The Camp COMCO Mentorship Program has finally concluded its culminating activity for Cycle 21 with the House Wars pitch competition, in partnership with the Philippines Society of Talent Development (PSTD).
Now housed under the COMCO School of Communications, Camp COMCO is an intensive and comprehensive talent incubation initiative, industry linkage course, and apprenticeship program designed to transform communication, marketing, and multimedia arts students and fresh graduates into a new breed of communications practitioners. Built and organized by COMCO’s pool of experts, the program is divided into three phases – Skills Calibration; Strategic Communications Immersion; and Specialization Elective where apprentices get the opportunity to interact with experts in the field, work on actual projects, and learn about the latest innovations in the industry. Promising apprentices will also have the chance to be accepted into the 3As or the Accelerated Apprenticeship Assimilation Program, which will officially transition them as employees of COMCO Mundo.
Camp COMCO Cycle 21 apprentices and stewards with COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises Group Chief Executive Director and Lead Strategic Communications Counsel/Partner and Co-Founder Mr. Ferdinand Bondoy and Philippine Society of Talent Development (PSTD) Executive Committee President Mr. Edwin Ebreo.
The apprentices or COMCOwans are divided into four mentorship houses—House Whaleshark, House Bearcat, House Flying Fox, and House Hawksbill—and are guided by their House Stewards who were also the top graduates of the Camp COMCO Mentorship Program. The culminating activity of the program is the House Wars, an inter-house pitch competition that demonstrates the synthesis of their acquired knowledge and skills during the program through proposal development and an actual presentation with a real brand or client.
The case study of this cycle’s House Wars is provided by the Philippine Society of Talent Development (PSTD), the premier organization for talent development practitioners in the country, with the PSTD Executive Committee President and ExeQserve Corporation Founder and President Edwin Ebreo briefing the apprentices on the project and judging their proposals.
Camp COMCO Cycle 21 House Wars Champions, House Bearcat
After one week of preparations, the Houses presented their proposals to Mr. Ebreo, who judged and scored the different presentations. And after careful deliberation, House Bearcat was declared champion of the Camp COMCO Cycle 21 House Wars. Camp COMCO apprentices Melany Diane Mabagos from Far Eastern University – Manila and Sharmaine Irish Padua from the University of the Philippines – Baguio won the fierce competition with their brilliant and comprehensive plan, guided by their stewards, COMCO Mundo’s Chief of Staff and Senior Executive Initiatives and Communications Manager / Partner Justin Harvey Llamosa and COMCO Southeast Asia’s Senior Brand Communications Officer Clarissa Botecario.
Melany Mabagos stated, “It was a challenge and there were times when we felt lost, but we always said that we wanted to humanize the #GrowthStartsWithYou campaign and create a story behind it, hence the campaign’s focus on compelling talent development practitioners. The whole process was hard, but it made us think back to our camp sessions and apply what we knew to create a campaign proposal that resonated with the organization.”
Camp COMCO House Wars 1st Runners-Up, House Flyingfox
Nabbing the 1st runner-up spot is House Flyingfox, represented by Maria Michaela Arosa from the University of Santo Tomas and Gabrielle Belmonte from Ateneo de Manila University, with their stewards, COMCO Southeast Asia’s Senior Brand Communications Manager and Partner Queenie Resmundo and COMCO Mundo’s Senior Executives and Communications Officer Paula Jhea Sison.
Camp COMCO House Wars 2nd Runners-Up, House Whaleshark
The 2nd runner-ups were Nicole Bamba from Saint Paul University – Quezon City and Amy Ruth Valenzuela from Far Eastern University – Manila of House Whaleshark, guided by their stewards, TARO AOX Inc. Account Operations Manager and Business Unit Administrator Pro Tempore for Integrated Communications Jam Bufi and COMCO Mundo’s Senior Digital and Multimedia Arts Officer Narah Faigal.
Camp COMCO House Wars 3rd Runners-Up, House Hawksbill
Last but certainly not the least, on the 3rd runner-up spot is House Hawksbill with Shane Picson from De La Salle University – Dasmariñas and Peter Pitas from University of the Philippines – Baguio, mentored by COMCO Mundo Senior Digital, Content Studio & Multimedia Arts Manager and Business Administrator Pro Tempore / Partner AC Recio and Senior Digital and Content Studio Officer Hiacynth Ablanez.
Mr. Ebreo commended each house, stating, “It has a balance of what we do and the management’s perspective. The goals they presented are the exact objectives that we provided in our case study and the strategies are well-aligned with the execution of the proposals. It gives me hope for the future of the industry.”
Mr. Ferdinand Bondoy, COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises Group Chief Executive Director and Lead Strategic Communications Counsel/Partner and Co-Founder, shared his thoughts about Camp COMCO, saying, “I always look forward to the culmination of the Camp COMCO Mentorship Program because every time it ends, it feels like we’re giving life to new practitioners. We wanted to create a comprehensive internship program that will become the future generation’s bridge to professional development, and I feel grateful and blessed that we’ve achieved what we set out to do.”
The Camp COMCO Mentorship Program has also recently opened Cycle 22—its first global cycle open to applicants from Southeast Asia to Middle East and Africa, and beyond. Learn more about the COMCO School of Communications and the Camp COMCO Mentorship Program by visiting www.comcomundo.com or comcomundo.com/camp-comco. Follow COMSCO on our social media platforms facebook.com/comcoschoolofcomms on Facebook, linkedin.com/company/comcoschoolofcomms on LinkedIn, and @comcoschoolsofcomms on Instagram.
About COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises
A global award-winning and powerhouse communications group, COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises is a collective of agencies, programs and brands dedicated to advancing the communications profession and related disciplines including digital, content, advocacy, training, and education, and social entrepreneurship, among others; to be a force for social change; to nurturing talent growth and workplace community culture; and to championing borderless collaboration. The COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises is comprised of COMCO Southeast Asia, COMCO Middle East & Africa, TARO AOX Inc., SEA Wave & Spice Multimedia Content Studio, COMCO School of Communications, Camp COMCO Alumni Society, Citizen COMCO Advocacy Program, and COMCOffee Club Shared Services and Enterprise Community.
COMCO has been awarded Agency of the Year at the global Gold Quill Awards, Consultancy of the Year in Asia Pacific at the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) APAC Awards; Finalist for Boutique PR Consultancy of the Year at Campaign Asia Pacific’s PR Awards Asia, Marketing Interactive’s PR Awards Asia-Pacific, and the global Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Excellence Awards in the United Kingdom; Agency of the Year Silver Award at the ASEAN PR Excellence Awards; thrice as Agency of the Year Runner-up at the IABC Philippines’ Quill Awards; and 170 metals from various local and international award-giving bodies.