Events

Open House 2012
Aspirations: With SP, It's So Possible

SP recently held our annual Open House from the 5^th to the 7^th of January, over the course of the three days, we welcomed O’level graduates hailing from various secondary schools in Singapore. All of them came to SP wearing an earnest attitude in finding out the numerous courses that SP has to offer to them, as well as to get a tiny glimpse into life in SP!

Courses at the hilltop (SP Business School, School of Communication, Arts & Social Sciences and School of Digital Media and Infocomm Technology) were chosen as one of the main pull for the event mainly for us to show to students our state-of-the-art facilities we have, such as The Agency for the Diploma in Media and Communications course, which has already gained several media impressions.

 

To convenience the visitors, SP hired buses to bring them around the school. Above is a picture of one of the buses used for the Business, DMIT and CASS tours.

Also, SP’s Diploma in Media and Communication has been revamped for 2012 batch of intake so as to better cater to students needs. During the Open House, students got to explore DMC as a course which integrates fun with learning! Students will be able to experience how authentic learning can happen outside the confines of their classrooms.

SP’s student facility tour guides are also all ready to present SP to the secondary school visitors, look at them all dressed up!

Back in the concourse, SP also set up a stage to show case some of the many co-curricular activities we have to offer, performance by the muay-thai, dance sport, and cheeleading are also included! Boards of student’s achievement are also put up.

I’m sure you guys saw the hashtag #possiblewithSP trending! That was the official hashtag for our Open House and we’re glad that we managed to trend, because it really managed to create awareness of the Open House as a whole.

I can say with utmost certainty that the 2012 SP Open House was a roaring success. We hope you enjoyed yourselves and to all students receiving their O level results, we wish you the best of luck!

Written by: Eunice Heng
Edited by: Clare Huang

DMC Bootcamp

Written By: Masayoe Nabilah

“CAMP? On the first day of holiday? No!” I exclaimed in distress as I heard Ms Trudy explain about CASS bootcamp. I shook my head several times, unwilling to believe what I had just heard. 9 December would be our first day of the term break. I had already lined up a few plans for myself in mind. I planned to watch movies, swim, cycle and shop. I had also allocated some time to complete my bountiful projects and assignments. A 3-day camp would most definitely spoil my plans to spend my first few days of the break renting some DVDs to watch together with my sister. I slumped my head on the table in disappointment and heaved a huge sigh of defeat.

“Towel, check. Sleeping bag, check.” I ticked off the items on the itinerary, letting out a huge yawn at the same time. It was already 11.15 at night, way past my bedtime. My bed looked inviting, but I could not go to sleep yet because I had not packed a bag for the bootcamp. Despite knowing that the camp was scheduled for the next day, I still put off packing my bag to the last minute. How could I gear myself to be excited for something that sounded so mundane?

Sweat trickled down my forehead and back as I trudged my way towards the bunkrooms together with the rest of DMC 01. My eyes roamed around the dim surrounding. Dragonflies flew around with no destination in mind. I shuddered at the thought of insects in the bunkrooms crawling all over me while I was asleep. A few minutes later, we finally reached our bunkrooms. DMC 01 girls were assigned one whole room to ourselves while the boys had to share among several classes. The girls had already started to explore the room excitedly while I hung back, reluctant to go in. Finally, I mustered enough courage to take a hesitant step forward into the room. I scrutinized the vacant room. There were two platforms on both sides of the room for us to sleep on and a path in the middle that looked like a runway.

“Hey, this is actually pretty nice and clean,” I remarked aloud. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. A smile slowly bloomed on my face. I realized that that was the first time I had smiled ever since the start of the camp.

“Hi, I’m Nabilah.” I introduced myself to my group members. I smiled tentatively as everyone else waved at me, making me feel welcomed to the group. I was assigned to Group 1, which consisted of Syakir my classmate, and four girls whom I had not spoken to before. It took me awhile to remember all their names. However, during the bonding games facilitated by the trainers from The Absorbent Mind, I got a chance to know my teammates in greater depth. Despite our differing personalities, we got along quite well. The objectives of the games that we played were to break the ice through introductions and sharing of interesting information about ourselves. In addition to the games, each team had to think of a holiday-themed group name. After much deliberation, my team decided on The Moon as our group name. We wanted a group name that was out-of-the-box and extraordinary. The moon was a place that was out-of-reach but still possible to achieve. We hoped that through our group name, everyone else would realize that anything is possible if they just believe.

One of the group's mascot.

I laughed gaily as I viewed the end product of my team’s mascot. Shermaine, one of my teammates, had her waist wrapped around in white paper with yellow stars and crescent moons stuck on them. An astronaut headgear decorated with colorful bandanna sat on her head. Our task was to design a mascot or anything that symbolized our group name. Without further ado, my team collected the materials provided and started brainstorming for ideas. During the discussion, we thought that an astronaut would best represent our holiday destination. We chose Shermaine as our mascot and started designing.

10.30pm arrived way too fast. Before I knew it, bedtime had creeped up on us, marking the end of the first day of bootcamp. After a quick shower, I settled down in my sleeping bag to get ready for a good night’s sleep. I heard the strumming of guitar and the chattering of my friends outside my bunkroom. I was tempted to join them in their late-night chats and snacks, but my eyes had started to get droopy. I lay my head down on my small pillow, closed my eyes, and slept with a smile on my face.

The smell of fried noodles and Milo wafted into my nostrils.

“Hmm… fried noodles for breakfast,” I thought to myself. After a hearty breakfast, all DMC students had to gather and sit down in front of a big screen. Mr Tan, one of the DMC lecturers, started to talk to us about Bukit Brown, a cemetery that was planned to be demolished to make way for a new road and estate. Despite the talk being long and uninteresting, I listened carefully as I knew that there was sure to be an assignment given to us that was related to the subject of the talk. True enough, right after the talk by Mr Tan, another lecturer introduced the assignment and explained the instructions. Each group had to take either a modernist or conservationist stand and make an argument on why we should or should not demolish Bukit Brown, stating clearly the reasons and the ways of implementing our campaigns.

My heart fell when I heard about the assignment. It seemed difficult. I thought camp was all about fun and games. However, I tried to look at the positive side of the situation. At least, through the group discussion, I would get another chance to get to know my teammates better.

Guest speaker from Starcom Media Vest
 speaking to us about IMC

“That was a really good idea,” I remarked. “I would never have thought of building a memorial park in respect of those who were buried at Bukit Brown,” I added, nodding my head in approval at my teammates’ idea. My team was assigned to take the modernist stand, representing the URA and supporting the URA’s decision to build a new road across Bukit Brown. Three hours had passed and we were still discussing heatedly. Before that, we were broken up into three groups to attend three different workshops by outside speakers. Syakir and I chose to attend the Social Media in Integrated Communication Campaigns conducted by Ms Lee Kai Xin, the Director of Wild Interactive. The workshop was insightful, as Ms Lee shared with us her experience in the area of Digital Media and gave us some tips on how to use Social Media to market our campaigns for the Bukit Brown assignment. I learnt many useful things, such as how to research about the target audience before setting up a social media platform to reach out to them and that Social Media is not the answer to everything. These beneficial tips would definitely come in handy for the Bukit Brown assignment as well as in the future. Upon the start of the discussion with my team, I explained to them what I had learnt during the workshop. We took turns sharing what we had gained from our respective workshops.

Singapore Quarry! Finally!

After a long and tiring discussion, all the DMC students set out on a trek to Singapore Quarry. To spice up the trek, the facilitators from The Absorbent Mind turned it into a Treasure Hunt cum CSI. Each team had to look out for clues that were hidden along the trek trail. There were altogether 16 clues. Once each team reached the destination, the members would have to piece the puzzle together to find out who the murderer was, where the murder took place, what the murder weapon was, when the murder happened, and the motive of the murderer. My team and another team formed one big group and together, we went on this Treasure Hunt. Finding the clues was not as easy as expected. The clues, which were actually rolled up pieces of paper, were strategically hidden under leaves, or against branches, which made it difficult for us to spot them. Along the way, we stopped to play a bonding game that infused an element of teamwork and communication. The objective of the game was to hit a ball 50 times without the ball hitting the floor. In addition, each member could not hit the ball more than once consecutively. Through this game, I learnt that strategic planning and effective communication are crucial. Without competent communicators, my team would never have succeeded in getting the ball to avoid hitting the floor.

A soft breeze caressed my hair. The still waters calmed my senses. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the serenity of the quarry overwhelm me.

One of the clues

“Come on, let’s solve this puzzle!” I heard my teammate shout. I snapped out of my reverie, opened my eyes and made my way to my group. Together, we unrolled the pieces of paper and tried to make sense of the full story. After a few minutes of debate, agreements and also disagreements, we finally came to the conclusion. We checked our answer with the facilitator and alas, we were right! All our answers were correct. We let out a delighted whoop and made our way back to the campsite, where we had our dinner.

After dinner, we continued with another round of discussion on Bukit Brown until the clock struck 10.30pm. Once again, we wrapped up our second day of bootcamp. This time, I joined my friends outside my bunkroom after a quick shower. Despite my exhaustion, I wanted to spend some time with them after nearly two days of being separated, as we were not in the same team. Half an hour passed and I started to nod off. I excused myself and settled down in my sleeping bad for another round of much needed rest.

Played some games in the morning

I kick started the third day of camp with eggs and noodles. I heaped up a generous amount on my plate because I knew that I needed more energy for that day. Although it was the last day of bootcamp, I had something very important to prepare for – the pitching of the Bukit Brown campaign. The night before, I had volunteered to be one of the presenters during the pitch. I knew that I was relatively good at presenting to others, but I had never spoken to such a large group before. I kept clenching my fists in anxiety as I imagined myself fumbling and stammering in front of everyone. It would be absolutely humiliating! I tried to calm down by taking deep breaths and singing in my head. Despite my apprehension, I understood that the opportunity for me to speak in front of a large audience was valuable. Through the experience, my confidence level would definitely be boosted.

I shifted my weight from one foot to another. I closed my eyes and let every thought in my mind slip away. I had to concentrate fully on the task without letting anything get in my way. I took in a deep breath, held it for a few moments then released.

“And now, presenting to you, team 1!” the host announced. It was time.

GROUP 1! THAT'S ME!

The presentation went on smoothly. I did not fumble or stammer as I had expected myself to do. I smiled in satisfaction, proud that I had exceeded my expectations. The presentations from the other teams were really good and impressive, considering that we only had about a day and a half to complete our discussion and preparation for the pitch. All the presenters spoke fluently and confidently. Some of the ideas that were suggested were excellent. After every presentation, I applauded enthusiastically to congratulate my course mates on their hard work and tremendous effort.

Mr Mario and a student performing

“And I set fire… to the rain… “. I swayed to the melodious voice of Nazurah, one of the DMC students. I could not believe my ears! I never knew my course mates could belt out a tune that well. The bootcamp talent show had revealed some amazing hidden talents. Some of them could sing, while some others could groove to a beat. How I wish I had volunteered to participate in the talent show. I believe that it would be a good platform for me to showcase my talent and improve my self-esteem. I might be quiet most of the times, but I can sing.

One of the top 3 winning groups

I bit my bottom lip, a sure sign of impatience. I bore my eyes into the host, hoping that he would announce my team name. Unfortunately, he did not. Team 2 won the competition of the best pitch. I stole a glance at my teammates, who seemed as equally disappointed as I was. My shoulders slumped heavily. I had wanted to win so badly. My team had put in a great amount of effort into the preparation of the pitch. However, I tried not to dwell too much on the loss. I decided that I would do better next time and contribute more ideas to my team. I had to look forward and not remain in the past. Being angry and disappointed due to the loss would not bring me ahead in the game. Determination and perseverance are the keys to victory.

I looked back at the campsite with a heavy heart. Bootcamp had come to an end. I had started the camp with a narrow mindset and a negative attitude. I left the camp brimming with positivity and a change in attitude. I never expected that something I dreaded would turn out to be quite fulfilling and enjoyable. Now I know that I should give everything a chance to unfold itself and present its goodies. 

Escapade 2011: Idea Frenzy

Written by: Siti Fatimah

Singapore Polytechnic’s annual Escapade event was held on 19 November this year. As compared to its previous years, this year’s event wasn’t held from dusk till dawn – it was changed to a full day event.

During the opening segment of Escapade, the participants were given a mission – to save our Earth from being destroyed. The way they had to go about doing this was through the process of Design Thinking.

Design Thinking refers to the methods and processes for analyzing problems and coming up with solutions in the design and planning fields. To put it simply, Design Thinking encourages creativity when it comes to approaching and solving problems.

Participants went through a 4-hour session of delving into the concept of Design Thinking. 12 DMC Yr 3s (yay us!) were student facilitators during the session, and our job was to help encourage the participants to utilize their creativity to help save the Earth and mankind.

Despite having to be up early in the morning after a month long of exams, the students I interacted with were nothing short of enthusiastic. Maybe it was the concept of design thinking itself (being as creative as you can to solve a problem) that made them enjoy the session – my group came up with incredibly creative ideas on how they wanted to save the environment and our planet!

After a half hour of scribbling and slapping their “wacky” ideas onto post-its, my group decided that their best idea was the conversion of body fats into an alternative fuel source. How insanely awesome is that?! If this were a real thing, I’d be one of the first few people to convert my excess (because we still need fats in our bodies guys, let’s not get carried away here) fats into an alternative fuel source. 

Participants bringing their ideas to life!

I was really glad to see the participants actively taking part in the activities – from brainstorming ideas that were “out-of-this-world” to enthusiastically putting up enjoyable presentations of their ideas, I think they learned a lot during the session.

My favourite part of the event would definitely be seeing their ideas come to live during the gallery walk. My group acted out a rather convincing ad for their alternative fuel source product called “Lipofuel” and had everyone in the room cheering for them (YAY). Now who says we Singaporeans aren’t a creative bunch!

Some participants with their student facilitators!

Cass Factor 2011

CASS Club

Friday, 28 October 2011

Once again, CASS' annual talent competition is here again! Open to all CASS students from all the three courses, seven finalists gave it their best shot last Friday night at The Hall. They sang their hearts out on stage for the coveted title of the Winner of CASS Factor 2011.

CASS Club, the organisers of the event, made magic with the function room by transforming it into a cozy and romantic venue with dimmed lights and lit candles scattered around the carpeted floor. Everyone were sitted on the floor, huddled around candles and eagerly waiting for the show to start. It was definitely a great event for all DTVM, DMC and DADP students to bond with one another.

The show kicked off with Shalyn and Kelvin from the SP Student Comperes introducing the guests performers, Dikir Barat CCA from SP Malay Language Society, giving an amazing performance. They sang in harmony and managed to get everyone to clap and sing along with them! It was definitely an enjoyable performance by the SP Malay Language Society.

After the opening act, CASS Factor officially began with Shah Malinda, a Year 3 DMC student, singing "You and I" by Lady Gaga. He surprised everyone when he jumped off the stage. It was definitely an entertaining show by Shah.

Next up was Sabriena and Micheal singing Rolling in The Deep by Adele. Sabriena had a great voice and managed to hit all those high notes with ease. With a shining personality, it was no wonder she got endless cheers from the crowd.

Sahana had a rocky start with Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri but she managed to save her performance with her great vocals and showmanship.

Then we had Adrian Samurai Chan, who gave a stunning performance with Chris Cornell's soulful rendition of Billie Jean. It was at the least a very unique performance which deserved the cheers from the audience.

Izzyan did a great mashup of a few songs and she came prepared with many supporters cheering her name and holding up posters for her.

Jared, a Year 3 DTVM student, who is currently on a 6-month internship came back to SP just for CASS Factor. He had the audience go aww when he dedicated the song I'll Follow You Into The Dark to the same girl he sang to at CASS Idol last year. So much love for CASS!

Vanessa and Alvin did a mashup of songs as well and Vanessa wowed the audience with her strong vocals and consistency. With that, all seven contestants wrapped up their performances for CASS Factor 2011. The votes were in the hands of the judges and the guests.

In the midst of the wait for the votes to be counted, guest performers from SP Dancesport and No Luck Required entertained everyone with sleek moves and unique songs. After what seemed like an eternity, the results were out! Adrian, Sabriena & Michael and Vanessa & Alvin emerged as the top three out of the seven and eventually Vanessa & Alvin were crowned as the winners of CASS Factor 2011. Congratulations!

Look at what winners, Vanessa & Alvin, have to say here:

CASS Factor 2011 was a great event for CASS where many of our talents got a chance to shine. It was a definitely a night to remember for all.

Singapore Polytechnic Media and Communication Conference 2011

Rynaque
14th to 19th February 2011

Day One (14th February)

And so ends the first of five days of the inaugural Singapore Polytechnic Media & Communication Conference 2011.

Missed the conference? Below are some of the highlights of the day! Enjoy! And remember that if you wish to attend the closing ceremony simply email christinal@sp.edu.sg.

Anand Tilak 

Head of Agency Relations

Google South East Asia

atlak@google.com

Description

Anand Tilak explained how Google Can help brands identify relevant audience and communicate with them at a relevant time. Find out how brands optimize their campaigns in today's fast-moving world.

Lars Voedisch

Managing Media Consultant, Asia Pacific 

Dow Jones & Co

lars.voedisch@dowjones.com

Description

Lars shared his assessment of the current state and future of integrated communications in this fast moving digital age that affects individuals and corporations alike.

Kelly Choo

Co-Founder & Business Development Director

Brandtology 

kelly.choo@brandtology.com

Description

Kelly discussed how Social Media has changed marketing communications, customer service and consumer insights. His presentation also covered trends in social media, social media measurement and future developments.

Dave Lim 

Founding Curator TEDxSingapore

dave@tedxsingapore.sg

Description

Dave discussed about the popular TED Conference and its origins. What happened since then has been phenomenal with thousands of TEDx events being held all over the world. These events reached over a quarter of a million people and resulted in thousands of TEDx Talks online video. Dave traced the background, revealed insights and explored the impact and implications from the TEDx experience all of which are non-commercially organised by passionate TED fans.

Moses Lye

Vice President, XINMSN

Interactive Media Division

MediaCorp

moseslye@mediacorp.com.sg

Description

Moses highlighted the viewership trends of young consumers today, and showed how MediaCorp responds to such trends He also discussed the impact of these trends on traditional media.

Day Two (15th February)

Year 2 Students from the Diploma in Media and Communication headed two student workshops where Secondary School students were invited to Day 2 of the conference for a series of fun activities and games. Lady Gaga was seen at Day 2 of the Singapore Polytechnic Media & Communication Conference 2011

As part of the Advertising and Public Relations workshops conducted for our 

secondary school participants, the classroom was decorated with pictures of Lady Gaga.

There were students from Bukit Batok Secondary, Bedok View etc.

They had to imagine that Lady Gaga was coming to Singapore and had to create 2 videos, one for public relations and one for advertising, to promote her arrival. This was done in groups of 5 or 6.

Rehearsing before recording the video. 

Discussing with fellow team mates. 

The students had a great time working with each other coming up with their video.

The other workshop conducted was the journalism workshop called, The News Academy. 

The workshop started with a short skit by Year 2 Diploma in Media and Communications students Isyana and Nicholas. 

Mdm Rohanah, one of the course lecturers, helped out in the workshops as well. 

She taught the students the basic concepts of journalism such as why it's always important to have the 5 Ws and 1 H in your story. 

Who, what, when, where, why and how. 

Other acronyms she taught were COBRA which stands for 

Clear and Concised, 

Objective, 

Balanced. 

Recent and 

Accurate.

and KISS: Keep It Short and Simple. 

There was a crime scene and the students were supposed to ask the actors 

questions which answers would help them write a news tweet. 

It was really entertaining because Farhan, a Diploma in Television for New Media student and also the guy in blue in the above picture, was really acting like a real 

policeman and stuck to his character the entire time.

Day Three (16th February)

This workshop for the day was... "I think! I write! I shoot!"

These are our student participants who came all the way down from Malaysia! :D

Before the activity started, the student facilitators did a simple skit for the students.

\

The students were then given cards and were asked to write a story.

There were events, character, aspect, place and item cards. 

They were tasked to write a story based of the cards given.

After that, the students were asked to act out the whole story that they wrote. 

The whole idea of the the workshop was to demonstrate the power of words

in every story written. 

This workshop was done to provide future students a feel for the

Diploma in Creative Writing for TV and New Media.

Did you know that this is the only creative writing diploma in Singapore? 

Did you know? In the next season of The Noose, 4 episodes were actually \

written by 4 DTVM students.

Moving on to the second student workshop of the day

called....

YOU CALL THE SHOTS! 

Spot someone familiar in the photo?


Yes! It's ShiGGa Shay. He's also known as Jin.
If you didn't know, Jin is also one of our SP Media and Communication
year 2 student too!


Their team showed their secondary school participants
ShiGGa's new video. It's a video worth checking out!

PS:// I don't know whether to call him Jin or ShiGGa. Woo, so weird!

The participants were asked to be part of the video. 

The workshop taught key points on how to create hype and excitement for a personality, building your personal brand,promoting your song and sharing your vision of the song with the public.

We think the student participants really enjoyed day 3. 

Kudos to the teams for the awesome workshops! :D

Stay Tuned for updates on Day 4! 

Day Four (17th February)

Year 2 Students from SP Diploma in Media and Communication and the Centre For Social Media held a press conference to present their findings to the media! Their findings, which focused on the attitudes and behaviours of Singapore youth on social networking sites, were part of a module called Mass Media Research. The findings provided insights on Singapore youth usage of social networking sites and attitudes towards privacy, security and cyberbullying.

Ms Trudy trying to ease the team's nerves before the press conference!

Here's Shazana and Michelle. Year 2 students of Diploma in Media and Communication.

These are the journalists from different publications who came for the press conference.

The atmosphere was very tense but the team managed to answer the questions by the press well. 

All smiles at the end of the press conference!

Credits: Official Blogger For SP Media and Communication 2011 Que

After the press conference, the workshops on Day 4 were held!

Year 1 Students from Diploma in Applied Drama and Psychology conducted the workshop

and it was all about...

 

Stress!

 

Student participants sharing with each other their experiences with stress!

Learning new things and making new friends at the same time

Ms Trudy conducted a workshop, POW! Power Of Words, for the students too!

Student participants from various schools!

Ms Trudy showed that a person's dressing affects his or her communication with others!

Having lots of fun !

Well, that sums up a long day at SP Media and Communication Conference 2011. The student participants and student organisers sure looked like they were having fun ! Do look out for the post on Day 5, the final day of this week-long event :)

Day Five (18th February)

And so ends the inaugural week long SP Media and Communication Conference: Leveraging the Future of Media.

Speakers from Starcom, STOMP and Omy provided shared and imparted their experiences in the media field. Our very own Year 2 Diploma in Media and Communication students also presented to their Mass Media Research findings on the topic,  "Youth privacy online and cyber bullying".

Secondary school students also participated enthusiastically in the 'live' Twitter Question & Answer session, with 2 lucky secondary school "Tweeters" winning themselves a 1 terabyte Harddrive sponsored by Seagate for their insightful questions!

Below are some picture highlights of the final day of the week long inaugural Singapore Polytechnic Media & Communication Conference 2011.

1 Terabyte Hard Disk by Seagate

The Secondary 4 Students!

Starcom Speaker Mr Arthur Sung speaking on the Future of Media

Stomp Editor Mr Chew V Ming Speaking on the appeal of S.T.O.M.P

Alvin Lim from OMY.sg Speaking about his experiences in the field

We hope all our participants have enjoyed the conference as much as we have organising it. This conference would not have been a success without everybody's help.

Once again, a big thank you to our School of Communication, Arts and Social Sciences lecturers, students from the Diploma in Media and Communication course and all industry partners and secondary school student participants. We hope to see you again next year at the SP Media and Communication Conference 2012.