And the winner is...

 Once again, the Haitian beer gets the gold, the glory and confirms its bragging rights…pinning one additional gold medal to its shoulders. This medal comes short after the Dutch brewer Heineken NV’s recent acquisition of Brasserie Nationale d’Haïti, the Haiti based brewer of Prestige; confirming Prestige’s Lettre de Noblesse in the American-Style Cream Ale/Lager category. 

Gathering an elite international panel of judges screening through 799 breweries from 54 countries and 45 U.S. states, entering 3,921 beers in 95 beer style category, the 9th bi-annual competition of the 2012 Brewers Association World Beer Cup is referred to some as zeu Olympics of Beer Competition.

"It's called 'The Olympics of Beer Competition' for good reason," said Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, the U.S. -based trade association that has put on the competition every two years since 1996. "The event brings together great brewers from all corners of the globe. Plus, the awards are highly regarded. It’s no surprise that a brewer who wins a World Beer Cup gold award knows that their winning beer represents the best of that beer style in the world.[1]

The emblematic Prestige is for Haitians a thing of pride; Evidence that Haitian excellence is possible amidst its tag of the poorest country in the Americas. Currently being exported to the US and Canada, Prestige now reaches its Diaspora, and the ever growing network of fans and aficionados.

Indeed, Prestige delivers a very agreeable, satisfying and distinctive taste. At 5.6% alcohol, it comes in strong but delivers to the palette smoothly. “There may bit a bit of voodoo in every 4th beer” says a foreigner tasting Prestige for the fist time[2]…surely referring to the lager’s nice kick, but also to the perfectly abstract, at times even supernatural nature of the Haitian people. Yep! From an island like no other, it’s a beer come true!

Prestige, born and raised in Haiti – with Dutch parents.

And compliments to Haitians worldwide! This is something to celebrate and to be proud of.


[1] http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/media/press-releases/show?title=2012-world-beer-cup-winners-announced
[2] beerofthecaribbean.com

Comfort Zones Make Creatives...ahem...Uncomfortable.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vrogy/

“Well done!” says the Account Executive, proud to have delivered on time. “Right…” answers the graphic designer thinking he did it well, but had he been given enough time, it would have made the difference between “good” and “awesomeness.”

I heard or read somewhere that every creative needs something to rebel against, and in this case, the rebellion usually happens between the creatives and the accounts people.  Accounts wants to keep things on track: "We don’t change a formula that works!" The Creative reiterates: "I want to re-inivent the wheel."

And there it goes…the eternal incompatibility of character, lol.

To our beloved Account Managers and Executives here at PG, and all around...know that it is in the creatives’ nature to want to change things. DNA oblige, they can't play by the rules for the obvious reasons that rules are made to broken…but not “broken”in the delinquent sense of the word… but more like, breaking new grounds or breaking the top speed, or simply break dancing to Bach 9th Symphony because it feels good! Comfort zones make creatives uncomfortable.  

PG over, and out.

Manje Ayisyen (Haitan Food)

Found on Haiti Tourism inc's Facebook Page

Haitian food. You’ve had it. Or you’ve heard of it. Our food is no doubt the tastiest of this region.

Let’s elaborate: 

When a country’s taste buds and cuisine has been influenced by the likes of French, African, Spanish and Amerindian delights, it’s natural for its food to be so scrumptious and unique. Throughout our history, several foreign countries occupied our island, and introduced food and ideas from their native lands, many of which significantly affected the menus we modern Haitians eat. A true melting pot indeed. 

Though Haitian food is often grouped together with other Caribbean lands as "Caribbean cuisine", our country maintains exceptional and unique flavors. From endemic ingredients to distinctive recipes, Zagat or the Michelin guide would surely have fun sampling and rating our local restaurants and dishes. Ever had a good Bouillon cooked with the goat's head, simmered pork knees, Rum green pea pigeon, or Di Ri Djondjon ? The latter is one of our many specifically native dishes to Haiti. Diri djondjon is “black mushroom flavored rice”. It requires the juice from an endemic black mushrooms call Djon Djon, a locally grown fungi used to color the rice black. Trust us, it’s delicious, like rice with attitude. 

Some other truly Haitian dishes include TonmTonm ak Calalou, which consists of a bread fruit puree accompanied by seasoned okra; Finish that off with a pain patate desert, a sweetened potato, fig, and banana pudding (add some condensed milk to it)...and voilà! Make sure you have a good Rhum Barbancourt around to complement as a digestive and call it a feast fit for a king. 

There are a myriad of other dishes, and so we strongly suggest you buy yourself one of the great Haitian cooking books available in local libraries. May we suggest "My Favorite Recipes" by Marie-Denise Célestin. 

Ah! We started salivating at the idea of the food we’ve listed so far, but this blog wouldn’t be complete if we didn't list the following: Riz et Pois National (rice and kidney beans much like the Cuban dish), Mayi moulen (cornmeal mush), pikliz (spicy pickled carrots and cabbage), Bannann peze (fried plantains, similar to bananas), tasso (deep-fried beef), griot (fried pork), etc, etc...

If you haven’t had a chance to sample our cuisine, we can recommend a few places in Haiti and abroad to get a feel of what you've been missing:

In Haiti, try La Coquille: a very clean buffet style restaurant right in the heart of Petion-Ville.

In Miami, try TapTap: a typical Haitian a-la-carte menu. We recommend the poisson gwosèl.

In New York City, try Krik Krak: Krik Krak's dishes are full of flavors that are marinaded with celestial Haitian spices that will leave a smile on your face.   

Once you’ve had our food, you will open up your buds to our land and magic. Tasting our chow makes your understand our culture. Food for soul and satisfaction guaranteed.

Do you have a favorite Haitian flavored restaurant? In Montreal, Canada? In Washington DC? In Paris, France? In Atlanta? Wherever you are located. Share them all with us. Comment below. :)

Prestige, la bière d’Haïti

So, we’re pretty sure that by now, you’ve heard that Heineken NV has acquired more shares of BRANA, the brewer of our national pride, Prestige and other leading brands such Malta H and Guinness. BRANA also produces and bottles other well-known-and-sentimentally-haitian brands such as Toro,  King Cola and Sources Crystal. They also produce Teem, 7up and Pepsi under license.

This comes at a time where there’s a lot of signs of Haiti being the apple of the eye of many foreign investors, where, perhaps Haiti is the new land of opportunity…Oh by the way (and this has nothing to do with our post today) the US is changing their slogan to “the United States of infinite possibilities”.

There are a lot of mixed feelings about the acquisition, but let us put you at ease with the idea, and show you how we see it. Mercedes Benz will always be German even if some of its cars are produced in Mexico. Budweiser will always be American even if a Belgian company owns it, and Prestige will always be THE Haitian beer even if produced by the third largest brewer in the world. This change will actually help propel Prestige onto another level. Sure, Prestige is already sold in certain states in the USA and Canada, but how proud would you feel if you found Prestige on a cruise ship, and in the most secluded of places!?

What we’re trying to say here is that Heineken NV making this move, the local market will surely benefit from it. For one, it means more jobs. I personally bet ya that within 2 years we will have at least 2 to 3 other local beers. How fun would that be to have the choice between 3 Haitian beers on a menu. I know that on a Monday night, I’d love a Prestige light. Okay, maybe two.

You see, the more there is demand for the beer, the more places the beer is sold, the more sustainable jobs here in Haiti there will be. Heineken is a pretty good example to follow when it comes to great Corporate Responsibility socially, environmentally and financially - and will continue on with BRANA's traditions. This opens up a world of possibilities.

Now, if you’re worried that by having a foreign shareholder means that Prestige will no longer be truly Haitian, you are surely mistaking. Prestige was born and raised in Haiti. Prestige belongs to us. It belongs to you. It belongs to me. It is us, consumers, who are the true owners of Prestige and it will belong to generations to come. 

Kenbe Prestige ou! 

Btw, Heineken NV is a publically traded company. Hint hint…You might want to buy a few shares yourself. ;)

Fix your Bike

For this post,  we will attempt to do an exercise. 

We invite you to take part in this process. If done well,   it will have thought us all a lesson... or two. 

Let's start by taking a look at this picture:

Take a close look and you will see many reasons why this bike is a pain in the you know what. While looking at the image, right here, right now, list ALL the things that are keeping YOU from moving forward. List all the psychologic or life flat tires that are inhibiting your success,  and write them down. It could be anything. Anything that is keeping you from reaching your fullest potential. Keep the list. We will.

By next monday,  fix your bike or fix your car or fix your laptop, and post it for your appreciation. By then, we will each take our individual list and learn, by looking at the restored "bicycle",  how to rewrite our negative life affirmations into positive ones. 

It could be a life changing week! Especially with the new year resolutions!  

Go! Go! Go! 

List at least three things that are keeping your tires flat... See you next monday. 

Creativity

Were you born creative? Or were you brought up, groomed and brewed to become one?  Picasso says all kids are artists. We could argue the whole “nurture Vs nature” approach to continue the debate but this time, we will talk about how the use of your left brain vs. the right brain determines ones creativity.

When we did a quick survey around the creative side of the agency… it seems most of us at PG were brewed, by design, to do something creative, sampling the Arts for as long as we can remember, drawing circles, learning to play piano, playing with paint, writing on trees or on mom’s new sofa…  Do you think you have a creative mind? Chances are, YOU do, but you don’t know it! We get reprogrammed at an early age. From the day we step foot inside of a kindergarten, our memory disks are reformatted to develop the logical, language-based, rational capacities of the left side of our brain. You know, that side of the brain that is goal-oriented, intolerant, that loves to plan and lives in the past?  

What does this mean for us creative folks? Well, the left side remembers objects as they were thought to us. So, if you are asked to draw a hand, for example, we remember the symbol we have for "hand" from our left memory, replicate it like a robot and move on. By contrast, the right side is capable of expressing objects or feelings with restrictions only our imagination can limit.  
You want to muscle up the right brain and give your creative side a chance to shine? Follow the steps below:  

1. The first stage is to, as cliché as it sounds, step outside the box. Forget the past and remember that you have little use for it. The box in this case, is your left side of the brain that will already give you a concept based on what it knows. Of course, any creative innovation unavoidably is inspired by what came before it. For a journalist, this might mean reading extensively, cataloguing, assessing, defining, and ranking.  

2. Then, what you should do is, walk away. Literally walk. Since your right brain is linked with the left-side of your body and vice versa, walking will help you sync and balance your thoughts. When our left side and our right side are fighting to solve a problem, walking is a fantastic way to have great ideas come unconsciously.  

3. EUREKA! It came so unexpectedly! The lightbulb turned on! This will seldom happen at your desk. Give your left-brain some rest, and do something that would stimulate the right side: exercising, taking a long shower, sleeping (when sleeping, that’s when the right brain usually takes over, so get as much as you can!).  

4. Then, the left brain wants to take dominance. This is when you challenge the creative breakthrough you just had. Scientists do this in the laboratory. Painters do this on a canvas. Designers do it by translating a vision into pixels. If you are an accountant, you save the company a couple of buck on QuickBooks. If you are a mathematician, you do this by using new formulas. 

Ultimately, we are all born with pretty colors waving around in our brains. We are all creatives. Know the highest creativity is understanding how to engage your whole brain by moving docilely and deliberately between the right and left sides, action and timeout, determination and rest, breath and out-breath. That is also a simple prescription for how to live.  

PG, over and out.  

Haitian Halloween - Guede

Papa Guede (Baron Samedi)

This monday precedes one of the most folkloresque seasons of the year. Haiti is on holiday, and so is our entry for this October 31st. But because we love and appreciate you stopping by so much, we've provided you with a few links to learn more about an interesting voodoo festivity, Guede, and its cultural meaning. Here at PubliGestion, we are quite the diverse group in which most religions and beliefs are represented. Nonetheless, this ceremony is, if we may admit it, impregnated into any creative Haitian's spirit. Aibobo...

English:

Vodou and The Guede Spirits (Haitian Halloween): http://www.heritagekonpa.com/The%20Truth%20about%20Vodou%20and%20the%20Guede%20Spirit.htm, 

Guédé: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%A9d%C3%A9

French:

La fête des Guédés / Haïti / 2 novembre: http://constellations-maf.over-blog.com/article-la-fete-des-guedes-haiti-2-novembre--38643823.html, 

La célébration du deuil: http://www.lenouvelliste.com/articles/1/63700

We are all weird. (et oui !)

Pour reprendre les mots du créatif Dr. Seuss : "Nous sommes (en effet) tous un peu bizarre et la vie est elle aussi un peu bizarre et quand nous trouvons quelqu'un dont la bizarrerie est compatible avec la nôtre, nous nous joignons à elle dans une bizarrerie mutuelle en appelant cela l'amour". 

A en croire Dr. Seuss, l’amour au sens propre n’est donc qu’une quête existentielle de compatibilité avec l’autre confirmant le vieil adage "qui se ressemble s’assemble". Mais, voyez vous, les temps ont changé! Ah oui, bien changé ! 

Je me suis récemment mise à feuilleter le dernier livre de Seth Godin intitulé "We Are All Weird" qui, traduit en "French", signifie que "Nous sommes tous bizarres". Et je peux vous le confirmer, Godin a bien raison ! Godin explique que pendant l’âge de la "masse", c’est-à-dire à l’ère du marketing de masse, de la fabrication de masse, de la scolarisation de masse et des mouvements de masse, il fallait être "normal", conforme à la norme, ne pas détonner. La majorité avait toujours raison et nous voulions tous intégrer, sans les contredire les normes de nos tribus respectives. 

Aujourd’hui, la masse est morte et elle laisse place à "l’individu". C’est l’ère de la customisation et de l’expression de soi. C’est "Vive la différence et ne vivre que par elle !"

En conclusion, et en résumé : Dansons tous au rythme de notre propre musique. Soyons pleinement qui nous sommes car nous sommes la meilleure version possible de nous-même ! Soyons joyeusement bizarre !

Ci-dessous, un exemple d'une compagnie qui a rapidement compris cette nouvelle tendance ...

Le jeu de mots et la pub

En général, le jeu de mots s'appuie pour un effet maximal sur le jonglage de différents mots et imageries y relatives, qu’il soit phonologique, graphologique, morphologiques, lexical, syntaxique ou textuel.
Un jeu de mots en pub est efficace si et seulement si :

-      Il est bien ciblé « culturellement »
-      Il renforce l’idée principale
-      Il est compris de la majorité.

Bien conçu, un jeu de mot peut même se permettre d’être un peu bête si il est assez amusant. Dans ce sens, on pourrait imaginer un slogan pour une compagnie d’Assurance qui « protège les bijoux de famille !». lol
Où un « Je pense donc j’essuie » pour une lingette jetable,
Ou enfin « Eau qu’elle est belle ! » pour une eau bien emballé…

Les possibilités sont infinies…Mais il faut toujours rester loin des jeux de mots gratuits en trouvant le mélange juste et en se souciant surtout de l’interprétation.

Récemment, nous avons utilisé le slogan "Kou Manman" pour une campagne de fête des mères. Un mot qui isolé et mis en dehors de son contexte gêne certainement les prudes. Dans une pub de fête des mères par contre, là c’est tout autre chose !

Et d’ailleurs  si vous voulez savoir exactement ce que nous sommes en somme ici à PubliGestion je vous répondrai qu’en fait, nous sommes tous…enfin presque tous…. des obsédés textuels. Haha. :-)

"Kou Manman !!! de MSC Trading"
Publiée dans le journal "Le Nouvelliste" pendant la saison de Fête des mères 2010. 

PubliGestion's Logo and Mondrian

Designers are sometimes the unsung heroes who make the most meaningless things come true to life. They are those talented folks who help translate the visions of marketing and the objectives of the client. With their methods, laws and creative fervor, they create masterpieces with timeless value. We think our logo is a masterpiece. Frankly, because it is. No, we're not being cocky. Keep reading... :)

Have you ever noticed, for example that our logo is inspired by Piet Mondrian’s “Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow, 1930” painting? This is not by sheer coincidence.

 Piet Mondrian’s "Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow"

Our name “PubliGestion” when dissected, it goes like this:“Publi” the first half of our name simply means “many” or “multi”, but when you start analyzing it in its Latin roots, it means people, concerning people or belonging to the people. Now, “Gestion” is the French for “Management.” So, in short “PubliGestion” means combining efforts to manage, influence, inspire or produce.

PubliGestion's logo

Back to Mondrian: if you look for the meaning behind his paintings, the most common is that there is a balance between all elements within his geometric pieces thanks to his use of white space and his stroke techniques generating a greater sense of depth in the white forms. Most importantly, it’s Mondrian’s relentless pursuit of new dynamism within a set of shapes and structures that really inspired us.

Now, if you're wondering about why we chose blue and orange, well that's gonna have to wait for another blog entry when we talk about color therapy. ;)

EIGHT (8) Advertising Books You MUST Read

Are you an advertiser? If so, you are a constant student of the craft. Our industry keeps changing, and in order not to be phased out, there are books you must read. Let’s face it, the right reading resources will help fuel your inner Bernbach.

The only constant in advertising is change. If you want to maintain your agency’s success in the field, you have to keep up. Honestly, some will argue that it is not easy, but this change in communications and marketing is simply revolutionary.

In order to stay on top on things, and on top of the competition, here’s a little reading list:

1. Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want 

2. How to Win Friends & Influence People

3. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

4. Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks) 

5. Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers

6. The E-Myth Revisited

7. Fils de pub 

8. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

Enjoy a good book, and remember to maintain a consistent reading program! ;-)

If you have any books you’d like to share with us, please share them in the comment section below.

When Apple and BlackBerry were just fruits

Try to remember how life was back in the non-digital days. Rotary phones, phonebooks, boom boxes, cassettes; The Atari; The Polaroid; The stamped envelopes (!!!) 

At the time, and looking back, technology was clearly at its early stage. Never too harmful. Never too present. One click into the future…and into 2011 and BANG: Our new smartphones are doing all of the above and so much more.

Technology evolved so quickly and smartly. For example, an interesting study reveals that a rat and a MacBook Pro are of similar intelligence.* My own assumption is that the iPod Touch is probably as smart as a poodle; Just how the poodle will fetch a bone, the iPod will fetch you the Bone Thugs and Harmony discography in a jiffy. Proof enough?

In advertising for instance, technology is already bringing innovative and unheard of possibilities. TheSun.com has an interesting story today about a new technology being test marketed in Japan right now. This product is a billboard with facial recognition software to scan your face, determine your gender and then deliver an appropriate ad.

Tèt chaje indeed. It’s a brave new world out there and we are so happy and so excited to be part of it!

This week nonetheless, we invite you all to unplug for a moment from the digital world. Go back to reading that paper-back book. Go off the wire. Take a vacay. Remove yourself from the grid. Unplug. Go find yourself different sets of distractions away from the digital noise. Immerse yourself into the blue noise of stillness. Open your horizons and emancipate yourself from digital slavery!

;^) 

Ok ok ok. LMAO You can go back to work now. Seriously? What would we do if Apple was just a fruit?  

New ET at PubliGestion

 

Bzzzt gzzt... Earth to PubliGestion, Earth to Publigestion!

A month before this post, you would've pulled a taro card and told me I would work at PubliGestion and I still wouldn't believe you. We could even bet on it and I'd probably be the one ending up buying the first round of Prestige, byen glase!

2 weeks before, the Agency deployed two of their own kind to visit me.  They came in with their flying saucer, flashed a blue light at me and that was it. I was an official UFO (eMarketing Coordinator/Designer in human terms) stationed in the "Zen Room";  A little e-room called this way by our Marketing Director... because it's usually where the cosmic energies conjugate.  I share the space with two other ETs. One deals with keeping me busy from 8:30 to 4:30; she's the Interactive Community Strategist and the other is an Intern from Planet Mark_Elenin. We are the Social Media Department and boy do the inhabitants here drink black coffee!

Though it sounds scary, working with aliens like the creative folks here at Publigestion is proving to be a great experience, like eating double bacon cheese burger with extra ketchup in zero G. In my next post, we'll go into the details about the life of a Digital Marketer in Haiti.

In the meantime, leave us a comment.

Ciao! bbzzzz bzzzz. Over and out.

Can your intern write your blog?

If your intern is an English major, or a writer with a proven track in writing engaging and consistent content that is search engine optimized…hmmm, maybe? However, rule 101, remember that your blog has to be coherent. By coherent we mean logical and consistent. In a field of infinite blogging possibilities, great blogs revolve around subjects  its bloggers know best. The secret is to always theme posts that are part of your field of lexicon. That way readers know what to expect from you, and keep on coming for more of the same good stuff.

If you always blog about hot dogs, don’t diversify and talk about the new breed from the American Kennel Club. You know?  Before deciding to have a blog, remember this: good blogging takes time and commitment.  If your company is serious about creating an essentially great blog, begin with the end in mind.  

Not to toot our horn, but our social media team would like to remind you that a great blog (and we’re starting to think our blog isn’t too bad) must have many brains, but a distinctive pen.  With training and practice, your intern may be able to write your company’s blog. So, to Nathalie (our new intern), if you are willing to jump the ink, we’d love to train you! From the way you talk about your weekend escapades, you must be natural born storyteller. :-)

What do you wanna do when you grow up?

This Saturday, I had the “what do you want to be when you grow up?” conversation with my 7-year-old godson, and the clever little dude replies: “when you were my age, Facebook didn’t exist right?” To which I had to obviously reply “No. It didn’t.”  With a grin on his face he says: “When I’m your age, I’ll have a career in something that doesn’t exist yet.” How cool is that?

Facebook was a few years old when I got to college. The first thing I signed up  for with my “.edu” email account was Facebook. Back then the social network was only opened to college students, and grandma was not sending you FarmVille requests! ... And the rest is history.

When Zuckerberg and his team decided to open it up to the public at large, it was clear his baby would become a digital superpower. It is unimaginable how much social networks have turned our world upside down giving a whole new dimension to being citizens of the world. On a marketing standpoint, think about their influence on the ways we communicate, advertise, collect intelligence and research on research.

To my  dear “digital native” godson, here are a few jobs you might want to keep an eye on…

- Cyber Security Specialist: Keep our lives safe. The cop of tomorrow. People with this speciality will be a hot commodity.

- Organic Food Engineer: This may have a weird sound to it, but in the future, who knows what will be on the menu. Hint: climate change.

- Application Developer and Simulation Expert: The designer of the future will not only make things look beautiful, but functional: from how we perform surgeries to flying to drinking and driving. Holograms?

- Robotics Manufacturer: Microbotics will be to your generation what the Radiography is to mine. Obsolete, and no longer impressive. Here at PG, we're predicting that cars will do more than just parallel park themselves. Artificial Intelligence beyond what the term means today.

- Social Media Curator: Yes, my job will still exist. No, it is not just a bubble! Haha. :-) 

If you want to be a Power Ranger or  Sponge Bob when you grow up, comment below. Cheers! 

No blasphemy intended...but we have to face the book.

So today is Monday, and if you couldn’t get out of bed this morning… hey, it’s definitely not the end of the world. To doomsayers’ discontent, life carries on. It’s business as usual and sooner rather than later, our dear world as we know it rises and shines again, continuing its progress.

Here in Haiti Judgment-Day Billboards were on every major road. The message got amplified ten folds with word of mouth, and there were even online ads about “5.21.2011” geo-targeted to us in Haiti.

But alas, if this whole End-of-time will have to wait for some other date, it definitely showed us all how the dissemination of a “one-to-many” message has taken on new proportions, speed and magnitudes. Ask Harold Camping, certainly he knows a thing or two on snow-ball-effect.

With Facebook, Twitter and all the new emerging social-networks, the imparting of information goes global instantly. Nothing new there. Not a shocker.

But food for thought, and please no blasphemy intended, we have to agree, if Jesus does decide to show up next time around, it won’t be a surprise if the first place he goes to is Facebook ;)

To be or not to be

So, it’s Happy Monday again. We hope the weekend smiled back (as it did for us) and that you are all full of energy and passion in a clear mind.

Today’s post is a note a colleague of mine left on my desk this morning…I figured I’d share.

I know you are a busy bee, she writes, but please take a time to read this. It could make the difference between “good” and “fantastic” social media:

Be responsive: By responding quickly to feedback, you will create a strong presence. Always tell yourself, If not now, when? In communication and exchanges, immediacy is golden. Procrastination in responding will make conversations loose momentum and have fans loose interest.

Be authentic: (Taken directly from Apple’s OS dictionary) (Be) of undisputed origin; genuine and original • base (your entries) on facts; (be) accurate and reliable • (Everything you post) should relate to or denote an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life.

Be open-minded: Embrace cultural diversities…Social media is another way of saying “citizen of the world” media. Did you know that Pink in Japan had a masculine connotation?

Be transparent: Do not lie. I repeat, do not lie. Be honest with your audience. Never put yourself in a position where you have to lie. Remember it takes 1000 lies to cover up for the first one.

Be boldly original and confident: Think right brain. Plan and act with the left.

Be all of these BEs, and you shall prosper she signed.

Need we say more?

Have a wonderful week!

How’s that for MADE IN HAITI exotism?!

Mid-Town. Arts district.

Just now, I can bet the imagery created by these two denominations brought you straight to New York City: Broadway, Times Square and the Empire State… But nope… This is Miami. Midtown Miami.

Home to the creative-centric “everything” sprouting everywhere and a top location for young urbanites with a flare (and pocket) for debonair lifestyle. Midtown Miami feels like the new Soho. A lovely feeling and crazy vibe, indeed.

So here we are, invited by Miami-bound relatives, we finally arrived with an hour late (Haitian style obliged) to this spot named Sugarcane. Our being late, however seemed to have absolutely no effect on our invitees.

Please let us mention that Sugarcane's mixologists truly exhibited a savoir-plaire with a tasteful and savorful (even to the eye) list of palate-opener cocktails. Even a quick glance at the menu (printed on what feels to be sugarcane inspired paper) would quickly confirm that they have really truly put great thought to the Bar in Bar & Grill.

With a sidewalk terrace enclosed by a vineyard inspired wall, Sugarcane is this loft-style-high-ceiling setting Bar & Grill with a chic mix of giant cement poles and rustic woody sitting blending perfectly with more modern elements like stainless counter-tops and precision-cut stone walls. Miniature banana-trees and green aloe-like plants let you know straight off you are right home to an authentic offering, reminiscent to Spanish backyards. Three distinct kitchens flame up a wide variety of fusion tapas like Bacon wrapped dates, Duck and waffle, Brussel sprouts, Japanese eggplant, Goat cheese croquettes…a true testament that less (in quantity) is really...more (in taste).

But by now, you must be wondering if PubliGestion has changed vocation and was hired by the Zaggat or the Miami Michelin guide, lol... We figured we had to put you in context to better understand how global our local brands are getting. Both Rhum Barbancourt and Prestige Beer are part of Sugarcane's regular menu…so much so that on any given random table or day, you would see a Prestige, or Rhum Barbancourt based cocktails shining like Haitian flags on foreign soil. How’s that for MADE IN HAITI exotism?!

Oh, and did we mention this part of town, now chic and premium, was formally old-little Haiti? We are so glad, so grateful and proud to see some restaurant owners have stayed true to Midtown’s origin (Business obliged ;)

(Image: by MISS~LISA)
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