I had the honor to give a TED talk at the first edition of TEDx HEC Montréal. To those who are not familiar with the concept, take a look at the tips given to all TED Conference speakers:

The TED Commandments
1. Dream big. Strive to create the best talk you have ever given. Do something the audience will remember forever. Share an idea that could change the world.
2. Show us the real you. Share your passions, your dreams … and also your fears. Be vulnerable. Speak of failure as well as success.
3. Make the complex plain. Don’t try to dazzle intellectually. Don’t speak in abstractions. Explain! Give examples. Tell stories. Be specific.
4. Connect with people’s emotions. Make us laugh! Make us cry!
5. Don’t flaunt your ego. Don’t boast. It’s the surest way to switch everyone off.
6. No selling from the stage! Unless we have specifically asked you to, do not talk about your company or organization.
7. Feel free to comment on other speakers’ talks, to praise or to criticize. Controversy energizes! Enthusiastic endorsement is powerful!
8. Don’t read your talk. Notes are fine. But if the choice is between reading or rambling, then read!
9. End your talk on time. Doing otherwise is to steal time from the people that follow you. We won’t allow it.
10. Rehearse your talk in front of a trusted friend … for timing, for clarity, for impact.

The video of my conference will be translated and uploaded on TEDx HEC Montréal. For now, please allow me to switch to French so that I can thank my public profusely.

Je ne trouve pas de mots qui puissent décrire ma reconnaissance envers le soutien immense de mon entourage. Avouer ma nervosité serait un euphémisme de mon stress réellement vécu pour cette journée. Mes amis avaient des attentes, et je ne voulais les décevoir.

Au moment où je monte sur scène, le public m’offre un accueil chaleureux. Il y a un g33k dans la salle qui a su remarquer que je n’avais pas encore évolué au iPad 2. La raison est simple, mon iPad a une valeur très émotionnelle.

Je débute en tentant de tromper la foule avec mon accent asiatique prononcé. Mes amis dans la salle ont failli ruiner la blague :)

Après ce moment de détente, nous retournons aux choses sérieuses. Lorsque je demande un “temps mort”, le public délaisse leur téléphone intelligent pour m’accorder toute leur attention.

Le public partage mes points de réflexion.

Le temps est écoulé. J’espère que le public ait apprécié. Merci encore de m’avoir écoutée.

I know what you are thinking, why would we want another Friends rip-off? Yes, Happy Endings is another TV series about six friends hanging out, but it is more than that.

It felt like a breath of fresh air to watch a fast pace comedy among all the reality shows out there. With Happy Endings, you won’t see the jokes coming, they’ll take you by surprise like a guy in roller-blades crashing your wedding. The punch lines delivery rhythm is on fast forward.

Unlike in How I Met Your Mother, where I am truly fond of only one character (Neil Patrick Harris’), I fell for four of the six Happy Endings‘ characters right away. The show succeeded to efficiently introduce the posse within the pilot’s first three minutes. By the first scenes, you get a clear idea about who you are dealing with:

- Dave: the wedding douche YouTube sensation whose fiance left him at the altar
- Alex: the fiance who left Dave at the altar to get white trash tourist braids
- Jane: a wannabe desperate housewife, but way not ready (and way too cool for the suburbs if you want my opinion)
- Brad: Jane’s husband, chill black of the group who doesn’t read emails labeled “URGENT party deeds”
- Penny: single girl who is doing everything to find the future father of her future kids Haley, Madison and McKenzie
- Max: gay and chubby who finds a “stereotypically flamboyant cartoonish Sex and the City gay” offensive

They managed to cast an “Excellence in Theatre” award winner, the girl next door Elisha Cuthbert from 24, a super actress from Scrubs, two Saturday Night Live alumni and a guy who played a Young Hollywood Douchebag in Californication. Can you guess who’s playing who?

If you are a TV nerd, you will recognize the wittiness of the script writers and directors Anthony and Joe Russo (Arrested Development or Community rings a bell?). Check out some memorable quotes from the pilot.

Happy Endings quotes

“Huge game changer, HUGE” -Max

“Do you know how hard it is to get slut off egyptian cotton?” -Jane

“M’am? I’m gonna go and bawl my eyes out and then I will be back to physically fight you” -Penny

“This cleanse is brutal. I lost 11 pounds… today.” -Brad

“Well, that’s what happen when you drink vodka on a stomach full of cabbage juice” -Brad

“Nice work Al, you are the Michael Jordan of destroying friendships” -Dave

“I’m 30, and I’m Catholic and I’mma die alone in a light-up Christmas sweater talking to a menagerie of parrots” -Penny

So tune in on ABC Wednesday nights 10|9c

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p.s: Me falling for another witty TV show gives me a feeling of déjà vu… I hope this show won’t get cancelled

4320 LA/SYD
Company: Droga5 Australia, Client: V Australia, Award: Yellow Pencil

Canon – Photochains
This integrated campaign, created by Leo Burnett Sydney, is designed to create a new form of social networking, based on sharing the inspiration behind photographs.

The Eternal Moonwalk
Studio Brussel

Together Incredible: New Zealand, Iggy Pop & Orcon Broadband
We set out to find 8 New Zealanders to help Iggy Pop re-record ‘The Passenger’ live via Orcon Broadband. From more than 200 amazing auditions we ended up with 9 incredible New Zealanders. We hooked them up to Iggy in Miami via Orcon Broadband, and this is the result…

more info

Support Scent
How do you show support for someone who can’t see?

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne has answered this question by turning traditional charity marketing on its head and creating a fragrance.

When it came to developing an innovative way to generate support for the blind and vision impaired, the creative team considered it vital that the solution didn’t inadvertently exclude them. Anything that appealed to people’s sight, such as a ribbon or wristband, would only add to the problem. Instead they decided to create something that appealed to another sense entirely – smell.” more info

Nokia – The World’s Biggest Signpost

IKEA – Facebook showroom

LIVE RESCUE COASTGUARD New Zealand
At 1810, real time point-of-view TV and radio spots put viewers into the shoes of a Coastguard volunteer in a rescue operation to find the missing boaties. The direct response TV and radio drove people online where they found themselves in a search plane simulator racing against the clock in real time. A GPS locator fed the live position of the real capsized boat into the simulator.

more info

Young Director Award by CFP-E/Shots: Drama Queen

Choose A Different Ending
Interactive film that allows you to decide what happens next. You can interact with it, choose what to do and decide how it ends. In Choose A Different Ending you decide whether to live or die. http://www.droptheweapons.org

SMASH – Born to be destroyed

link to "SMASH Born to be destroyed" presentation board + video

Samsung: Mobile Shakedown

link to "Samsung Mobile Shakedown" presentation board + video

The phones are going down in this new Samsung digital campaign, promoting the B2100 phone out of Swedish agency From Stockholm With Love. The new Shakedown site points live cameras on a table covered with 70 phones and features special call in number. Visitors are invited to dial that number, along with the number displayed on the phone of their choice, and if they can get it to vibrate off the table, the B2100 is theirs.

Child soldiers
The use of child soldiers is common in many countries. Our client Ohne Rüstung Leben (Life Without Weapons) wanted to raise attention about this problem and to collect more donations.

link to "Child Soldiers" presentation board

Our idea: Original looking military draft notices are being sent out to families with small children (8-14 years, selected by an address provider). The children are ordered to perform military service, including suicide missions and rapes.

Pepsico – Sandwich

link to "PepsiCo Sandwich" presentation board + video

]]> http://www.isabellechrun.com/e-business/marketing-relationnel-idees-creatives/feed/ 0 http://www.isabellechrun.com/e-business/ten-lies-that-can-stop-you-from-pursuing-your-dream/ http://www.isabellechrun.com/e-business/ten-lies-that-can-stop-you-from-pursuing-your-dream/#comments Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:47:03 +0000 isaSuperstar http://www.isabellechrun.com/?p=390 I stumbled upon this interesting article and wanted to share it with all my friends who are pursuing their dream (and also with all those “liars” who might stop us for reaching success)

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Unfortunately, just before you take your first step on the righteous journey to pursue your dreams, people around you, even the ones who deeply care for you, will give you awful advice. It’s not because they have evil intentions. It’s because they don’t understand the big picture—what your dreams, passions, and life goals mean to you. They don’t understand that, to you, the reward is worth the risk.

So they try to protect you by shielding you from the possibility of failure, which, in effect, also shields you from the possibility of making your dreams a reality.

As our friend Steve Jobs says:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Here are ten ill-advised tips (lies) people will likely tell you when you decide to pursue your dreams and the reasons why they are dreadfully mistaken:

1. You can follow your dreams someday, but right now you need to buckle down and be responsible.

Someday? When is ”someday”? “Someday” is not a day at all. It’s a foggy generalization of a time that will likely never come. Today is the only day guaranteed to you. Today is the only day you can begin to make a difference in your life. And pursuing your dreams is what life is all about. So don’t be irresponsible. Don’t wait until “someday.” Make today the first day of the rest of your new life.

2. You’re totally screwed if it doesn’t work out.

Wrong! This is a giant, lame load of BS. You’re not even close to being screwed. In fact, the worst case scenario is that things don’t work out and you have to go back to doing exactly what you are doing right now.

3. It’s safer to stay at your day job.

Sure, I suppose. But you know what’s even safer than that? Going home, locking yourself in your bedroom, and never, ever coming out. And just like that, you will have flushed your entire life and your dreams down the toilet. Remember, safer doesn’t always mean better.

4. That’s impossible!

It’s only impossible if you never do anything about it. The reason certain things seem impossible is simply because nobody has achieved them yet. But this doesn’t mean that with your help these things won’t become possible in the future. If you truly dedicate yourself to an end result, almost anything is possible. You just have to want it bad enough.

5. Only a lucky few “make it.”

That’s because those lucky few got off their rear ends and did something about it! They had the drive, determination, and willpower that you have right now. You can be one of them. It’s up to you, and only you.

6. You might fail. And failing is bad.

Failures are simply stepping stones to success. No matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should be. Either you succeed or you learn something: win–win. The biggest mistake you can make is doing nothing because you’re too scared to make a mistake. If you can’t handle failure, then you can’t handle success either.

7. You don’t have access to the right resources.

It’s not about having the right resources; it’s about exploiting the resources you do have access to. Stevie Wonder couldn’t see, so he exploited his sense of hearing into a passion for music, and he now has twenty-five Grammy Awards to prove it. Get it?

8. You need more money saved before you can take the first step.

You don’t need more money. You need a plan. You need a budget. Eliminate ALL the nonessential costs in your life. If pursuing your dream requires you to leave your day job, figure out the absolute minimum amount of income that you realistically require to live. Studying those who have succeeded with similar ventures also helps. But above all, take baby steps. Don’t be foolish and assume that you must have a certain amount of money saved right now, or that you must quit your day job today in order to pursue your dreams. Instead, ask yourself, “What actions can I take right now with the money and resources I have right now that will bring me closer to desired goal?”

9. You don’t need any help. It’s smarter to go after it alone.

You are the sum of the people you spend the most time with. If you hang with the wrong people, they will negatively affect you. But if you hang with the right people, you will be far more capable and powerful than you ever could have been alone. Find your tribe and work together to make a difference in all of your lives.

10. That sounds like a lot of hard work.

You’re darn right it does! But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. I think success in life hinges on one key point: finding hard work you love doing. As long as you remain true to yourself and follow your own interests, values, and dreams, you can find success through passion. Perhaps most importantly, you won’t wake up a few years from now working in a career field you despise, wondering, How the heck am I going to do this for the next thirty years? So if you catch yourself working hard and loving every minute of it, don’t stop. You’re onto something big. Because hard work ain’t hard when you concentrate on your passions and dreams.

Disregard these misguided bits of nonsense and you’ll be well on your way to fulfilling your dreams. Now get out there and make a splash!

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Source: DivineCaroline.com Ten Lies You’ll Hear Before Pursuing Your Dream

Her professor tells her the harsh reality of the path to becoming a college professor.

This year’s Primetime Emmys kicked off with a fun skit featuring host Jimmy Fallon and my favorite TV people. Awesome Jane Lynch and her Glee co-stars’ appearance was a no-brainer. The musical and television phenomenon did garner 19 Emmys nominations, more than any other show. I was happy to see that witty writer Tina Fey was also included in the opening. And what to say about handsome Jon Hamm? Don’t we all love him? Drama or comedy, he can bring it.

I’m the luckiest ASIAN GEEK on the planet, because while I was studying, playing silly sports with other funky Carabins (that was legen… dary), watching Glee, organizing a surprise for V-DAWG B.A.A (our athlete of the year), partying at my graduate prom in Mont-Tremblant, etc. dozens of friends were voting for me! (take a look at the Gifiniti iPad contest results)

Tell me, how would you like to celebrate? A huge GEEK party? Perhaps where you can come play with my iPad? ^.^ I’ll keep you posted for my victory lap. Stay tuned!

Again, thank you, merci, gracias, 多谢, danke

From a cyclist’s point of view, pain is not a choice, it remains in the equation win or lose. How frustrating can it be to lose a race even though you have survived all that trouble? The president founder of Louis Garneau, who has been involved with cycling his entire life, believes that there are benefits from those lost races. This is how Louis Garneau believes we need to suffer in order to succeed. It is a matter of how one can resist to pain.

His vision of victory underlines the importance in losing. Every time someone congratulates him for his 150 won races, he replies that he also lost 500 races. Louis Garneau says that we need to lose from time to time, because a person who always win is somehow dangerous.

To his eyes, cycling is not only a sport, but also a lesson of survival. Athletes have to manage their water, their food, their energy and the unpredictable weather to last those excruciating kilometers. Not only they have to plan their resources, but they also have to compete against 200 other cyclists.

M. Garneau’s cycling intuition helped him face the imponderables in business to reach an audience of millions worldwide through quality products. Amazingly, this president doesn’t come from a business school, he is rather an arts passionate. I suppose his creative side surely contributed a lot to the innovative products that exceed expectations. Louis Garneau’s competitive advantage resides in their top notch cycling gear. This product-driven company holds the number 1 spot in Japan. It also provides the equipment to several professional cycling teams around the globe.

Of course, creativity can’t be the sole reason to his impressive achievement. This leader knows how essential it is to surround oneself with the best people. Success in business hinges on one key point: finding the best team. It is crucial to rub elbows with persons who are smarter than yourself. The president founder also brought up the value of a healthy company. Spinning lessons are available to motivate employees to stay in shape, which is coherent to the company’s philosophy.

To sum up, M. Garneau admits that the fear of losing forced him to react. His company will continue to grow as long as he keeps his cyclist’s state of mind “it is the best who will win”

The Happening Marketing delegation of HEC Montréal asked me to give a conference about the latest web trends. You can imagine my nervousness. Facing an obscene amount of new social networks, web tools, blogs that are popping out on a daily basis, multiplied by the fact that they are evolving at a furious speed, the temptation to run was fierce.

Nonetheless, I managed to stay calm enough to open the doors of the wonderful world of web strategy to those bright undergraduate students of HEC Montréal (who will clearly perform at their academic case competition :)

Here is my notepad where I have collected some statistics and figures from numerous references on the web for them.

Because it is always a work in progress, may I ask for your thoughts? Share with us the references you rely upon regarding this industry, what blogs do you read on a regular basis to stay up to date?

Regardless the cauldron mechanical malfunction and the absence of a Jamaican bobsleigh team, let’s focus today on Okanagan poet Shane Koyczan’s work. Do you agree with his definition of Canadians? Are we more? Which part of the poem moved you the most?

We Are More by Shane Koyczan

When defining Canada
you might list some statistics
you might mention our tallest building
or biggest lake
you might shake a tree in the fall
and call a red leaf Canada
you might rattle off some celebrities
might mention Buffy Sainte-Marie
might even mention the fact that we’ve got a few
Barenaked Ladies
or that we made these crazy things
like zippers
electric cars
and washing machines

when defining Canada
it seems the world’s anthem has been
“been there done that”
and maybe that’s where we used to be at
it’s true
we’ve done and we’ve been
we’ve seen
all the great themes get swallowed up by the machine
and turned into theme parks

but when defining Canada
don’t forget to mention that we have set sparks
we are not just fishing stories
about the one that got away
we do more than sit around and say “eh?”
and yes
we are the home of the Rocket and the Great One
who inspired little number nines
and little number ninety-nines
but we’re more than just hockey and fishing lines
off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes

and some say what defines us
is something as simple as please and thank you
and as for you’re welcome
well we say that too
but we are more
than genteel or civilized
we are an idea in the process
of being realized
we are young
we are cultures strung together
then woven into a tapestry
and the design
is what makes us more
than the sum total of our history

we are an experiment going right for a change
with influences that range from a to zed
and yes we say zed instead of zee
we are the colours of Chinatown and the coffee of Little Italy
we dream so big that there are those
who would call our ambition an industry
because we are more than sticky maple syrup and clean snow
we do more than grow wheat and brew beer
we are vineyards of good year after good year
we reforest what we clear
because we believe in generations beyond our own
knowing now that so many of us
have grown past what used to be

we can stand here today
filled with all the hope people have
when they say things like “someday”
someday we’ll be great
someday we’ll be this
or that
someday we’ll be at a point
when someday was yesterday
and all of our aspirations will pay the way
for those who on that day
look towards tomorrow
and still they say someday
we will reach the goals we set
and we will get interest on our inspiration

because we are more than a nation of whale watchers and lumberjacks
more than backpacks and hiking trails
we are hammers and nails building bridges
towards those who are willing to walk across
we are the lost-and-found for all those who might find themselves at a loss
we are not the see-through gloss or glamour
of those who clamour for the failings of others
we are fathers brothers sisters and mothers
uncles and nephews aunts and nieces
we are cousins
we are found missing puzzle pieces
we are families with room at the table for newcomers
we are more than summers and winters
more than on and off seasons

we are the reasons people have for wanting to stay
because we are more than what we say or do
we live to get past what we go through
and learn who we are
we are students
students who study the studiousness of studying
so we know what as well as why
we don’t have all the answers
but we try
and the effort is what makes us more
we don’t all know what it is in life we’re looking for

so keep exploring
go far and wide
or go inside but go deep
go deep
as if James Cameron was filming a sequel to The Abyss
and suddenly there was this location scout
trying to figure some way out
to get inside you
because you’ve been through hell and high water
and you went deep
keep exploring
because we are more
than a laundry list of things to do and places to see
we are more than hills to ski
or countryside ponds to skate

we are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can’t wait
we are first-rate greasy-spoon diners and healthy-living cafes
a country that is all the ways you choose to live
a land that can give you variety
because we are choices
we are millions upon millions of voices shouting
“keep exploring… we are more”

we are the surprise the world has in store for you
it’s true
Canada is the “what” in “what’s new?”
so don’t say “been there done that”
unless you’ve sat on the sidewalk
while chalk artists draw still lifes
on the concrete of a kid in the street
beatboxing to Neil Young for fun
don’t say you’ve been there done that
unless you’ve been here doing it
let this country be your first-aid kit
for all the times you get sick of the same old same old
let us be the story told to your friends
and when that story ends
leave chapters for the next time you’ll come back
next time pack for all the things
you didn’t pack for the first time
but don’t let your luggage define your travels
each life unravels differently
and experiences are what make up
the colours of our tapestry

we are the true north
strong and free
and what’s more
is that we didn’t just say it
we made it be.