A student-run networking event earlier in March featured some well-known talent from Waterloo Region. Thanks to Bruno Cortez Sibella, Conestoga College technician, the speakers were captured on video. We will share a few of the highlights here.
Listen in as Jill Clark from Cober Solutions speaks about the Future of Marketing. Next Naheed Somji, a Social Media Specialist from Economical Insurance speaks about a Career in Digital Marketing.
The IMC class ended its first semester with client presentations. There were three clients who benefitted this year from the marketing communications plans created by the students.
Sober Steering Team 1 with company CEO Catherine Carroll (centre front). Back row from left: Spencer Fleming, Lanorin Joseph and Gagandeep Singh. Front row, Meaghan Moore (left) and Ann Verosil (right).
Sober Steering is a Kitchener-based technology company that has created a product that will test blood alcohol concentration when a driver places their palm on the sensor.
The sensor sits on the steering wheel. The driver places the palm of their hand on the sensor, and if the alcohol level is above a pre-set limit, the vehicle is immobilized.
Enter a captSober Steering Team 2 with company CEO Catherine Carroll (centre back). Front row from left: Caiti Murray and Kritika Gupta; back row: Joe Oliva (left) and Smit Kapuriya (right)
The technology was created by the father-daughter team of Catherine and John Carroll.
There were two student teams assigned to create plans. Team 1 focused the plan on private and public bus companies. Team 2 focused the plan on construction companies.
The second client was the Waterloo Regional Police Service, specifically the Hate Crime and Extremism Investigative Team. The students were asked to create a plan that would help the police service deliver a strong message to students in high schools. #HATELESSWR
Back row from left: Madison Vettoretto, Jovana Blagojevic, Jaspreet Singh Kainth, Vedanta Chopra, and Ryan Hamill were the team that created the plan for, front row from left: Alana Russell, Sgt. Julie Sudds, Inspector David Bishop, and Kristen Little.
From left: Cynthia Eberegbe, Ye Qiu, Phill Karasinski, Nickesha Welch, and Amanda Paul.
From left: Jyoti Jyoti, Phill Karasinski, Yahaira Cuevas, and Lindsay Wilkins.
The third IMC client was Load Army, another tech company in Kitchener whose owner, Phill Karasinski has developed an app that will save time and money for contractors in the construction industry. There were two teams assigned to this client. The IMC project includes the challenge of creating one piece of print collateral.
The IMC students work with a team of students in the Advertising and Marketing Program to have the print piece designed and printed.
Getting to know the target market is a key learning for students in the IMC program at Conestoga College. Data base searches, primary research, and secondary research give students a view of the target through a public relations lens (what’s the company relationship with the target), an advertising lens (what media does the target watch,view, read) and a marketing lens (what consumer needs can the company meet). As a class exercise, the students are given a random product and asked to create a ‘persona’ of a target for the product. To emphasize the point that one must “paint a picture” of the target, the class is encouraged to draw on their inner artist to do just that and then present a detailed description of their creation.
The IMC class is cutting its teeth in marketing communications planning with a real client! Lee Valley Tools Ltd. of Waterloo, in the form of store manager Mike Johnston, has agreed to help the class in this project.
Mike visited the class recently to answer their questions, providing details about the company, its products, and its markets. 
Getting a glimpse of what integrated marketing communications (IMC) looks like in the ‘real’ world was the goal today as the IMC graduate class visited both Quarry Communications and Home Hardware Stores Ltd. in St. Jacobs.
The students were treated to snapshots of what the daily life of an agency can be like as they listened to a project manager, graphic designer, media planner, web developer, and marketing operations manager discuss their jobs, their priorities and the tools they use to meet cleint expectations at Quarry. They heard how teams involving designers, copywriters, strategists, and project managers meet to collaborate on client work. It was a view into the agency side of the business. (and Steve and Kim were delighted to reconnect with IMC grad Michelle MacNaughton who works as a Project Lead at Quarry!)
At Home Hardware the class heard from the client side of the business. Jessica Keupfer, Manager of Public Relations, told the students about the collaboration between marketing, sales, advertising and public relations at the Canadian retailer. The company recently changed its tagline to “Home Hardware, Here’s How”, as a measure to more effectively reach a broader market – not just home owners, but anyone living in any kind of owned or rented accommodation that needs home improvement. She also provided some insight into the process behind the scenes of a Globe and Mail recent “Report on Business” article about Home Hardware.
Quarry generously provided their lunch area for the class to enjoy some Pop’s Pizza
Alan Quarry, CEO, chatted with the group about “Heart Beats Hate”, a pro-diversity, anti-bigotry rally he initiated. It will be held at Maxwell’s Concerts & Events, 35 University Ave. E. in Waterloo on Tuesday, Sept. 19. There will be speakers from the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre along with music and food. He encouraged the class to attend. He reminded them racism exists when we are silent.
Each year the IMC class is challenged to create and edit a short video on the life of an integrated marketing communications student at Conestoga College. These students go in four short months from having no design skills to creating print and video samples that demonstrate their abilities – ready for the workplace.
The videos are shown at a year-end dinner and we get everything from humorous to mysterious to serious!
Geraldine (centre) is shown with her peers at graduation. From left: Leeeza Shabekova, Cynthia Khalil, Geraldine, Nancy Asante and Rebecca Grassing.
Graduate Geraldine Westerink sent along this link to her video. She created it with the idea that it could be useful in promoting the program that lead to her obtaining a new job in the marketing communications field! If you wonder what the program is like from a student view – watch and enjoy!
Brittany McGourlay and Rebecca Grassing of the IMC class present a cheque for $2,045 to Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region representative Kourtney Beckman. Photo by Nancy Asante, IMC Graduate.
The class of 2016-2017 was proud to donate $2,045 to Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region as part of their Build-a-Bed Campaign. The donation will support shelter space for women and children who experience violence in the home. The students held a successful bingo and auction evening at Edeiweiss Tavern earlier in the year as part of their event and project management class.
What’s a moustache worth? It’s in the millions of dollars apparently, according to Mitch Hermansen who spoke at an IABC Waterloo Chapter special event this morning. Mitch works with the Movember Foundation that raised more than $15 million just last year in its annual campaign.
Just the sight of someone wearing a moustache can now spark a conversation about Movember and the need to pay attention to men’s health issues. Men become walking billboards raising awareness of the issues, as well as dollars.
Some of those dollars have supported the research of doctors, including Hon Leong of the Lawson Health Research Institute in London, ON. whose research will deliver novel drugs that halt the spread of prostate cancer to determine if they are effective in stopping metastasis in the majority of prostate cancer cell lines.
Mosistas (as female supporters of Movember are called) Clare Harper, Kelsea Rose and Brittany McGourlay flash their moustache sticks with Mitch Hermansen, who sports the real thing on his upper lip! Mitch was in Kitchener at an IABC event to speak about the success of Movember.
Mitch said that the Movember Foundation is the only charity tackling men’s health on a global scale, year round. “We have one goal: to stop men dying too young.” The foundation, which began in Australia in 2004, has funded over 1,200 projects focusing on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. As devastating as cancer is, the rates of suicide among men is startling. Every minute a man dies from suicide somewhere in the world.
The Foundation uses humour to break the ice because traditionally men are taught and encouraged to not talk about private matters or their feelings. To learn more, check the link to the Foundation’s website.
Client presentations at the end the first semester in Integrated Marketing Communications at Conestoga were a success and students left mid-December for a well-earned break.
When they return next week, they will jump right back into the swing of things and prepare a pitch for a new client as part of their event and project management class. This time, the client is Winterloo and the winning pitch will be an event at this annual City of Waterloo winter festival. Other client work is being planned in media relations class while new skills in the Adobe creative suite are being developed in Creative Strategies class.
Anyone interested in more details about this post-graduate program can contact the co-ordinator, Kim Denstedt, at kdenstedt@conestogac.on.ca.
This guest post is written by IMC2017 candidate Krystle Forget who is chronicling her decision to return to school 10 years after her university graduation.
The decision to return to school and to take the Integrated Marketing Communications program at Conestoga College has been a real game changer. In the few months that I have been here, I have already grown so much—both academically and personally. I have a newfound confidence in my abilities and that makes me excited about what the future holds for me after I finish this program.
To say that the past three weeks have been busy would be an understatement. I don’t remember there ever being a time in University where I had so much on my plate. Between tests, individual reports, group reports, individual presentations, and group presentations, November has been one tough month! Long days, followed by late nights, have made me look forward to weekends more than ever. As demanding as this month has been though, it’s shown me what I am capable of and has pushed me to work hard for the things that I want.
I want to do well in this program. I want to learn as much as I can from my instructors, my peers, and from myself. I want a career in a field that I love and have a real interest in. I want to work in marketing and communications.
Integrated Communications 