Hello!  Tomorrow marks 6 months of being free from smoking.  The longest and easiest time ever.  There were a few times when I do crave a cigarette but this book worked for me.  It works!  A lot of you have sent me personal messages asking for the books name, so here it is – “Easy Way To Quit Smoking” by Allen Carr.

Just a recap – I’ve been smoking for 10 years and a friend told me about this book when I was working with her and we both quit together.  This was my around my 46th attempt (lost count) but the easiest.  Everybody has a different way dealing with the addiction and they have to find their own way to quit.  Hope this works for you as it did with me.

I’m not going to say anything that is in the book.  All I can say is that it doesn’t preach and it tells you to smoke while reading it.

An update on what I am currently doing – I am back in the 3D game/movie industry!  My old employer, Bardel Entertainment, contacted me late last year to work on a new project – I accepted.

Before I go into that, let me tell you why I am back here.  After the first year of BCIT Marketing, it gave me time to interview and explore my interests in the marketing field.  I had informational interviews with people in X & Y companies and learned what I needed to know – to be more precise, most of my questions were about the work environment.  To sum it all up, the marketing field is not for me after all and this 3D industry will fund any future goals that I have in mind.

I have a different interest/goal now – one that spawned from lifeguarding.  I also quit smoking after 10 years for this particular goal and have been completely clean since January 1st.  This is around the 40th attempt of quitting (I’ve honestly lost count) and this blog marks 2 months and a half now which is my longest ever.  I still crave it sometimes but I have been told that the crave will never go away.  How did I quit?  I’ve tried everything ..blabla…until a friend recommended a book to me at work and it worked wonders.  She also quit around the same time using this book and it is definitely the best quitting method I’ve ever been through.  The book is called “Easy Way To Stop Smoking” by Allen Carr.  It sounds cheesy but it worked so far.

Anyway back to my 3D talk, I am currently working at Bardel Entertainment with Nickelodeon on a project called – Planet Sheen.  Sheen is a character from another cartoon called Jimmy Neutron.  This is Sheens time to shine!   The cartoon series is pretty funny even on my standards considering that I am kinda old for cartoons.  I am on the lighting team again and this time I am also doing compositing and asset quality check.  The best part is – most of my good friends from art school are here working with me.

About 2 months ago the BCIT Student Association was going to shutdown BCIT AIM (Association of Integrated Marketers) because of the lack of members.  A few of us in first year decided to take on the challenge of managing the club.

Things are going great so far.  We have a new logo and the BCIT AIM website has been tweaked as you can see here – http://www.aimbcit.com/ .  The executives for the club has been voted and I happened to land the spot of a creative director!

We have 1 exam left and everybody is counting down for tomorrow.  Right after the exam is AIM’s very first event!  Here is the poster that was created for it:

Here are the marks of our combined project of the Marketing Course and Communications:

Marketing Marks – 86.9%

Communication Marks: 85% Presentation, 87% Written Report

You can download the PDF file of our report here: Volkswagen Anniversary Project_Tribe Communications MKTG 2E

A quick summary:

The Volkswagen company, originated in Germany, is known as the “people’s car”.  Known for their affordability and reliability for the average family, Volkswagen has exceeded consumer demands by expanding their model line to highlight valued characteristics creating global brand awareness with a strong reputation for reliability and strong brand loyalty.

Volkswagen has the lowest priced diesel in Canada and is in a unique position of being an affordable alternative to coneusmers looking to balance fuel economy with performance.  Most consumers consider fuel economy when purchasing a car and with the rise in acceptance of the clean diesel technology Volkswagen is first to market in this category.

Volkswagen’s challenge is to raise awareness of their unique position and promote their vehicles in the compatitive market of affordable cars.  The 75th Anniversary provides an opportunity to promote their reputation and technolgy to an audience who is ready to appreciate their vehicles.

The Big Idea is “Powerfully Blue” and will focus on the Golf TDI as an eco-friendly choice without sacrificing driving performance, and most importantly it is fun to drive!  The campaign will create a brand identity for TDI clean Diesel as the technology of choice for drivers who care about the environment and enjoy a high performance car.

To reach the target market a tailored plan will follow the target audience of 20-35 year old consumers and attract their attention through traditional mass media as well as online combining the two mediums with a video contest.  A launch party will kick off the Anniversary and engage consumers in a year of fun and eco-responsibility with the Tree Canada donation per test drive.

With an increase in knowledge about the technology and incentives to sit in the driver’s seat, the goals set out in the marketing objectives will be achievable.  Blue is the new green and Volkswagen is ready to show the world a “Powerfully Blue” year.

My group, Tribe communications have just completed the report for our Anniversary Project.  Our task was to find a company with an anniversary that is coming up and promote their upcoming anniversary.

I will update this post once our presentation is done on April 28, 2010.

Aside from that, I am the new Creative Director of AIM – which stands for Association of Integrated Marketers.  I am really excited and I will update you on our future projects.

William Heng

Last week we had a taste of what it was like at DDB in Vancouver, BC.  Sveta and I were greeted by Svetlana Connolly, an Account Director who took time out of her work to show us around.  After the quick interview, we were asked to return the day after for their company “hot-dog” day.  So the next day, we gathered on the same floor for some food!  We indulged ourselves in some delicious hot-dogs, pizza, pop, and jellybeans!  The atmosphere on that day was very casual.  They had an announcer (someone in the office) read off promotions, retirements, and welcomed new employees.  It was a great way for employees from other departments to meet as well.

After hot-dogs, Svetlana took us on a tour around DDB.  The place is very artsy in my opinion.  It is set up in a way that would stimulate the creative side of any individual.  This confirmed my choice for picking marketing as a career.  I want to go back there!

Thanks Svetlana!

Will

A new team was created at random in our Principles of Management course and so far everything has been great! Our team is called – Pencil Box Hat and “We’re Sharp”.  I did the logo again, this time I kept it simple to match the simple name.

Our first project is to compare two companies and learn about how they deal with external environments.  We chose advertising as our interests and we will have a few interviews with people in the industry.

I will update the interviews as soon as I get permission to from the companies.

We also took a fun picture (starting from 11 o’ clock and clockwise)  Brett Burns, Jennifer Chin, Andrew Pudlas, Michael VanHorne, Svetlana Emerenko, Cynthia Luu and William Heng

Here it is:

Semester 2 started on a roller-coaster and the work is already begun to pile up – hence the late post.

Team D has a new name!  We are now called “Tribe Communications” and we are already working on Case Study #1 for Marketing Communications.

Heres a picture of us (starting from the left is – Michael VanHorne, Andrew Pudlas, Stefanie Gajdecki, Cierra Buck, William Heng, Jeffrey Kam):

We’ve decided to stay in the group with each other because things worked well last time.  A few team improvements, one example I like -  we are going to challenge each other this semester by doing things we haven’t done instead of sticking to things we were good at.

Today I wrote my last final exam – Microeconomics, at 8:00am.  After I finished the test, I went straight home and slept for 8 hours.  It was one hell of a semester that challenged me greater than anything I’ve ever been through…I love it.

It’s time to hit the slopes!

Happy Holidays to everyone and see you in 2010 for semester 2 at BCIT!

William Heng