thing is that none of those people send me a text or called me.

Plus, some people have stopped following me just because I was silent for a few weeks. Funny how your follower base you have been building for ages collapses when you don't supply it with new stuff on daily basis.

Anyway, I wanted to show you some pictures from my home, the Czech Republic. My brother got new camera so the pictures look really nice (at least that's what I think). Hope you like them. :)

That's my dog. Her name is Britannica of Yellow Queen but we call her Brita...it's shorter. :)

That's my brother playing golf. If you enlarge the picture you can even see the golf ball. :)

I have a few more pictures of myself but my mum says that I look like idiot in them so I'm not posting them. :D

Success!

2011-03-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Last week I was in London for yet another interview. I woke up at 4am, got on a train, and arrived in London around 8ish. This gave me around 2hours to find the offices of Frank PR - my final destination.

Needless to say, I was pretty nervous.

Right before I went in I told myself: "Just relax and breathe. Everything will be alright. You know your stuff."

As the interview progressed, I realized that it was quite easy. I talked about what I'm more than interested in (social media, PR, community management, video games etc.) and it all seemed just...natural. Plus, my interviewers were so friendly and nice that it was more of a chat than an interview.

...this is so nice.

After the interview, I went back to the railway station to wait for my train. Just when I was sitting in a crowded cafeteria, sipping my cup of tea, my phone vibrated. I got an email from the agency saying that they liked me and wanted me to work for them!! I started jumping around and couldn't stop giggling.

But then I noticed that everyone was looking at me with both surprise and judgment in their eyes.

So, I tried to tame my excitement a little bit. :)

Now, I'm just happy and grateful as my work has finally paid off!

It's getting tough

2011-03-22T03:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I have only 3 weeks to go till the end of this semester. Although it doesn't seem like much, believe me, it's a lot. Why? Because during those 3 weeks I have so much to do. When I think of it, my whole March has been loaded with assignments and work.

I usually enjoy doing assignments. Especially presentations as I love designing it and making it visually appealing so everyone is like: "Wow! That presentation looks AMAZING!"

Sometimes I use PowerPoint, but I think that's getting quite old school. I loooove doing flash presentations so it's dynamic and people don't get bored watching it.

Did I hear group work?

However, what I hate to do is group work. I wouldn't be stressed at all if it wasn't for that bloody group work!!! This semester I have been teamed up with people who didn't care about getting first, not even 2:1, and their only wish was to pass while not doing any work. And that is nerve-wrecking for someone who is striving for the best grade possible (aka me).

You are supposed to work people!!!

When one of my group mates showed me her work, I just couldn't believe how bad it was. Both grammatically and stylistically. I, a foreign student, was correcting and redoing work of a English student. I have never ever seen so many mistakes in my life.

I was working my ass off to get the work done, rewriting and correcting the work of others, and trying to make them meet the deadlines. I was wrecked.

Nightmare. So last week when my tutor announced another group work.....

But then I thought...whatever...

So what? I may end up doing way more than others. My grades may be worse due to the ignorance and lack of discipline of others. But there is no way around it. I have to do it. So I may as well suck it up and do the best I can. No matter how energy-consuming and nerve-destroying it will be.

Because that's how I roll. :D

Erasmus vs full-time students aka my first comic ever!

2011-03-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

Whoop! This is my first comic ever and I'm so proud of it!! Hope you like it. ;)

Click to enlarge. :)

Who is messing with your mind?

2011-03-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had one of those nights when all you want to do is to drink tea and watch documentaries. Whenever I feel like this, I just turn on my laptop, go straight to Top Documentary Films and pick whatever looks interesting (yes, in this case I judge a book by its cover...and title.)

This time I came across two amazing documentaries that even related to PR (so I was basically studying!). Both of them were produced by Metanoia and you can watch them online for free.

PsyWar: The Real Battlefield is the Mind
The documentary focuses on the evolution and various methods of thought manipulation primarily used in times of war or crisis. Scott Noble, writer and director in one person, tries to open our minds by talking to intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky, and looking critically at current media.

It explains terms such as elitist theory of democracy, psyops [psychological operations], perception management, and embedded journalism.

I love, love, loooooooove this documentary. It makes you realize how easily influenced you can be when sitting in front of TV and simply consuming what is being said. I'm not suggesting that you should perceive this movie as the ultimate truth, or just another conspiracy theory. No, just have a look, think about it...and decide for yourself.

Human Resources
Ok, this documentary occupied my mind long after I watched it. Plus, it scared the hell out of me.
Unlike PsyWar, it talked about things I was not so familiar with so most of the time I was just watching with my mouth open thinking: This can't be true. They can't be serious.

Human Resources takes you behind the doors of hospitals, scientific facilities and prison cells, where people , curious about how the human mind works, do totally inhumane things. Experiments on animals, soldiers, unsuspecting citizens, and even innocent children introduced chronologically from the first behaviorists, through Nazis scientist, up to know.

I found it both fascinating and horrifying. Definitely worth a look.

The Hardships of Getting an Internship

2011-03-07T23:19:00.000-08:00

Hi guys,

so yesterday, one of my favorite companies replied to my internship application. Mind you, I have been trying to get an internship there from September and I have had several interviews with them. I have fallen in love with that company and that has made my desire to work there even higher.

After ages of biting my nails, researching everything what was researchable about social media and the company itself, after whispering please into the empty void of my room more than 1000 times, I received an answer.

We have found somebody more suitable.

Yes, that's how it goes. I'm not good enough. And guess what happened?

I cried.

And cried.

And cried some more.

After several hours I realized that this was going nowhere. I stopped. And I changed my attitude. Yes, I have given the internship so much of my energy, so much of my dedication, so much of myself...I'm NOT going to give up just like that!!! I will fight. Because I believe that I have something no other inters have.

I won't give up on my dreams.

I won't give up so easily.

Getting an internship of your dreams it though...but I'm tougher!

Hangover on the social media

2011-02-19T04:19:00.000-08:00

Remember the days when everyone was hiding their hangover behind huge sunglasses and tried to pretend that they are ok? Well, I don't. When I was old enough to understand what hangover even is, I was already part of the Facebook generation.

I admire Facebook for many things. I like the way it has connected people and how it has opened doors for many good causes to get noticed. Some people claim that Facebook is evil. I think that Facebook is just a tool. How you use it (or don't for that matter) is up to you. Don't blame others.

However, what is interesting about social networks is how safe it makes people feel. Even though there are numerous articles all around the offline and online media doubting the safety of Twitter or Facebook, people still share information concerning their personal life including their current location. With Facebook's safety settings change like cravings of a pregnant woman, the notion that what is on Facebook stays on Facebook (or any other social network) is quite naive.

This takes me back to the hangover issue. It seems like the normal boundaries we use to have about sharing personal information with total strangers have lowered considerably. This has marked an emergence of a new online 'hobby': look how hangover I'm (again).

When I moved to the UK, I was very surprised (to say the least) at how my fellow students bragged about their hangovers and even supported each other in going out and getting 'wasted'. Sometimes they competed who had the worst hangover. It seemed to me as they were proud of it (and they probably were). This took place not only offline (in class) but also online. I found this phenomenon quite fascinating.

Believe me, if I can read this tweets/statuses so can everyone else (your parents, employers, teachers)

So why they do it? I have came to understand that hangover is such a huge part of some students' lives that they just HAVE TO share their experiences (not talking about pictures from the night out). Plus, if drinking and consequent hangover are a necessary part of being accepted as a worthy member of some group, or just an statement of some personal qualities (good drinker = alpha male :D), there is one more reason why to use social networks for informing as many people you can about how great you are. ;)

Don't take me wrong, I'm all for nights out (once in a while). It's just amusing to see what for some people drinking stands for and how they talk about online. Take it as an interesting study of human behavior. ;)

My Valentine's day disaster

2011-02-14T13:52:00.000-08:00

Hi guys,

I did this at 11pm, one take...that was all I could do. Bare with me, please. ;)

The Blanks and Edinburgh..

2011-02-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hi my lovely readeeeers!

As promised, pictures from my night out...

Ready to head out...however my choice of footwear was not very fortunate. As I'm not used to wearing heels, I was unable to walk home from the concert...and my feet were bleeding. :(

My lovely dovely Urban Decay fake tattoo.

Me and Kate

And now, pictures from my and my housemate's day in Edinburgh...

If visit Edinburgh you have to go to the Camera Obscura. It is the best place to see.

I didn't know my head could get any bigger...

I'm finally smaller than my housemate!! Yeey!

Starry, starry night :)

Moi and my housemate Kate :)

The labyrinth made of mirrors..freaky!! But great fun! :D

It has been 6 years since I visited and fell i love with Edinburgh for the first time...and I have fallen in love with it again. And who wouldn't...it's a wonderful and stunningly beautiful city. It makes you feel at home.

I truly admire writers who speak their minds in not speech-free countries no matter what the consequences. Please, have a look at this website HERE and help to raise awareness about writers who have been killed or imprisoned for not adhering to the ideologies of oppressing regimes and deciding to shout out.

This is the Our Dynamic Earth building where they take you from the Big Bang through the evolution to the world we know today. Plus, they show you a cool 4D movie and this (just bigger with an jaw-dropping effect):

WAA Trailer 1 from NSC Creative on Vimeo.

So...that was my day and night...hope you like the pictures (credit goes to my housemate) :)

My Birthday!! Yeey??

2011-02-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

So...I'm 21. Today.

Woke up at 4:30. Went to work. Was back from work at 11am. Cleaned the house. Had a shower. Had a lunch. Heard mice running above her head (yeah, we have mice in our house, although I clean more than Monica from Friends) Wanted to make herself a cake. The oven broke down. Gave up. Went to her room. Started studying.

Maybe it's not the best Birthday ever. But I don't care. Pourquoi?

Reason No. 1
My family wished me a Happy Birthday-

Reason No. 2
My lovely housemate gave me a beautiful Birthday card.

Reason No. 3
My housemate and I are going to see THE BLANKS tomorrow!! Yessss! The Blanks is a band that was created while filming Scrubs, which is a very popular American TV show.

Yup! And I will wear my new top from FOREVER21.

With my new fake tattoo from Urban Decay which goes nicely with the pattern on the top.

That's the Urban Decay box.

I will upload a picture of myself tomorrow (if I look decent). ;)

Reason No. 4

This Wednesday, I will go for a trip to Edinburgh for a whole day! Hope it's not raining... :D

Reason No. 5

I had a nice launch.

btw: that's pasta + salmon + sea food (loooove that) + spinach, broccoli, onion, garlic, leek + pesto + cheese

Reason No. 6
Let's be honest...it could be way worse. :D

Good Deeds have to be punished!

2011-01-30T08:03:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

I have done another video. NO IDEA what the beginning is cut off...just imagine me saying HI GUYS and you have it complete! ;)

Btw: I did it just on one take...probably looks like it. :D

Will we all die in 2040?

2011-01-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

A strange thing happened to me. My tutor, who I admire, came to the class today and started off by saying that, according to the scientific findings, the humanity should be wiped out by 2040 (Olduvai Theory). How this will happen? We will simply starve to death because all the resources we need for growing food (water, gas, oxygen etc.) will be exhausted by then. Don't be afraid, not all of us will actually starve…there will be horrible wars before that so if you are lucky enough you will be killed. This is really not the thought I wanted to start my day with.

These deadly forecasts of the ultimate apocalypse usually go pass me. However, not this time. Maybe it was because I respect that teacher so much, or because I had a weak moment of some kind, but I was really freaked out. Not because I'm afraid of death. It was because I simply couldn't stand the thought of people I love dying or suffering. So, like a proper freak, I texted my mom and my brother and shared the big news. Their reaction: laugh.

Ok, so I got a little bit carried away, that happens. However, it made me think about the amount of resources we have compare to what we consume. I bet that was exactly what my tutor wanted us to do.

Overpopulation, water shortage, climate change all that kind of stuff. These are issues that we need to think of. I know, you are probably fed up with other people telling you to look after our planet, behave responsibly and bla bla bla. But don't think about it as environmental issue, if that's what discourages you from recycling, but think of it on more a personal level...look out for those you love. Believe me, I would recycle my ass off if it helped, even a little, my family.

Perhaps, there is no apocalypse waiting around the corner, but certainly there is a considerable amount of stuff we can do better for the sake of those we love (wow, I'm a bit melodramatic, sorry).

Anyway, my brother concluded, that even if there was a shortage of food it would affect only those with no power and money. The top layer of society would keep all that food for itself and ,eventually, come up with a way how to renew all those resources needed for their survival.

In the end, it's up to every single of us.

Infographics of new year resolutions

2011-01-15T02:21:00.000-08:00

I know it's been two weeks since New Year's Eve but this topic is never too late to mention. New year resolutions fill us with hope for a better, more successful year, when we will reach to all those wonderful dreams we have failed to achieve in the past. However, after a few weeks most of us realize that although the number in the calendar has changed, we haven't. Consequently, we give up and fall into those old habits of ours.

My opinion is: if you can't make a change throughout the year don't expect miracles from the new one. It's just a date, it doesn't hold any unique powers that would help you to turn your life around. Everything depends on you. Do you want to change? Start now. Not on Monday, next week, month or year. Now.

Steve Jobs' new year resolutions on a napkin.

Anyway, that's not what I actually wanted to tell you guys. I want to show you few infographics that show the world of new year resolutions in nice colors and interesting numbers.

Do you make any of these resolutions as well?

Now, one of the most popular resolutions among women: loosing weight and getting more fit. As you can see, it has more positives than just looking nice in a cocktail dress.

It wouldn't be me if I didn't put something social-media related in here. Just have a look at what the world of Internet brands and networks wants to achieve this year.

Where are you??

2011-01-12T03:00:00.000-08:00

Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, or SCVNGR: great location apps you can have fun with or just a stalker's dream come true? Let's try to have an objective look at those little miracles of modern technology and see where they can take you.

Foursquare

It's (nearly) everywhere: UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and other hi-tech parts of the world. This easy-to-use version of location-based game has users all around the world. No wonder it has gone commercial ages ago. Do you love Gossip Girl? Why not to feel like one of the popular characters and explore the gossip girl recommended walk around the NY! Maybe she will be watching you (yeah, like that could happen :P)!

If you are not a huge fan of TV series, no worries, there are tons of brands like Starbucks, Domino's Pizza and others who are happy to offer discounts or free products if you become a mayor of their place. How to become a mayor? Easy peasy, all you have to do is to check-in a certain place more than other people. The more you use foursquare, the more badges you can get.

However, foursquare, like everything, has its bugs. Well, one huge, to be precise. You can check in places even though you are actually nowhere near them. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you can cheat and become the ruler of foursquare world. You can lie in your bed or watch TV while eating high-calorie cookies and still travel the around your city through foursquare. Imagine the power.

Foursquare has decided to follow the phone photography trend and introduced a new feature which allows you to add pictures of the places you visit. Some companies have already announced interesting photo competitions to get a bigger presence in the foursquare world.

Gowalla

Gowalla can be described by just a few words: fun, colorful and engaging. Do you remember the times when you got a stamp in your passport wherever you traveled? I was totally into collecting them as a kid. Well, that's exactly what Gowalla is: your own virtual passport you can show to your friends. For every new place or country you visit you get a nice funky stamp, plus, you can upload pictures to remember what you actually were doing there.

Moreover, if you decide to complete some challenges designed by big names such as National Geographic, you get a badge to mark your achievement. If you don't fancy already created trips, you can make up your own and share them with your friends. This leads me to another thing. Unlike foursquare, Gowalla is way stricter about your location. Simply said, you can't check in Mount Everest if you are not there.

Nice Disney Badges

Both foursquare and Gowalla are great apps for your phone, although Gowalla is not on the new Windows Phones yet, which annoys me a bit. Gowalla is more game-like and has a cuter design. However, foursquare has a larger user base and, therefore, it is more commercial. Depends what you are looking for. Personally, I would go with Gowalla if it was available for my Windows Phone.

404 Error page done right :)

2010-11-25T01:18:00.000-08:00

Hello there!

I feel like writing something more art oriented. Well, there won't be much writing because I don't have energy for that right now :).
The dreadful deadline time is here and it has become a bit overwhelming for me. Now, when I have been elected the CIPR representative for our Uni, I have to go to London like every two weeks for conferences and meetings (going there today, actually) so my schedule is a liiiitlle bit tight.

But enough about me :) Here are examples of people thinking out of the box and being creative by upgrading something boring and annoying, which 404 Error page definitely is, to something enjoyable and nice to look at.

Which one do you like the best?

Fashionista fast and easy

2010-11-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Let's do something more social media related for once. Google has launched a personalized online fashion shop called Boutiques.com. Thanks to this wonderful site, that is also available as an iPad app, we can just go through the visually rich search and discover various fashion goodies. Plus, you can create your OWN fashion boutique! Sounds good?

Don't shout hooray yet! This little online assistant that may help you to enrich your poor wardrobe with some stylish clothes is currently limited to the U.S. and women's fashion only. However, there are some plans to expand in the future.

You may find your dream garment by using filter searches by genre, silhouette, pattern, colour families and sizes. Plus, there is a visual search, which analyses the photograph of a clothing item for its colour, shape, and pattern and then returns visually similar items. Boutiques also gives you matching outfit ideas to the right of the search results, and you can complete looks using style rules, which suggest items that match.

So, do you feel inspired to establish your own boutique? ;)

Uniform Roll part 1

2010-11-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

Hello my faithful followers! :D

Hope you are doing great! I have decided to do a show of my uniforms! Excited?

The first one from the Foster Sport Centre at our University. I'm a sort of receptionist there and I just loooove it.
Not only I work in one of my favourite environments but I also get to meet a lot of nice people.

It's quite a small gym but they are going to open a HUGE and really, really beautiful one (picture below) in April. Can't wait!!

Aaanyway, here is me in the uniform as I'm getting ready to leave for work (6am).

I'm going to London tomorrow to meet my mum and brother! My mum has never ever been to London before so I have a whole trip planned for her. I haven's seen her for several months so I'm so excited!!!

Interesting Viral Vids

2010-10-29T01:09:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I just want to share with you 2 vids that have gone viral during this week on Facebook. Enjoy!!

My day in London!

2010-10-27T00:31:00.000-07:00

Hello my lovely readers!

Yes, it's time for another vlog. Hope you like watching them as much as I love doing them :D I will be more than happy for any comments ;)

Plus, there is one more video that has gone viral on facebook. Is not an advert of any kind, just something interesting to watch.

It's ALIVE!!

2010-10-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I know, I know...I haven't done a video for quite a while now. Sorry for that!! Anyway, I'm explaining everything in the video. I had to devide it in two vids because it was too big :(. Well, I'm makeing up for the past two weeks. :D

So, here I'm again. You won't get rid of me that easily. ;)

Award? For me? Really?

2010-10-06T23:43:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I know I haven't posted anything for a week now. Believe me, I have an excellent excuse: lack of time. No kidding!! Currently, I have 5+1 jobs! Don't worry, I will post an explanatory video in a few days!

Anyway, two of my great blogger friends have given me an award!

The first one is Endy, a lovely Indonesian girl who sure can cook and eat! Check out her bloge here.

The second one is Laree. She blogs about art, her life and fitness and I really like the way she writes. She is studying Graphic Design and that's also why she recreated the design of the original award. Honestly, she has done a great job!

So here are pictures before and after. Once more, well done Laree!

Plus, she has established a new tradition connected with this award. If you get this you have to say one random fact about yourself that you haven't blogged about yet.

Here is my random fact: I smile even if I don't feel like it.

I would love to pass this award to blogs worth reading!

Janz

MKL

Thirty by the 30th

Who makes the best campaigns ever?

2010-09-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hello my devoted readers, random visitors or whoever you are!

So, I was thinking (yeah, I do that sometimes) who makes the best campaigns in the world? After long hours of researching and reading various articles I finally realized, that the answer was right in front of me the whole time. Who is it then? YOU!!

Yes, that's right. Those campaigns that are based on user-generated content have the best ROI (Return On Investment); they reach out to a large audience and connect with them on a more emotional level. This way, they make the campaign more memorable and recognizable not only for the people who actually contributed to it in some way, but for their friends and family. Why?

Imagine you, as a food blogger, were invited to join a Marmite society and be part of a group who decides how the new extra-strong variant of Marmite will taste and look like. Would you keep it for yourself? Of course not! You would babble about it all the time and when you would see the final version in a shop you would buy it and encourage all your friends, family and readers to do try it out!

This has much greater effect than a mere advertising. People tend to block most of ads out but they are very attentive to their friends' recommendations. Therefore, the best thing for a company to do is to create such an environment that would support and encourage their stakeholders to produce user-generated content referring to their product/campaign/company itself.

I would like to mention the Absolut Vodka launch of 72 transformations limited edition bottle in China. These folks had a brilliant idea: why should they pay someone to design a poster when they can make a "competition" out of it? This way, they have engaged loads of people in it, created a buzz around it and had a loads of brilliant designs to choose from!

Here are just a few that I like the most:

Which one do you like the best?

Share

Give up your birthday, save lives and go for a holiday with Will Smith!

2010-09-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Howdy my beloved readers!

Don't worry, I haven't gone mental. And yes, the headline does make a sense. Let me explain...
As we know, celebrities are no newbies when it comes to giving their hard-earned money to charities of various names and purposes. However, their financial support has its limits as they still have to save some money to support their tremendously expensive lifestyle. So, even though they would certainly love to give more, they just can't.

Nevertheless, there is something celebrities have more than money...yes, you are guessing right, it's INFLUENCE. Take for example lady Gaga, the Queen of the Twitter and God knows what else...if she tweets that drinking a banana smoothie in the morning helps her to lose weight, I guarantee you that there will be such a sudden increase of demand of bananas that monkeys in zoos will have to eat apples for months.

Anyway, Will Smith and his wife have decided to influence their followers in a quite noble way. They have joined their forces with the charity:water.

I won't blabber around what the charity is about...just look at the video and feel inspired by the simple yet effective idea behind this...

As you have noticed from the vid, the idea went just viral and reached loads of people who were willing to give up their birthdays in order to help somebody. When it reached Will and Jade they not only embraced it but they also spiced it up! (Hope I don't have to mention that they have used social media to reach the public)

So, would you be willing to donate your birthday?

Share

Social Media helps

2010-09-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Sometimes I think that there is more people online than offline. :) But social media can change lives. There has been a lot of talking about the raise in the number of contributions to charity that is connected with the people's involvement in social media.

If you do contribute to a charity or not, I would like to introduce you one organization that has raised loads of money thanks to understanding how social networks work and using them to its advantage. This great organization is called HIV Awareness Organization (RED).

RED has launched The Lazarus Effect Campaign to raise awareness of the antiretroviral medicine, that costs only 40 cents, for those living with HIV in Africa.

Have a look at their great vid.

Another great initiative is UN's Social Media Envoy. I really love this one as it has reached out to young people who took the time to take a picture of themselves showing their position: End Malaria!

I have seen all these videos while watching the Mashable & 92Y Social Good Summit. Thanks Mashable...

Tipp Ex powers up

2010-09-19T03:03:00.000-07:00

Bonjour mes amis!

Ok, I haven't written anything about PR/social media in a while and it upsets me. So, I'm here to make a change and tell you about what I consider to be a great interactive videos promoting Tipp Ex in a very subtle and entertaining way.

Some people believe that it's easier to make an effective and humorous campaign for commercial brands like Coca-Cola or Old Spice. However, Tipp Ex proves that even a boring office product can be presented in a unique and funny way. All you have to do is to think out of the box.

Personally, I'm a fan of interactive videos . They are more memorable and engaging than simple commercials. Let's be honest here, we people are controlling creatures. We love when we have power over something. Tipp Ex gives us just that. You can control the progress of the 'story' and it's outcome. Dream come true, right?

R.I.P. my beloved jeans...

2010-09-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

I KNOW that I haven't posted anything for a while and I feel horrible about it! But my internet connection is just crap! Me and my housemates have decided to try out Sky and hopefully, it will be all sorted out next week.

Anyhow, I have been working a lot during this week. I'm working at 53 Degrees, which is a Uni's venue for students, nearly every single night from 8pm to 4am. It's quite nerve-wrecking to watch how students get drunk and do all sorts of crazy things. I guess I'm just too old-fashioned for that. But I will talk about this in the next post.

Sharing a house with strangers....

2010-09-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Cheered up by all your comments I have decided to share something with you that has been bothering me for a while. I have made another video where I just bare my soul (I get a bit emotional because...well, I have had to put up with loads of things this year and it just came all out on the video). It has been raining cats and dogs all day long so I couldn't do the video outdoors as I promised Endy...sorry!

What is the issue? Respect. Or lack of it, to be precise. I believe, that when you live with other people you should follow some given rules and try not to spoil other people's day by behaving disrespectfully. No matter how nice you are, but when you create mess in a house you share with other people or bring loads of your friends and party till the next morning when others are trying to sleep (on weekly basis)...that's just not fair.

So, if you are getting ready to start Uni, be prepared for some serious shocks when it comes to relationships and dealing with people. My advice? Put your foot down. Do NOT be like me and clean other people's mess all the time!

Anyway, new housemates are about to arrive this weekend. I hope that we will get along. :)

My First Video EVER!!

2010-09-09T04:33:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

So, I’m back from London in my lovely tiny room in Preston. How have I been? Glad that you ask coz Iii had the time of my liiiife!

First of all, I was volunteering at the TIME Event where I met loads of amazing and inspiring people. What is the TIME Event, do you ask? Basically, it was three days filled with presentations about Internet Marketing, Video Marketing, Coaching and Public Speaking, followed by networking sessions. Sounds good?

Personally, I think I got more out of it as a volunteer than all those delegates and guests as I could talk to the speakers of the event backstage and hear some of their juicy sales secrets. Plus, me and other volunteering people could get their hands on extra free food. :D

And what about my interview? Well...have a look at My First Video EVER! and find out. I know the video is not as good as it could be and I PROMISE you I will do some serious editing next time, but I just don't have the time right now so BIG SORRY for the quality. :(

Should I speak more quickly/slowly? Should I wear different clothes? Should I put some make-up on? Should I buy new shoes? Let me know what you think and what would you like to see next time!

My first Blogger Award EVER!

2010-09-01T07:04:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

Yupee!! I have just received a blogger award from Living Like Laree, a great girl from New Zealand. She is studying Graphic Design and her post are mostly related to that. I like the way she writes, plus she often posts some videos and pictures as well so there is a little bit of everything. You should definitely check it out and see for yourself!

So, nothing is for free and neither is this award. I have to share with you 7 things about me that you don't know yet. Let's get down to it!

1. I love my dog. Yes, the beautiful little thing is her when she was a puppy.

2. I'm incredibly body conscious. When it comes to how other people look, I don't care so much...but as far as my own body is concerned couldn't be more critical.

3. I enjoy watching anime and cartoons. :D

4. Sarcasm and irony are my best two friends. I can't imagine my life without them.

5. I can play piano...although I haven't played in months because I don't have one with me at the Uni.

6. I love playing computer games. Some girls have chocolate..I have my games! ;)

7. I'm ambitious. I would love to make my mark in the field of Public Relations and I'm ready to work my ass off!

Ok. That should be it. Now, I'm honoured to pass this award to bloggers who are special to me:

Endy Daniel

Janz

One more thing: I should be away for a week or so as I'm going to London for a few days (I have an important interview for my dream job!!!). I will post something as soon as I get back!

You are what you eat!

2010-08-27T01:42:00.000-07:00

Bonjour my beloved readers!

You are what you eat...I hate how cliché this sounds but it's true. If you are going to eat just fatty food with loads sugar you probably will end up being fat. On the other hand, if you live on carrots only you will eventually look like a rabbit. So, where is the balance?

Right after starting the Uni, my friend told me that Freshers put on around 6 kilos (13.2 lb) on average during their first year. It's no rocket science...you eat take-aways, drink alcohol ~~more than usually~~, sit in the library or in front of TV/PC for hours and going to the shop for some bottles of beer is your only exercise...put that all together, stir it (not shake it), drink it and there you go! You look like Jabba the Hutt!
My face turned pale. I wasn't very slim back then and the image of gaining more weight was just too horrifying.

However, a miracle happened: I didn't gain a single pound! Instead I have lost 7 kilos (15.4 lb). And to my surprise, it wasn't even that hard. So, how I did that?

1. Cook.

Do NOT buy already made meal on everyday basis. It's not only unhealthy but also more expensive. I have fallen in love with the market in Preston. It's in the city centre, not far from the Uni. You can buy there loads of fresh fruit, vegetable, fish, cheese, meat, bread...just everything you can think of. Plus, as a student you get a discount! For everything else, there is Aldi.

2. Go to the gym.

If you are used to a huge gym with loads of sweating people torturing themselves on hi-tech machines while watching their favourite show on mini-screen TV right in front of them, you will probably be disappointed with the UCLan’s gym. It's quite small with a homey feeling and NO FREE WEIGHTS! But there are machines for exercising all kind of muscles. It's enough for me and I love it. Anyway, you should definitely have a look at it before you pay the membership.

If you don't find UCLan’s gym appealing you can always try the big ones like Fitness First or Top Fitness...the membership fee is considerably higher though.

I go to the gym in the morning because it's usually empty. After that, it gets busier. Especially on Wednesday, the official working-out day for students.

BTW: UCLan is building a new Sport Centre that is going to put all others to shame. Here is a link: http://www.uclan.ac.uk/uclansport/sir_tom_finney/index.php

3. Walk.

Even though UCLan is not that big, when you walk from building to building every day you will burn some calories, believe me.

Simply said, use your brain. If you do this, you can go out, have a great meal with your friends and eat loads of crap once in a while and your body will be ok, I promise. While when you load yourself with junk food every day and then go to the gym once in a blue moon, you will have belly like a bag of jelly. But hey, that's what Uni’s baggy hoodies are for!

UCLan rocks!

2010-08-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

Good news everyone!

My blog has been connected to the website of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) so I can tell all the future students, who have no clue what they are getting themselves into, what is it really like over here.

It takes all sorts to make a world, so the only thing I can promise you is an honest review of UCLan as I see it. If you have any questions at all just comment below and I will respond you asap.

Majority of people think that the freshers year (the first year at the Uni) is mostly about partying, posting embarrassing pictures of your drunk friends on Facebook and finding the best way of how to recover from a hangover (it's like the Holy Grail for some). Well, it's true that you can go down that route and have a blast for a few days but you will miss more than you get.

As the studying part is ~~easy peasy~~ not that hard to tackle, you have enough time to get involved in loads and loads of things around the Uni. There are sports clubs, societies and various events (like Give It a Go) that give you much more that a pint of beer. Plus, if you are studying Journalism, or anything related to media, you should try joining PLUTO, which is the SU newspaper. You will meet a lot of like-minded people and gain valuable experience to enhance your CV.

Ok, now you probably think that I'm a teetotal geek trying to discourage you from drinking. Just to set the record straight, I'm not saying you should never drink again. I have just seen many people who wasted their entire year by doing pub crawls nearly every night and sleeping through classes (if they came). Now, they are spending their summer by getting re-assessed. Nights out are a great way how to socialize but don't overdo it.

This was just a short warm-up, I hope you liked it. I will post articles about my student life every week so stick with me, it will get better and better. :)

I was also thinking about doing a Video Diary. I would really appreciate if you gave me heads up on that as well. Cheers! :)

Holiday Special: Madeira :)

2010-08-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

More pictures of my holiday in Maderia as promised. I have also done some short comment on most of them so you know what are you looking at. Hope you will like it!

This was the view from the window of our apparent. We could access the sea just by going down about 150 stairs.

This is the city park in Funchal, the capital of Madeira. It is quite big city compared to the size of the island and the parks are just outstanding!

Streets of Funchal.

We just returned from the market where you could buy loads of fresh exotic fruit and veg for a great price. It was like a paradise for me! We bought 3 bags of passion fruit of different kinds. They even had something called Pineapple-Banana...they just intercrossed those two and created something delicious! :D

Pineapple-Banana

That's the fire we saw when we went dolphin watching. The cloud covered the whole city and there were huge pieces of ash falling from the sky. It took more than 2 days to put it out.

That was out trip to the top of the highest mountain in Madeira. Well, I was totally knackered after climbing loads of stairs and walking more than 10km uphill.

That is me with my beloved mum.

That's a house that people of Madeira originally lived in. There are just a few of them left and it's more of an attraction for tourists than anything else.

Beautiful garden in Funchal with trees and flowers from all over the world.

Ponta de Santo Lourenco.

One of the most amazing golf places I have ever seen.

I hope you like my pictures and if you were considering where to go on a vacation I would really recommend you to visit Madeira.

Federer goes viral

2010-08-19T01:51:00.000-07:00

Hello my beloved readers!

I'm baaaack and ready to dive in the activities of the "real" life again! Just a little update on my life (I know this blog is not about me but I'll keep it short, promise): Madeira is one of the most amazing places I have had the chance to see. It has mountains, the sea, forest and great, delicious food! What else do you need? Anyway, there is a random picture (I have 600 of them!).

Now, let's get down to business! Not long ago a video of Roger Federer, the successful tennis player, serving a tennis ball and knocking a can off the head of one of the crew members at the shooting of a Gillette ad. Immediately the vid went viral and it's no surprise that some people have been doubting the truthfulness of it. Is it real or fake?

Needless to say, the top management of Gillette is more than pleased with the fuss around this vid. The truth is that this trick is real and all we can do is applaud to Federer and congratulate to Gillette that had been storming their brains out about (in other words: brainstorming) how to top the fame of the Old Spice Guy. Anyway, I think they still have some catching up to do.

Leaving for Madeira!

2010-08-08T03:14:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!

I just want to tell you that I won´t be able to post anything this week as I´m leaving for Madeira!! But I will write something as soon as I come back! Have a great week! ;)

He is THE Man!

2010-08-06T05:47:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

This post is going to introduce you one of the most successful viral campaigns so far. Yes, you know it. It's the Old Spice Guy aka The Men Your Men Could Smell Like.

If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, here is the scope: The Old Spice company hired incredibly handsome and sexy guy Isiah Mustafa to play the main role in a series of funny commercials saying that if all the men used Old Spice they could be as awesome as he.

Well, how could you resist such a sweet yet manly guy offering you diamonds AND riding a horse? Anyway, launching these commercials was not enough for the Old Spice company and they decided to add the campaign a little bit of social vibe. So? How they did it? They used Twitter and Facebook.

Simply said, Mustafa has a Twitter and Facebook account where you can ask him various questions and he responses via YouTube. Unbelievably sexy man giving you a personalized video message...isn't that what you have always wished for?

Here are just a few that I like the best.

This campaign has changed social media big time. Why? It's the first campaign ever to respond directly to its fan and consumers. The visiblemeasures.com estimates that it has reached more than 4 million people just this week. When we consider that it was launched in February the amount of people who have seen it is really tremendous. I wonder what comes next :)

Is Dove fake?

2010-07-30T05:13:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

It's raining cats and dogs out there - an ideal time to write a new post. This one is going to be about two things: Dove campaign for Real Beauty and the ethical part of it.

I'm sure you have heard of this campaign. It launched in 2003 and combined both PR and advertising (Oglivy & Mather). Everything started of with a research claiming that only 2% of women worldwide are happy with how they look. Then, it was Dove's time to respond.

Series of ads featuring 6 real women in their underwear hit the TV screens in Europe and the USA showing the viewers that Dove decided to fight against the manipulated and unreal image of beauty established by the fashion industry. Pictures of these 6 women also flooded streets and magazines. Dove found itself a strong position as an advocate for female self-esteem.

It was like a revolution. Sales of Dove's skin-firming lotion increased by 700%! Not that bad, right? But nothing is as good as it seems. When airbrush artist Pascal Dangin claimed that he had retouched (not the size of models, just their skin) all of the pictures published, Dove was attacked for hypocrisy and lost a lot of followers.

'Do you know how much retouching was on that?' But it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone's skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive'."
Pascal Dangin

What did Dove say about that? Nothing. (Maybe they said: "Oops!", but that was probably all). Anyway, they kept going. They found their position in the market and were not about to let it go. Instead, Dove decided to dive in even more and established a self-esteem foundation that encourages women of all ages and shapes to feel good about themselves. Plus, it runs an educational program for schools and mothers to support the self-esteem of young girls.

Maybe Dove's campaign wasn't that honest . Maybe their actions have been y sales (and I'm sure they have). But, does it really matter that much? Even if they have helped just one girl to feel more confident with her body, isn't that enough?

Follower ≠ Reader

2010-07-25T04:02:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Wow! These days just flow by without me even noticing it! :) Hope you are doing great and thanks for stopping by.

This post is going to be a little bit different from the ones I normally do (no PR, advertising or marketing this time, folks). I have been blogging for several months now and I have become really fond of it. However, there is one thing that bothers me. There is something I would call the "Politics of Blogging". I will explain.

I have joined several bloggers communities in order to meet with people who like to share their views with others, and get some tips how to improve my blogging skills. I was very pleased when people commented on my profile or clicked on the follow button and I replied to all of them. Little did I know that there was a price for that. I consider myself to be a genuine person and when I follow someone's blog I read their posts and comment. But, apparently, that's not how it's done. Some people follow blogs they aren't even interested in just to get more followers. How does it work?

The "Politics of Blogging" has one simple rule: follow me and I will follow you. What's up with that? What is this obsession with number of followers who don't even care enough to comment or read posts?

I was really disappointed when some of my fellow bloggers wrote on my wall:
You have a very nice blog! I will follow you if you follow me!
I doubt they had even looked at it.

I'm not saying that all people are like that or that I don't care about my followers, which I do. I'm happy for anyone who reads through my blog. Nevertheless, the number of followers is not that important to me as the number of comments. I think that blogging is about interaction between me and the readers. I don't mind if the comments are negative or positive, long or short as long as they are sincere.

I would like to know what do you think about this phenomenon in the blogging world.
If you are a blogger I wish you a lot of readers ;)

2010-07-15T07:41:00.000-07:00

Hello there!

I have decided to go easy on you and this post is going to have less writing and more pictures and videos in it.
We will have a look at creative advertising. I know that I have already written one article about that but let me show you more examples of the most creative ones. I'm sure you will like it! ;)

Adobe
To boost the sales of their Creative Suit Software, Adobe came up with interactive billboard that reacts to the person closest to it. As you can see in the video, the slider button at the button of the billboard follows the person´s movement and reveals the animation.

Nokia
There are two different interactive billboards advertising Nokia that I have found. The first one is created by YDreams for Nokia´s N90 campaign. When you walk towards this billboard it takes picture of you and places it on the screen of the N90mobile featured on it. Plus, it allows you to download not only the picture but also videos and music to your own mobile by using Bluetooth.

The second one promotes Nokia N95 using an old game of Pairs. This touch screen was placed at the bus stop to help people get rid of boredom while waiting. I think that Nokia made a great move with this for it brings back a game that people liked as little kids ( a bit of sentimentality doesn't harm anyone, does it?). Furthermore, the placement was spot-on as well. Anywhere else people would just pass by it rushing somewhere but people waiting at a bus stop are more perceptive to their surroundings and there is a greater chance that they will actually notice the screen and try it out.

Lingerie Stop Bustop
Simple yet effective. When wind blows past the Lingerie's 3D billboard it lifts up the skirt and reveals the advertised product underneath.

HBO
How to better advertise a TV series than with a billboard? Make it interactive! HBO did exactly that to promote the third season of Big Love. This billboards features ordinary people with jack built in their heads that invite you to plug in your headphones and hear their secret thoughts (dream come true, right?)! Some thoughts are quite normal, like weight loss, but other are more dramatic, such as woman hating her child. HBO made 50 of these boards with a total of 70 different thoughts.

Honda
I love this one (and it has nothing to do with the fact that I´m a car freak). It is one of the most interactive billboard so far where you can set off variety of effects by using your mobile. All you have to do is to text a SMS short code and voilá, you are in control! Again, you can use Bluetooth to download some info.This campaign that launched in Dublin was created by GT Media and JC Decaux using technology provided by Púca.

McDonald
Although I´m not a huge fan of McDonald, I have to admit that they know their stuff when it comes to advertising. This particular billboard was placed on Piccadilly Circus, one of the most photographed locations in London. It interact with people who pass by by showing different pictures and effects enabling them to take funny pictures and connect with McDonald on a more personal level.

Thorntons
Who doesn't like chocolate? Well, even if you don't this billboard made of edible chocolate would certainly impress you. This 860lb heavy baby was unveiled in Covent Garden before Easter in order to increase Thorntons´sales. Needless to say that it didn't last long. However, it did the job and sales have risen to £48.3m. Money well spent :)

I will carry on looking for more of these ads to show you but this is it for now. Hope you liked it ;) Have a great day and don't forget to comment!

Want to be credible? The Law of Candor might help you!

2010-07-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

How are you enjoying the summer? I hope you are doing better than me because I’m not particularly the summer type of a person (I think sunbathing is a waste of time and I melt in 35 degrees :D). Anyway, whether you like this summer or not, I hope you will enjoy reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it (which is a lot) ;)

This time, I would like to focus on a marketing technique I have already mentioned in the previous article. If you remember, and I’m sure you do, the whole VW Beetle campaign was built on admitting the negatives and turning them into advantages for the potential customer. The similar thing was done with AVIS being the No.2 on the market. These two are not isolated cases. In fact, this technique, called the Law of Candor, has been used by skillful entrepreneurs, PR people and many others for quite a long time.

Image yourself as an owner of a small company manufacturing mountain bikes. Your aim, of course, is to sell as many bikes as possible. How? As we know, people buy product from brands they trust. So, you will earn their trust, right? Well, it would easy to sell perfect products but no product is flawless. Although your bikes are nice to look at and have some new gadgets that have more aesthetic than practical use, they are heavier than the other bikes on the market (if you have been cycling you know that this is really a problem). So, what will you do? Will you take off all the gadgets that make your bikes heavier yet unique? Nope? Following the law of candor, you won’t hide the truth but you will use it. Your new slogan could be: With our bikes you will go downhill faster!

Ries and Trout claim that ''One of the most effective ways to get into a prospect's mind is to first admit a negative and then twist it into a positive."

People are bombarded by million ads on everyday basis. No surprise that they are skeptical of everything they hear, especially when it comes from a sales person. Nevertheless, negatives are usually accepted as a truth much easier than positives. This is why candor is so disarming.

New York City's Mayor Ed Koch used candor during his appearance on TV. The situation was rather tricky for Koch as he had spent loads of money on putting up bike lanes in Manhattan. This wouldn’t be so bad if the country wasn’t in deep financial crisis and the money could have been better used somewhere else. Needless to say, the reporters were really looking forward to crushing Koch down and humiliating him in front of the viewers.

Ed Koch

One of the reporters started off by asking: "Mayor Koch, in light of the financial difficulties in New York City, how could you possibly justify wasting $300,000 on bike lanes?"

Everyone expected Koch to lie, zigzag or divert the attention to somewhere else. Instead, Koch replied with a smile on his face: "You're right. It was a terrible idea. I thought it would work. It didn't. It was one of the worst mistakes I ever made." And that was it.

26 minutes of the talk show were still remaining but none of the reporters knew what else to ask. After a few minutes of silence there was another question raised: "But, Mayor Koch, how could you do this?" And Mayor Koch said, "I already told you, it was stupid. I did a dumb thing. It didn't work.". The End.

Brilliant! The planned hunt on Mayor Koch didn’t happen because he disarmed his hunters with the oldest weapon: the truth. By doing this, he won the hearts of many Americans.

However, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Remember, before you do something, think! That applies not only to marketing, PR or advertising, but to everything you do in your life. I believe that thinking before-head is what defines great professionals from the babblers. If you want to use candor make sure that your negative is widely perceived as a negative. People you talk to have to agree with you on that. Next thing, you must be able to shift to the positive. Don’t talk just about the negatives all the time. The aim is to convince the people, not to discourage them.

One more thing, if your company is in a deep crisis, DO NOT hide it! Talk to the public, explain them why and how it happened. You can also encourage them to get involved and help your company via web by suggesting what you should do to solve the situation (depends on the type of crisis). Listen and talk…two-way communication is really crucial here. If you deny everything people won’t trust you.

Anita Roddick

Learn from the example of Anita Roddick, the founder of the Body Shop. She was accused of selling products that had been tested on animals in 1994. Anita responded very emotionally saying that the beauty industry is full of liars and cheaters, and not handling the media quite well. This made things even worse and gave the company very bad image. On the other hand, if Anita admitted that there were some problems with third-party suppliers and that she was taking steps to solve it the damage on the company’s reputation would be much smaller.

So, THINK before you ACT!
Being assertive, credible and patient pays off. :D

I hope you have a nice day and if you feel like expressing yourself, leave a comment below. I will respond to every single one asap :)

Ad Campaign: It pays off to tell the truth

2010-06-30T07:25:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all doing well. :) This article describes an advertising campaign done by Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) agency to boost the sales of Volkswaken Beetle. Although it is a quite old one it is recognized by many professionals as being one of the most revolutionary campaigns ever. So, let’s start!

For better understanding why and how the campaign was created, we have to travel from the year 2010 back to the early 60s. 15 years after the end of World War II, people were enjoying the boom of big cars tailor-made for growing families and it was the look, size and strength what mattered for any potential customer when choosing a new car. To make the story short, the situation of the car market was not in favor of Volkswagen, as a German based company offering a small car, at all.

The only way they could succeed in such a tough environment was to bring something new a original that would attract people´s attention. And that’s exactly what they did.

DDB developed a unique campaign that stood out from the clutter or ads that lacked in persuasion, exaggerated and promised more of fantasy than reality. How they did it? Surprise, surprise...they told the truth! They acknowledged that their car is small and ugly but turned it into an advantage.

Their breathtakingly simple ads managed to connect with people on a more emotional level and showed them ´the other side´ of the Beetle that they could benefit from. For instance, the ad titled “Think Small”. Below the two-word headline, people could find a list naming the advantages of driving a small Beetle versus a big car.

The next ad with a bold headline “Lemon” features a car that missed the boat because the chrome strip on its glove compartment was blemished and had to be replaced. By giving this example the Volkswagen positioned the Beetle as a well-built car that had undergone a lot of inspections.

Other headlines included:

Ugly is only skin-deep.

The 1970 VW will stay ugly longer.

However, it weren't just printed ads that fought to catch the attention of Americans. Beetle campaign also dominated television screens that were in 90 percent of households by that time. Although the quality was not comparable with what we see today (black-and-white image, not a good resolution, grainy) VW was able to connect with the viewers via its emotional and appealing commercials. Have a look at the commercial “Funeral” below and see for yourself.

By stressing out Beetle´s reliability, simplicity and convenience while turning its ugliness and size into more of an advantage than drawback the VW Beetle sold 423,000 units in the United States — more than any other single automobile had ever sold.

DDB used this technique on more campaigns. In 1980, it enhanced the Avis image by giving it more credibility and that much needed hint of credibility via a short message “We are the No.2. We try harder.”. Simple, truthful, meaningful, and catchy - attributes that have gained the trust of many customers.

It is what it is. Showing a bee and saying that it´s an elephant may sometimes pay off when you use the right media in the right way. However, I think that being innovative, original and sincere at the same time gives you (or your company) much more for a longer period of time. Only think of NOW with the regards to the future. Keep your eye on the horizon ;)

Who would you believe: a person who just talks about the positives or the other who also admits the negatives?

Question for YOU!

2010-06-17T04:25:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

I will post my article about another interesting campaign very soon. In meantime, I would like to know your opinion on something.

What do you think about paying tuition fees at universities? Do you think it is a good thing or that it should be for free? Do you pay tuition fees in your country? Leave a comment, please ;)

The reason why I'm asking this is because higher education in the Czech Republic is for free but the new government wants to change this in order to improve the quality of Czech universities.

Thank you ;)

PR Campaign: The Best Job In The World

2010-06-09T04:22:00.003-07:00

Hello guys!

I have decided to carry on with introducing different types of PR campaigns. This one is not that old: it was launched in January 2009. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have heard about it as it was a quite huge campaign addressing people all over the world.

At the end of the year 2008 Tourism Queensland of Australia, the statutory body of Queensland Government, found itself struggling to attract more tourists to visit the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. Economic crisis and the growing popularity of Italy, Spain, Greek or Caribbean islands as a holiday destinations did not help them either. So they decided to change their current strategy and asked SapientNitro, an advertising agency based in Melbourne, to put together a unique campaign that would enhance the international awareness of Islands of Great Barrier Reef.

However, Tourism Queensland of Australia did not have a large budget ( around 1 million dollars) to fund the campaign so SapientNitro really had to think out of the box and come up with something cheap but effective at the same time. Fortunately for all of them, they came up with a surprisingly simple idea of creating an attractive job of an Island keeper with not many responsibilities and excessively high salary, advertising it as “The Best Job in the World” and opening applications to anyone anywhere in the world.

The whole campaign had several stages:
Stage one

- Publishing classified job adverts and job listings in newspapers worldwide looking for an Island Caretaker

- All key markets were supplied with press releases, story lines, photography and access to core destination footage, plus was given the power to develop its own local ideas and media opportunities

- Every add or small banner showed the URL where further info could be found

- Potential applicant had to send a one-minute-long video application featuring why they want the job and why they should get it

- All videos were available to watch and share on the central web pages of the campaign as well as on YouTube

- They created a scope for the applicants to submit their videos, share them with their friends, communicate with each other online and ‘infect’ other people with the enthusiasm for “The Best Job in the World” and herewith for the Islands

Stage two

- Official groups on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter

- After the deadline for the application was closed on 22 February 2009, the SapientNitro released a short-list of top 50 and further on 16 applicants and this initiated another waves of consumer generated content on the internet as well as media attention speculating who will be the winner

Stage three

- the final 16 people were invited for interviews that took place on the Islands of Great Barrier Reef. During these interviews the applicants had to prove themselves worthy for the job by successfully undergoing various tasks such as swimming, snorkelling, tasting of local cuisine and passing several tests

- Finally the winner, Ben Southall, was announced

All these stages enjoyed full media coverage including television stations such as CNN or BBC that are very valued for its credibility.

Although the SapientNitro went over the budget it really paid off as the value this campaign had was much higher than Tourism Queensland of Australia had wished for.

Viral videos

2010-06-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Another busy week. I'm working with my brother on an advertising campaign for a software company. It's not finished yet but I will post some pictures as soon as it is done. :)

Anyway, I wanted to show you a technique that represents a way how to advertise via YouTube without people even noticing it. These videos look very unprofessionally, done by a normal people who do not have any connection with the brand. The reason for this is obvious: it´s more believable.

I will start with the one done by The Viral Factory to promote Samsung´s new HD phone. I think, it is the most elaborated one as it challenged people to think, show-off and comment. In the first video, you can see a guy who has just got his new phone. Everything looks like a normal home-made video till he shows a trick when the phone disappears. The question “How did he do that?” provoked a great discussion on YouTube and beyond.

The second video revealed the trick.

The next is made by the Viral Factory again but this time it isn't for Samsung's phone but its LED TV.

The last one I'm going to show you is probably the most popular one. This video done for Hi-Tech was viewed over 2 million times worldwide in two weeks. Now it has seen more than 4 million people. In this video, a group of guys presents a new revolutionary sport called Liquid Mountaineering where the aim is to walk on water as long as possible. Once more, everything looks like a normal interview. However, notice that all the guys are wearing Hi-Tech T-shirts, shoes etc.

So this is it. I can find some more and post them here if you like. Just leave a comment ;)

PR campaigns: “Torches of Freedom”

2010-05-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

Is it just me or the weeks really fly by so quickly? I have decided to put some spotlight on PR and communications campaigns and show you how they have changed the way things are done nowadays.

Let´s start with the oldest one: E. Bernays´ “Torches of Freedom”.

Edward Bernays, a nephew of the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud, is considered to be the founder of Public Relations. He pioneered a new way of addressing basic people needs via advertising and public relations using his uncle´s ideas. He was really a great out-of-the-box thinker but this article is not about him so I will move on.

I think his campaign for the Lucky Strike cigarettes was truly revolutionary considering the state of the society around 1920 when it was launched. Why? The campaign was aimed at women.

Cigarettes and women just did not seem to match back then. Smoking was the privilege for men. It was nearly 10 years before the women suffrage took place in the USA, and the atmosphere in the society was already quite tense. Women wanted to be heard and did not want to put up with all the restrictions that differentiated them from men. They felt as equal.

Bernays knew that and used it to his, well actually to Lucky Strike´s, advantage. He sent women a strong message using posters, billboards and various ads applying to their deepest desire of equality (and great figure): cigarettes are women’s “Torches of Freedom”.

He also hired young models to march in the New York City parade and called the journalists and informed them about a group of women fighting for their rights using the “Torches of Freedom”. When the press got there, Bernays gave the models signal to light their “Torches” all at once so the photographers could get great pictures. Next day, The New York Times (1 April 1929) printed: "Group of Girls Puff at Cigarettes as a Gesture of 'Freedom'".

I don´t have to add that the sales of Lucky Strike cigarettes rapidly increased after that. But what is more important, the campaign did something nobody expected: it broke the taboo of women smoking.

Creative Advertising

2010-05-18T03:02:00.000-07:00

People are more and more sceptical about everything advertised on TV, in magazines or on billboards. Although companies are struggling to get some sort of attention via ads many of them still stick to the "old ways" and pay loads of money for something that fails to fulfil its purpose: more customers buying the advertised product and spreading the message about it to their friends and family.

I'm not saying advertising is useless, to the contrary. But when you decide to pay thousands of dollars on something like that at least THINK! Who are your customers? What do they like? Where do they live? What do you want to tell them?

The next step is the hardest one. Create an advertisement that represents your company/product and sends the right message. One more tip: be CREATIVE!!

People are bombarded with millions of ads on everyday basis. If you want to get their attention you have to STAND OUT! You have to come up with something so they will say: “WOW! I have to send the picture of it to my friends so they can see it too!!”

It´s like Guerrilla Marketing with a larger budget. Look at these pictures of various billboards. Who said that advertising cannot be viral?

The is a poster done by the Swiss car-free mountain resort called‘Braunwwald' It is covered with sealed air bubbles that are supposedly filled with clean air from Swiss mountains so even people in polluted cities can enjoy it.

It is the same story with commercials. You can't expect much from a commercial in which a lady pulls a huge box of washing powder out of her tiny purse saying it is ´the miracle´ that turned her thousand- year-old dress into new one with colours so vibrant and fresh! Honestly, this is a crap. Don't try to fool people!

Ellen DeGeneres present the most funny commercials of the week on her show that is popular not only in the USA. Still don't believe that putting a little bit of creativity into your ad does not pay off?

Instead, try to add a little bit (or more) humour. It helps, believe me. People like to laugh and you can be sure they will talk about it with their friends. If you don't have humour add any other extra value like, for example, cuteness or a surprise. This way, your ad will become more that just one of many.

Ahh...the beauty of flash mobs!

2010-05-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

I have seen a video on You Tube of one of the most famous and gigantic flash mobs performed in Chicago by 21,000 people dancing on the Black Eyed Peas´ song to celebrate Oprah´s birthday and it really made me think.

The idea of flash mobs, or a large group of people who are gathered through social media to perform a pre-determined act and then disperse, was introduced by Bill Wasik in 2003. Although his first attempt was not so successful, he didn't give up and started of a ‘flash mob´ fever that still persists.

Why are flash mobs so popular? Well, one of the reasons may be the human nature. People like to be a part of something bigger than they are, plus when it´s something fun you have the winner. I guess everyone wants to act crazy once in a while.

T-Mobile has found the commercial potential of flash mobs and uses them to create awareness about the brand or a new product. Good PR, I must say. Furthermore, it's very cheap. Majority of those who participate in flash mobs are volunteers or dancers paid minimum wage. So with minimum cost you can have great press coverage as media do pay attention to these kinds of events, write about it and, because flash mobs are visually rich, include pictures as well.

Despite T-Mobile efforts, flash mobs are still underestimated by many companies as a way of connecting their public with the brand and promoting it. Connecting good experience with a certain brand is always more powerful than mere advertising that is still preferred to PR.

Guerrilla Marketing and PR

2010-05-09T02:48:00.000-07:00

Guerrilla Marketing is attracting a lot of attention in the business world as a method of “achieving conventional goals, such as profits and joy, with unconventional methods, such as investing energy instead of money.” (from the official site of Guerrilla Marketing).

As a PR student I was quite interested in how this could be connected with the practice of public relations practitioner so I read some articles about it and one thing really surprised me. Although I knew that some people have problem to distinguish PR from marketing as they may seem to clash in what they do I thought that it was clear that PR does not belong under marketing and is not one of tactics used by marketing managers.

By its definition, PR is more about relationships and marketing is more concentrated on profits. Yes, it´s true that good relationship between the company and its stakeholders may consequently lead to more profits, however, PR is not about sales. The main task for PR is to create and an awareness about the company and develop and strengthen relationships with its stakeholders. That is why I think that Guerrilla Marketing could as well be Guerrilla PR.

When you think of it, PR people have to come up with more creative ideas how to boost the public's interest in their company without using advertising. So they are investing energy instead of money to achieve conventional goals (good reputation of the company, people paying attention to what the company is doing etc.). Many PR campaigns have similar characteristics with Guerrilla Marketing, like using visual stunts.

So, what do you think?

Who said that texting and having sex cannot go together?

2010-05-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

I have read a very interesting article claiming that 1 out of 10 people younger than 25 would actually answer a text during sex. However, it did not mention the demographic of the people asked. This is a pity as I believe there is a great difference between girls and boys when it comes to the attitude toward sex (hope I don´t sound too naïve).

Anyway, when we think of the mere fact that people prefer to answer a text, which could surely wait another two or three minutes, to paying attention to the other person who is actually in the bed with them, it´s quite alarming. Let´s be honest here, would you do it to a person that you really like or, at least, have some respect for? I hope not.

Which leads me to another point: relationships are becoming more casual and superficial than ever. While living in UK I have come across so many people who were cheating on their partner on regular basis or just ´having fun´, or how they call it, with a different person every night. No respect, no interest, no empathy whatsoever. But that´s how student´s life is supposed to look like, right? Don´t think so.

I don´t want to be all pessimistic here. I do believe that some people are still able to be considerate of other´s feelings. The only problem is to find them. Our society is used to texting as a form of communication and sometimes it is also the preferred way for some. Nevertheless, we have to know where is the line that we should not cross as regards to being respectful of others.

Tell me what you think. Would you tolerate if somebody did it to you? Would you do it to someone else

The Cocooning Phenomenon

2010-05-06T05:02:00.000-07:00

Hello again my fellow bloggers, loyal subscribes and random readers who have just visited my blog by accident :) . I'm back and starting off in a big style! I want to discuss a social trend called cocooning that swallows up more and more people every year.

Cocooning describes a particular lifestyle that brings the outside inside. Simply said, in today hectic world people want to ‘hide’ themselves from the society and perform most of the daily routine, such as working, exercising and socializing, without having to leave the comfort of their homes. Do you think that's unreal? Well, think again...

Many companies are aware of this behavioural pattern and make the best of it as well. Take for example Wii, the home video console. The whole idea of Wii is to simulate outdoor activities and bring them on your TV screen. So instead of going out to play a football or tennis with your friends you stay at home and pretend to do the same without making any extra effort. Although it can't really match doing the real activity it's easy, convenient and, for some people, enough.

Socializing has never been easier so how comes that people find finding new friends and strengthening their relationships so difficult? Answer: lack of face-to-face contact. You can have tons of virtual friends but if you don't meet them in person the initial excitement will eventually fade away. Plus, going out with your friends offers many opportunities for gaining new experience and creating memories that all of you will share and laugh about in the future. The social networking isn't very personal and it cuts the main features of human communication: body language, intonation and face-play. That's also why the text messaging and emails create so many misunderstanding when written in a poor language. One of the possible solutions is the use emotion icons but there are just mere substitutes that should not replace the real communication.

It would be hypocritical to say that the Internet, Wii and millions of TV channels are the real culprits that tempt people to stay sitting on their couch instead of going out and enjoying their lives. However, human nature is generally quite lazy and we tend to choose the easier ways instead of making some effort and taking up a challenge. These devices just help us in that. So, what is the message?

Try not to cut yourselves from the society and get out more often. Why should we be satisfied with imitations when we can have the real thing which is way better?

Hups!

2010-05-04T06:26:00.001-07:00

Sorry for being silent for a quite while. I promise that I will start posting again this week.

Strict vs. Nurturant Parent morality

2010-03-01T07:12:00.000-08:00

I'm a huge fan of George Lakoff, one of the most famous academics in the field of linguistic. In one of his book I came across a interesting comparison of strict and nurturant parent morality. He has applied this morality scheme on American politics, where the nurturant parent morality is represented by the Democrats and Republicans lie within the strict parent morality. When you think of it, it fits perfectly.

Republicans seem to play the part of a strict father who is in charge of everything, protecting his family from anything he may perceive as being dangerous. He teaches his children to be disciplined and live through all the downs of their lives without showing a hint of weakness. Republicans are not much into social care as they regard poor people as not being disciplined enough to gain prosperity. By helping these people out, us, as a society, deprive them of their path towards achieving this discipline.

On the other hand, Democrats are pro-social help. They think that those who have achieved success and wealth should return something to the society through helping the less fortunate. Democrats prefer negotiating to using any means of power and are usually quite tolerant.

But I'm not here to talk about politics right now. These two moralities are present in each of us in different measure. That is why we may act as a nurturant parent at home but be very strict at work, or vice versa. Anyway, I would like to apply these models on the Czech and British higher education system.

So, which country favours the strict parent morality? A moment of a tension...surprise, surprise, it is the Czech Republic! Do you not believe me? Let me explain you why I think so.

First of all, when you enter the farrago of Universities in the Czech Republic you are considered to be an adult. Attending the lectures is your job. If you don't do your job properly, whatever the reason, you simply fail. That's it. Nobody cares that you couldn't study for an exam because your relative had died, or that you have financial problems of some sort. Those are yours problems and as such you have to tackle them yourself.

Secondly, there are loads and loads of lectures/seminars during one day. At the beginning of each semester, the Czech students have to sort out their own timetable. It's a quite hard work as some of their lectures may clash and they are forced to look for another alternative times. Sometimes they end up with seminars starting at 7 am or 8 pm, spending the whole day at school. However, no one complains. How come? Because there is no point in it as nobody listens!

Finally, the students don't get any help with the assignments. If they don't have a clue how to do it, guess what, they have to figure it out on their own. Although it takes a lot of effort and time, they manage. If not, they are out.

Now we move to our nurturant parent: the British education. When you are a student at a UK's University, you can be sure the majority of lecturers will listen to what you want to say. Breaking up with your partner right before the deadline for your assignment? No worries! Just tell you tutor that you were unable to concentrate on it because of all the tears and depression, and you are safe!

I admit I exaggerated that bit but the point is the same: you are still taken care of. Not so much as in the secondary school, that is true. However, you are somewhere halfway to being considered an actual adult. Whatever the problem you have, there is always someone at the University ready to help you. That's not how it is in a real life.

The first day of our course I was startled by our tutor who said that we could let him know about our troubles any time, and he would be more than happy to help us with solving them. What is more, he added that even if it was a small problem, like not being able to find friends, we should tell him as it could affect our studies. At first, I thought it was the nicest thing I have ever heard from a tutor. However, after a few months I realized that this friendly attitude does more damage than good to most of the students. They rely on the system to assist them in everything.

One more thing, the British students have tremendous problems with turning up for a lecture. That would not be so surprising if they didn't have just 12 of them during the week. I just don't get it. There are so few seminars and all you have to do is sit there. You don't have to listen; you even get away with any kind of participation. So what is the big deal? And again, if your attendance is low someone will call you to make sure you are fine. In the Czech Republic you would just get a letter informing you that you failed.

Sometimes is better to be a little bit of both: strict in one way, nurturant in another. I'm not a big fan of any kind of extreme. I believe that the Czech education prepares you to cope with stupid people, ridiculous rules and many obstacles in your life on your own. The British one teaches you how to express your opinion freely without being afraid of consequences; you stand by yourself. Both of them have strong and weak points.

Nevertheless, sometimes too much help is no help at all. As my grandfather says: “What does not kill you makes you stronger.”

Oh, that bloody Geography!

2010-02-21T08:19:00.000-08:00

I will dedicate these few following posts to the British versus Czech education. Let's start with the secondary one.

In Czech Republic the educational system has grown from the old scheme established by Maria Theresa of Austria in 1775. Although the technology has changed a lot since then, the basic principles has remained the same. Simply said, a Czech kid attending an ordinary secondary school is fed by loads and loads of facts on regular basis in order to interpret them the exact same way they were presented. This process is constantly checked by written or oral exams. There is no space for any kind of discussion as students are not considered knowledgeable enough to come up with something worthy.

Czech children spend 33 hours per week in their school. Classes start at 8 am, sometimes at 7 pm. That's quite early, especially when you live far from your school. As far as our subjects are concerned most of them are compulsory (Biology, Maths, Czech Language, Physics, Chemistry, History, Geography, IT, Languages, Civic Studies, etc.). The only choice we can make is between Music and Painting class, and language classes. English is the most popular language right now but some students still tend to pick German for it is one of the most important languages in the Czech Republic.

In our final year at the secondary school, we may choose several subjects from which we will pass the final exam called Maturita. This exam consists of four subjects, two of them are compulsory. There are circa 25 questions for each subject that summarize the whole four years of studying. It's not an easy exam to prepare for, and it's very stressful as well.

During my studies I hated this system of education when we had to learn tens of pages by heart without thinking about the meaning of it all. I didn't like most of my teachers who considered themselves to be superior to students. The teacher was the Boss, the one who was always right no matter what he/she said. We had to listen to them, write everything down, remember it and repeat it. If you didn't agree with one of them and dared to say so the teacher would make your days at the school miserable. No surprise that most of my days at school were exactly like that.

While sitting behind my desk for more than 8 hours, I often dreamt about the British education where students could speak their mind without being afraid of embarrassment and discuss everything with their teachers. We were told that English students had more practical knowledge whereas we were more educated in the theory. Hmm...really?

When I moved to the UK and experienced a few classes discussing various topics I was over the moon. I had what I wanted. However, nothing is as nice as it seems. After a while I realized one thing: these discussions were based on common sense. No broader knowledge of politics, current affairs, history or geography was necessary. What is more, during some discussions I felt like being in a pub talking to regular people. I was asking myself just one single question: Why are we wasting our time talking about this?

Don't take me wrong, not all discussions have been like that, and I like the way the British higher education works. I love writing essays and making presentations. I couldn't be happier. Nevertheless, I have started to be very thankful for that old-schooled Czech secondary education as I have understood one thing: the teachers were right. You really can't have an enlightening conversation about something you have no idea about. All those facts, dates, names and places we had to memorize, formed the basis for our further studies. I know that nowadays you can Google everything so you don't need to know the exact day of Hitler's death or what IAEA stands for. But what amazes me the most is the lack of knowledge about Geography.

Imagine you are at some business party representing your company and trying to find some clients. You are introduced to some important people and start to talk to them. In an effort to win them over you pretend having an interest in their lives beyond the business sphere so you ask them where they are from. The answer is Serbia. You have no idea where it is, you have no chance of googling it in front of them, but because it sounds very exotic you presume it is somewhere in Middle East. So you carry on chatting about the unstable situation there, terrorist, drug market and so on. The result? You make total fool of yourself. People are usually very sensitive about where they are from. They feel connected with their country and culture. Maybe it's irrational but it still exists. The impression you made was not a good one and it might have had a damaging effect on your company as well. All this happened because of something as simple as Geography. Do you still thing it is not important?

Knowledge always pays off eventually. Subjects as Geography or History are not compulsory in the UK. That's why some British students know where Vietnam is but don't know anything about the Vietnam War, and vice versa. When I told them I was from the Czech Republic I got some blank stares. Explaining that it's next to Germany didn't help either. Some of them thought it was a maritime country, others believed that Prague was a country as well. I'm not a pedant. I don't insist on everyone knowing the exact position of all the states. However, some basic facts would be nice.

I believe, the system is the main culprit here. I have a simple solution: take the best of the Czech and British educational system and merge it together. I know; easy to say, hard to do.

Below zero? Let’s get (almost) naked!

2010-02-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

One of the first things you notice as a foreigner walking around the city of Preston is what people are wearing. At the secondary school, they told us that as far as the fashion was concerned the British were a little bit eccentric. However, nothing could prepare me for that level of eccentricity.

My first week living in Preston was full of surprises. I'm happy to say I have got used to most of them and take them as being normal by now. However, the dress code is something that still amazes me. If you have ever read or, at least, seen magazines such as Cosmopolitan or Elle, and you found the fashion section artistic but not wearable, you would probably understand me. Nevertheless, British girls wear just that. Crazy colours, unusual combinations of stripes and dots, mixing materials and patterns: everything is possible here.

The most shocking thing for me: going out in a piece of garment that covers just the most important parts (sometimes not even them). I don't understand it. It's below zero, lads are wearing coats, scarves and hats, but the girls have just a skirt and a tiny, tiny top on themselves. I'm freezing in my furry jacket, jumper, gloves and jeans, and they are just walking around in unbelievably high heels, shuddering with cold. I had never seen something like that before. Of course, Czech girls like to dress provocatively as well but they usually put something warmer on when it's snowing, and take it off in a pub.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging anyone or anything. I'm just trying to pinpoint that what we perceive as being fashionable in one culture may be considered tasteless somewhere else. Even with the globalization hugging our world, ‘consuming' cultures one by one, we still have stereotypes rooted in our minds. We all know Friends and the Avatar, we all understand it and love it, but that doesn't mean we are the same. Society creates our petty realities we stick to no matter what. That's right, that's wrong; don't dare to argue. However, if we open up and try to listen, observe and understand, we may be one reality richer.

Do NOT call me British!

2010-02-01T05:11:00.000-08:00

OK. First, there is a little bit of background information for you so you can understand this headline. I live with three very nice girls - Michelle, Aislinn and Rachael - from Northern Ireland. I don't know what British kids think about the Irish, but here is a picture most of Czechs imagine when they hear the word Irish: red-haired people with loads of freckles on their face, drinking barrels and barrels of whiskey that would kill any other normal European citizen. Well, stereotypes are not always right, or are they?

During 5 months of sharing one small house with these girls I have questioned several of these characteristics connected with Irish culture. First of all, not many Irish people actually are redheads. This conclusion has been carefully made on thorough and long-lasting observations not only of my housemates but also of the large number of their friends' visiting our house on regular basis. Most of them are thin boned with dark hair (lads usually have short hair as most of them play Gaelic football and don't want their hair to get in the way) and pale skin. Of course, there are more redheads in Ireland than in the Czech Republic, but it doesn't mean that the whole population is like that. The culprit here: people's tendency to oversimplify things. You meet a Czech girl who drinks a lot and you automatically assume that every girl in the Czech Republic can drink like that. Far from it!

Secondly, as far as the drinking is concerned...that's true. Majority of (young) Irish people like to go out and have a few drinks as do the British. I remember that one week my housemates (except Michelle) went out every single night, sleeping during the day and getting up just to get ready for another party. Frankly, I can't understand how they were able to survive that week, but hey, that's just me: the tea/coffee girl.
So, let's get to the point of the headline. I was in our living room sipping my tea and watching TV with Michelle. I can't recall what exactly it was, but Michelle asked me something and I responded in a very casual manner:“You are British, you should know that.”

Well, that was obviously a horrible mistake for she gave me the coldest look and replied:“I'm not British! I'm Irish!”

Being the curious fool I'm, I dared to argue:“But aren't you from Northern Ireland? That makes you British, doesn't it?”

Of course I know the history of the UK - the Great Potato Famine, Cromwell and all that stuff - I just didn't realize how the Irish feel about that because it isn't a history that would directly affect me, it isn't my history.

“It's like calling you Polish instead of Czech,” she explained, and I automatically grinned.

“You see?” she smiled. Yes, now I understood.

I have read somewhere that young people tend to be less and less patriotic. I don't believe that. Talking to people from different countries just reassures me in that. Chinese people are proud to be Chinese in the same way I'm proud to be Czech. It's who we are. Moving to the UK won't make me less Czech than I was when living at home with my family, to the contrary. I value my culture even more now.

Hi everyone!

2010-01-30T04:18:00.001-08:00

I understand that in the huge cloud of uncountable blogs dealing with this or that, it is hard to find just one that would actually be readable and worthwhile. Of course, there are some that made it to the top, thanks to useful information they provide and vast crowd of people reading them, but the majority of them are just a pile of wish-washes.

So the question is: Why should this blog stand out? Because what I offer here is a perspective on the British style of life and much more. More specifically: my perspective. And that is, I dare to believe, unique unto itself.

As a Czech girl living and studying in the UK for quite a while now, I have learned a lot about British culture, its values and ideals, and people that shape (and are shaped by) this culture. One of my discoveries: the difference between my way of thinking and the way British people think is enormous. However, despite its size, it is not noticeable at first glance as it consists of thousands little things they do say and take in differently. Therefore, I want to show you these little things that make British (at least those I have had the pleasure to meet), British.

So, let's start…