We'll always have Paris
June 11: Arrival at Paris, CDG Airport
MANILA, Philippines - Our team arrived at the airport and immediately checked Facebook to see how we were doing for the People’s Choice Competition. We were expecting to be ahead by a thousand likes, but to our surprise, another team was winning instead. We rushed to the hotel, locked ourselves in the room for the next four hours, and with the help of everyone else back home, we caught up and won. A memorable, albeit frantic start to our trip!
June 12: Press Event
As part of winning the People’s Choice Award, we were invited to the blogger’s event. The objective was to highlight the Brandstorm experience to French e-influencers and media personalities. Despite the whole event being conducted in French, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We were very happy to share our experiences to such influential people, and at the same time, tell them more about our team and the Philippines.
June 13: Cocktail/Mixer
The night before the competition, we were given a chance to meet the other teams. It was amusing finding out that despite living in different countries, we’d always find something in common with the other contestants. There was even a pure Filipino in the Canadian Team and big supporter of Filipino dramas in the Malaysian Team. It was then that we realized that Brandstorm was more than just a competition. It was a chance for us to make new friends and share great experiences with them.
June 14: Semi-Finals
The semi-finals round started at 8 a.m. We were too nervous to even eat breakfast, and we were trying to make sure we had everything ready for our presentation. We presented seventh out of nine teams in our room. To our relief, everything went smoothly, and we delivered a presentation we were truly proud of. We went back to our room, and almost immediately, fell asleep probably due to all the excitement from that morning.
Finals Night
After nine hours of waiting, it was finally time to go to the finals venue and find out if we got in the top three or not. We arrived at a very scenic place, where a big tent was set up. As they were announcing the first two teams to get in the finals, we were starting to doubt if we even made it. Just then, our team was called! We presented our hearts out, and in the end, we proudly took home the trophy.
Cocktail Party
There was nothing left to do but celebrate! All the teams were finally able to relax and just have fun. Everybody was enjoying the food, the drinks, and the free products from The Body Shop. It was definitely an eventful day, and the cocktail was the perfect way to end it. We came home that night exhausted but over-the-top, deliriously happy.
