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| Mother Gaile, myself, Alma, Annie, Anna, Rosey and daughter Ameya, and Perla at our reunion at Nomnomnom Happy Food (Pos Building, Tomas Morato Extension, QC) |
I never had a grand career plan. I just knew since I was
Grade 6 that I wanted to be a writer. I took up AB Communication in college to
prepare for that. Sometime around college, I realized I also wanted to work in
the movies. Thus, my career goals became: to be a writer, to work in the
movies, to be a mom and a wife. (Raising children and taking care of a husband
are careers in themselves— just ask any mom/wife!)
I’ve been lucky to find work that I like. After graduation
from college, I immediately found work in a movie company where I stayed for
four years (my longest employment stint). I worked in a teen magazine and then
in a PR agency.
And then I found work at Summit Media. Back then it was
still called Summit Publishing and the company had a handful of magazine
titles: Preview, Candy, Cosmopolitan Philippines and Good Housekeeping
Philippines.
Maybe it was fate that brought me there.
While I was still working in the movie company, I
contributed a few articles to Preview and I continued to do so even after I
left the production outfit.
I was already working as a writer at a PR agency when I
dropped by the Summit Publishing office (located at the ground floor of then
Sogo Department Store on the corner of Pioneer St. and Edsa, where Robisons
Forum now stands) to claim gift certificates as my writer’s fee from the
publisher’s secretary.
“Saan ka na nagwo-work?” the secretary inquired.
“Sa PR agency,” I replied.
“Naghahanap kami ng PR,” she said.
I had some background in publicity and promotions since I
was also involved in promoting movies for my first job. Being a writer at
the PR agency gave me a front-row view into the ins and outs of public relations.
I think I had a shot at that PR job at Summit.
A few days later, I found myself being interviewed by the
publisher. I don’t remember how I was told that I got the job.
But I clearly remember being happy at Summit Publishing, I
was happy working at Summit Publishing’s Marketing Department.
A lot had to do with the people I worked with, the enjoyable
experiences and the lessons I learned.
There were just a few of us in the department. There was
Gaile, our “Mother,” who was our Marketing Manager. There was Perla who was
in-charge of in-magazine promotions (like the prizes for subscribers who
answered survey questionnaires, raffle draws and contests such as the Search
for Preview Cover Girl). Alma, Anna and Meggy took care of events (at separate
times). And then Rose Ann a.k.a. Rosey came along and handled all the events
for then new entertainment title YES! Magazine (now considered a Bible in
showbiz circles).
We had artists like Christopher, Raffy, and John who created
the post-event coverage ads, and other print ads and collaterals.
That’s the Marketing Family.
We were housed in the backroom of the office, and our
workspace was surrounded by towers of current magazines and back issues.
Emailing press releases was unheard of then. So I wrote one
press release per month per magazine title, printed the press release on bond
paper, put the PR in a bag with a magazine and a little gift. I delivered the
press release bags to the lifestyle departments of broadsheets located in the
Port Area.
Whenever there was a new title, I’d accompany the magazine
editor to a series of interviews on radio and television. When Cosmopolitan
Philippines had its first Bachelor issue, editor-in-chief Myrza Sison was
interviewed on the talk show “Ms D.” hosted by Dina Bonnevie, together with a
few hunks that were featured in the Cosmo Bachelor Issue. That TV appearance
was one of the biggest PR “coups”/ achievements of my term as Press and
Publicity Marketing Associate.
My work was interesting but it paled in comparison to the
exciting, dedicated and passionate people I worked with.
Perla had a knack for charming advertisers into giving
products as prizes/giveaways for readers. There was a time she single-handedly
came up with a vacation giveaway contest wherein the prize was a trip for two
to Palawan complete with airfare and accommodations—entirely on barter
agreements. I can still remember how Perla patiently encoded and tabulated the
survey answers of readers, going to the office early and staying late to finish
the tedious work.
Anna, Annie and Alma (triple A’s) were the experts in organizing
events and launches. Whether it was a major launch like an anniversary of
Cosmopolitan at the Glorietta Activity Center, a simple magazine sampling at a
movie premiere, or Halloween Treats for kids at a family restaurant, they did
their work with utmost fervor.
Meggy’s legacy to me is the term “bobo job,” literally
translated in Tagalog is “trabahong tanga.” Now, this cuddly lady never meant
to undermine any task. After all, any assigned work is important and would
always require some kind of smarts in order to complete. Meggy just used the
term “bobo job” to refer to simple tasks like folding and pasting tent cards,
or putting giveaways inside goody bags, which were easy and required little
effort on the mind. Whenever we needed breaks from the stress and pressure, we,
at the Marketing Department looked forward to doing these “bobo jobs.” Thanks
for coming up with the term, Meggy! And for showing me a unique way to relax!
Rosey wore the sexiest outfits to work like
spaghetti-strapped blouses and the slimmest jeans. She accomplished a lot even
if her personal life had its own challenges. I’d like to think that YES! became
a top-selling magazine partly also because of her efforts to push the title by
promoting it everywhere she could—in radio stations, comedy bars, awards
nights, and Tagalog movie premieres.
The moving force of our Marketing family was definitely
Mother Gaile. Her Sony cellphone that looked like a high-tech TV remote control
remains etched in my mind, same with her tips and advice on love and
career. Mother’s first lesson to me is
about persistence: She said, “Kung nag-‘no’ na sa inyo, mag-offer ng alternative. Huwag
basta mag-give up.” The second is about not being paranoid: She told me, “Huwag gumawa ng
sariling multo.” Smart, sassy and way prettier than the actress and the TV host
that others said she resembled, it’s not surprising that Mother Gaile easily
wowed radio station managers and movie moguls.
(Not to mention magazine editors and art directors.)
Now that I’m working freelance, I do miss those days when I
had a barkada in the office, like my officemates at Summit. They were the special
people I shared Tapa King meals with during overtime, marched with from Pioneer
St. to Edsa Shrine during Edsa Dos, shrieked with during the midnight screening
of the reissued Exorcist.
But there comes a time when you know when you have to move
on. I knew I had to go when I received an offer to work on a movie again.
Days before I ended my almost three-year Marketing stint at
Summit, Myrza sang the refrain of the song
“Nobody Does It Better” to me. I’d like to believe that was Myrza’s tribute to
my contribution as Marketing Associate for Press and Publicity.
I think about all these now because Gaile, Anna, Alma,
Annie, Perla, Rosey and I met again recently after what seems like ages. I kept
telling them that my Marketing days were among the happiest in my career. I
felt their love and support. We were sisters in “bobo jobs,” and they accepted
me in spite of my hang-ups and boo-boos (one of which was sneaking out to have my
hair cut at Propaganda Salon when I should have been manning the magazine booth
at Glorietta Activity Center).
Although many changes have happened in our individual lives
(Anna, Annie and Perla are still with Summit Media but have transferred to
Advertising. Gaile is now with a global bank. Rosey stayed in the US for a while and
is now a balikbayan, married and with two daughters. Meggy now lives in the US,
is married and is expecting her first baby. Alma has her own business.), I
think we’re still the same Marketing Girls at our core: hardworking, patient,
sincere, supportive.
To Anna, Alma, Annie, Perla, Rosey, Meggy, and Mother Gaile…
I’d love to sing “Nobody Does It Better" to all of you… but I’m tone deaf!
So let’s have a group hug, instead!
Love,
Gay
