Melissa Joaquin

Friends, I recently became involved in a unique initiative: Canada-Uganda Youth Baseball’s Pearl of Africa Series. When I came on-board over a month ago, it was a small initiative that began with a local woman by the name of Ruth Hoffman. A non-profit accountant, Ruth experienced what kind of impact sports has played in her sons’s life. When she read an article in the New York Times back in July 2011, it had touched her so much as it did with many. The Ugandan Little League team was the first East African team to make it to the Little League World Series being held in Williamsburg, PA. However, the team of 11-13 year old boys were denied access to the United States mainly due to the fact that most of these kids are from the most unconditional areas in Kampala and did not have the required paperwork to be issued visas. In order words, many of these boys did not have birth certificates or even knew their birthdays. Aside from that and knowing how hard these kids work, how much it means to them to play in the Little League World Series, she could not just sit back and do nothing.

As the wheels turned and the dots connected, somehow Ruth connected with documentary film maker, Jay Shapiro who is working on a feature film about baseball in the most unlikely of places – Uganda. As this venture snowballs, it was decided that there should be an opportunity to play the game that should have been – the team that they were to play in their first round at the World Series should go to Uganda! With that thought, there was no turning back. The coaches, parents and kids of  Team Canada were approached with this idea and buy-in was obtained. Now there was definitely no turning back.

Jay’s film, Opposite Field, will be covering this series and the adventure of these kids’ lifetimes. This adventure is more than just playing the game of baseball. Baseball is the perfect catalyst and platform to spur conversations and awareness for developmental issues and the issues surrounding  80% of the world that live in poverty.

I’ve come on board to their team – taken away by the issues – to head their social media and online presence. Currently working on their website, be sure to keep an eye out for that. But in the meantime, your donation and support would be mean so much to these kids.

With an overwhelming response of support, both monetary and in-kind, this cause is growing to become a lasting legacy…more to come!

Team Uganda 2011 – taken by Ruth Hoffman in November 2011

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A few months ago, I was approached by a great long-time colleague of mine to design a logo for a new digital radio and media venture. Upon reviewing a questionaire on the development of their brand and working closely with the two founders Paul Livingston and Candace Newtown, I developed a logo for their production company and digital network which will soon deliver entertaining digital radio shows for the 50+ market. With a comedic and educational spin, these programs are going to be relatable and hilarious.

This logo showcases soft blue circles, which encompass the continuous communication and dialogue of their target market on topics such as raising children, grandchildren, relationships, etc. Wanting to showcase the depth and breathe of media outlets that the production company can accomodate, we then included small media icons across the bottom.

Check out The LivingNew Productions, coming soon!

Let me know what you think of my logo and comment below please. And Thanks!

Growing up and being a part of Generation Y has been an interesting adventure. From the age of 5-12, I was told that I could be anything I wanted. I’ve day dreamed about being a princess one day to being an astronaut the next. I could be anything. And as it continues, the world is my oyster. As we grow up with this reinforcement that we can be anything we want, we dabble into this and that. Everything and anything.

Emerging into the teenage years, this evolves in what today’s media consistently portrays the average teenager: football quarterback but at the same time the leader and star singer of the glee club. Or head cheerleader/celebacy club president. (See my not-so-subtle Glee reference? ). From my own personal example in high school, I was that exact model: Dance Team founder & captain and delegate to legislative Government camp over the Summers.

As my generation comes into the professional world, we are often viewed as being “flakey”. This could attribute to us jumping from one job to the next, trying to find our place where we fit best. To past generations, this seems like we lead insecure lives with no real trajectory in place.

I can’t help but explore this from the experiences of my own personal life. I may be completely wrong to assume this, but I believe that Generation Y needs an environment at work that is collaborative and innovative. Those may be two very trendy words these days, but holds high value amongst my peers. Within a collaborative work environment, there would be a feeling that we are a part of change, or better yet, impact. We seek mentorship and growth within an organization. An opportunity to spread our wings in a safe environment and seek ownership over a slice of the big pie.

So Generation Y continues to ask the most common, and arguably, the most important question: “Why am I not valued at work?”

As almost everything comes full-circle in life, so does this post. As mentioned above, we have grown up being told that we can be anything we want. It is amazing to see that within more innovative companies, we are beginning to be able to form positions for ourselves. There are a handful of them paving the way and kudos to them. Luckily, being based out of Vancouver has exposed me to such companies. With the Westcoast lifestyle, it seems like the majority of Vancouver’s residents are entrepreneurs, self-made seekers who start out of contracting and freelancing. So I guess it looks like I’m off to a good start

Sincerely signed,

Day Dream Believer

Highly recommended by multiple folks, I recently ventured into finding my strengths. What’s interesting most about Tom Rath’s StrengthsFinder 2.0 is the whole concept of identifying and enhancing your strengths, rather than focusing on your improving your weaknesses. I highly recommend everyone and anyone to discover what their innate strengths really are:

While grazing through the Twittersphere, I came across this Brian Solis post about the Top 20 Brands on Facebook…with real numbers!

I often get asked who are my favourite brands on the social space and why. After viewing this list by Brian,  I can absolutely agree with the top 3 – Coca-Cola, Disney and Starbucks (which, coincidentally, are three of my top companies I would love to work with in some capacity). From their landing page to campaigns, all three creates a continuity of brand and voice from their corporate website and lets the Fan take control of their engagement online.

Another thing that I found interesting is that Converse has outstanding Facebook presences…great job by them!

1. Coca Cola (31,762,653)
2. Disney (26,613,752)
3. Starbucks (23,574,606)
4. Oreo (21,864,091)
5. Red Bull (21,220,373)
6. Converse All Star (19,880,308)
7. Converse (18,977,840)
8. Skittles (18,386,827)
9. Playstation (16,245,633)
10. iTunes (15,862,234)
11. Pringles (14,765,300)
12. Victoria’s Secret(14,384,903)
13. Window’s Live Messenger (13,926,945)
14. Ferrero Rocher (11,676,898)
15. Monster Energy (11,492,620)
16. Nutella (10,696,260)
17. iPod (10,530,905)
18. Adidas Originals (10,433,947)
19. Xbox (10,388,218)
20. Dr Pepper (9,927,828)

Just for fun, so hopefully you find the geeky humor in this as well!

In a world where information can come at the blink of an eye, are the possibilities of learning anything and everything at our grasps? Or with this rise in the constant availability of information cause us to have a deficit in attention and merely remember and absorb what is immediately at hand?

image by Flowtown

Swoon.

Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen

The 8.9 magnitude earthquake that hit off the coast of Northern Japan late Thursday night (Pacific time) was the most powerful in Japanese history and the fifth most powerful earthquake to date. Resulting from this quake was a massive tsunami wave that swept across the Pacific ocean tumbling over anything that falls in its way.

Tsunami waves in Hawaii reaches 2metres - March 10, 2011 - Photo by Lucy Pemoni/Getty Images North America

With my parents in Hawaii, I was highly concerned when hearing this event on Twitter. It was this first notice on Twitter, that prompted me to turn on the TV and turn on CNN to watch the tsunami events unfold. Traveling at 300km/hour, this massive wave was soon to inevitably reach the shores of Ewa Beach where my parents are located. I immediately called them and contacted other loved ones located in the Philippines. Not only was Twitter and other social networks a source for the initial notification of this great natural disaster, but social networks have played an exponential importance in the aftermath of this disaster.

Mentioned in a Mashable article this morning, about 4.5 million Facebook status updates from 3.8 million users across the world mentioned on March 11 “Japan”, “earthquake” or “tsunami”.  Personally, I used this social network to check on relatives and friends in the Philippines and also some friends who I knew were vacationing on Oahu and Maui. Reminded by my sister, phone lines are meant to be kept clear during times of emergency which left Facebook messaging, chat and status updates stating “we are fine in Maui” a satisfactory option during this time.

On the Twitter neck of the woods, over 572,000 new Twitter accounts were created just after Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami. With the devastating Tsunami sweeping away phone lines, this was and could have been the only viable option to keep in touch and even find loved ones.

Tsunami in Japan – photo credit: Reuters

Through the power of social media, people are finding people and even helping those affected by this disaster from far away. As a local committee member for the Canadian Red Cross, I urge you to please donate and aid Japan in rebuilding its infrastructure.