Follow-up: The vocational school "Third coffee" (2009.09.24-25, Hobby Caffe)

On September 24 and 25, I went to Vocational school "Third coffee", which took place at Hobby Cafe. Here comes a follow up.

A. Day 1

[alpine-phototile-for-picasa-and-google-plus src="user_album" uid="100050990853086188413" ualb="5939823039931061905" imgl="fancybox" style="wall" row="4" size="640" num="100" highlight="1" align="center" max="100"] Monica BRÂNDUŞESCU - event moderator (HotNews.ro, Blog, LinkedIn, Twitter - protected) George IVAŞCU - About the fear of being yourself (Metropolis theater, Port.ro, Cinemagia) - What's the risk of technology? Solitude / alienation; - I'm a failed physicist; My failure went into being an actor; - life is like an electrocardiogram - it has lots of pulses, and, in the end, they're the ones that matter most; - a theory Alfred ADLER: man is born free; - all our lives we find out about our limits - "You are not allowed to ...", "You shouldn't ...", "You mustn't ..."; - (a definition from a student of his) monologue is not what you say, but what you can't hold within you anymore; - Our focus should be on: a. What? Why? - the subject, rather than on: b. How? - the method for getting to the subject; - strength comes from being you, rather than wearing masks; - we are the fruits of our own thoughts; - there few major events in your life; - What is art? To enrich the beauty in yourself; - love is not chemistry, it is alchemy, it transforms you; sure, there is some chemistry too, but you should focus on the alchemy; - acting with power is a different thing than acting with force; - E = m*c² in real life is translated into: m = our bodies; 1^st c = our heart; 2^nd c = our mind; - (citation) actors are sculptors in snow; - for one year he has seen classes from other teachers, only after this he taught; - there are two ways to reference to the world: a. Egocentric - everything is done from you; b. Institution - you are an NGO into a capitalist world; - all our lives we are children; we need stories; Pro TV won audiences because it told stories; - I can't give advices, I can only tell you that I do this or I don't do this; - Not having enough money? That's good! - today we try to build capitalism with communist tools; - we have forgotten the meaning of words; we communicate with expressions; - equilibrium is the key to harmony; - any kind of excess leads to problems; - I watch these on TV: a. News; b. Discovery channel, History Channel; I think their ratings are increasing; - a current trend in Romania is soap opera - Why? Because it tells you a story (no comment on the quality of this); - an actor has the ability of being a permanent child; - there is no such thing as "You must do ..."; - invitation to Metropolis Theater; - there are no ugly or beautiful persons; it's all on how you imagine things; our imagination is very active; - try to make fun of bad things to overcome obstacles; - a role has, at its roots, a meaning of vocation / aim - these are more important; - a character is a mask / a form; - a person dies when no one speaks about him; - Romanians still tend to buy, rather than invest; - (quote) Follow your dream! Irina WAGNER - The story of the passion for art transformed into a success brand: Wagner - beautiful arts and fairytales (Wagner Arte, LinkedIn, Facebook) - it's great to be very good into your own field; - although there is a general image we have about our client, the people that usually buy from our store are very different; - there is little competition in our field; - branding helped our business a lot; Radu TUDORACHE- Investment into spirituality (Montero, Money Express interview) - I went to a College of Mathematics; - "Each day we must be able to conquer the ideal" (Arsenie PAPACIOC); - spirituality is something practical; - personal development is done through other people; - it's impossible to change the population as a whole; - there are four levels into someone's life (like a pyramid): a. Spiritual; b. Rational; c. Psychological; d. Physical; - on the physical level, there are: a. fasting; b. some form of prayers; c. positions during the church services; d. pilgrimages; - Way of St. James is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain; - on the psychological level: a. Having a confessor: i. as a partner in life; ii. Giving psychological advices; iii. Knowing the personal / family history; b. integrating into community; - there are some very good monasteries in the North of Oltenia: Frăsinei, Bistriţa, Dintr-un Lemn, Iezer, Pătrunsa; - on a rational level: a. reading the Church Fathers implies using the mind; b. recommended reading: Mistagogia by Saint Maxim the Confessor; c. Gregory the Dialogist has some very good writings: The Rule for Pastors; - on the spiritual level: a. Regular praying; b. Praying whenever necessary; c. The Seven Sacraments, around which life is centered; d. Communion with the saints; Monica TATOIU - Consistency - the enemy of failure (Oriflame, CV , video interview on Capital) - I always feel the need to provide examples to what I'm saying; - when you make a choice, you also assume the responsibilities that derive from it, not only the rights; - extra authority and rules are not a solution for a better society; - you have to determine your competitive advantage; - How can one do personal development? a. Readings; b. Being informed also about the fields that you don't value as much; - in life you don't necessarily do the things that you like; - life is hard; - you can develop competency by working, not by studying things at school; - the job for which you prepare in school is not really the job that you'll end up doing; - NGOs are launching pads for wise guys; NGOs do great in the US, not that good in Romania; - you should first focus on your own development, only after this you should care about the persons around you; - Five life principles: a. Knowledge doesn't mean information; the Internet is the biggest weapon through which the new generation is being brainwashed; knowledge is a state, while information is sequential; b. You should be consistent in winning competencies; c. You should have convergence - focus on one direction only; d. Family is important; marriage is a bilateral partnership with rights and obligation and force majeure; The role of the family? To transmit to the new generations the values of the society that generated that family; e. Belief in a spirit; - next year, starting with January, the economy will be awful; - Why should you work in a multinational company? a. Very clear rules; b. It is a very large organization; c. There is a procedures' manual; d. There are financial reporting systems; e. Flowcharts? Yes! - if you join a certain system, you will learn very good procedures; - there are bits & pieces you can only appreciate in a multinational company; - in December 2009 the expenses for Christmas, the bad weather of the winter of 2009-2010 and the end of elections will cause large layoffs in the State system; Why? IMF (International Monetary Fund); - recommended reading: "Ada or Ardor: a family chronicle" by Vladimir NABOKOV; - recommended reading: "Clair de femme" by Romain GARY; Delia BURNHAM - Authenticity and honesty - the secret to professional fulfillment (CVO Recruitment, LinkedIn) - I run CVO Recruitment Romania; - we do specialized recruitment services; - Why am I in Romania? I wanted to experience another culture; - the CV (Curriculum Vitae) is not the only thing that matters; - When you write a CV, you should take into account: a. Relevancy to the job; b. Write it correctly; c. Think of it this way: "What does my CV says about me?"; - Two types of CVs: a. General CV; b. A CV custom made for a job; - the work experience itself is more important than volunteering; - Romanian hasn't yet seen the worst part of the crisis; - How can you find out things about a company prior to getting hired in there: a. Ask the recruiting company; b. Talk to present day employers within the company; c. Search the Net; d. Ask some friends (with caution, due to the fact that they'll emphasis only certain aspects); e. Read / search the press (but filter the information well); f. (my suggestion) DespreFirme.com; - at the interview, top questions should include clarification on the job itself; - a thing that matters a lot is what you want for yourself; - unforgivable errors: orthography errors in official documents (not only CVs); - What's the process of hiring someone? a. Long list of candidates; b. CV filtering; c. Phone interviews; d. Face-to-face interviews; e. Short list for clients; f. Company interviews (from one to five); - interviews are crucial to the selection process; - ideally, employers wouldn't need to pose trick questions, they are to be avoided; - you should study things for your own pleasure, but you should pick with great care the value of the things you learn; - about Master Degrees, think about it this way: a. Do they bring real value? b. Is it only a diploma? - if you wish to get a job to McKinsey Europe, you'd better have an MBA; - still, there are jobs with flexible approaches; - what you mostly need in a CV: good job performance; - rather than doing an MBA, you should consider reading books; still, if you find an MBA with good value - you should take classes at that MBA; - more important than the knowledge is what you can prove you can do; - the approach theory - work experience is different now in Romania, but in time this will change; - recruiting managers may not have the time to see hundred of applications; Reason for this: a. It's a crisis, little time for recruiting; b. A lot of employees randomly apply to a lot of jobs; (and there is a correlation between a. and b.) - It's very appropriate to have a direct approach: a. You should contact the companies; b. Contact employers on social networks; c. Directly contact the recruiters - HR (human resources) managers; d. For a small company, you could even contact the general manager; - some major multinational companies may have rigid procedures into recruiting; - there are also companies that don't appreciate the direct approach; - Regarding asking for a salary at the interview: a. Try to be as informed as possible about the salary range for your position; b. If there is a new field and you don't know the salaries, you should tell the truth: "I don't know how much to ask"; - There are differences between: a. Large multinational companies (they generally have salary ranges); b. Small companies (very flexible, but you will have problems asking for salaries much higher than those of the rest of the team); - if, at an interview, you have a physical problem (you feel sick), you should state that and maybe ask for a second interview; - it's important to have a relaxed attitude at an interview; - it's great to know yourself - what you like about life, what you do with passion, what you're good at; - You're a company, a freelancer, an artist? That's fine! Just be authentic; (very difficult to do) - 75% of the time at work you should be happy; Daniela FUGARU-KAMMRATH - Be your dream! (121.ro, Radio Lynx, Green Report interview, LinkedIn) - what motivates you in life? - a lot of the questions that seem to have no answer, in reality they do have an answer, we're just afraid to express it; - These are permanent questions: a. Who are you really? b. What do you want to do? - A SWOT analysis for a personal brand: a. Helps you see yourself in the mirror; b. Makes you see the details of yourself, to know yourself better; - it's important to analyze yourself, to know what you wish for; - it's hard being authentic - ask your best friend for feed-back (he knows he won't jeopardize your friendship by telling the truth); - Cinderella had a personal coach; - we are more scared of speaking in public than we are of death; - a brand (iPod) is more than a product (generic mp3 player); - if you build a certain image, you attract certain persons to you; - any construction, with time, becomes a brand; - the people around you see you as a brand; - it's very important to choose what you know consolidates you as a brand; - when you make a choice (not decision, choice has a motive) stop making that choice again and again - this is madness; - a choice defines you as a person; - it's important to know you tried; - recommended reading: "Blue Ocean strategy" by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne; - you can defy the system when: a. You know who you are; b. You trust yourself; - money stops you from making choices and makes you pick a certain road in life; - money is one mean by which you can get where you want to get;

B. Day 2

Some pictures: [alpine-phototile-for-picasa-and-google-plus src="user_album" uid="100050990853086188413" ualb="5939824845143937457" imgl="fancybox" style="wall" row="4" size="640" num="100" highlight="1" align="center" max="100"] Florin GLINŢA and Anda MARIAN - Career decision: emotional choice or fulfilling your own potential (Talentgate.ro, blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ziarul Financiar) - great place to find a career profile - Talentgate.ro; - career is strongly related to motivation; Alexandru CIOCHIA - Is your dream effective? (Radio Lynx, LinkedIn, blog, Facebook) - people help you, you can receive a lot of support; Andrei POPESCU - We and the community! (HotNews.ro) - when you want to do something with your life, you are not alone; Doina RUŞTI - The right decision (website, Wikipedia, Librarie.net, Ziarul Financiar) - most people come to conferences to speak, not only to listen; - when you make a decision, there are a lot of factors (communication, diversity, things to be done) that influence that decision; Therefore, the society around you makes that decision; - recommended reading: "Les chemins de la persuasion: le mode d'influence des media et de la publicite sur les comportements" - Jean-Noel KAPFERER; - right now you have the option to place yourself right on the line between two fields, you can postpone the final decision for later on; - good school: College of Anthropology; - good school: College of Language (a mix between Mathematics and Letters); - There are specializations that allow you to: a. Get rid of society's prejudices; b. Take into account these prejudices; - you should take a decision based on your talent; Any human being has this talent; - in our genetic pool there are things that someone is gifted to do; - there are things which you do well, even if you don't like them that much; - Based on your talent: a. Decisions are being built; b. Your future life is being built; - if you are successful in one field, and you switch to any other field, you can apply the learned skills from the first field; - great people in one field only do the thing at which they are professionals; - What's important to find out? The small thing, very pragmatic, abilities you can use in your future job; example: being an expert at chopping vegetables, both with speed ant patience; this mix can be easily be transferred into writing books; after finding those small things, you can apply those abilities in other fields; - When do you take a good decision? When you have a problem; - in theater you can make all the possible experiments; I recommend this education of emotions, if you have communication difficulties; - if you look for a solution to a problem, it doesn't even matter if you succeed right from the start; experimenting in great! - try to experiment first of all; - don't wait for someone to notice you, you should take action; - any decision you take, it's a good one; - a decision implies diversity; - decisions require a major talent and they are contexts that mean you can take into account prejudices; - Decisions take into account: a. Knowing yourself; b. Knowing the future; - the most important decision is related to the future job; - decisions are related to a plan; (make one) - being persistent is the most dreadful enemy of someone who picks his path in life; - persistence kills the beautiful essence of life; - by being persistent, nothing of what you do until the end gives you satisfaction; - you don't have to be persistent if you're not good enough; - symbols are connected to the education (you can't be connected to a symbolic area to which you have never been connected to); - all of the symbols come from education; - there is a basic character in you, no matter how much you try to model yourself; there are native predispositions; - when you take a decision, each time you know you've either taken a good or a bad decision; - Constantin BRÂNCUŞI said (of his master) that he was a tree in the shadow of which no grass would grow; - you shouldn't remain in one activity in which you are even 10% unhappy; - the only decision/thing that matters in life - having no master; (entrepreneur) - you should get jobs in as many workplaces as possible; - learn as much as you can; - the way in which a job system works within a company - same for all companies; - you should do a lot of things, in order to learn what you can do very well; Lia PERJOVSCHI - Free talk around the vocational theme subject (News in Gândul, 9AM, ICR) - How do you choose two colors? Generally speaking: a. The first option is a cultural one; b. The second option is a personal one; - it's good to have two career plans - A and B; optimal would mean having them from A to Z; - when you accumulate information, you have multiple options; - art is a great option, if you wish to avoid having rules; - nothing is easy in life; - what comes easy in life has a price - you are losing yourself; - if nothing is easy, you should at least do something you like, it will make it appear easier; - people don't have bad intentions, but they can be very little interested in you; - it is important to be a fighter until the end; equally important is to change yourself constantly; - you should have an overview of the world you live in; - It is important: a. Where do you live; b. What happens; c. To know yourself; - learning never stops; - each person is important; - children live in an environment without masks, relaxed, like a pleasant game; - In order to have a fresh mind, you need: a. A lot of thinking; b. Action; (and some equilibrium between the two) - if you are calm and equilibrated, everything seems to make some sounds around you; - a mistake in the educational system - we learn rules that are not valid; - you can do art in lots of ways: a. Painting / sculpting / etc. - yourself; b. Buying and selling art; c. Making theories (writing about art); d. Organizing events (expositions for example); - at a very big art exposition, a cook brought a creation - he was an artist; - I don't believe in: a. Bloody revolutions; b. Provocation of the masses; (even if it is for a good cause, it involves manipulation, and I hate this; I only appreciate the people that think); - I want to do something? I do some searching! (and from this a career might evolve) From searching, research ma result; From this you can write a book; - while I was a teenager, I wanted to change the world; - if something doesn't work, you should leave it aside; - our mind has formed some basic patterns while we were teenagers; - if you are curious enough, you will find answers; - Monica BRÂNDUŞESCU: if you do your job with a clear conscience, if you give 100%, you will find allies; - we are forced, for ourselves, to give what we can from ourselves; - we never lose the information we learn from life; - (quote) "In the next life I would like to be a rock, so that I will be calmer"; - we know little not only about the Universe, but also about the small stuff; Alexandru CIUCU - The influence of family tradition in choosing the career (Website, Wall Street interview, Facebook) - There have always been these two things in my life: a. Costumes; b. APACA (in Romanian Atelierele Publice Autonome de Confecţii ale Armatei; English - Public autonom ateliers for confections of the army); - If you work with your relatives, you know: a. They are very unlikely to steal from you; b. Even if they do steal from you, you are not sorry about this; - a downside of mixing family with business - when you come from a club at 2 AM, and the next day you are not fresh at work at 8 AM, some problems might appear; - in any business you do, you should check if: a. People understand what needs to be done; b. Things work great by themselves; - in taxis as a business, in Romania, beating is often a motivation (you will get beaten if you do some bad things); - in one business of mine I had this problem: I couldn't control all the taxis; - in 1997 there was no Romanian brand regarding costumes; - in the business world it's great to have a brand name; - those who buy a product and assimilate a brand gather experiences (positive, hopefully); - Samric is one of our business with good and not-so-expensive clothing; - as a personal observation, generally speaking the things for which you work a lot and have a good quality are cheaper; - Why are we a good brand? a. It's a niche brand; b. We are one of the few who do clothing by order; c. Good PR (Public Relations); - business lesson: you do best what you know to do well; - a brand must always have the same quality; it's a very bad business if you do things sometimes excellent, and sometimes poorly - when your clothing is presented at a fashion presentation, you must come either with something extraordinary, or with something innovative (colors, matching accessories); - custom made classical costumes have the great advantage of details; - I'm very interested into people liking what I do; - I prefer people to see me as a friend, not necessarily see me on a pedestal; Sandra ECOBESCU - How to chose a vocation with your soul and how to do your job as good as possible with your mind? (yes, finally a long title!) (Evenimentul Zilei and RRI interviews) - For the major choice in life and career, you should pick with your soul, not: a. Think too much on it; b. Follow the family's tradition; c. Be guided by the financial aspects of the decision; d. Go with career patterns; - Why is the Faculty of Letters beautiful? a. There are interesting and smart people as students and teachers; b. A lot of opportunities arise; - in Greece, half the time there were strikes; - Why do people working in multinational companies spend money? Because they don't have time for themselves and they wish to compensate somehow; - if you do work for a few years into a corporation, you learn how the world functions; - in big companies you learn mechanisms that you can apply in your own company; - we have not been thought to discover talents (parents & schools don't help either); - one of the biggest qualities a man can have - common sense and politeness; - joy is a real thing; Happiness? Not that sure it exits; - Monica BRÂNDUŞESCU: passion is contagious; - if you are under a lot of stress, you need new things; - No stress? You need little things; Cătălin MITULESCU - creativity and involvement in cinema production (Wikipedia, Mediafax interview, CV, IMDb) - I had a lot of jobs until now; - it's important to have various experiences, to try new things, but you also need the relaxation to be able to give up; - you can have the adventure to try all sort of new things; - What is a film-maker? It is a person who likes: a. To tell a story; b. To see the reaction of the people around him to his stories; c. Listening stories is also fine; - What is a producer? Someone who: a. Listens to a story / reads a story / sees someone telling a story / reads a book / sees a story on the street and ... b. Wants to share the story with others; - there are many roles in a filming team, you can do a lot of things; - What is being superficial? To think about this; - I dislike culture of a certain level, seeing things from above; - no one from the new wave of directors would have existed without the Cannes Festival, even if it can be a bit superficial; - I had great satisfactions from: a. Going from script writer to director; b. Events as a director; - in the fashion industry you can enter a sort of prison as a model; - maneaua is a phenomenon strictly related to creating things (and then selling them); - sometimes manele singers are authentic; - listening to a few songs doesn't transform you into a listener of that kind of music; (doesn't give you a label) - my job can get you closer to the things that interest you; - I like knowing, seeing challenges and problems; - filming is often mixed with life - you don't really know the exact boundaries; - I don't have a TV and don't like TVs; - the first movies you make (no matter if you make them as a director or as a producer), stick to your head; - in the past it was very easy to meet with someone and see a movie; nowadays, problems arise - "I don't like that movie, let's not watch it"; - I liked best producing the Ryna (2005) movie; - Romanian audience is very demanding: a. They feel when you are not natural; b. They feel when you are exaggerating things; - in the end, a movie is a show; - you have to like movies in order to make them; - with time, people tend to think in patterns, a sort of sclerosis, a lot of clichés; - there are some people who wish for lesser pessimistic movies about Romania; - There are two things when doing a movie: a. What I say? (the story is important) b. How I say it? (the method of saying this) - nowadays, this approach is more important; - you can have many stories, but you have to have the ability to transmit them; - It can happen to you: a. Have no inspiration at all (blank mind); b. Have contradictory ideas (think of the two opposite scenarios; which one to choose?); - in order to create something, you have to help your mind with a concrete thing around you; - there were some film makers in Romania who had problems with the sound and image in some Romanian movies; Mihai IORDACHE - Life as a journey (Punctulzero, Pathzero, Facebook) - in some Asian countries, you can talk from man to man, or from man to a family; talking from one man to one woman is tricky; - generally speaking, there are cases in which a woman can't talk with a man who is not a 1^st degree relative; - we should have no hobbies, in everything that we do we should have the same passion as a hobby; - There should be a congruency, as a whole, between: a. Myself, as a human being; b. Thoughts; c. Words; d. Actions; (going from c. to d. is mostly shaped by education; The rest? More complicated)

C. Thoughts

What have other written about the event? See messages by: Mihail MUŞAT, Cătălina MURARIU, AEGEE Bucureşti, Florin GLINŢA. What speakers I liked best? 1. George IVAŞCU - great use of case studies, examples; and, my oh my, so entertaining; 2. Doina RUŞTI - the way in which she played with ideas, the way in which she thought about the world - oh, so great; 3. Alexandru CIUCU - I like him; he's funny; (honorable mention): Mihai IORDACHE - for perfect use of you-re-not-here-only-to-listen-you-re-here-to-get-involved techniques; If you look at the list above, you see that George IVAŞCU did a lot of theater, Doina RUŞTI and Mihai IORDACHE only for some time, while Alexandru CIUCU once dreamed about being an actor; oh, that's too much for me to bear, I must see what's so cool about being an actor; Theatrical (amateur) companies of Romania, here I come! What I took home? (besides a nice diploma and a hard-anchored into reality symbolic gift) i. George IVAŞCU said this "the focus should be on: a. What? Why? - the subject, rather than on: b. How? - the method for getting to the subject;" What I understood from this - focus also on How?, not only on What?; I think the "how?" idea is not as developed on me; yes, you're right, he said exactly the opposite; ii. Monica TATOIU said: "in life you don't necessarily do the things that you like", and this translates into "avoid eating sweets"; iii. Doina RUŞTI said: "in theater you can make all the possible experiments; I recommend this education of emotions, if you have communication difficulties;" I intend to follow her advice; Some final thoughts on the conference 1. Some speakers were wonderful, some speakers were great; No speaker was bad; 2. I learned a lot both from the content (the ideas that were flying in the air) and from the atmosphere (the way in which things were said); 3. Networking? I had the pleasure of meeting very nice, interesting and kind people; 4. Speakers went home with a small gift; I've only seen such a behavior at a HR Club conference; 5. The usual stuff (promoting the conference, catering, schedule keeping, having a good location, asking for feedback afterward, providing a follow-up, creating an online community with the participants) went also fine. ____________ Bottom line: one of the best two-days conference I've ever seen.