The results are in and . . .
. . I lost to 2nd place. :( Remember The 8% Guy with his unbelievably low view count I told you about? Yup, he was chosen as the winner of the Toshiba video contest. He announced this on his twitter last week, but I wanted to confirm this with Toshiba to be sure. I received this confirmation today.
Sure, I'm disappointed. I'm sure you know from previous posts how much I wanted this. I missed working in Japan, I missed traveling, I missed sending all you guys postcards. I wanted to tour Asia, I wanted to see friends, I wanted to see family, I really wanted to visit my grandfather's grave in Brunei and finally pay my respects, I wanted to learn, I wanted to do so many things. I needed to bring stability to my life and overcome the recent closure of my workplace with work, work that would've been fun, exciting, conductive, challenging and promising. So I put my life on hold and poured all my heart and energy into this for two months thinking that effort and creativity would be enough to make my dreams come true. I'm disappointed that Toshiba felt it wasn't enough.
I'm also disappointed in the judges. Even after expressing my concern to Toshiba about "The 8% Guy" when he was "The 10% Guy," the judges wouldn't take integrity into consideration. Integrity is important to me, to many Japanese people, to successful businesses in any country, and definitely to consumers. Time and time again, especially in recent years, you've seen companies nosedive due to a lack of integrity. 99% of the entrants in this contest had integrity and I'm disappointed that Toshiba chose the one entrant with the least. To give the trophy to him is not just a slap in the face to me, but to the other entrants in the Top 10 who worked their butt off to promote their video legitimately. However, I hope the winner will grow up and understand the importance of integrity between now and the internship next summer, because he's not going to survive 3 months in Japan without it.
(EDIT: Now I've learned the guy may actually have a criminal record for defrauding another company. *sigh* My faith in both parties is reaching zero. >_< )
That aside, I want to thank all of my friends on LJ again for voting, commenting and supporting my dream. :) You guys were incredible! -- we ended up with the most votes, comments and views thanks to friends, family and even strangers all around the world. I think that's the best thing that happened as a result of this contest. My small circle of family and friends grew ten-fold. I heard from friends and cousins I hadn't spoken to in years; now we're e-mailing and phoning each other all the time. I got a chance to meet many interesting people as I traveled around Vancouver handing out my contest cards. I got 15 minutes of fame after my cousin's friend, the "Oprah of Brunei," posted my video on the front page of the most popular social site in the country. Family members who weren't close before got together regularly to discuss the contest. My cousin who was handing out flyers about my contest at the local café ended up becoming good friends with the café owner, who also started pitching in. My father was getting calls regularly about his stint as the gambler in the video, and you should've seen his face light up bragging about it! It's really incredible how my 3-minute comedy skit about a magic hole punch ended up bringing so many people together!
And after so many people came together to help me out with this project, I wanted a piece of the action, too! XD In other words, I also wanted to help others. That takes me back to something I said a few years ago, that I felt the purpose of life was to help each other, and I hope I'll come across many opportunities to do so in the future. :)
One thing I was working on last week was fundraising for the homeless in downtown Vancouver . .
This was the video that convinced me to participate. Isn't it amazing?
Can you spot me?
On Day 1, I was "I am Free."
I was also known as "I Live Well."
My teammate and I with the organizer of the event. We collected donations in those buckets -- I raised about $20 in two hours, not bad for a recession. :)
Me and the rest of my team. My sign says: "Everyone is beautiful, no matter how much money you have or where you live." It was inspired by Lelola's feel-good post that mentioned Operation Beautiful. The message just resonated with me and this cause, and it apparently resonated with others too because my teammates kept wanting to take pictures with my sign! XD
This is where everyone hung their signs later. I heard these walls would be permanent fixtures, so if you're ever around the Vancouver Art Gallery, check 'em out!
A part of the wall. On the far left was a sign that made me think: "I am grateful for my hands."
Here's where they put my sign.
"I am grateful for Sushi" is one of my favorites. :)
Obviously I didn't write this one. ;)
So while this loss felt like a BIG step back, I'm aiming to take two BIG steps forward. I'm always aspiring to be better, that's how I roll, but now I'm also aspiring to be a better humanitarian, too.
That's why, while I can't send you postcards from Japan anymore, if you ever need anything else, please let me know and I'll try my best to help out or provide you with a reasonable substitute! :)
THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE for taking the time over the past two months to support me and my video!
Sure, I'm disappointed. I'm sure you know from previous posts how much I wanted this. I missed working in Japan, I missed traveling, I missed sending all you guys postcards. I wanted to tour Asia, I wanted to see friends, I wanted to see family, I really wanted to visit my grandfather's grave in Brunei and finally pay my respects, I wanted to learn, I wanted to do so many things. I needed to bring stability to my life and overcome the recent closure of my workplace with work, work that would've been fun, exciting, conductive, challenging and promising. So I put my life on hold and poured all my heart and energy into this for two months thinking that effort and creativity would be enough to make my dreams come true. I'm disappointed that Toshiba felt it wasn't enough.
I'm also disappointed in the judges. Even after expressing my concern to Toshiba about "The 8% Guy" when he was "The 10% Guy," the judges wouldn't take integrity into consideration. Integrity is important to me, to many Japanese people, to successful businesses in any country, and definitely to consumers. Time and time again, especially in recent years, you've seen companies nosedive due to a lack of integrity. 99% of the entrants in this contest had integrity and I'm disappointed that Toshiba chose the one entrant with the least. To give the trophy to him is not just a slap in the face to me, but to the other entrants in the Top 10 who worked their butt off to promote their video legitimately. However, I hope the winner will grow up and understand the importance of integrity between now and the internship next summer, because he's not going to survive 3 months in Japan without it.
(EDIT: Now I've learned the guy may actually have a criminal record for defrauding another company. *sigh* My faith in both parties is reaching zero. >_< )
That aside, I want to thank all of my friends on LJ again for voting, commenting and supporting my dream. :) You guys were incredible! -- we ended up with the most votes, comments and views thanks to friends, family and even strangers all around the world. I think that's the best thing that happened as a result of this contest. My small circle of family and friends grew ten-fold. I heard from friends and cousins I hadn't spoken to in years; now we're e-mailing and phoning each other all the time. I got a chance to meet many interesting people as I traveled around Vancouver handing out my contest cards. I got 15 minutes of fame after my cousin's friend, the "Oprah of Brunei," posted my video on the front page of the most popular social site in the country. Family members who weren't close before got together regularly to discuss the contest. My cousin who was handing out flyers about my contest at the local café ended up becoming good friends with the café owner, who also started pitching in. My father was getting calls regularly about his stint as the gambler in the video, and you should've seen his face light up bragging about it! It's really incredible how my 3-minute comedy skit about a magic hole punch ended up bringing so many people together!
And after so many people came together to help me out with this project, I wanted a piece of the action, too! XD In other words, I also wanted to help others. That takes me back to something I said a few years ago, that I felt the purpose of life was to help each other, and I hope I'll come across many opportunities to do so in the future. :)
One thing I was working on last week was fundraising for the homeless in downtown Vancouver . .
This was the video that convinced me to participate. Isn't it amazing?
Can you spot me?
On Day 1, I was "I am Free."
I was also known as "I Live Well."
My teammate and I with the organizer of the event. We collected donations in those buckets -- I raised about $20 in two hours, not bad for a recession. :)
Me and the rest of my team. My sign says: "Everyone is beautiful, no matter how much money you have or where you live." It was inspired by Lelola's feel-good post that mentioned Operation Beautiful. The message just resonated with me and this cause, and it apparently resonated with others too because my teammates kept wanting to take pictures with my sign! XD
This is where everyone hung their signs later. I heard these walls would be permanent fixtures, so if you're ever around the Vancouver Art Gallery, check 'em out!
A part of the wall. On the far left was a sign that made me think: "I am grateful for my hands."
Here's where they put my sign.
"I am grateful for Sushi" is one of my favorites. :)
Obviously I didn't write this one. ;)
So while this loss felt like a BIG step back, I'm aiming to take two BIG steps forward. I'm always aspiring to be better, that's how I roll, but now I'm also aspiring to be a better humanitarian, too.
That's why, while I can't send you postcards from Japan anymore, if you ever need anything else, please let me know and I'll try my best to help out or provide you with a reasonable substitute! :)
THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE for taking the time over the past two months to support me and my video!