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Wedding Gift Ideas

It's almost December and aside from Christmas, December in the Philippines also means wedding season! Nowadays couples are very hands on about planning their wedding. Wedding themes these days are very creative and are designed to make the wedding unique, memorable, and very personal.

One of the emerging trends that is fast gaining in popularity is an advocacy-themed wedding. Couples who have advocacies such as going green, supporting livelihood communities, or buying fair trade, like to incorporate these advocacies in their choice of invitations such as using soy ink instead of regular ink, and their giveaways. 

We at G&G are always happy to meet these couples and help them with their giveaway needs. Here are some great wedding giveaway ideas for a fair trade wedding!

• Make a good first impression with this shantung invite jacket with brocade band. 
• Give your guests funky re-usable coffee sleeves to make even coffee drinking a reflection of their personality
• Give your bridesmaids these beautiful bag charms to say thank you for their help throughout the wedding preparations. 
• Give your discriminating principal sponsors beautiful matching passport holders, checkbook holders, and luggage tags 
• Give travel candles made out of soy wax to your groomsmen. These are housed in tin cans so you can bring them wherever you go. Available in vanilla, cinnamon, and lavander.

Call us today for more gift and giveaway ideas that we can personalize for you.

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Conversations

At the Partner's Conference. Mike facilitates with
Darlyn Ty and Anurag Goel

Earlier this month we posted part 1 of this Conversation with AYAD volunteer Michael Golsworthy who, like Chiqui Go, shared his thoughts on volunteerism. For our second Conversation, we ask Michael more questions about his stay in the Philippines. Here Michael gives us a unique perspective from someone who enjoyed his 8+ months both in G&G and travelling the country on weekends!

G&G: What are two interesting things about the Philippines that the average person doesn't know?

MG: 1. The Philippines is the undiscovered jewel of South East Asia for travellers. Before working in the Philippines I'd never thought about travelling there, but as soon as I landed that stormy Friday night I realised it was a country I'd have fun exploring. The fun and friendly reception from our Filipino volunteer coordinators, the colourful jeepneys weaving through the traffic blaring out MC Hammer and Justin Bieber and the karaoke on arrival at the hotel.. And it only got better from there. From the great people to the stunning beaches, the perilous volcanoes to the fantastic festivals.. the Philippines has a lot to offer those who venture past the traditional holiday destinations of Thailand and Vietnam.

2. Manila is actually a pretty cool city. Much like my home city of Melbourne, you won't see the highlights of Manila in a tourist brochure. It takes work to hunt out the gems in this chaotic metropolis, like the great live music scene which seems to thrive solely by word of mouth.

G&G: Did anything go wrong that seems funny now?

MG: Most of my favourite travel stories start with something going wrong... While visiting the island of Siquijor, I had a bit of a motor bike accident, when a stray basketball from a game by the side of the road almost went under my wheel.. After riding all the way back to the hotel in second gear with potentially broken left foot, I had to race to the boat, then the hospital in Dumaguete to try to get an xray before my flight was leaving for Manila. I got the all clear 40 minutes before my flight was due to depart, so given you have to check in 45 minutes before the flight time, I didn't bother trying to make it and went to an internet cafe to book another flight. 20 minutes later I got a call from my friends at the airport telling me to get on a tricycle and get to the airport the airport staff said not to worry about the 45 minute check in rule... I got to the airport with 30 seconds to spare and ran/hopped all the way to the plane late and holding everyone up... and then a little behind me a filipino guy moseyed on up to the check in counter, checked in his bag and walked on the the plane, relaxed as you like... Apparently I hadn't quite adjusted to Filipino time in the provinces.

G&G: What was the best moment of the entire experience/trip?

MG: Too many to mention...

At work: Facilitating the strategy workshop with the board and working with the team to pull off a great marketing and sales event across the SM malls.

Around Manila: Dancing the night away at a Bruno Mars concert

On holidays: Swimming with a whale shark in Donsol, rock climbing up waterfalls outside of Moalboal and joining the fun for a couple of brilliant town festivals.

G&G: What did you learn about yourself?

MG: That I should avoid basketballs..

From L-R: Darlyn Ty, Greg Perez, Michael Golsworthy,
Jonalyn Dupa, Marge Obligacion, Nanding Regalado

G&G will be at the Yabang Pinoy global PINOY Bazaar!

Filipino Brands Get Bigger and Better at Global Pinoy Bazaar 2011


Yabang Pinoy—the pioneering Filipino Pride movement known for fun, creative, and contemporary Filipino pride projects and events—constantly strives to convert Filipinos into shouting proud Pinoys.


Now, Yabang Pinoy is out to prove that Filipino brands are getting bigger and better with the Global Pinoy Bazaar 2011, a showcase of local products made with 100% Filipino Love and Pride, on November 5-6, 2011 at the Rockwell Tent. The organization encourages everyone to put the Filipino First and patronize home-grown ideas, products, and services. Global Pinoy Bazaar 2011 is zoned into Fashion, Pinoy Art and Design, Music, Tropical, and Home and Travel.


Mark your calendar now for the best Filipino Christmas shopping experience. Visit the G&G booth to see unique items that are not only Filipino made but proudly made by livelihood communities supported by Gifts and Graces! Call us today for more information. 

Social Enterprise: The Next Business Model

On October 20 and 21, I attended the Social Enterprise Conference organized by the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) together with Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP),  Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), League of Corporate Foundation (LCF), and PinoyME Foundation held at the Intercontinental Hotel. 

The Conference brought together social enterprises, NGOs, People's Organizations, Cooperatives, and big business in a two day forum of sharing experiences, dialogue, and determining next steps. It was great to see old faces and meet new practitioners in the field. The social enterprise space is growing and the conference was a great way to start building an ecosystem of support, from the ground level to the "industry" level, to enable social enterprises to continue to grow and flourish.

All the sessions were informative and provided a lot of insight. The forum opened strong with the Keynote address by the father and son team of Ramon Uy Sr. and Ramon Uy Jr. who shared their journey from manufacturing spare parts for sugar mills to putting up RU Foundry that creates appropriate technology machines for smallholder farmers, to creating Fresh Start Organics. 

Thanks to Ms. Gisela Tiongson Executive Director of Jollibee Foundation, for mentioning Gifts and Graces in her presentation on the landscape of social entrepreneurship in the Philippines. Gisela shared Jollibee's inspiring initiative to open their supply chain to farmers in Nueva Ecija.

One of the speakers that made an impact on the audience was Rico Gonzales, Managing Director of X Change. Rico talked about the 5Ms of social entrepreneurship and shared a tool he uses for visually representing our social enterprise models at www.businessmodelgeneration.com. It looks like a great tool to understand, review, and tweak business models to ensure that we are able to deliver value to our clients. Rico also made a very compelling case for scaling up, both for impact and sustainability, and scaling up fast or else risk not being able to achieve the impact we want.

Finally in the last session facilitated by Dan Songco, Executive Director of PinoyME Foundation, PinoyME, PBSP, and PEF shared their initiatives for continuing to encourage social entrepreneurship. Read our blog post about the People Powered Markets initiated by PinoyME in February on the occassion of their 5th year anniversary. Dan then opened the discussion to suggestions from the floor. 

My own suggestion was to look at how we can respond to social enterprises' HR needs and challenges. It is imperative that we build the team right, and as we grow, we need to find the right people for G&G. Ateneo de Manila has several programs to offer social entrepreneurship as an alternative career to undergraduates. Perhaps PinoyME can add a jobstreet for social entrepreneurs portal in its People Powered Markets website. 

For those of us already in an SE I think continued executive education, such as the MAGIS workshop the Ateneo GSB conducted for G&G and our partners, and the Social Enterprise Management Training Program conducted by Fundacion Codespa and the University of Asia and the Pacific will help ensure that SEs are able to build the necessary HR capabilities for growth and scale. 

Overall I learned a lot at the conference and with initiatives like this, it is hoped that social entrepreneurship model will one day become the norm. Kudos to the organizers. I'm looking forward to the next one!

-Greg 

G&G September newsletter

G&G is now at the Ayala Museum Shop! We share the news in our September newsletter. Also read about featured community Hardin ng Kalikasan. View it in your browser here then subscribe to our newsletter to get it in your email monthly. Thanks for your support!

 

 

The Charm of a Handwritten Note
In this day and age of the internet, we email instead of sending letters through snail mail, we write all-occasion e-cards instead of writing a handwritten thank you note, we have a private blog instead of writing in a journal. Is the art of writing with pen and paper dead?


Depends on who you ask. As for me, there's a certain beauty and charm to a handwritten note that comes from the effort and deliberateness that goes into it. Starting with the selection of your material - you consider several options - fine paper, linen paper, handmade paper; and your pen - fountain pen, gel pen, sign pen. Then you find a time and place to sit. Then you think and compose and write. 


And when you start writing - it's not only tactile, your other senses are involved too. Your sense of touch, sense of sight, sense of smell: ahhh the smell of the ink of a fountain pen.  On a side note, I just discovered that there is now scented fountain pen ink!  


It doesn't matter if your handwriting isn't that good. That's part of the gift - and the charm. Emails more often than not get deleted. But a well written note or letter that conveys your joy, gratitude, or sincerity, is kept, cherished, and re-read time and again. 


Is the art of writing dead? No I don't think so. It just got more exclusive. 


Experience the unique delight in writing a handwritten note with G&G's selection of note cards and all-occasion cards. Check out our journals too. There's nothing like having a beautiful notebook to write in. Visit our website and check out our Creative Pursuits collection.

From the G&G Creative Pursuits collection clockwise from top:
handmade paper monogram notecards with banana bark letters, in a set of 6 (available at Rustan's),
handmade paper all-occasion cards,
handmade paper Christmas cards.
Visit our website www.giftandgraces.com for more products
or email us at info@giftsandgraces.com

Conversations

This month, we introduce a new segment – Conversations where we sit down with G&G's favorite people – our clients, partners, producers, directors and many others, to pick their brains or go heart-to-heart on a range of topics. To kick off the series, we start with our volunteers: wonderful, big-hearted people who have so generously given of themselves and have contributed greatly to our projects and programs.

For our maiden interview, we talked to Ms. Chiqui Escareal-Go, President and Chief Service Strategist of Mansmith and Fielders Inc., an advocacy-based marketing and sales training and consultancy company. Chiqui very graciously agreed to be one of G&G's guest lecturers/facilitators at our Lecture Series for our partner communities in 2010. Here Chiqui tells us in her own words why she volunteered, what she did with us, and what she got out of it.

G&G: Tell us your Name, Age, Nationality, Occupation

Chiqui Escareal-Go, 49, Filipino, Trainer/Facilitator, Entreprenuer

G&G: What made you decide to volunteer with Gifts and Graces?

CEG: Belief in the sincerity of the advocacy and the people behind the advocacy

G&G: As a volunteer how did you use your skills and experiences to help G&G and its advocacy?

CEG: I helped in training in the area of positive thinking particularly reframing common issues for a more proactive, 'can-do' attitude; I have continued to remain involved with G&G through donations and training. Being involved also means patronizing products and services of G&G's partners.

G&G: Why should other people do volunteer work? What did you gain from it?

CEG: Any volunteer work grounds people to the life-giving, life-affirming, and life-empowering. Meaning, as volunteers “help others” they learn to raise their personal bars in resilience, resourcefulness, courage, empathy, hope, patience, creativity and yes, even re-define their sense of happiness and self. Simply put, when a volunteer “gives,” he/she actually “gains” more in terms of psychic rewards that are definitely priceless.

Above: Chiqui conducts a Creative Appreciative Workshop - a unique, refreshing, and empowering approach to initiate positive change

Below: G&G's partners have gotten into the spirit of the workshop. Chiqui listens in on one of the groups

Volunteer Spotlight: Michael Golsworthy

Conversations

Reposting this blog entry as a Conversation with Michael Golsworthy. Michael was with Gifts and Graces from September 2010 to April 2011. His many and varied contributions to the company are still being felt and used today. Get to know this former G&G Volunteer and be inspired to lend your time and talent to non-profits like G&G!

Michael Golsworthy (third from left) with Gifts & Graces staff. (L-R) Loida Balubayan, Fernando Regalado, Christina Pineda, Jonalyn Dupa, Marge Obligacion & Greg Perez at the Women's Empowerment event

G&G: Tell us your Name, Age, Nationality, Occupation

Michael Golsworthy, 28, Australian, Management consultant

G&G: What made you decide to volunteer?
MG: I volunteered because I wanted to utilise my consulting and project management skills to support a great cause: using entrepreneurship as a means to alleviate poverty.

G&G: As a volunteer how did you use your skills and experiences to help G&G and its advocacy?
MG: I worked together with Gifts and Graces to facilitate the development of its five year strategic plan and to assess and improve its organisational processes. During the course of the assignment, I also worked with G&G staff to build greater skills in strategic planning, project management and performance improvement methodologies to continue this work following my departure.

G&G: Why should other people do volunteer work? What did you gain from it?
MG: Volunteering can be both a professionally challenging and a personally rewarding experience. Many of the skills developed in the business sector can be applied to the non-profit sector, but often the challenges are greater due to the limited resources and multiple social and financial objectives. Experience in the non-profit sector can be invaluable in other sectors, for example solving problems in a resource-constrained environment. Personally, volunteering in the non-profit sector is both enjoyable and highly rewarding. The work is interesting, the sector is full of energetic and passionate individuals and the human impact of the work is not only very real, but creates a feeling that is impossible to match. 

Click here to read the second part of this conversation. Below is Michael's profile in the Australian Youth Ambassador (AYAD) Website:

Michael will be based in Manila on an eight month project assisting Gifts and Graces Fair Trade Foundation to improve its organisational performance. Gifts and Graces support marginalised groups in their quest to become self-sufficient through livelihood. The organisation helps its partners with product design and development, and builds capability in production, enterprise management and marketing.

Michael is passionate about improving the operations of organisations in the not-for-profit sector to achieve the best possible social outcomes with the limited resources available. He is very excited to have the opportunity to work together with Gifts and Graces to facilitate the development of its five year strategic plan and to assess its current organisational processes to identify and implement improvement opportunities. During the course of the assignment, Michael will coach Gifts and Graces staff in project management and performance improvement methodologies to ensure the organisation gains the capacity to continually improve its performance following his departure.

Michael has a Bachelor degree in Economics from Monash University and a Master of Commerce (International Business/Finance) from the University of Sydney. He has worked in international trade policy with the Australian Government and as a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he specialised in improving performance for government and not-for-profit sector clients.

Michael hopes to utilise his consulting and policy skills and experience to deliver sustainable and replicable organisational improvements at Gifts and Graces. 

Michael Golsworthy (corner right) in discussion with G&G's partner producers

 at this year's Partner Conference

Gifts and Graces is always in need of volunteers to help us with our fair trade and livelihood support advocacy. If you have some time to spare, why not use it to make a difference in the lives of our partner marginalized communities? Help us with product design, writing, marketing, promotion, selling, capacity building or just come help us brainstorm ideas on how to make fair trade and social enterprises top-of-mind for shoppers.

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If you'd like to volunteer with Gifts & Graces you can write to us at:

info@giftsandgraces.com or call us at 759 - 2525

or visit us at: Unit 131 G/F Mile Long Building, Amorsolo St. Makati City

Santa Time: Be Prepared!

It's that particular "ber" month when you can no longer ignore the Christmas jingles wafting from the radio, when you see the first twinkle of fairy lights. You know you have to start shopping very soon or you'll be overrun by last minute Christmas shoppers. Before you start on your list though, buy a few things for yourself from Gifts and Graces first that will make the mad holiday rush a little bit saner.

Big Plastic Baul 

Kids are nosy and gifts create lots of clutter. Buy these big boxes from Gifts & Graces and make this your designated gift container. The buckle will keep the little hands at bay & the generous size will ensure that it will fit your presents until it's time to put them under the tree!

Made of plastic strips by urban poor men of Malabon.


Handmade Paper Journal

Make your list of who's been naughty or nice in this journal made of renewable resources such as Cogon Grass & Banana Bark. The sale of this product benefits displaced women in Quezon.

Mangyan Cloth Organizer

Christmas is a time when nothing is ever in its proper place and when clutter is in an all-time high. Keep your essentials tucked into something pretty and safe with these Mangyan Cloth organizers. Keep your scissors, pens, tape and other wrapping and writing essentials at hand and then roll them and keep them out of sight when you don't need them. Saves you from clutter and going insane trying to find them!


Sewn by urban poor women of Valenzuela City.


Magazine Bag

When doing your shopping, do your part in helping out the environment. Refuse the little plastic bags that they give you and put your purchases in these one-of-a-kind Magazine Tote Bags instead. These are big and roomy and are a conversation piece to boot!


Also available in SM Kultura outlets.