Understanding Marketing...

I found this really cool explanation of what marketing actually means... I loved it so I thought you might enjoy it also ;)

You see a fabulous girl/guy at a party. You approach them and say, "I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Direct Marketing.
You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a fabulous girl/guy. You have one of your friends approach them, point at you and say, "She's/He's fantastic in bed."
That's Advertising.
You see a fabulous girl/guy at a party. You approach them to get their telephone number. The next day you call and say, "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Telemarketing.
You're at a party and see a fabulous girl/guy. You get up, straighten your clothes, walk up and pour them a drink. You open the door, pick up their bag after it drops, offer them a ride, and then say, "By the way, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Public Relations.
You're at a party and see a fabulous girl/guy. They walk up to you and say, "I hear you're fantastic in bed."
That's Brand Recognition.

Strange statues around the World

I've got this link in my yahoo messenger a few days ago, but only yesterday I managed to see the page. I don't usually follow this links anymore. Most of them are stupid pictures or idiot letters. Even so, from time to time I click, and see. This time I'm really happy I did. I found this cool page with pictures of statues around the world. Some of them are strange, others are funny. I suggest you take some of your time and check this page out. It's worth the time. Also, make sure you share your own pictures of strange statues... :) Enjoy!

Don't buy stuff from Panasonic!!!

At least not in Romania. Now really! I have bought this camera 54 days ago. It is indeed a wonderful camera. It has all kind of functions, plus a cool ultrazoom (10x). Obviously all these come with a price. A good price. About 350 EUR. Yes, that's how much I paid for this thing. I was so happy, since it worked so well and takes this amazing pictures. Well not more than 13 days from the buying moment it broke. Well that makes 2 weeks of use, right? I got my warranty and took this thing to the service. It have passed 40 days since then, and I still haven't got it back. I called them, I went there, I even wanted to call the Consumer's Protection Office so they would solve this out, but then I realize they have all the rights to do this to me. Our wonderful law says that they have time up to 10% of the warranty time (in this case 2 years = 730 days) to fix the problem. They don't have to replace it if they manage to fix it in this amount of time. Well let me tell you something I found out about Panasonic... Their policy is "fix and DON'T replace". The damn motherfuckers are holding my 350EUR camera in service, and I'm quite sure it won't be of any priority to them before at least 65-70 days pass. What kind of fucked up company is that? Is that client support? Is that customer care? They are so cheap and greedy that won't replace your camera before the time passes, even though they know they won't be able to fix it. This is what my dealer, which is a friend of mine, told me. I'm so pissed and so sick of this brand! They totally suck! And the Romanian law that protects the clients sucks too. We should definitely do something about that. But what? Any ideas are welcomed...

Get rid of "manelisti" (RO only)

This is gonna hurt. This is very not culturally tolerant. I mean I have nothing against the people that listen to "manele"... but I really dislike the ones that insist in polluting my ears with this kind of music. I say pollution because I severely, totally dislike it. And I'm sure that there are quite a lot of people that feel the same. I apologize to the people that are offended in any way by this article, as long as they are not part of those that I should like "manele" to, whether I want that or not.

Actually this post is a quote from a forum I found today, telling the story of a guy with a "manelist" neighbour and about how the first managed to teach the other a lesson. The story is in Romanian, as I just couldn't translate it to sound the same.

"Asta trebuie sa v-o povestesc. Inainte sa ma lege. Pentru ca am comis-o. In principiu, nu-mi e frica. Pentru ca vecinul n-are adresa blogului meu. Si nici nu cred ca cititul e punctul lui forte. Dar s-ar putea sa aiba amprentele mele.

Am facut ieri seara, sambata fiind, sedinta cu baietii din bloc. La o bere, un Rammstein si un rummy la mine acasa. Si s-a decis, in unanimitate, ca a venit vremea sa luam atitudine impotriva acestui momarlan de vecin care ne polueaza fonic vietile, si asa prea scurte.

Dupa cateva beri am ajuns la o solutie.

Dupa alte cateva beri, ne-am razgandit.

Si tot asa pana cand am gasit solutia perfecta: Vecinul trebuie izolat. Dar nu oricum. Trebuie inchis.Am facut lista de materiale necesare. Materialele erau in boxa lu` tipu` de la 5. Am coborat la subsol. Am luat materialele. Era vreo 2 ceasul. Noaptea. Am uitat sa va spun ce materiale erau... Erau vreo 50 de caramizi, adezivul necesar si o cutie de var. Presupun ca v-ati prins deja ce s-a intamplat mai departe...

Daca nu, sa va explic.In cea mai mare liniste, si cu acordul (si ajutorul) altor vecini, i-am zidit momarletelui usa de la intrare. Da` zidita calumea. Nu am facut treaba de mantuiala.Si, dupa ce am zidit-o, am si dat-o cu var, astfel incat, la 8 dimineata, care trecea pe palier, ramanea surprins ca, din trei usi pe etaj, au ramas doar doua. Presupun ca v-ati dat seama ca n-am dormit pana nu s-a trezit manelistul, ca trebuia sa vedem reactia. Pe la 9, se trezeste taranul. Stim asta pentru ca am auzit vocea lu` Gutza Putza de Maimutza.

Ca fulgerul am coborat jos, si am luat cateva beri la cutie (pentru ca berea la cutie e mai practica, si se raceste mai usor), si ne-am prins locuri pe palier, sa auzim macar reactia tartanului.S-a facut 10:30. Deja doua doze de fiecare erau gata. De bere, nu de fiecare. Coboram, si mai luam o serie.11:12. Se aude o cheie in usa . Incepe distractia. Se invarte cheia. O data. De doua ori. Se aude lantul. Si yala. O data. De doua ori. Clanta.Din momentul asta, nu cred ca puteti nici macar sa va imaginati cam cat de tare se putea rade. Am febra musculara. Poate de la carat si zidit, dar ma indoiesc. Nu am mai ras in halul ala de ani de zile.Se aud injuraturi. Care acopera rasul nostru. Bufnituri, dumnezei, pumni, picioare, rasete, mame, morti. "Unde mortii mamii lui e ciocanul ala?" se aude de dupa usa , semn ca trebuie sa spargem gasca.

Tipu` de la 5, constructor de meserie, ne linisteste, spunand ca are incredere in lucrarea facuta, si "n-o da jos un laba trista ca asta din doua ciocane".L-am crezut. A avut dreptate.A spart taranul pana la 12 si un sfert. Cruci, dumnezei, tot tacamul.Noi deja eram plecati, ascultam de la mine din casa, chicotind.

Nu se mai aud zgomote, semn ca a terminat.Se aud pasi pe scari.O bataie violenta in usa mea.Imediat arunc tricoul de pe mine, pantalonii scurti, raman in boxeri si ma ciufulesc. Imi iau fata de abia trezit din somn, si deschid usa . Nu inteleg ce spune. Il calmez cu un simplu "Poftim? Mai spuneti odata, ca n-am inteles...", si incep sa inteleg.Ca se duce la politie, si ma reclama, si face scandal, si-mi iau amenda, si ma da afara din bloc (ca parca-i blocu` construit pe tarlaua lu` ta`su`...) si o sa vad eu...

La care, brusc ma trezesc si-i spun:"Adica, cum mai nesimtitule? Tu spargi pereti de o ora, duminica la 12, si nu ma lasi sa dorm, si tot tu te duci la politie sa faci scandal? Du`te la politie, da` mai intai du`te`n #OOPS# mea!".Si inchid usa . Liniste.M-am uitat pe vizor, pentru ca am crezut ca a facut infarct. Nu. Nu murise.In schimb a stat perplex vreo 3 minute in fata usii mele.Dupa care a plecat. Cred ca la politie.

Acum il asteapta altceva."

Vacation... Part 2 - Travel, Trip, Enjoy! :)

As I was telling you, at about 11:30AM, I managed to get back to Oradea together with Relu and Georgi. Even though they were tired like hell, they have offered to help me out with my preparation for the departure... So, right after I got home, I dropped my bag, took my passport and headed together to get my traveling medical insurance, pay my cellphone bill, and solve some other stuff. As soon as we parked the car, I got this call saying that we might not go anymore, since we have some transportation issues. Then my world collapsed. I was thinking, "What the hell I was rushing like crazy for?". Damn I got pissed. What could I do? I just went home and got into bed.
A few hours later, I get another call saying we're definitely leaving at 8:00PM. My sun was shining again :) I got ready A.S.A.P. and headed to the departure spot. I've met the whole crew there and after waiting about 1 hour for the bus, we finally left for the border. It was a great feeling to know that I'm gonna see the Netherlands and also, postpone my return to the office. :D
The trip was quite exhausting, but good overall. I also drove the bus for a few hundred kilometers, which was great as well. Anyway, about 24 hours later we were entering the magnificent territory of the Netherlands. As soon as we got the Amersfoort (the city we were supposed to stay in) we got lost, obviously. We stopped at an information point to look over a map or something. This is when my first cultural shock happened. :) Two cars stopped to help us out. Wow! You wouldn't see that in Romania, that's for sure. A young lady and a mid-50's man both offered to help us find what we were looking for. And that wasn't all. The man also took me inside his house, let me use the internet to search for the venue, and then drove us to the place we were supposed to stay at. Dude! That was too much! I just couldn't believe it.
We checked-in at this "King's Home" camping site. Great conditions and at a really low price. We set up our tents that night and all fell asleep. We were all dead tired so we slept like babies.
Next day we went to the Sporthal, where the competition was having place. Oh, I forgot to mention why we were there. There was taking place the International Mix & Breed Championship Agility and Paragility. I'm quite sure you don't know what this is all about. Well in a few words, it was the canine agility world championship. What is canine agility? Well that's a really cool sports where dogs are jumping over obstacles, going through tunnels and jumping through circles. Very interesting to watch and very fun to practice. I used to practice this as well a few years ago with my dogs.
So this was one of the fun parts and the main reason we went to Holland. Obviously not the only attraction, though. :) Besides this we got to visit around Amersfoort, enjoy the culture, do some shopping, spend loads of money on useless things and of course... visit AMSTERDAM. :) Well this was amazing!
We first went to Amsterdam on Friday (evening), the 1st of September, and actually it wasn't really the coolest experience... Sadly! I talked to this guy from Finland, Roberto, who was actually Dutch. He was kind enough to share all kind of aspects regarding safety and fun in Amsterdam. Well maybe too many, as we had a really hard time finding a good place to park our bus. He told us to park in a covered, secure parking place. Well we just couldn't find one that we'd fit in. So after we circled around about one hour, we decided to stop anywhere... and so we did: right in the middle of the Red Light District. :D:D:D Well that's a place one's got to see. I loved it so much, as I have always appreciated freedom and fun. What I love about that place is that the slogan sounds like "do whatever you wanna do... as long as you don't disturb me or the others". That's the second cultural shock I've had in this trip. I was just amazed how people would just mind their own stuff while you're having a wonderful fun. After walking around and watching, quite confused actually, the things happening around us, we have decided to go to a coffeeshop, but before that, stare at some red light windows :P Man, we were disappointed. Besides the fact that most of the window curtains were shut, the remaining girls where most of them ugly... And when I say ugly, I do mean it. Some of them looked like they exploded together with Chernobyl. Anyway, there were also some cute ones :) I was also disappointed to see how small RLD actually is. Only later I realized, after looking on a map, that it is much wider than the place we saw. Well that's for the next time I go there. Next stop, next cultural shock. Coffeeshops. Dude, this is like wow! Can you imagine a place where you just go inside, and ask for weed and hash? I totally amazed. Everytime I smoked this, everywhere else, we would always hide, or just step out of others attention. Here was different. You'd just go in, buy some gear and then go out, sit down, roll your joint and start flying. Most of us decided we should go for some, so I went in and bought 1 g of mary, asked the nice lady there to roll it, as I was a mess and then just went out, sit and started smoking. We were all high like shit. Damn that weed was good. :) I won't get into further details about this. I'll just say we laughed like crazy that night and that it has been waaaay better than any other time or place.
We decided to move our car that night because of some nasty looking guy, that we guess was following us at a certain moment. Well I really don't know for sure if that was true or not. I was really not able to think clearly (which is why I strongly suggest you be home when you trip). For sure is that moving was a really big mistake. We drove around A'dam for like 2 hours before we decided to actually go back to the camping site. Everyone was quite tired and not really happy with what we saw and did. We really wanted more. Sadly, in the end, Dani, the driver was the one blamed that we didn't find a proper parking place. Definitely it wasn't his fault. Sorry 'bout that.
Well more has happened the next day, when we went again to XXX city for another round of fun. This time we got there around 5PM and we also had a few hours of walking around and taking pictures. I discovered then that A'dam is also a very beautiful city. It's not only insanely fun. It has amazing buildings, large squares where you can see people hanging around, singing or just talking. You can see great churches and wonderful architecture. We really had fun while sightseeing. Obviously, the girls had also the pleasure of shopping. After walking around for several hours we decided that we want some space cakes... And we didn't settle for the usual, we wanted the renown brownies, so after we went from coffeeshop to cofeeshop for about half hour we headed back to the place we have been a night before, knowing for sure they have it. Oh, I forgot to mention that at a certain moment we really wanted to get pierced and/or tattooed, but we changed our minds as soon as we realized that the prices were at least 4 times the ones in Romania. So here will be good enough :P
We got the gear we need (brownies and some more weed) and left A'dam with deep sadness. I loved it there. I really loved that place. Seriously, I'm not thinking only about drugs, porn and wild places. I loved it as a city, for its cultural beauty and value. I would love to get to see it again and learn more about it.
As soon as we got back in the car, we ate our brownies and waited anxiously for it to kick in. Well it did for some of us... Me and Vicky got really pissed as we never felt anything out of that brownie. Damn cakes! Anyway, Crys and Claudia definitely had fun. For us the real fun started back at the camping site, where we lit up the joint. Well from that point there's too much I missed. :P There are pictures and movies, really worth watching, that definitely describe the fun we had. That was our last night in Holland. A memorable night!
Next day we went back to the Sporthal, were our team had the final rounds, so that at night we would leave for Romania. Oh, you might be wondering if we won any prizes... well not really, but it was ok, taking into consideration that agility in Romania is still a fresh sport and not many people know about it. All the participants from Romania managed to get good rounds even if they still have to work on timing. Definitely next year will be much better. :)
Around 7PM we got back to the camping site to gather our stuff, put them in the car and leave. We had a joint and left. We slept all night, to the disappointment of our driver who was really tired and had to go through most of Germany alone, with no one to talk to. Dani, we're sorry about that. But you do know that you have been a great driver and a wonderful companion, so I want to say thank you for everything. I, and I know for sure that we all, appreciate your help. :)
It has been an amazing vacation. I really missed traveling outside the country. I realized how much I missed that. It was just great and it will always be a beautiful memory for me. I want to say thanks to all of you that were there, for accepting me in your group and for the wonderful times we've had together. It was great to get to know you better and to have so much fun with you... Especially with Crys, Vicky and Claudia. Crys, I really want to thank you once again for the wonderful present. It has been the best ever. ;) I really hope someday I'll have something similar for you.
Now, in the end, an advice and a thought for you my dear readers... Advice: go to Holland and especially to A'dam. Thought: I hope you'll visit me there, as I definitely plan to get a traineeship in the Netherlands next year :):):).

Vacation... Part 1 - Relaxation

Yes, my holiday was split in two... A relaxation part and then an intense, crazy part... This post is only about the first one, so it might not be that much fun... Still, I still want to share some of the cool moments I lived there...

I went with my friends at my cabin (which, btw is for sale now :P) near the Belis-Fantanele resort in Cluj county. We planed to go there for a whole week so on the 21st of August I left Oradea, by train, together with Flaviu, Dora (his girlfriend) and Teo (a friend of mine). After a few hours we finally got to Huedin, where Georgi was waiting to take us by car to the cabin. We were all so excited to go there. Once we got there, we realized that we'd need some bread so I went to the shop/inn, together with Relu and Georgi. As it started raining on the way there, we had to wait for the rain to stop, as we had a beer. Then I've met this guy, whom finally turned to be some sort of cousin of mine. He's in his early 50s so he started to share with us his life... well I'd say he's lived quite a strange life, which I don't really feel like describing. What was really odd about this is that as soon as he found out I'm his cousin he wouldn't let go of me, as he starting hugging me like crazy and kissing me on both cheeks constantly. He was drunk like hell, so it wasn't much fun for me... yuck! We decided to leave, even though it was still raining heavily, so we got home all wet. We took a shower and joined the others at a drink and some discussions. Anyway, I don't think I'll ever forget the way that guy was hugging the hell out of me.

The next few days were pure relaxation. I got to read a bit, we played all kind of ball games, laughed, cooked, ate like nuts. It was like heaven on Earth. Well at least for some of us... Teo and Dora also needed to study a bit, but overall was awesome. I loved that, especially that I didn't have my cellphone on most of the time, so no worries and no clients calling all day long.

On the weekend, on the 25th, Petru and Carmen joined us. As on that date was Petru's Birthday, we had an outdoor private party, which lasted till dusk. We sang and we danced like crazy. It was a hell of a night. We also had a cake which you can see in the photos what it turned to. We had a blast fighting with cream and other cake content :P The sad part was when we finally realized what we've done to the yard and to our clothes... Anyway, it was fun to act our age :P The next night we celebrated again mine and his birthday, but since we had a crazy night before, we just didn't have the energy to stay up till morning. Even so, we had a great time, especially me and Relu and Georgi.

Sunday was a total chill out. Petru, Flaviu and the girls went to Fantanele lake, while me Georgi and Relu just hanged out, got some tan, played some cards and shared impressions. It was indeed awesome. Later that day, Petru and Carmen left, which was a bit sad, since we really had a great time... Now, "you might be asking yourself why" as Petru kept saying all day long. :)

Another thing that was really cool about this day is that I got all this nice SMSs and phone calls from people around the world to wish me "happy birthday". I was totally impressed. I wasn't expecting that to happen so it totally rise up my self esteem. So thank you all that called, sent me messages or emails. I appreciate it. A LOT!

On Monday all things changed. In the morning I got this invitation to the Netherlands... Which obviously I accepted. This is where everything went nuts, as we had to clean up and leave the cabin in proper conditions... state which was far from reality. :) We had a broken bench and a broken table... we had a mess in the yard, the interior was all dirty, etc. We decided that I would leave next morning at 6:30 AM, and they would finish up cleaning after. Well that changed late in the evening, when my father insisted we would all leave together so we'd avoid any complications. So that changed our plans quite a bit. At 4:30 AM we all got up and started cleaning. I guess nobody (including me) was happy about this, and everyone (except for me) were unhappy with my departure to the Netherlands. So I apologize to all of you that got upset about that and I want you to know that I am really sorry that we had to end our wonderful holidays that way. By 11:30 AM Georgi, Relu and myself, were all back in Oradea, where I had to start the preparations for the departure... Everything about this and some stories about Holland in a future post ;)

To close this, I want to say that it was amazingly fun, exciting, beautiful and very relaxing to spend one week there. It really makes me sad to think that this might be the last time I go there. It has always been great to spend time there, having the fresh air, the freedom, the silence and the joy as constant companions. Also I want to thank all of you that were there and made this vacation unique. ;)

LPM 2006! Oradea fresh!

As I promised in a previous post, I'm about to tell you about the great times I, or better say we, had on the Local Planning Meeting of AIESEC Oradea in 2006, at Munteni. Munteni is a place right next to Remeti, where I've been a few months ago. Well this time was way different. It wasn't so much relaxing. It was more like partying till there's light outside, interesting talks and debates all day long, lots of laughs and fun, and great overall a wonderful time.

What I really loved about this conference is that I got to see the enthusiasm from outside the box. I mean, everyone gets excited around this kind of meetings and when you are a delegate or trainer (/facilitator) you can't really have an overview of people's excitement. Now I had the opportunity to see them from the outside, not being really involved in the matter. I simply loved that. Also, being there with my friend Flaviu was also great that we got to enjoy each day out, by playing a lot of Frisbee and cards... Janina, the chair of the conference was great. I met her a few years ago, in AIESEC, obviously, and we always had a good time talking and everything. Well this time was even greater, as we had the time to get to know each other and by this I discovered the really funny, great person with really cool perspectives on the organization and life in general. It was great talking to you and laughing all the time... Thank you for all those nice moments.

It was really nice to see also that Flaviu finally got to meet Dora in a friendly environment, which also led to them hooking up. That's great news, as she's really cute and they look lovely together.

I don't know what else to write... oh yeah! the parties were quite fun also. It was great to see that everyone had enough energy to go through the long parties also and not only through sessions. Also they were very energetic (and energizing) all the time. Especially the last night party was a blast for all the people there. Oh, and the last night, before the party, right after the finished all the planning, it was this great session which inspired and also had all of us feel more responsible of this LC's future... It might have looked like a witches gathering from the outside, but really felt great inside. Sort of a brain washing like. :P:P:P

I loved the theme of the conference also... Haiducii (the Brigands)... lovely atmosphere that created.

I was writing about the energy... well indeed it was a lot! Even on the way back, during the two hours train ride, we sang our souls out. In the end we were like totally out of songs and ideas, but still singing like crazy. It is only when I arrived home that I felt tired actually. Especially when thinking "oh shit, tomorrow I go to work"... and I did, just that not on time :P:P:P

I am very glad I attended this event and I'm looking forward for the next ones ;) I wish all of you that were there to have plenty of luck and pure energy to accomplish what you've planned.

One month and several adventures later...

WOW! That's all I can see now looking back on this month. I haven't posted anything in 36 days. That's a lot of shameful time... I apologize to all of you that were disappointed by visiting my blog and not finding anything new. I'm taking the snow-flower position right now.

But now I'm back! Oh yeah baby! Back in the business. Oh, maybe I should tell you some things about this past month. Some of the things that happened to me lately... First of all, on the 5th of August I did leave town for 5 amazing days. I joined the team of AIESEC Oradea for an amazing Local Planning Meeting. Actually this was one of the best LPMs I have ever attended. Details in a future post about this. Then I returned in Oradea for 2 overwhelming weeks at the office. I was all alone and guess what, our clients didn't care that much about that. Thank godness it was August, and people tend to go to holidays this time of the year, so I didn't have exactly all the clients on my ass. :P Then the real blessing came upon me. Finally vacation! On the 21st of August I started my best holidays... this year :P Well this is where another story starts, so therefore another post will fully describe this matter.

Now I just want to let you know that I'm back (it's the third time I'm writing that, I wonder why?!?!) and that I'll be updating my blog more often from now on. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as you did in the past. Wish you all a wonderful autumn, as it's coming up, and good luck in everything you do! :)

Cheers!