Last May, I experienced one of the most taxing yet memorable events in my career as an Advertising person. That is, handling my first (and last… whew!) Kiddie Crew Graduation stint! So why was it a stressful and tiring experience? Well, apart from it being a month-long event, with week-long preparations in key cities nationwide including Manila, planning started way back December of last year. So you can really imagine the stakes my company put in, organizing such a tedious annual event.

For everyone’s knowledge, the Kiddie Crew Workshop is an annual event under McDonald’s Philippines that takes place just in time for summer. It’s for kids 6-12 years old and it’s one of those activities that is highly anticipated by children who enjoy trooping to their nearest McDonald’s store. The summer gig for kids starts off with a 5-day workshop, involving arts and craft, fun and games, and the best of all, the in-store training where participants have the chance to become a McDonald’s crew doing counter or drive thru chores, or simply assisting customers with their order. After the 5-day training, a series of Graduations are held in cities like Sta. Rosa for Laguna, Cebu, Davao and last in Manila.

Actually, this was the  2^nd KC event I was part of, the first being a behind-the-stage sort of participation, as an instant Voiceover Announcer at the grand show in Manila (without any fees involved ha? Bad trip!), and as writer for the program show script of the provincial leg. What’s different with this year is that I got to manage the whole event from the start to finish. This included coming up with a concept (this year played on the idea of Hogwarts theme), scriptwriting, sourcing of production suppliers, talents like magicians and acrobats and dancers, stage design, fabrication, logistics, collaterals, hotel and travel expenses, coordination meetings, and the list goes on. Good thing, I had very reliable people under my wing, including a highly trained (via experience heheh!) events person,  JC Brion. With him and Erika Rodriguez as my wing men, everything turned out to be a very successful show especially in the provincial legs of KC.

I realized that it was enjoyable most of the time, from the video shoot for documentation to the hurried preps in my home city Sta. Rosa where the first provincial leg began. What made things a lot more exciting though hectic, was when we flew for our Cebu and Davao shows. Yep, we held 2 of our major shows down south, and boy, was it a blast! Not because I got to travel, but it was the feeling of satisfaction of seeing what you’ve conceptualized now coming to life. Of course, there were a few bumps and pitfalls along the way. But hey, there was nothing a quick decision could not solve. The good thing, everything went smoothly as planned. With a select accounts and creatives team (JC, Erika and Carol Ildefonso) I brought with me, and an experienced production team headed by my good friend Mark Santos, I was pretty sure the Kiddie Crew graduation in all 3 provincial areas this year were one for the books.

As May came to an end, the last leg of KC also culminated, this time, in Manila at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Kid participants, as well as their parents were treated to something different. From magicians, slide & Velcro wall inflatables, jugglers, Cosplayers, moving statues, toy bazaars, face painting, a mini science station, celebrities like Jackie Lou Blanco and kid wonder Jillian Ward, and of course, to the treat of seeing Ronald McDonald, Grimace, Birdie and Hamburglar live, everything spelled magic for all. The smiles and the satisfaction of all the kids present kept all of us afloat. With all the hardwork (not to mention leg work) involved, and only a few hours sleep, it was truly rewarding and it made me feel so happy inside. I will always remain grateful for having the chance to manage it with flying colors.

I know  won’t be part of next year’s Kiddie Crew anymore. Definitely I’ll be missing a lot of those 2-hour sleep and preparation involved, especially those people whom I’ve met and encountered during rehearsals and show proper. But at least my experience will be cherished in the years to come.

Kiddie Crew, thanks for making me a part of you. ‘Til next time!

At salamat ulit sa inyo!

McDo Marketing: Fidel, Dothy, Cez

Team Ronald: Philip, Rayn, Cris, Gilbert

JC, Erika, Carol, Van, Meann & direk Mark

Logistics: Jeff, Chona & Melvin,

Production: Cha, Ariel, EddieBoy, Ben, Lakay & the Finishing Team

Jon (choreographer)

upon arrival in mactan airport

my stage design for the KC show Cebu

A view of the old Insular office in cebu

the new IL Cebu

the KC team with KC head Fidel Balbieran (seated, middle)

IL Davao at night

the show held at Gaisano Mall Davao

Cosplay moment

Napugutan but still happy! haha!!!

With McD big boss Kenneth Yang & others (haha others!!!)

posing at a Balete Tree at WTC

My CGI team

With Jillian Ward, McD's kid ambassadress

My KC CGI team - JC, Carol & Erika

a fun shoot with the KC participants

Thanks for everything, Kiddie Crew!!!

As I am writing this post, I’m still here at Mactan Airport waiting for my flight to come. You will be surprised because originally, my 8:00PM flight with Air Philippines was cancelled due to “airplane situation” (whatever that is). If that wasn’t enough, my new flight was changed a couple of times as well, starting off with a chance flight with PAL at 8:30 (Air Phil is also owned by PAL), then going back to AirPhil for the 10:40PM flyout. Little did I know, at the last minute, as the personnel prepared my boarding pass, she announced the flight was even moved to 11:40PM. HUUUUUWWWATTT!!! WTF!!!!

It was really weird why these things happened today. As I traced my day  (May 14), I also noticed other incidents that ironically turned unusual since it started. First, our rehearsals for today’s Cebu event for McDonald’s Kiddie Crew finished almost 5:30AM where in fact run thrus could have polished around 2AM. The dancers we commissioned threatened of boycotting the event at the last minute because of miscommunication (read: nag-iinarte lang yung manager/choreographer kuno nila at sobrang pinuyat raw ang kanyang alaga). During the event proper, my acrobats failed to show up, hence, my morning show was affected. Partly related to the acrobats, we already made downpayment to them, so technically it was a double blow for me who was directing the whole show. Oh I almost forgot! Didn’t I mention that my special guest arrived ultra delayed because of their flight from Manila? And now, they’re staying at a very posh 5-star hotel because their flight to Manila was inexplicably cancelled?!? Haaaaayyyy…

Honestly, I couldn’t even fathom what the hell went wrong with what transpired today. It was like Friday the 13^th happening on a Saturday. Ironically, Friday the 13^th was indeed yesterday, but the bad luck came out late. And as a price for that, here I am still typing this blog, still sleepy and still body beaten from all of it, while awaiting my flight home. Really hoping things would be better. Yun lang, after I get my flight home, I still have to travel all the way to Pansol, Laguna to join my family for some overnight relaxation. Oh well, I’ll just think ganun talaga… that when things go wrong, sometimes, hanggang the last minute may humahabol…

Sige na nga lang.