Advertising Team to present Tuesday at Corpus Christi Town Club

Okay guys...first, the presenters will be PRESENTING Tuesday, June 9, at the Corpus Christi Town Club. All presenters are asked to meet at the Comm-TA Building Monday at 130 p.m. for practice. We have to make plans to go to CC Tuesday. Please call if if you have questions. Dr. Flores

Jenny is home!!!

Just a note to let you know that Jenny Garcia is home now and recuperating from her injuries. We wish her well.

Jenny Garcia has car accident

Just a note to the class that Jennifer Garcia was involved in a car accident Wednesday. She is in Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi but doing well. Nothing terribly serious, from what we hear. Keep her in your prayers.

Final grades and money due

First, from Todd and Dr. Flores, thank you very much for participating in our class this year. We are very proud of all of you for your hard work and, more importantly, for representing our university in the National Student Advertising Competition. We did very well, as far as we are concerned.

Second, thank you for completing the end-of-year evaluations. Most of you did very well in your peer reviews. Dr. Flores will post final grades early this week, if all your work is done.

Third, you must get your T-shirt money in as soon as possible for Dr. Flores to post your grade. The agreement was to sell $50 to $100 for the poster (which we did not do) or to sell $50 worth of t-shirts. Some of you still have T-shirt money out. Please pay as soon as possible by contacting Dr. Flores in the Comm-TA office. If not, please anticipate an "I" since the advertising portion of your class is not complete.

Hope all of you have a great summer.

Wrapping Up The Class

As we come to an end of the school year, please remember that we still have things to do in the class. First, each one of you must sell five t-shirts. If you recall, we had two fund raising proposals. One was to sell ads for a flier, which only Lisa Lane. Greg and I believe Al contributed to this semester. We had about $80 come in. The second was for us to sell the A&I/AMK t-shirts. Each one of you was issued five to try sell at $10 each. If each of you sell those t-shirts, each of you will bring in $50 x 12 and we will make $600. That will pay for some of our printing expenses for the shirts. Remember, the South Texan sold about 25 and we have that money. Please bring in your money as soon as possible. Also, please remember we have our peer and class evaluation next Tuesday, May 5 (Cinco de Mayo). All of you are urged for you to come to this class. After that, if you turn in your money, we are basically over. We would like to have an end-of-year party, but that's entirely up to the class. We will review this on Tuesday. Well, please sell those shirts...we need it to at least pay our bill.

14th is not last place at AAF

Well, it's over - presentationwise.

After three months (more for some of us who started with Principles of Advertising in the fall semester) of working hard to prepare for our presentation at the National Student Advertising Competition for the 10th District of the American Advertising Federation, we are done.

Our presentation last Thursday was as solid as it could be. We finished 14th out of 14 universities that presented. But, in no way does that mean we were last. There are more than 150 universities and colleges in District 10. Of those, only 21 inquired about participating. Of those, only 17 met the first deadline. Of those, only 14 presented.

Our team had the courage to proceed, persevere and compete against universities with tremendous reputations in this arena. It would have been difficult, at best, for us to finish in the Top 5. Our goal always was to finish in the Top 7 (50%), but even that became an issue when our Plan Book lacked many of the attributes needed to complete solidly in that area. When that happened, both Todd and I knew that our presentation had to be more than solid for us to have a respectable finish. It had to be perfect.

We practiced, edited material, made changes at the last minutes and even had a practice at the actual site. All seemed to work well....and then...the video intro and conclusion that were so crucial to solidify our message fell through. Technology let us down, and with that our fate was sealed.

This in no way takes away from the stellar efforts of the majority of our class. Both Todd and I witnessed a little magic during the last few weeks as we struggled with novice advertising students to reach for greatness. For a few fading moments, it seemed as if we were going to reach for the stars and bring them down to TAMUK where they would shine brightly on us. It actually happened a few times when we were practicing....I even got some goose bumps and chills during one of the presentations when I realized it "could happen." I wiped a tear from my eye and wondered, "Can it become reality?"

Alas, it did not. The final technological failure and slow start by our presenters pretty much denied us that shining moment.

But, there were many more shining moments....we came together as a team. We cared for each other and worked hard to make each other improve. We worried about one another and we (all of us) saw the potential for greatness. I know that most of you felt it...I know that most of you believed....and Todd and I also know that all of you are the better for the experience you had this past week.

Now, we move on. The final lesson is that one never gives up. One works hard to achieve something and when you leave your heart and soul on the field of play, you realize that you did your best and sometimes fate and circumstances take over.

A special thanks to all our presenters - Tania, Jennifer, Savannah and Melinda. Some of you grew up and matured a little during the last week. It was actually "fun" to see you start thinking like scholars and, for some, adults. It was actually gratifying to see you move from that awkward college student toward a confident, self-assured young person ready to take on the world. Some of you understood what academic courage is all about, for the first time.

Our technical team of Dave and Al and others were simply great. The failure at the end had nothing to do with them. It just happened.

Our research team composed of old men JR and Edwin and Joe Hamon simply did a great job. Our inability, however, to transfer that to the Plan Book, hurt.

Other team members like Skye, Lisa and Greg helped in sundry ways, raising funds for our trips, taking pictures or helping with the props. All worked hard. Thanks!

All of you were great and you showed that Javelinas do not quit. You could have, you know. You could have walked off and said "Dr. Flores, Mr. Lucas, we can't do this." I guess the thought never crossed your mind. Right?

I want you to know that we are very proud of you...you did not finish last...you finished, and that's more than most of the universities in District 10 can say.

Congratulations for a job well done...and, see you in class.

DEPARTURE INFORMATION FOR WEDNESDAY

This is a reminder that we are leaving tomorrow (Wednesday) for Houston. We will meet in the Manning Hall Parking Lot at 10 and hopefully be on the way by 10:30 a.m. You can leave your luggage, if you come early, in my office in Comm-TA or in the Art Building. You will need at least $50 to travel. Everything else should be taken care of. We are taking two vans. One will be used for luggage. Pack light. Presenters, remember to coordinate your dress for our performance. Every one must take the navy blue t-shirt which we will wear Thursday. Okay? Please call Todd or I if you have any questions. We are staying at the JW Marriott Hotel Houston at 5150 Westheimer Road. The phone number there is 713-599-2257.

REMINDER - Practice Run Today

Just a reminder, we are practicing our presentation in MSUB 221A today at 4 p.m. We are doing a "dress rehearsal" going from start to finish with all the presenters "ready to go". I hope we can do this three or four times today. David, please make sure we can set up. We have the room from 330-630...call if you have questions.

Presenters Practice, final PPoint, Radio TV ads

Presenters, please remember that practice is on your own. You must make plans to practice this weekend, and Monday, on your own. We will have a "dress rehearsal" on Tuesday in a room at the Memorial Student Union Building. This "dress rehearsal" will be during class. Juan Carlos Reyes, our Javelina Press Club VP, is securing a room for us today and we will post the information later. We will have the room from 330 to 630 that day to make the practice as realistic as possible. Also joining us on that day wil be Speech Instructor Paul Roberts. He will help evaluate the peformance. In addition, by this time, we should have the final selections on presenters. Attendance in practice this weekend is a big criteria. If a person does not show up to practice, how can that person be ready to perform? Keep that in mind as you schedule your own practices. In addition, please remember that the original vote had Melinda as an alternate (for all of the presenters). Regardless of the final results, she must be ready to perform in case of an emergency. Also, that means that if someone is just not making the cut at our practices, she must be ready to step in and do the job. Well, good luck. Oh, don't forget to contact David Brott about the power point and also Al Andaya about the radio ads. Everything must be ready to go on Tuesday. Every thing!

New judge for competition

Got this message from the Houston AAF person in charge of our competition. We have a new judge. Check it out

Hi, all! Just one exciting, exhausting week away from D10’s NSAC! Because of an unavoidable conflict, Ryan Berman will not be able to judge our competition. Replacing him is the incredibly talented and judging-experienced Bryan Kramer of PureMatter in San Jose. His bio is below. If you have any questions, please let me know.



Best,
B



Bryan Kramer



Bryan is President of PureMatter Brand Marketing + Interactive, an award-winning, full-service agency located in San Jose, California. His background is in advertising, public relations and online marketing with a focus on integrated communications and strategic business planning. Prior to forming PureMatter, he was a managing executive and interactive strategist for top agencies in Silicon Valley. Bryan is past president of the AdPlus of Silicon Valley, an active member of San Jose Rotary and currently serves as the VP of Marketing on the executive board for the Silicon Valley Boy Scouts. Through Bryan’s leadership, PureMatter has won over 100 awards locally, nationally and internationally, including being named one of the 50 fastest privately growing companies in Silicon Valley over the last two years and winning the coveted ADDY level trophy plus eleven more honors. Bryan’s vision for PureMatter is to bring 'serious fun' into all aspects of the creative process, and they do have some serious fun!

Class Attendance!

Hey all....this is a message from those who were in class today and we decided that it is imperative that everyone shows up for the remaining class days. Obviously, there is not much time left so everyone's input is extremely important. Your grade will be affected drastically if you do not take the initiative to participate (a rough figure is 5 points deducted from your overall average per day missed. By the way today is a free bee...be prepared to work starting Tuesday.

Script ideas

Use this blog to post your ideas on the script. Remember, we need some dramatic element to open up and one main spokesperson at the start. The main speaker set the stage by explaining who we are, introducing our team and then explaining what we are going do...followed by something dramatic. That's one option, being professionals. You all will also have business card to hand out.....Second option, hit them with a surprise element..show them a video that is dramatic, poignant and provocative....then do the explanation.......

thanks
Dr. Flores

March Madness was just that

A special thanks to Greg Stelfox and all who worked with him to try to organize our March Madness Basketball Tournament - Kingsville Style. Unfortunately, you can't fight fate. Only one team showed up - the Border Patrol - and it would up playing an intrasquad game. All the other teams - all police or county police or fire departments - were put on call or called in to work during the "chase" in the northside of our campus that day. That meant that they could not show up to "play ball" in our tournament. We still made some money and that was used to mail our Plan Book to Washington, D.C. and to San Antonio. It's a shame...this tournament was going to get us about $500 for travel. We made $80. Still, the effort was appreciated. Thanks again to Greg and all who helped.

Plan Book is gone

Yea!!!!!!!
We have finished our Plan Book and met our deadline. Thanks to the hard work of many of you, the Plan Book is a solid document outline our communications and marketing plan for TCC's binge drinking campaign. A special thanks goes to student David Brott for his tireless effort to make sure this assignment did not fall to the wayside. Please join Todd and I in thanking David for his hard work. But, make no mistake about this, all of you put forth a great effort. What did we learn from this? Well, essentially that you can't wait til the last minute to do an advertising-marketing campaign. The late nights were brutal. They could have been avoided. That's the attitude we need as we prepare our presentation, final ads and our backdrop and power point. Let's get with it......

One final note....all of us are very greatful for the effort that Mr. Todd Lucas put forth as he helped guide all of our students through the last details of preparing our Plan Book. Mr. Lucas exemplifies that type of professor our university needs. Without him, his expertise, his passion and his resolve to help us "get this done" we would not have made deadline. Bottom line! Please, all of you, go up to Mr. Lucas and thank him for his efforts of making sure the Plan Book was printed and ready to go.....And, the best way to thank him is to work hard on our remaining task. We have an opportunity to make our university shine and to show that our students belong right up there with all the big boys and girls in other universities. It's up to you all......Can we do it?

Make Plans for March Madness Fund Raiser

Plans for our March Madness basketball fund raisers are going well. Greg will have a report for us Tuesday by phone and we probably need to do some legwork to make sure we are all up to date. Remember, see you Tuesday.

Spring Break Work - Tuesday March 17

We are tentatively plan to show up for work in the Art Room at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 17. Please let us know if you can't show up on this date by posing a comment on this blog.

Definition of Binge Drinking

The major popularizer of the misleading term binge to refer to the consumption of five drinks (four for a woman) which may have occurred over the period of an entire day and evening, Henry Wechsler, has now acknowledged publicly that his definition of binging doesn't require that the "binger" be intoxicated.

Traditionally and medically, the term binge refers to a period of intoxication lasting at least two days during which time the binger drops out of usual life activities and responsibilities. It's associated with alcohol addiction and serious drinking problems. A binge without intoxication is nonsensical.

Using the term binge to refer to sober behavior is deceptive and misleading, at best. Many leading researchers, as well as a coalition of 21 higher education associations, has called for an end to the incorrect use of this emotion-laden term.

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/InTheNews/BingeDrinking/1040072903.html

JavaDesign

According to the last poll we did with the class.....the name of our advertising team is

JAVADESIGN

Let's use this with a design in anything we do.....David and Al, you are in charge of making sure of this...

Good News! We have some funding

The following message was sent to tus yesterday by Dr. Duane Gardiner.
WE HAVE SOME FUNDING.....THE TRIP IS ON!


Dr. Flores,

Although some of the normal QEP requirements were not met in your proposal for COMM 4306/COMJ 5303, we will be able to offer some funding in support of your project. You are awarded $2500 for undergraduate student travel to the American Advertising Federation competition in April 2009. The QEP cannot support graduate student activities. Please confer with our travel office to ensure that all travel requirements are satisfied. The account to use for travel expenses is 218080, Student Engagement.



Best wishes for a successful engagement activity.



Duane



Duane T. Gardiner

Interim Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs

College Hall 250, MSC 102

Texas A&M University Kingsville

Kingsville, Texas 78363

office: 361-593-3098 cell: 361-219-8681