Marketing Forum realizations

I was one of the hosts during the Marketing Forum, which included creating the spiel to facilitate the program. More so, I reached out to Citibank to become one of the sponsors, of which yielded 15k worth of giveaways that we used as raffle prizes (10pcs Citi Laptop Bags worth P1,000 each and 10pcs Citi Car Trunk Organizers worth P500 each).

As I didn't really feel too good about hosting or speaking in front of a crowd, I was very nervous and stressed before the forum started. Cliche as it may seem, the best learning for me at that time was to face my fear of presenting. After all, I didn't have a choice but to just get it over and done with. During that stressful moment, I just thought to myself to give it my best shot and handle myself well to project grace under pressure. :)

Getting sponsors was also quite challenging during the planning stage, especially because we only had 2 weeks left before the scheduled forum to execute our ideas and work with one another. I realized the value of online communications (Facebook, emails, chat) because we did most of the coordination and updates using these medium of correspondence. I also learned to maximize the powerful use of email by reaching out to a contact in Citi and was able to finalize mostly everything (sponsorship approval/ participation) over email. In those trying times, I still was able to see the good and appreciate how the internet greatly contributed to the success of the event.

The forum itself was a breath of fresh air. I truly liked the presentation of Jonah De Lumen because it was clear, concise and compelling. She was very engaging too, which made the audience more attentive to the marketing presentation she discussed. While I appreciated the concepts that both speakers have shared, I was more struck by how Jonah's career significantly changed lives of many Filipino families. Despite a flourishing career abroad, she went back to Manila to help the needy families while applying the same Marketing principles she used back in Unilever. That is heroism for me. She gave up a prestigious job to spend time with less fortunates and truly touch lives. It is very inspiring it makes me want to do something similar to what she has achieved. To conclude my realization, I put empahsis on what Brendan Yu said, "In the end, everything will just be about how you will be remembered by people and that our personal BRAND would be our LEGACY".

It's never too late to start. Let's all build our legacy and make our mark/ brand in this world.