IAA Summit, Bucharest, 2007 The learnings

1. Romania is not there yet. We are some good years behind the Western capitalist advertising world despite our hectic tour de force where local advertising has grown in 15 years as much as other in three decades (it's the Prislea way - Prislea = local version of Prince Charming)
1.1. their speakers are better than ours. Even when it's formal, academic and long, their presentations are full of content, relevant examples and conclusions. They were raised to make presentations and public speaking is a must for any high profile representative of the communication industry. This doesn't really apply to our local Heads of comms/agencies/professional bodies.
1.2 they have great study material. Great work. Real unconventional media. Breakthrough solutions.
1.3 our market is not yet that ready to embrace out of TV communication. But it will be so we'd better prepare
2. some speakers did not know where they were. But they didn't have to salute either so no "Good afternoon Budapest!" this time.
3. CSR is really being taken seriously abroad whilst, in my opinion, in Romania it's just something fashionable to talk about. the branding guru did say "giving is the new buying" and it makes sense in their world. In ours it's not that vital to support a cause to make your products sell. U still get through with a TV ad and an aggressive media strategy. That explains why the local cause branding initiatives I know didn't care as much about getting results as about owning a theme/stealing it from the competitors. This translates pretty much in themes that have been confiscated and that are never-to-be embraced by any other company. Well, CSR practitioners at IAA summit talked about how everyone (every company) is responsible to add up to a CSR theme until it becomes a general trend, making more and more people react and starting to generate effects. Out there there are campaign ridiculing SUVs found on the city streets. In Romania you are being laughed up if it occurs to you to support a theme. There are, of course, exceptions. Vodafone bought helicopters for SMURD, Whirlpool employees spent one week building houses for those in need, other companies are recycling paper. ..

emotional spillover

It's one of those days when you feel that too much has been adding up, that life is made up of too many wires, that so many feelings and hunches, and thoughts and conclusions are left un-structured and un-tamed. that holding on is just another problem and that you just want to burst into emotions and express the not-to-be-expressed. Today I'm Virginia Wolf, Edward Norton in Fight club, Great Expectations (the whole movie!!!), Tori Amos in all of her writings and singing, Tarantino's Bride, my worst self.

Are you crazy?

I work in PR&advertising&communication. This is why people tend to think there are some (limited) ways I should behave: dress serioussly, talk corporate-like, know VIPs and be able to slip in anything in newspapers. Wrong, people!!! I love jeans and trainers, coloured dresses and stockings, artsy and unconventional apparels (involving or not the high heels), baroque chats about anything that's interesting, I KNOW MANY WORDS AND LOVE TO USE AS MANY, I don't call famous people unless it's really relevant for the communication project I'm working on (and also only if the project is relevant to the vip in question) and I don't do "little PR" nor "free advertising". Communication and PR is not only about media relations and, yes, PR has a lot to do with strategy and planning!!!! d'oh! I still believe in the advantages of being different as opposed to moving in heards. I believe in questioning more than in fallowing. And I think that taking chances, putiing yourself out-there and busting your ass to be the best at what you do or the first to do something is better than staying on the safe side and fallowing others' rules. So, when a fellow PR practitioner asks me "are you crazy?" I say "ma'am, I sure hope so!" Hurray for the crazy, restless inds!

Back in business!

1. long time no see! that's because we're living busy times and sometimes your own personal, intimate thoughts get lost in the clutter of what you should be thinking, resolving, organizing and implementing!We become multi-tasking only to find ourselves less and less free to think about ourselves!
2. It's autumn. although unexpectedly warmth is coming after equally unexpected cold weather. Summer's been long but fuzzy. I recently re-postponed my trip to Rome for reasons that shouldn't be even remembered. frustrating it is! So long, generous long days. Hello falling leaves, autumn dust, day-long traffic jams, polution triggered astma, cold feet, running nose (or no nose), loads of work, back to school, teachers carring flowers on the school opening day ( I meant to write about this earlier this month), students queuing to pay for tuition or for a room in the dorm, fresh wine and lamb pastrami, higher rents for poorer and poorer lodging conditions in over-saturated Bucharest.
3. I hate flat-owners in Bucharest! I hate those who ask you if you want to prolongue the contract and ask you to sign the papers "urgently" but omit to inform you that they decided to raise the rent twice as much as you have recently negociated. I hate that they have "zillions of better offers for this apartment" and that they consider that "this raise is nothing compared to what it could be"!!!! I hate the owners who have three shabby apartments and get away with living a good life merely on letting people live in those three flats. I hate it that we are so many in Bucharest and so desperate to pay as much as it takes for merely poisoning and imprisoning ourselves. I hate that we're not leaving for a greener, merrier place leaving Bucharest flat owners alone in their grey, small, 500 Euro/month "mobilat clasic" or 800 Euro/month "mobilat lux" apartments. The rents have exploded. The living conditions offered worsen. The offer-demand law of capitalism got things a bit ilogic. At the end of the day, one (who has been a longterm, quiet, I-need-an-apartment-where-I-can deposit-my-things-and-sleep-5/6 hours-per-night type of tennant) has to pay a 40% higher rent benefiting from 0 investments made in the apartment he's trying to hang on too. I'm from outside of Bucharest, studying and/or working in Bucharest for the last 6 years. I changed my "home" 5 times in the meantime and I'm currently screaming for a place of my own.

Tori the mighty dog

This is the dog and at the same time the reason I haven't really had any spare time for getting thoughts together, not to mention for blogging. Tori is a Labrador. Versatile and playful. And she never gets exhausted. Tori chews, as all little puppies do. And she grows. Quite beautifully. This is a recent picture. But it doesn't say shit about what it's like to have a dog like that.