This blog post was written by Jude Argonza, our Senior Project Manager for Digital Marketing.
There are only a few work days you can call the most fulfilling days of your career. For me, the day Poblacion Market Central opened was one of those days.
Four of us from Team Evident, including our CEO Cecile Dominguez-Yujuico, flew to Davao City for the official opening and ribbon cutting of Poblacion Market Central and the KuKun Food Hall. Media, government officials, stakeholders, and guests were also invited to take part in this historical event.
Team Evident, Media Personnel from Manila, General Santos and Cebu, with Alsons Dev Representatives
This coincided with the resumption of Davao City’s 37th Kadayawan Festival, which was postponed for 2 years due to the pandemic. As Davao City welcomes local and international tourists, we knew this was an important moment for Alsons Development Corporation — our client and the company behind Poblacion Market Central.
Our preparation for this event was long in the making. From inviting media personnel across different regions, preparing name tags, and coordinating schedules with the client. The team knew this had to go smoothly and that we had to prepare for any contingency.
Landing in Davao airport, we were greeted by a big decorative piece featuring Kadayawan, reminding us how important it is to Dabawenyos. A few hours later, we checked up on the different media personnel from Manila, Cebu and General Santos City as we made our way to the North Town Project for Alsons’ Corporate Banquet. It is there where we first met the media personnel and representatives of Alsons Dev. We all enjoyed dinner served by Hey Monday!, a duo of Filipina start-up chefs from New York City. The dinner was long and full of stories. It was a chance for us to break the ice and get to know our clients.
On August 14, we headed to the Poblacion Market Central ahead of the opening event for some last-minute preparations to make sure everything went as planned. Soon the media personnel arrived, coordinating with us on the program as well as when and where they could do a round table interview. The local influencers and personalities of Davao City arrived next, and they were all greeted by Alsons with food and Gift Checks, which they could use to buy freshwater pearls, woven fabric by the Mindanaoans, or souvenirs later on.
Speeches by key persons were made, the ribbon was cut, and official opening was completed. It was a resounding success for the client.
After the event, our client took us and the media on a tour around the important landmarks of Davao City, tourist spots, as well as their different projects. This tour continued to the next day. We even went pond fishing to catch fresh fish for lunch. We also got to try the famous durian halo-halo, tuna bagaybay, and tuna bihod. You can really learn so much about the culture of the people through their food, the language, and the stories they tell you.
Working in media relations can be challenging, but as long as you face those challenges with a confident smile, you can ensure great relationships with media, agency, and stakeholders.
And what really brought us joy was seeing smiles on our clients’ faces, because it tells us we did a great job. Their success is our success, too!
To get a better idea of how the opening event went, check out the post-event video on the Poblacion Market Central Facebook Page.
While media relations is usually handled by our Corporate and Public Affairs team, we also give opportunities for members of other departments, like Jude from Digital Marketing, to be involved in these efforts.
If you’d like to have opportunities to grow your career and skills in new and exciting ways, come join us at Evident!
