Life is a Mosaic

Review of 2008

2009-02-14T18:46:00.012Z

It seems like 2009 has kicked off very busy for me, so I haven't even noticed it's already mid-February! Nevertheless, I feel like I should take a small stop and look back to the year 2008 and compile the nominations for it.

I continue with visiting at least three new countries per year. In 2008 that was Ireland, Spain and Portugal, as well as going to Latvia again, and let's not forget London and Liverpool. Professionally I have had one of the most exciting years, full of challenges that I needed, which have stretched me quite a bit. I have also been immersed to creative environment which triggered me to start doing things I though I will never do again - like drawing an painting.
My core focus for the year was health and balance, which has been fulfilled partly, and I am happy with the result so far. Doing yoga and 5 Rhythms authentic dance, healthier food has really helped me... how is it called.... find inner peace?;).. I have developed a few healthy habits (exercise, regular breakfast and dinner times, etc etc) which are part of my routine now.

And here are the nominations... not all of them are the same as in year 2007, as the relevance has changed. Here they are...

Personal Achievement:
Master's degree :) Gosh I'm glad I'm done with it.

Personal Failure 2008:
Blogging :) I wish I could do it more, at the same time, I think it should be a bit different than up to now. So at the moment I'm passive blogger.

Never Done Before:
Chairing AIESEC conference (Take Off 2008). Loved it!

Year's Money "Eater":
Tuition Fee again. But summer holidays in Spain and Portugal almost hit that one

Concert of the Year:
De Phazz in Vilnius

Song of the Year:
Ladytron - Runaway

Album of the Year:
Hot Chip "Made in the Dark"

Club where most of my party nights we spent:
Woo

Best Person met:
There's even two of them - Richi and Justina. Both amazing people that I'm glad appeared in my life.

Best Reunion
Mona in London, Tijs in Vilnius, MC team in Brussels... all of them were great cause it's reunions :))

Best spot in Town, discovered in 2008:
Chaplin bar

Experience of the Year:
MTV Europe Music Awards

Book of the Year:
Andy Warhol's biography

Blog of the Year:
Zen Habits

Website of the Year:
Creative Archive

The Most Fulfilling Moment:
Walking in the sunny streets and beaches of Marbella (Spain) and listening to bossanova.

Lesson of the Year:
Less is more.

About the future: personal focus area for the year 2009 is creative work. I'm afraid I'm not able to explain this focus area more in detail, but eventually you will find out...

Summer in Paradise

2008-07-19T16:15:00.003Z

To re-start information flowing to my blog, I would like to share my impressions from my fantastic summer holiday that I had in June - me and another 3 friends of mine took 2 weeks off to discover South of Spain and Portugal. Was an amazing road trip with lots of colours and adventures. The first slide is a bit blurry but the rest is sharper than sharp =) (To get the best view - click on "view in Slideshare" and turn the Full Screen Mode on).

Vija\'s trip to Spain and Portugal

view presentation (tags: spain portugal andalucia)

Creative Genius is Gone

2008-04-04T07:25:00.003Z

Paul Arden, an eccentric, revered creative responsible for some of the U.K.'s most popular advertising during his 14 years as Saatchi & Saatchi's executive creative director, died Wednesday of a heart attack. (read more)

This news wouldn't have hit me that much , if not a magic book, written by Mr. Arden himself, called "It's not how Good You are, but how Good You Want to Be". I found it two years ago in a bookstore in Brussels and since then P. Arden became my idol and this book - my professional bible.

It does not have a lot of text. It has a lot of pictures. But it's far from children's books. In this book the ideas shared are simple, clear and hit to the essence. And the visual support makes them memorable.

Even more, Arden's tips are so used in my work now. They are simple, they are common sense, but that is actually the point - in this book they are given in a way so I remember them and use them in the right moment.

The key ideas from this book that from his book that I live by:

You are all selling something. Your product or your point of view.
Do not seek praise. Seek criticism.
It's all my fault.
Don't look for the next opportunity. The one you have in your hand is the opportunity.
Accentuate the positive. Eliminate the negative.
Do not put your cleverness in front of your communication.
What do you do when your client won't buy? Do it his way. Then do it your way.
When it can't be done, do it. If you don't do it, it doesn't exist.

I am not 100% perfect at it, but those ideas have worked for me so many times. Taking charge of my mistakes has taught me so much more rather than blaming everyone else around me. How many times I said "Let's try!" for some of the potential pitches, when everyone else said "It's not possible" and I actually succeeded. And am doing my best to make the most out of the worst assignment that ever comes to my hands.

And it is not only at work. So many times I found out how it corresponds with common sense and simple life. Common sense is actually genius.

Arden was a genius to put it down in a form that spoke to way broader audience than his profession, age or education. This book speaks to most of people.

I know more people inspired by Mr.Arden and his books: Mazzy, Jen and our creative team in the company. Advertising people. Bank clerks. Success coaches. Success seekers.

I had this dream to meet this guy sometime. Bad luck.

Nominations for 2007

2008-01-05T14:21:00.001Z

2007 has been a great year for me! Lived half/half in two different countries (Netherlands and Lithuania), visited one country never been to (Denmark) and revisited Belgium and Estonia. Met a lot of amazing people, a few of them I became very close friends of mine. Had loads of exciting moments. Have been taking serious professional decisions - went back to sales again, chose a future with less money in the beginning but with more opportunities. Got into my favorite business industry - media/advertising. Not all of the years experiences I have managed to capture in the blog, but let me look back quickly at the year 2007 and announce my nominations for Year 2007:

Personal Achievement 2007:
Starting to take care of my financial future

Personal Failure 2007:
Fulfilling relationships

Never Done Before 2007:
Performing in an improv show

Year's Money "Eater":
Tuition Fee

Concert of the Year:
MTV B-Day in Riga with Digitalism

Song of the Year:
Happyendless "Power Forever"

Music Video of the Year:
Justice D.A.N.C.E.

Album of the Year:
Supperclub Presents

Club of the Year:
Pacha Vilnius

Party of the Year:
1 gram of 2009, featuring Mate and my friends

Best Culture Event Visited in 2007:
Chicks on Speed in Contemporary Art Center (Vilnius)

Best Person met in 2007:
Jade

Best Reunion
With Piret from Estonia

Best spot in Town, discovered in 2007:
Coffee Inn (Vilnius)
Alto (Amsterdam)

Experience of the Year:
KaosPilots visit in Aarhus, Denmark

Magazine of the Year:
Pravda

Book of the Year:
"Whatever you think, think the opposite" by Paul Arden

Blog of the Year:
Guy Kawasaki's blog

Personal Blog post of the Year:
7 tips on Reintegration

Website of the Year:
TED Talks

The Most Exciting Moment:
Experiencing those small things can make a huge difference.

Lesson of the Year:
Don't take yourself too seriously, and celebrate the imperfection!

I chose the year 2008 will be the year of health and balance. After a busy and exciting life for 2 years abroad and 6 months in an intense work and party roller-coaster, I feel like I REALLY need to take care of myself, otherwise it will become a problem. Yup, less junk food, more water, less small little vices and more exercise!

Did you have some cheese on your New Year's Eve?

2008-01-01T15:55:00.000Z

According to Chinese horoscope, since the year 2008 is Rat's year, you have to treat the rat so the rat would take care of you in 2008. So I hope you had some cheese or nuts during the New Years Eve (next to champagne, concerts, TV watching, tequilla, dirty dancing and other stuff that you normally do while celebrating New Year's Eve).

Happy 2008!!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T15:57:00.001Z

I wish you love, joy and happiness!

Pacha Vilnius discovered

2007-12-23T12:27:00.000Z

You know that when it comes to nice clubs, I am always the one to go. Since I don't have time to come to Ibiza to check out the famous Pacha club, Pacha came to Vilnius instead. And my friend from London came right in time to accompany me in this mission.
When it comes to clubbing in Vilnius, even with international clubs, it gets a local touch. So there is a risk - either you get the right crowd in, or the crowd is completely wrong. E.g., Fashion TV club in Vilnius didn't get it right and had to close. So I was curious how will it be with Pacha.
I was pleasantly surprised. The first impression - face control - was based not on the "looks" criteria, but more on "manners". Of course, you can't look trashy, but you don't need to wear D&G or Armani either to get in. But if you keep on fighting to get in instead of waiting in the line, the bouncers will ask you to leave. That worked - the crowd was really decent over there. Diverse, friendly people. Fancy drinks - special Pacha cherry mojito and other good stuff.
Good music. GREAT music. Lexicon Avenue really took the crowd to heaven, and R'n'B area seemed to be crowded as well. It's a small thing, it's nice to see Vilnius in their official tour listing, why they cannot learn typing "Vilnius" in a correct way? We still have to work on our city branding :)
But anyway, let's not really care about this, take a look at what it looks like...

You don't need to show your passport...

2007-12-21T18:39:00.000Z

...when you decide to come to Lithuania by bus from Portugal, Sweden, Italy or wherever else within the area in blue:

From today on Lithuania has become a part of Schengen area, which means that you will be able to cross borders without any special controls while travelling inside the area. And people living outside this area, but having a Schengen visa, can freely come to visit me without any additional visa paperwork :) Woot woot!

Simplicity

2007-12-16T16:46:00.000Z

I love it. Going to an event with low expecta- tions, just having an idea that some friends might be there. Meeting old friends and new amazing people. Catching on with each other's lives. Finding out, that one of them has moved back to Vilnius. Discovering once again, how small the world is and finding common acquaintances. Using a usual word in an unusual way and being happy with the new discovery. Networking. Seeing people sharing their ambitions and future plans, getting excited together with them. Singing "More than words" by Extreme very badly. Going to a fantastic friend's apartment in old town, with a glass Torres brandy, sitting on a windowsill inside and chatting about business, learning to dance salsa, build new years eve celebration plans. Laughing from jokes that a crazy marketing guy is telling about his work. Texting people at home, that I will be coming back home later than expected, coz it's just so much fun over here. Laughing again, for no particular reason.

Later, hitting a bar which is emptier than usually, but it's good, because it fits us all :) Listening to funny stories of other people. Ending up the evening in Cili, which is the only place open all night long. Meeting other fellas there, known from work or studies, who are chilling after a wild party night. Laughing from a buddy inviting random girls from the street to join him in a taxi ride home, promising pancakes in the morning. The girls are living elsewhere, but it doesn't matter - it's pancakes in the morning. Unfortunately, not lucky this time, girls said no. We laughed.

Coming home on Sunday midday, I was thinking, that nothing special happened last night, but somehow that night felt so special. It was so simple, so pure, so easy. It is just going out on Saturday night, but hell, not every Sunday night turns out so good.

Why I Love Mondays

2007-12-10T17:05:00.000Z

Who you are? And where am I? F**k it's Monday.
Where does Monday get you? At the unknown friends' home, in bed or at work.
And how does it feel? Friday would be much better...
You pick the flashbacks of the weekend and say good bye. The pleasant mind trip starts.

- mondayjazz.com

Every Monday, my office, like probably any other office on Monday, has a certain amount of madness involved. The head is full of weekend moments, while I am telling myself that I should focus and start my working week.

But I love Mondays. Just because it is the only day in the week when I can receive a new Mondayjazz mix, plug my earphones in, and experience this sudden transformation from chaos to order. Ready for the rest of the week.

It's December already!

2007-12-08T18:31:00.000Z

OMG! It's December already! I realized it only yesterday when an X-mas tree was brought to our office, to be decorated. Honestly, we have more Dutch winter than the Lithuanian winter over here, as there is no snow yet!

So what have I been up to in the past month:

Moments:
...a small Energy'07 reunion in Vilnius - with Diana, Jana, randomly met Vitalijus, joining the boys party congratulating Danny with his birthday, laughing a lot with (or from) his porn XXX team, then experiencing the so-called high-fashion party in Champagne Bar , which appeared to be quite average.
...cocktails, including a mojito (for Filipe) with Piret who is incredibly often coming to Vilnius these days =)
...so much adrenaline when trying to move wooden bricks of the Jenga tower during the drinks with colleagues. Afterwards moving to playing "Taboo" (or "Alias" as they call it here) and seeing that sometimes understanding each other from half of the word is not that difficult!
...lotsa lotsa people dressed like so 1920s and dancing all night long! Lindyhop is my new entry on my dances-to-learn list, and definitely it goes well with my love for jazz music. It's the third month I attend the course and I love it!
... a different creativity workshop in my home AIESEC LC. For the first time in preparation for this training, I didn't use any aiesec-related material, kept it all within my personal experience, tuned it with a few improv excercises and real examples how a little innovation can turn into big money. It's not difficult to be creative, and it seems that the message came across.
...artsy crowd in the opening of Fluxus-East exhibition, with wine and nice meals, with a crazy exibition attached. Fluxus is a movement initially was supposed to be an anti-art movement or so called "art-joke". And indeed he exhibition reflected it - everyone was able to listen to funny music and see all kinds of crazy stuff which is not art, but makes sense. Even play flux ping-pong (see left), which has not only interesting table, but the rackets also were not standard: one of them has a hole, another is completely soft, third one has a
very rough surface... Art is fun! Even the former mayor of Vilnius couldn't resist to give it a shot. Very refreshing.

What is coming up next is... Winter Holidays, of course! Can't wait :) I am going to leave you with my powerplay for this month, which is another local masterpiece on MTV!

"yeah yeah, I'm alright, I keep power forever...." - yeap that's the way I feel!

* pic from: http://www.deepfun.com/2006_07_01_archive.html
* Video of Happyendless called "Power Forever"

Musicroom: EMAs - Baltics Rule!

2007-11-02T15:40:00.000Z

Yes!

They do!

I was watching MTV EMAs last night. I did not like the ceremony itself as I did the last year, but let's not talk about that. I am just extremely happy, because for the first time one of MTV trophies goes to Lithuania - to Jurga, the Lithaunia singer I wrote about some time ago.

Even more, I am also happy for our fellow Estonians, because they have won the New Sounds of Europe Award, the nominees for which have been voted by all people from Europe via internet and SMS during the show itself. Out of 18 semi-finalists Bedwetters from Estonia, together with other two bands (from Turkey and Romania), went to the finals. Even Klaxons got voted out before the show. And at the end of the show, Nelly Furtado announces that a young band from Estonia has won!! Yahoo!

I think they are really worth it. When I saw them on MTV B-Day, they gave all their soul on the stage. And you should check out this video:

The doors are opening :)

Pics from Energy

2007-10-28T11:50:00.000Z

That was great conference...

Everyone full fo Energy!

And beloved faci team

Energy 07 - Push the Envelope

2007-10-24T19:23:00.000Z

This is a phrase which was used by my dear friend Venky long time ago, and which simply means "stretch your boundaries". And that is the key idea I have after coming back from Baltic Energy 2007 (AIESEC conference), where I was a part of facilitators team.

This conference was special for me in several ways. First, it was getting involved with AIESEC again. Coming back to my dearest region - Baltics. It was fulfilling one of my passions - training and development, as I didn't do much in that field recently. It was connecting and sharing with people who in one or another way have inspired me. It was going through intense development. I do believe that AIESEC is one of the most amazing youth networks, and I realized AGAIN, that it's one of the strongest platforms for self-development, not comparable to any corporate experience I ever had so far. My gut feeling was right - this conference helped me to make some of the things crystal clear in my head, discover some new things about myself, meet like-minded people and connect the dots that were still missing in the big picture.

I was overwhelmed.

Neverthless, I got to know amazing people, had some interesting conversations and discover the amazing team of facis that will definitely stay in my heart forever. We did a good job and we had amazing time together.

My observations could be separated to personal and general ones.
I have discovered personally, that:
- Creativity is the key to most of the successes that I reach. Knowledge and experience is powerful, but it relates to the past. Creativity is smething new, unknown and beautiful. When you try something new, it is unknown and risky, but when you do it, and you see people respond to it, that si teh best thing that could happen.
- Opportunities are easy to miss. Just one doubt, and that's it. Simply strech the borders, do sth and fix it on the way. Dare to connect, dare to show emotions, dare to be different. I thought I was doing it, but the conference made me realize that I can do way much more.
- Communication is the key to making things happen. I will refer to my idol Paul Arden again - "It's not about ideas, but what you do with them". So excercising at least some of those ideas that I have and making them work should be the focus for me. There will always be people who understand, people who don't, people who agree, people who don't, but as long as it stays true to yourself, that gets the right energy going ad the right epople gathering around it!

In general, I have this one main overall discovery:

Baltic region has an amazing potential in terms of leadership development. This region in a way is unique, because here young people get to finish their studies very quickly and work at the same time. That means they have more time to gain experience, more time to make mistakes and learn from them, and more time to develop themselves to become leaders. Have you seen a 24-year old manager of national chapter of a multinational company? I know quite a lot of them. They are strong and hard-working, like nowhere else in Western Europe.

The only thing that yet should be taken forward, is the idea of entrepreneurship, responsibility and self confidence that young people are able to make a difference.

What has AIESEC have to do with that? In my opinion, this organization catalyzes pro-activity and entrepreneurship within young people! It encourages active, non-text-book learning, encourages to take decisions and responsibility, learn from mistakes and shows that you actually can make a difference. At least this is what I think, when I get to talk to the delegates throughout or after the conference.

AIESEC is great, Baltic region is great, and I am very thankful for all the people in the conference that made me realize that. Especially chair and faci team, you guys are all amazing!

And it's up to every person to stretch his or her own borders, as they have no limits!

Reconnections Part II

2007-10-14T17:02:00.000Z

Yes, here we go again :)
We had EuroCo hosted in Lithuania, therefore it was absolutely exciting opportunity to see some more people that are precious to me... Here is the part fo Belgian delegation:

...Enriching chats with Andries in - you know where - Briusly, about life and ideas, and the way creativity is applied in business practices. Thanks for the thoughts! And I feel that I have more to say about this, so keep on checking back in my blog. I just have this need to exercice my ideas before writing them publicly.

Later on Thordis from Iceland, not seen for ages, all charged up after EuroCo. Sitting in the cafe and drinking a lot of fancy-flavoured coffee.

Also chilling with Micky, Pieter and Kuhn in a coffee place, finding out how they and the rest of the aiesec people in Belgium are going. Micky trying the Lithuanian chocolate and getting a rough face with the chili flavoured one ;)

Musicroom: jazz, swing and lindyhop

2007-09-23T19:54:00.000Z

Short re-cap of the events in Vilnius in the past few weeks:

- De-Phazz
- Gus Gus vs Metal on Metal (rough dance music will save the world)
- DJ Mehdi
- Phonique

How to manage all of them? Not possible, at all. But De Phazz was absolutely great :) You never know how music like that is going to sound - sometimes it's too loud or too noisy, but this time it was the same as the album I am listening to right now :) Fantastic.

And there is another discovery I would like to share - it's Koop. I have heard their song on our radio Opus3 and I loved it! So now I have the full album. It has a swing rhythm, and I guess that goes very much in line with the lindyhop dancing classes I am attending right now :) This song takes me high, why don't you try how it works for you?;)

Re-Connectios and Reflections

2007-09-23T19:53:00.000Z

I'm sitting now in my room, enjoying Saint Etienne with a heavenly calm voice singing through my stereo and chatting with some friends of mine who are coming to EuroCo (AIESEC conference), which is hosted in Lithuania in October. It got me thinking about how does the saying "keep in touch" work in practice for different people. I've been living in 3 different countries and visiting in another 15, and therefore, the network is wide. And I know how difficult it is to keep in touch with people being hundreds of miles away from you.

It sometimes really makes me feel uncomfortable, when I get to see someone after a while, and I see that it was a connection made due to circumstances, and it disappeared with the circumstances. It's a bit sad because some of those people were simply amazing and I'm sure there is way more common things than just circumstances we happen to be in, but the connection is not there anymore. And I think it's especially so hard for me, because time doesn't change anything for me - if I meet someone after three or twenty three years time, I would talk to that person in the same way I did the last time I saw him/her. But I know, that some of the people by that time would get more distant. For me it's okay just to meet someone and be happy about this encounter, and for some people it's more important to be continuously involved in the updates.

Autumn is the season of re-connections for me. Piret came over to Vilnius, I met her two years ago in Baltic Energy, where we both were applying for international MCs. I was announced to be selected for Belgium during the conference, and just right after it Piret ended up in Ecuador! Then we had a short meetup in Poland a year ago, and now we finally are back to our homecountries. Of course we've changed, but that was so nice to discuss about all the things that happened throughout this time! And the reintegration process. And comparing Lithuanian and Estonian guys :)

Second person to catch up with was Mate, whom I met in India, and then kept in touch, met up in a random place like Rotterdam (joking), and haven't seen for a very long time. Now in Vilnius, we were having a drink, talked about our current works, lives, meeting my friends who randomly come up to the same bar, talking to some Polish tourists, and then some more talks about drum'n'bass, Sziget and other open air festivals and then moving on to an industrial rave party. And a year seems like two days, not more.

And yesterday I got to meet up with Ausra back from Australia, Ruta back from her internship in the UK, and Vilma, simply not seen for ages. I was dead tired, but that was very nice.

And it's not over yet! euroCo is on it's way and then Energy. Both aiesec conferences, bringing some beautiful acquaintances and great friends over! Looking forward to that!

And I am working hard to send an email update to the ones who are not coming to visit me, yet... :)

Musicroom: Jurga - 5th Season

2007-09-23T19:32:00.000Z

I rarely post Lithuanian music in this blog. I think I did just one post, and now it's the second. I am not a big fan of Lithuanian music, as 85 percent of it is oriented to teenagers up to 15, or people living in the countryside, who don't care that much about the long term value of music, it's just for making quick cash from records and concerts.

BUT, this is one of those 15 percent of good stuff. Jurga is amazing. She has a great voice, and she will not go to any single compromise in terms of quality: music, production, music video - it is the best what I've seen in Lithuanian music scene so far. This is a quality entertainment product, and she is one of the best paid singers in Lithuania. So you can make money with quality product!

Check out her video and hear it yourself! What do you think?

Bronze for Lithuania!

2007-09-17T15:01:00.000Z

The past couple of weeks have been one of the most important ones in lives of people fo Lithuania. It is said that basketball is our second religion, and I think it is even first, when I walk down the street in the city center and see everyone, EVERYONE staring to one thing - the TV set, showing Eurobasket 2007. from small children and families, who just sit quietly and stare watching very single move, to gangs of young people occupying all spots with TV available, groups of friends gathering in somebody's place with drinks and cheering mood, even our fellows cheering for the team live in Spain. After each victory people would go to the streets, singing or playing music loudly from their cars, Lithuanian flags all over the place! this is a wonderful feeling of togetherness :)

We had all victories, but one. Just because we lost against Russia (who are the champions, we didn't get into the finals. But, in the little final we've won against Greece, who has beaten us in the finals a few years ago.

So, bronze this time! It has been good games - not the champion times that used to be with the older generation, but definitely better games than in the most recent years. Very proud of those guys!

We don't Play Guitars!!

2007-09-06T20:58:00.000Z

I'm so excited I don't even know where to start!! But this evening Vilnius IS the place to be ;) For two reasons:

<-- These girls. When I was in my late teens and was dreaming to become an artist (I still am on my spare time ;)) and was into all that hip culture life, I saw this video. It seemed so cool but so far away from me - in the big world. Afterwards, I got to go to US, to Western Europe and Asia and the world seemed not so big anymore. But now when I see that Chicks on Speed(CoS) are coming to Contemporary Art Center (CAC) in Vilnius, bringing their performance and exhibition, my heart cannot help beating faster :)

Here is a short excerpt about CoS from the CAC article:

"Punk was also the movement and the moment when women started truly rocking for themselves, incorporating explicit post-feminist political and performance strategies into their stage-personas, costuming, and stage-productions; high among them being raw sexuality, nudity, inflammatory language and sloganeering. (...) The Chicks On Speed are all that and more! An all girl band, performance ensemble, visual art ensemble, which also release and produce music made by women on their record label. "

And the reason number two for this night rocking is nobody else but Ellen Allien>, the Goddess of electronica from Germany! She is playing in all biggest electronica festivals in the world, as I heard it took a while tho persuade her to come to play in Lithuania, but damn - it's worth it! I will not expand telling too much about her style, but electronica lovers for sure know what I'm talking about :)

Im not much of a feminist, but this girly evening with best girls on stage, with nice artsy extras sounds extremely good:)

Summer Summary

2007-09-02T08:10:00.000Z

I cannot believe it's autumn already! It seems that quite recently it was hot and sunny, and on the first days of September I am already looking into my winter wear and dreaming of house heating system turned on.

At any case the summer of 2007 was great! All spent in Lithuania, which was new for me after 2 years break. I made sure it would not be wasted.

Some facts:

Re-explored amazing Vilnius, Kaunas, Nida, Norviliskes, Rubikiai, Moletai and some other beautiful areas of this country
Became one year wiser
Got my driver's license
Read some incredible books: "Purple Cow" by Seth Godin, "The Tipping Point" and "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell, "A Year of Creativity" by Brenda Malon.
Fantastic clubbing almost every weekend. Party girl is back on track, hitting the only 5 reasonable clubs in this country :)
MTV B-DAY concert - celebrating one year of MTV in Baltics, and Be2gether festival - the first ever open air festival in Lithuania
Terrific connections, re-connections and discoveries
Awesome job
Consuming lots of arts and music
Creativity re-boot: new projects coming up!

My goal for the summer was to enjoy myself as much as I can. Happy to be in entertainment business. And when I look into my diary, autumn seems to be packed with:

visits by friends from abroad! Since I'm not able to travel much, may everyone come to visit me :)
parties and clubnights - season is starting!
Conferences - EuroCo 07 in the first place!
big things in professional development

It seems that everything is falling into place for now. Even though I don't have the "big plan" for myself in 10 years yet, but bit by bit i'm getting everything I do into one picture. living in the now, as they say :)

Go, AIESEC in Belgium, Go!

2007-09-01T16:09:00.000Z

I remember the time, when I was a part of executive team of AIESEC in Belgium in 05-06, and we dreamed, that one day we will make it...

And when I heard, that AIESEC in Belgium has won the UBS Excellence award in this year's International Congress in Turkey, I thought "Yes! We have made it!". Bit by bit, generation by generation, from threats to close it down it went to top performance in the region!
Belgium is not the best kept secret in Europe anymore.... at least not in the AIESEC network. :)

Congrats, my dears! :)

Some hair shakin'

2007-08-20T18:25:00.000Z

Last Sunday I had the luck to be in a closing concert of Riga's City Celebration, which was also a birthday partay of MTV in Baltic. After a 5 hour trip with our entertaining bus, having some cocktails on the way we were even more excited to see the bands on stage, which are the highlights in the Baltics. Here are some videos:

Mantas - so-called Lithuanian Robbie Williams. Good looking man, great voice, not exactly my style of music, but O.K. :)

Melo M - I would say those Latvians are my new fave band. Playing most famous pop covers with chellos sounds so damn awesome :

Since I liked them so much - again Melo M, this time with vocals:

The headliner - Digitalism . The crowd of 26 000 people went crazy when they were playing:

Afterparty was held in a tiny space in Riga's most famous club essential, where Metal on Metal DJs rocked (I'm so proud - they are the first Lithuanian DJs who are working with SKINT Records):

That's the update :) I am going to catch up with my sleeping now ;)

If I was a Character of "The Simpsons"...

2007-08-16T20:58:00.000Z

I would probably look like this:

Does it look like me?

Even if it doesn't, it was a good fun making it.

And it is an amazing marketing campaign. Because it was fun - not "just another ad". And because I get something that is my personal and my individual. And because I find it so cool, that I decide to share it with my friends. And then I post it on my blog. And also link it to the site. And my friends like that too, because it looks just like Vija was in "The Simpsons", and they also want to be in "The Simpsons", so they go to the website where they can simpsonize themselves.

And did you see the logo in the corner? Can you imagine what is the speed of those logos multiplying and spreading, especially when the movie was just out in the cinemas? Billions of them in a minute!

I got to see some marketing campaigns directed to youth audience, and from all that I've seen so far, I think this is genius.

Ps. Oooh, I can also put this picture to Facebook! And my simpsonized buddy icon to my MSN!

PPs. And, honestly, it doesn't look like me :)

Musicroom: Digitalism

2007-08-14T17:22:00.000Z

I don't listen a lot to this kind of music, but when I actually went through a few tracs by this duo, I thought "Damn, they are really good!"... and I will see them in Riga in 5 days =)