PANAF Commits to the Future, Holds 1st Youth Congress and 11th Integrated Marketing Communications Students’ Competition
by: Aye Ubaldo

In the age of Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, Yahoo! News, and all things techie, hitting the books has taken a new meaning.  With the diploma still a passport to bigger and better opportunities, formal education has to stay apace with digital culture.  The integration, or should that be the invasion, of computer science and technology into every course study is an indication of how vastly times have changed.  From pad paper to iPad, from pencil to mouse, from notebooks to notebook laptops, from blackboard to monitors -- educators lecture to students whose brains are wired differently. 

Different, not necessarily better. 

In its effort to bridge the yawning gap between relevant education and responsible practice, the production of capable and trained graduates, the Philippine Association of National Advertisers Foundation (PANAF) has its thrust directed at supplemental and supportive events for the academe.  Inviting college and university deans in the fields of Mass Communications, Business and Economics, and Advertising to a dinner last July 2, PANAF announced the 2010 11th Integrated Marketing Communications Student’s Competition and 1st Youth Congress, “Techie, Artsy, Gutsy  (TAG) - You’re It!” 

“The IMC competition and Youth Congress is a means by which schools can see the level of competition, the level of competence, of their counterparts. It is an exercise to raise the bar.  Students must meet the standards that their future professions require,” said Charmaine V. Canillas, PANAF Chairman, addressing the academics present from 22 schools, including the Visayas and Northern Luzon.  Canillas, who is also the Head of Public Affairs of Petron Philippines, pertained to the marketing and communications graduates that prove ill-equipped and under-trained for employment in their chosen fields.

“TAG You’re It!” features a two-day Youth Congress from November 11 to 12, at the Bayanihan Center of the Unilab Compound.  Over a dozen of the country’s key communicators and industry experts from advertising and media will address the burgeoning issues and speedy trends and changes of integrated marketing communications.  In this event, students get a real-world experience with experts, and the experts can interface with future practitioners through discussion and forum groups. 

Products of meticulous planning, the topics hit hard where it matters, with a mixture of creative, strategic and trendy issues, in-sync with the PANAF mission of providing educational-professional support. “(The event) is an opportunity for the industry to meet the students, and for the students to meet their future employers,” Canillas added.

Already on its 11th edition, the IMC Students’ Competition will unfold on the third day.  “Life on the Line: A Health and Wellness Campaign for the Youth” garnered 30 entries from universities nationwide.  Steadily gaining importance, this year’s entries have almost doubled, from only 17 last year.  Already undergoing judging, five finalists will then present their entries live to a different panel of judges on November 13.