Official website for 2009's Q'BFFI

I love student events – there’s nothing like seeing your peers tackle great projects and accomplish things that you could only dream of doing. That said, I can only allow myself to respect the works of others when there is a great amount of effort put into the initiative.

So a friend of mine was interested in going to Queen’s University’s Q’BFFI (Queen’s Business Forum on the Fashion Industry), and posted a link to the event’s page. Having a love for fashion, I clicked on it and checked out the event. The concept is great – exposing current students from all over to the fashion industry in Canada from the perspectives of publications, design, modeling, and blogging – but the presentation was a disaster. Sure, the website looks sleek and stylish, but take a closer look at the content, and I was left feeling iffy on the Q’BFFI

If communication is key, especially in business, then you will realize that the following blunders are completely inexcusable. Going to the ‘delegates‘ page, since I was actually interested in attending, it was disappointing to see no listing of pricing (which turned out to be about $175 CDN incl. hotel) and a reference to last year’s event. Is it that hard to change the number 8 into a 9? Head on over to the ‘blog‘ area and notice the dates? Well, it feels like we’re time traveling to October of last year and that we’re ready to sign up for the ‘08 event. If you are not going to use a blog effectively to keep your participants in the loop or anything of that sort, just don’t bother with one – leave it out. Let’s move onto the complete communication disaster – the contact page. Quoting directly from the page:

For general inquiries, please contact the Co-Chairs; otherwise, feel free to contact the appropriate executive member.

Sure, it sounds like a great idea to contact the co-chairs, if only they had their email addresses listed. It’s not hard to list your email address on a webpage; heck, you don’t even need to make it a link. Just type the darn thing out! What’s even more fantastic is that almost the entire executive don’t have email addresses for you to contact. It’s all right when you’re just building the website, but the event’s just a week away and registration probably took place at least a month before.

The executive: great to know who you are, but how do I contact you?

I’m honestly surprised to see the speakers that are doing this workshop, especially considering that one of the speakers is someone that I pulled a complete PR blunder on (can you say addressing to the wrong person?). It’s impressive who they get to speak at the event and that was what made me really want to take the bus up to Kingston. With such key players in the Canadian fashion industry, you have to realize that it’s imperative that you take extremely good care of your image.

You might call me critical, but come on! I wanted to know about the event, so I read the content. Students may be forgiving (mind you, I’ve also done student events amazingly done – EnVision Conference by UofT Rotman Commerce, but when you work and receive a ton of emails (heck, I received about ten in an hour the other day and I’m far from being a big player), a blunder can cost you that particular pitch or connection. There’s no need to prettify everything, especially if you can’t effectively communicate your ideas and points. Always be concise and clear with what you’re trying to say and proofread your work if you are writing or putting it up online.

Barb :: Oct.10.2009 :: Fashion :: 1 Comment »

Given that I’ve been living in France for the past couple of months and don’t really follow the news back home in Canada, it was a complete surprise when I came across several articles that were discussing the enacting of a new law for young drivers, ages 16 to 21, in the province of Ontario. Usually, I’m pretty gung-ho for making our streets safe (e.g. impounding of a vehicle for driving 50km/hr over the speed limit), but I have to admit that this is quite ludicrous.

Prompted after a long campaign by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and by Tim Mulcahy, whose son was one of three killed in a drunk driving accident on July 3 of this year, the Ontario government is enacting a new law today in which young drivers are subjected to new restrictions on their license:

• A total ban on alcohol consumption (i.e. BAC of 0 while operating a vehicle)
• Restriction on the number of passengers during the first year of holding a G2 license (i.e. no more offering rides home to a multitude of persons under the age of 19 until after a year)
• Zero tolerance for speeding (i.e. thinking of going maybe 10km/hr over? Hope that the cop isn’t grumpy then)

While I sympathize with Mulcahy’s loss, I do feel that we should look at his son’s actions on that July 3. Making his own choices, Mulcahy’s son was aware that he was driving but still made the choice to drink a whopping 31 drinks with his two friends. Considering his BAC (blood alcohol content) alone, he would not have been able to legally operate a vehicle even under the previous Ontario law.

Perhaps instead of introducing new laws that limit a young driver, we should look at the very basic element of learning to drive – driving school. The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario allows persons holding a G1 to proceed to G2 testing within eight months (as opposed to one year) provided that they have gone through an acredited driving school and obtained a certificate. What I fail to understand is that these accredited driving schools seem to be numerous, and many of them seem quite dubious in their teaching style, if you can even call it that. I’ve heard stories from friends who have gone to such driving schools (you know, the ones where you pull the tabs off at the bus stop and give them a call, and if you bring a friend, you receive a 10% discount) and I fail to see that they are learning anything, both in the classroom and in their in-car lessons.

Some persons that I have talked to have told me that they have not gone to their classes but marked present on the attendance sheet, some have told me that they have gone to classes and learned nothing but the life story of the teacher, and some have even told me that they have gone to classes and simply had a group multiple choice test on “car safety”. In-car lessons with some of these schools include picking up the next student or the instructor’s child from day care, or on some days, just a drive around the neighborhood with the occasional left and right.

I assure you that I do not mean to say that all these ~$300 schools are terrible ones, in fact there are some gems in that list. But youths seem to seek the cheapest school as a quick route to getting their license, and fail to seek quality in their education simply because they believe that they will learn how to drive after they get their license. Perhaps we should look more into which schools should be accredited and which ones should be removed from such list. While some schools, such as Young Drivers, cost a significant amount of money, I feel that the education is worth it. Structured in class and full of practice in-car, Young Drivers is by far one of the most highly acclaimed driving schools in Canada. Given that most things that we purchase can be bought a discount price, but should that include our license?

If we are not able to take the responsibility of getting an actual education with regards to driving, how are we going to be able to take up the responsibility of paying for insurance and paying for a vehicle, let alone driving safely. Why yes, it’s been reiterated many times that driving is a privilege, but how much of it is a privilege when anyone can bring in a piece of paper stating that they have completed driving school?

The problem isn’t in teenagers being reckless. The problem is in teenagers not truly understanding that not everything can be bypassed with a discount or with a shortcut. While enacting such a law would hopefully guarantee a decrease in the number of teenage driver accidents, one cannot guarantee that everyone will comply and learn these “good habits” – there will still be dangerous drivers, young and old, on the road. It is up to the individual to learn how to drive safely. This law is by no means a speech act (i.e. a declarative sentence can be used to perform a number of different speech acts) for good conduct on the road, it is merely a solution that skims the surface.

Barb :: Nov.19.2008 :: Culture, Life :: 1 Comment »