I just finished my period of participating in a marketing research program for a few audio devices related to MP3. The marketing research was conducted by Acorn Marketing Research. I’ve heard of other marketing research company such as Frost & Sullivan, AC Neilson, Synovate (Tried to get a part time job there but failed) but I never heard of Acorn before. As I can recall, I participated in 2 marketing research one for a new kind of cereal (Just got a free gift though) and the other is for I guess it was a Pringle vs Mister Potato (I was picked from the street and they didn’t reveal the product name. I was paid RM15 after that).

About three weeks ago, I was contacted by someone who knew LV and therefore decided to try out the marketing research program. At first, I had to go into a screening call to make sure that I was the right candidate. The interview lasted more then half an hour and after answering all the questions, the appointment was set the next week and I find myself to their office located in Bukit Damansara. I knew that I was getting paid (a generous one too) so it doesn’t worry me to pay those expensive fuel and parking fees to go there.

I was told to bring over my MP3 player and my casual earphones or headphones. I really don’t owned one since I just use my Sony Ericsson W810i to listen to MP3 so I borrowed my brother’s 3 years old MP3 Player and told the interviewer that I use 2 devices for different occasions.

My Sony Ericsson W810i and MSI Mega Stick 1

After almost an hour of interview and filling up a few answering sheets form, I was shown 4 audio devices from different manufacturer and asked for my opinion on what I think of it. After all that is done, the interviewer gave me 5 set of products for me to try out for 2 weeks and report my finding in the forms provided. Here’s what I took home (plus got paid as well):

Test Products That I Was Given

How the test was done is during the first week, I had to select one product to be tested for the whole day. After one day, I need to fill up the report sheets given and then I had to pick another one the day after. Once every product have been tested and reports were filled up, I had to choose the one that I like the most and try it out for one week before giving the final verdict. It’s that simple.

The first product on my first day that I had chose was:

MOTOROKR S9 Bluetooh Stereo Headphones

It was no surprise that I went for this one first. It’s wireless, the futuristic look and most of all, Bluetooth. My only Bluetooth enabled product is my Sony Ericsson W810i, my Compaq Presario V3751AU and my Sony Ericsson Bluetooth headset HBH-GV435. The product also came paired with this transmitter which is supposed to work with my MP3 stick:

Sony Bluetooth Portable Stereo Transmitter

My only problem was this:

Sony US AC Power Adaptor

The adaptor had a AC120V where here in Malaysia we use AC240V. I had to wait for the step down transformer before I can charge the Bluetooth transmitter. Surprisingly, you can buy a small step down transmitter at Low Yatt plaza for only RM22. Unfortunately, my Sony Ericsson couldn’t transmit MP3 songs for listening. Since my laptop has Bluetooth, I attached the MOTOROKR S9 with my Compaq V3751AU and enjoyed my MP3 songs while waiting for the step down transformer to arrive. I was also told that none of these products are available in the local market yet which is why they were testing it first.

The sound quality of the MOTOROKR S9 was very good but the comfort wasn’t so good because the strap head gives pressure to the side of my head. Furthermore, since I wear glasses, it somehow got in the way of my frames making it more uncomfortable. It might be suitable for active person who loves the gym. Upon wearing it, I find it hard to wear because I had to wear it from the back of the head. Overall, although I like the wireless mobility, I wouldn’t buy it because it’s not comfortable.

My second day, this was the product that I choose to try:

Creative EP-570 Stereo Music Earphones

I had a bad experience using earclip earphones before. It was really uncomfortable. As expected, it was still uncomfortable for me even though the product had some cushioning and the clip is customizable. The sound quality is okay and the ease of storage is there. Still, I don’t think I’ll wear this because I find it uncomfortable and hard to wear since I had to touch my ear just to make sure the clip is secured.

My third day, I wear this one:

Sony Comfortable Soft Hanger MDR J20SP

Now this product is really comfortable. The rubber hanger is soft and flexible. The sound quality is very good yet my main issue is the cord just too short. Attaching it to my mobile MP3 player stick, it’s really handy but because of the short cord, I can’t put it in my pant’s side pocket. The verdict, I don’t think I’ll buy this product.

My fourth day, I wore this:

Creative Stereo Headphones HQ1400

I’ve told the research interviewer that I would really prefer this headphone over all of the rest because I like the comfort and the sound insulation the design of the headphones. For a bulky design, the headphone is surprisingly light probably because of the light material used. After trying out for a day, I find the sound insulation is acceptable, the bass and treble is awesome and I can wear this for hours without a problem. I chose this product as my favourite one.

Two weeks past and it’s time to give back all the loaned products and submit over the filled up feedback form. I took a picture of the entire products before returning back the stuff:

The interviewer interviewed me for the last time to get more feedbacks from me and to my surprise, he told me that I can take home the product of my choice. I couldn’t believe it so I asked him several time if he was kidding me. At first, I was thinking of taking the Motorola MOTOROKR S9 back home because I knew it would cost me more than RM400++ if I were to buy one. Then again, I don’t really think I’ll use the S9 so often and that would be ashamed. I finally took home the Creative Stereo Headphones HQ1400 and not regretting of not taking the S9.

LV had a more interesting product to test. She brought home 5 mono Bluetooth mono headsets to try out.

She finally taken home this Bluetooth headset:

lip II mini Bluetooth Headset chosen by Laadvamore

The reason for this was because she find that for those girls who wears ‘tudung’, this is the most suitable one. I saw this product sold at a ‘pasar malam’ nearby my house for RM120. I guess she made a good choice by getting this one complimentary of the product test research activity on top of the remaining complimentary ‘ang-pow’.

This was actually my 3rd market research participation and certainly the most rewarding one. I would certainly participate in another product market research if given such opportunity.

About almost a month ago, I blogged about BarCamp Malaysia and how I got to know about it. Last Saturday was the day that BarCamp Malaysia actually commenced. It was quite impressive the amount of sponsors that BarCamp Malaysia had acquired.

There were so many sessions which got me torn apart to choose upon which one I should go to. I then finally decided to go to any sessions that I managed to squeeze myself in. I brought along my laptop but hardly even use it after I found out that the Wi-Fi is unusable. My big fat Maxis Wireless Broadband modem which I happened to bring along is just too big to setup. Maybe it is time for me to get myself a Pocket PC or a BlackBerry. Then again, that would mean I need to put aside some money just for that purpose alone.

BarcampMalaysia KL Morning Registration at Xtrain

The Widgeo.us Session

Widgeo.us Introduction

I would have gone to the Google Android session but the room was packed full. I then went to Widgeo.us session instead. Honestly, I have no idea what Widgeo.us can or able to do. I do know that it has something to do with widgets based on their name. I’ll give it a try when I have some spare time.

RIA Development via Flex + JROR

RIA Development via Flex + JRoR

This session was really meant for programmers. In my day to day job, I don’t look at anymore of those web programming languages unless if it is really necessary for me to do so. Nowadays, there are plenty of technical programming tools available and these tools save time and resources instead of looking at programming codes line by line. Nevertheless, learning those codes will eventually help especially if you stumble upon problems and needed to find solutions. Anyway, I walked out from this session because there was no need for me to learn this topic, at least for now.

Monetizing Youtube

Monetizing Youtube Session

Now this was a really interesting session. The topic alone drew a full house of people into the small room. At first I thought this session might be some way or techniques to make money off from Youtube. I was wrong instead it was a new concept of pattern recognizing technology that instantly indentifies a pattern and turns it into an advertising medium in a form of 3D object or logo. It’s a brilliant idea Presented by the enthusiastic Roni Mustafa from Urekalabs but I think if this were to be introduced here in Malaysia, a lot of promotion, a lot of dedication and presentation is needed to attract advertisers.

A few people from the crowd at the time were bashing the idea by making comparison of similar technology used in the US but in the end, a lot of supports were shown by the audience to help this brilliant minded group to go further with their work.

Lunch Time

BarCamp Malaysia Lunch Time

The food was awesome.

BarCamp Malaysia 2008 Launching Ceremony

Khai Lee gave an enthusiastic opening speech at the opening of BarCamp right after lunchtime. I certainly was entertained by his Emcee skills. Check it out at the video taken by my cameraphone below:

The video is also available on Youtube using the link below:

• BarCampMalaysia KL 2008 Official Opening (Part 1)
• BarCampMalaysia KL 2008 Official Opening (Part 2)

Bridging People with Ideas Session

Bridging People with Ideas Session

Presented by Kelvin, during the first 15 minutes make sense where he talked about bringing in non-tech and non-IT people into the scene and organizing events and talk. After that, the idea got contradicted by mashing up other ideas and bringing in other people to diversify the entire theme and events.

Personally, I don’t think it make sense when something too in-depth is then being generalized in order to keep it balance. It should be either specialized or generalized. I know that once in a while, variety can make it more fun for participant or what people nowadays call it ‘fusion’. Then again, I just got confused and if I were a buyer, I would totally reject what is being sold.

A Whole New Perspective by Ameer

Then came along Ameer from Sudan who happened to crash into BarCamp and talked about his upcoming book which I’ve forgotten the title. I do know that is has something to do with Islam and some kind of revolution or was it evolution. It was an interesting topic but to me, I don’t take this seriously because I’m not that radical enough to be talking about all the subjects and topics that Ameer has brought up.

Jumping The Shark

Jumping the Shark Session

I nearly fell asleep in this session. I’m not actually a brainstormer so to pick out ideas out of my brain after a good lunch is rather useless. Nevertheless, the good point from this session is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and be careful of the big guns because they have all the resources to make or break you.

Entrepreneurs Going Global

Entrepreneur Going Global Session

This session was moderated by my buddy Cerventus. Three panel experts were invited namely, Vishen Lakhiani from Mindvalley, Ganesh Kumar from MOL.com, Roslan from MDEC and Siva an entrepreneur mentor. Now this session was a really good one since it was full of experience sharing, business information and the best is free advice for wannabe entrepreneurs. I love the idea of becoming an online entrepreneur and I am planning to become one myself. I think the best advice is to always build your own client database because that where the money will always be.

Blogging in Malaysia

Blogging in Malaysia Session

I sat behind HongKiat in this session. Other celebrity bloggers were also in the session as well such as Gobala Krishnan, LiewCF and Syokkahwin author Fayz. I remain silent the entire session because I don’t find the session to be useful to me. To me, blogging is just a tool for the use of delivering and sharing information. Maybe I should have shared “how I use blogs to make 2 of my company’s website to get listed on the search engine for specified keywords” or “how I landed a job using blogs”. Oh well, at least I learned a thing or two in this session.

Summary

If I were to describe this first BarCamp Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur in one word, I would have to say “Fusion”. It was a pity I couldn’t come to the second day of BarCamp Malaysia because of a scheduled commitment. Visit BarCamp Malaysia Official website to read more of this awesome event.

On the 13th of July which was two weeks ago, I went to Bangsar to attend a public talk. A few days before that, I saw an advertorial that says “Here’s how you can get a job in advertising paying you a salary of RM2,300. Guaranteed.” The headline alone drew me to read the half a page content. The advertisement was from 95%: The Advertising Academy so it did a good job at making me notice and take action to come to their talk.

Since LV is a masscom student majoring in advertising, I brought her along as well just to give her some insight of what her future career will look like. I’ve already have a career but somewhere deep inside of me, I have a lot of interest in advertising. Eventhough I blew up some of my own advertising money during a few weeks of online advertising campaign I practiced a couple of years ago, I still think advertising has an endless bright future.

95% The Advertising Academy Office

A Scene Before The 95% The Advertising Academy Talk

The talk starts at 2.30pm so even though I was kind of late, I still managed to arrive there.

Janet Lee Giving A Speech

That’s Janet Lee, she’s one of the founder of 95% The Advertising Academy. They have their own blog here if you are interested to read what they are planning to do or what they have done so far.

The Welcome to Advertising Slide Show

The welcoming slide is rather simple but quite creative. If you cannot read what the fineprint is saying, it says “Say goodbye to dull and boring days”. Basically it was assuming that people who came there are looking for a career change and advertising are one of the industry that isn’t dull and boring.

One of the trainer at 95% The Advertising Academy

That’s Shaikh Shahnaz Karim. He was the one presenting the entire presentation to the audience. He was actually from the IT industry before he came into the advertising world which he finds it ‘colourful’. Now read this, the advertising industry is a RM5 BILLION industry in Malaysia alone. That’s a HUGE amount of money! Now look at this figure:

Number of advertising agencies in Malaysia

I think there are plenty of shares to have more advertising agencies in Malaysia for that RM5 billion advertising pie. That might be one of the reason 95 percent ad academy has come out with a program called Hydrogen. The program cost RM15,000 for 6 months but there is a screening before you are actually admitted into the program. They have 3 positions to be filled; 1)Copywriter 2)Strategic Planner 3)Account Executive. If I were to choose, I think I’ll go for copywriting since I like to play around with words.

95 percent Advertising Agency Hydrogen program

The best thing about the program is it is sort of like a crash course training twice during your weekdays evening and you are actually guaranteed a job. If I were looking for a job or a career change, I think this program is really worth it. Just think of the time you can save by leveraging through your mentor’s network and experience and you get paid on top of that. It’s a healthy investment. The advertising industry is the only industry that can connect and communicate with every industry available because of their excellent medium which is now become really targeted using Information Technology. Throughout the talk, they’ve shown us sample videos of advertisement from many different countries and which videos won the Kancil Awards and the Cannes Lions festival.

Then again, I’ve already found my career field which is currently in the IT solution and application. 95 % The Advertising Academy works closely with the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia. You can check out their blog at http://enter95percent.blogspot.com/ or visit http://www.rise67.com to learn more about their program.

The past several years have seen a lot of my friends finally settle down and started their own family. Deep down inside of me, it hurts not to admit that I myself also wanting to get married. To make matters worse, my younger brother’s wedding is just next month and I will be busy helping him out along with my other family members. Aren’t it supposed to be the big brother getting married first? Oh well, I have plenty of excuses for that.

On Friday the 4th of July, I went to MidValley for the 2008 Malay Wedding Fair Exhibition. The event was organized by Urban Vibe and I was quite impressed by the number of exhibitors who had participated. I’ve actually started to take down notes and gathered a bunch of brochures to come out with a budgetary for my own wedding. The last time I went for a wedding event was last year at Plaza Alam Sentral Shah Alam but it was just a small one. I haven’t been doing thumbnails on my blog yet, so I’ll put one this time:

It seems like the financial numbers can really kill my financial well being. I’ll probably look like this once I get the total sum of what my budgetary projection will be like:

Me Thinking of my depleting wallet

A couple of months ago, I went to Nilai 3 and it is known as the “Malay Wedding Haven”. There’s every kind of wedding shops available over there and it’s jam packed every weekend of public holidays. Here is another thumbnail of photos:

Honestly, I find that the price over at Nilai 3 is slightly higher. It is much more reasonable to buy it at the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s especially in Jalan TAR or Jalan Masjid India. Anyway, I think I’m going to leave the shopping part to my future wife as my pocket will definitely be wounded. Ouch!