Welcome

Thank you for taking the time to find out more about me and my work. I am a graduate of Algonquin College’s Advertising program. Over that three year period  I was trained in each of the main areas of advertising – account services, copywriting and design. The last challenge of my program was a six week internship, which I spent at Knock on Wood Communications + Events. Upon completion, I’ve stayed on at KOW and am currently the acting Office Manager. Through my work with TD I learned about Jer’s Vision and have volunteered for the Day of Pink and Dare to Stand Out.

Often people describe me as detail orientated, organized and a planner. That’s really how I came to assume my current role as Office Manager, and I love it! It’s given me the opportunity to really see how a business is structured and be a part of some very cool things. Featured below is a photo from Royal ParTea, a high tea themed for the then upcoming royal wedding.

Each of my posts falls under a title which I identify with. Although many of these attributes do extend into my personal life, I don’t stop there! Other labels that I’m proud of are traveler; backpacker; scooter driver; scuba diver; teacher; and student. I’ve listed two links below for each of my blogs. The first one is a travel blog that I maintained while traveling overseas. The second is a compilation of material from two different classes – branding and social trends. Both of these give a hint of my personality that my resume does not properly convey.

Shaz in Taiwan 

A Brand New Day

Resume

Planner

The most exciting event for me, put on by Knock on Wood was the Royal ParTea. It was a St. Laurent charity event for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. Held at the Museum of Nature, attendees were treated to champagne, savoury and sweet treats and of choice tea, in antique tea cups. The room was decked out in white with accents of bright pink with an apartment mock up in the center with pictures of the royal family. Jeanne Beker, of Fashion Television, was the guest speaker before she left for London to cover the wedding.

I was able to be a part from the beginning to the end. A detail that I was very proud of was securing the Receiver General’s foot guards appearance at the event. My role with the event was research and leg work on the event day. I was able to oversee three over girls as we worked through the process of coat check, guest sign in, table guidance and gift bags. It was a matter of timing, preparedness, organizing and thinking on my feet. I never cared about tea cups more in my life! It all paid off though and my boss later told me that Beker had actually complimented my efforts!

 

Publicist

TD commits itself to being a part of their community. Because of this drive, TD encourages volunteering and support of local causes. It was through one of these initiatives that an email circulated for Jer’s Vision. Jer’s Vision is an anti-bullying organization that does continuous work to raise awareness and end bullying. I contacted the organization to see if I could volunteer ongoing. Because of the work I was doing at Knock on Wood I was able to offer some insight to their public relations strategy for the upcoming Day Of Pink.

The Day Of Pink came to be from the passion that two high school students used to organize their whole school to wear pink to speak out against bullying. Each year it is celebrated to continue their message. I wrote the press release for the event and started work on a media list for Jer’s Vision to use. Rick Mercer was a winner of one of the youth role model awards and was committed to speak at the event. From my suggestion, Mercer was asked to speak with media before the event. The interviews that he did led to some great coverage for this successful event.

Strategist

The first truly big project that we tackled was for St. Laurent Shopping Centre. I assumed the role of IMC manager. My responsibilities included outlining our tactics and strategies for executing our big idea. In this case it was recommended that St. Laurent would benefit from establishing an online world for their consumers. Your experience – Personified! Consumers were encouraged to create their own St. Laurent Avatars in the AVA Project.

The campaign took place during Christmas and included holiday themed initiatives. The arrival of Santa Claus tied into the online availability of the avatars.

The plan was quite elaborate and we introduced an intricate avatar world. Participants gained points by spending time inside the shopping centre that could be used towards obtaining items for their avatars. Consumers could spend time personalizing their avatars as well as use online tools to map out their desired shopping trips.

My biggest challenge was researching potential costs of our recommendations. Aside from some already mentioned, a notable one was the snow globe to enhance Santa’s village. It was important to get as much realistic information for our budget as possible. After the plan was complete it was presented to representatives from St. Laurent.

AVA Project

Coordinator

I had the pleasure to head up a team, as the account executive, working on a communications plan for Canadian Blood Services. The plan was aimed at improving donor retention and focused on recognizing current donors. It was important to consider ways to give the donors a voice and a way to connect with other people. By giving the donors a chance to be actively involved it would heighten their sense of purpose and enhance their feelings of control.

Along with seeking purpose for their lives, it is important to the audience that they are seen as a loyal friend, good neighbour and concerned citizen. A large percentage of Canadian volunteers do so to contribute to their communities. This insight was used to recommend that when Canadian Blood Services hosts their local events they expand outside of their internal community and include the general public.

It was also found that the audience contained high social networking and Internet users. This insight was used to develop the plan to incorporate social networking tools in ways to have the general public connect with donors. In order to utilize the social networking tools, it was obvious that there needed to be something that was worthy of sparking conversation among Canadians. This is where the main strategy came into full play. From the information gathered, from the situation analysis, it was apparent that the main strategy should: incorporate donors, rather than just represent them; give a chance for donors to connect with their communities; be held outside to mirror the qualities of the donors; generate excitement through social media as well as allow as much access as possible from local media. This is how the recommendation of setting a world record for most simultaneously flown lanterns came to be.

Lighting Up Lives

Writer

One of the courses in my program was writing for radio. The idea of it was challenging for me but I quickly found things to like about it. The formatting was quite simple and I was fascinated by the amount of creativity that could be achieved in such a short time span. The final project for the course was writing a half hour radio show. I chose to do mine on the band, Vampire Weekend, on CHEZ 106, sponsored by Starbucks. The script is available in a link below.

Because of the enjoyment that I got out of that class I took freelance writing as an elective. Advertising seems to branch off in so many different directions I could not resist learning about an avenue that was slightly off the traditional path. Among other assignments, I undertook a profile article. It was while I was working I happened to make a connection with a local freelance writer/editor. To prepare for writing this piece I looked online for any background information I could find and reviewed other articles to gain a sense of the process. My people skills and preparation are what made this a successful piece.

Vampire Weekend Special
She’s One in Eleven!

Researcher

While learning about international advertising I did a cultural report on Japan. I found this a very interesting project to work on. Unfortunately I missed an opportunity to visit Japan a couple years ago, although things did not work out I did continue to be curious. Through this report I had a chance to examine Japan’s market, their communication – verbal and nonverbal, and their customer behaviours. Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture was also useful to gain insight into Japan’s culture in comparison to other countries in the world.

The research done in this report proved to be useful for an assignment that followed. Which made me that much prouder of this project. I enjoy this type of work because I like to have as much available information as possible. Although I feel a great sense of achievement finishing a project, I love being a part of the beginning. Everything starts off as seemingly random, it is only when you get all of the pieces together you can start forming the big picture.

A look into Japanese Culture