Advertising and Marketing Communications Management News & Events
Advertising program toy drive for Mountain Kidz
Every year, the Advertising program holds a toy drive. This year's recipient was Mountain Kidz, a grassroots organization run out of Eastmount Community Centre that helps families with special events and programming. Some years ago, Program Coordinator Wayne Aubert read an article in the Hamilton Mountain News about Kathy Archer and her organization and gave her a call. It was then that he discovered that Kathy gave out Christmas gifts to children... from her own personal funds. He offered to give her toys from the Advertising program toy drive... and now five years later... it has been a great success.
The goal this year was slightly higher than last year. Three hundred toys (valued at $20 each) plus fifty games (to be distributed through family hampers). "I was definitely getting worried," says Wayne Aubert, "we were not hitting our weekly targets and I thought that we were going to fall short."
But Second Year students, led by Adam Pipe, found some innovative solutions when they learned that the drive had slowed down. Adam secured a partnership with Tracies' Restaurant on Upper James that raised hundreds of dollars and dozens of toys and gift baskets and stockings. Dana Radcliffe led students (too numerous to list) to go class-to-class for coin collections. Lindsay Celeste has Walmart Upper James add Mountain Kidz tags to their donation tree which raised dozens and dozens of toys. Kirk Macdonald brought in toys from Second Chance sports.
Third year students Meaghan O'Neill-Townsend and Shannan Ruby, as part of their coursework, ran a concert that saw all ticket sales go to the toy drive.
And other programs got involved too when "the call went out". Janet Mannen of Office Admin program, Alice Szraiber of Office Admin-Executive both raised toys and cash from their students. Tim Tuck of Public Relations raised toys as well. Tracey Kadish of Television gave a donation... and the list goes on.
Altogether, approximately 330 toys, 60 games, and over 100 stocking stuffers were delivered to Mountain Kidz in the evening on December 15.
Photos courtesy of the Hamilton Mountain News
Mohawk Advertising at the CMA Gala 2012
At the CMA Gala held November 30th, 2012 Mohawk College had another winning night taking home top honours in both the marketing and creative categories.
In the Marketing category, a team made up of Tara Bryk, Kirstie Ciconne and Kayla Ciconne won silver - the highest medal given away. Their task was to create a marketing plan for Sick Kids. In the creative category, Jen Rienties, Sarah Quinto, Ruth Cachero and Yan Chaynmann took home gold for their direct mail piece promoting WebStream, a new digital movie company.

This marks Mohawk's 6th straight gold medal on the creative side of the contest - and continued dominance in both categories.
Mohawk’s Advertising program is seeing a lot of wins in 2012
Here’s what is on deck:
CMA Awards: Yan Chayman, Jen Rienties, Sarah Quinto, Ruth Cachero are finalists and we’ll see how they place on November 30.
CMA awards (Business): Tara Bryk, Kayla Ciccone, and Kirstie Ciccone are also finalists. We’ll know how they placed on Nov. 30 too.
Applied Arts Awards, we had several winners:
PETA: Justin Turco, Nicole Costa, Curtis Denomme
CRIMESTOPPERS: Sarah Quinto, Gage Varga, Noel Torres, Jen Rienties
CHILD ABUSE: Noel Torres
ICE CREAM: Ryan Speziale, Tim Glenn
NORTH YORK WOMEN'S: Lucyed Hernandez, Matt Mantle
ADCC Awards saw these students, who are now grads, do well too:
SILVER: Darren Marranca, Lucyed Hernandez
MERIT: Jonnie Ciordas, Luke Skinner
See What Mohawk Students Have Accomplished
Visit the "Applied Arts" communications magazine web site to see what Mohawk students have accomplished (scroll down to "Mohawk College").

Part Of Your World - Advertising Intern Edition
Ellie Ketsetzis is a third year Advertising student, focused in the Creative stream. She is attending an internship open house at Lowe Roche and thought that she would do something to get their attention. We think that she will accomplish that.
or click here if you are experiencing problems with the above embedded video.
Interview With Dave Ruiz
Dave is an advertising graduate of the program. Read his interview here...
AdBuzz For Marketing And Advertising Students
Tom Ritchie, Mohawk Advertising Graduate 2012, had an epiphany one night. Read more...
2012 Marketing Awards
Congratulations to the following Mohawk Advertising Program Alumni who recently won at the 2012 Marketing Awards
Jordan Lane, Account Executive BBDO
GOLD Television over 30 seconds: single
Ryan Roberts, Planner CP+B
BRONZE Out-of-home, non-standard format : single
Mike Schonberger, Art Director Juniper Park
CRAFT AWARD: Directing
Mohawk Ad Students at Portfolio Night
Click the link below to see the video and you'll see current and graduating Mohawk advertising students in this video, including Darren Marranca, Adam Tuck, Ivars Leitis, Noel Torres, Sarah Quinto, Ryan Speziale, Ruth Anne Cachero, and Curtis Denomme.
http://portfolionight.com/10/archives/4964
Mohawk grads hang with the celebrities!
Grads of the Advertising program are "hot hires" in Media jobs. And there are perks...like in the station "up fronts" where they get to meet the celebrities. Check out grads Charlotte Brown and Mark Claessens and their celebrity encounters!


The Work - 2012
Click here to view the 2012 version of our latest and greatest work from the Advertising program.
Mohawk Ad Students Merit attention in U.S. Competitions
VCU. Miami Ad School. The Creative Circus. Mohawk College.
Top U.S. and Canadian schools in Advertising, Communications and Design compete in the Young Ones competition; one of the most competitive of the prestigious competitions for schools.
Nicole Costa, Curtis Denomme and Justin Turco, 2nd year Advertising students, Creative Stream won MERIT in the awards.
Click here to see the list of competitors.
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Second Year Creative Stream Students Podcast
Episode 1 "Intro - Inspiration"
Episode 2 "Networking"
Episode 3 "Adobe"
Episode 4 "Layout"
Episode 5 "Photography"
Episode 6 "Portfolio Night"
Mohawk College Advertising students go 6 for 6 at national awards competition
Students in Mohawk's Advertising program dominated at last night's Canadian Marketing Association awards gala in downtown Toronto, winning gold, silver and bronze in both the student creative and marketing categories. The wins raise Mohawk's CMA award total to 26. Mohawk's CMA award-winning students are:
Student Creative Award:- Gold: Lucyed Hernandez, Margaret Cameron, Mike Ferrier, Catherine Adcock
- Silver: Luke Skinner, Natalie Mathers, Ryan Speziale, Matt Mantle
- Bronze: Corey Lepp, Sean Simons, Jean Marc Douville, Josh Noble
- Gold: Jenn Gerard
- Silver: Rosslyn Howden, Angelica Smith, Hannah Collis, Emma Lisson
- Bronze: Richard Stewart, James Griffen, Jennifer Barrett, Matthew Marsh
A special thanks to professors Jef Petrosi and Janice Warren for mentoring the students.
The CMA awards sweep caps off a winning November for Mohawk's Advertising students. Earlier this month, seven Mohawk students won in the Applied Arts Student Awards Annual and Mohawk had two silver medal winners in the Advertising and Design Club of Canada Awards. Of the eight finalists, six were Mohawk students.
Mohawk Creative Advertising student team helps create The Joy of Books video
A team of Mohawk Creative Advertising students helped create The Joy of Books, a charming video that's gone viral, approaching 1.5 million views. To read the full story, download the pdf here. To watch the video, click here.
Mohawk College Advertising program delivers 300 toys to Mountain Kidz
Mohawk's Advertising students and staff capped off an award-winning semester by giving back to Mountain Kidz in a big way. The nonprofit's annual Christmas dinner this Saturday will include 300 toys collected and donated by students and staff.
"It's been tough year for many Hamiltonians and Kathy Archer of Mountain Kidz had warned me that demand for help was increasing, " says Wayne Aubert, the Advertising Program Coordinator who spearheads the annual toy drive. "We knew that we had our work cut out for us this year with a record request of 150 toys."
Third-year Advertising student Denis Spellen was the leader for the toy drive and worked with a student team on fundraising and classroom visits. The Advertising program joined forces with Mohawk's campus radio station INDI FM, with students writing and producing public service announcements to promote the toy drive.
Also supporting the toy drive were Alegra Print, St Martin of Tours, students from Mohawk's postgraduate Public Relations program and students of Office Administration professor Janet Mannen, who personally matched student contributions.
"We're delighted that we exceeded our goal by 100 per cent and Mountain Kidz will make sure every toy finds a home," says Wayne. "When I gave the good news to Mountain Kidz, I learned that their dinners had all booked up for this Saturday and requests for help from the community were still coming in. We'll make a big difference this year."
Last month, Mohawk's Advertising program swept all six awards in the student categories at the Canadian Marketing Association's awards competition. Seven Mohawk Advertising students also won in the Applied Arts Student Awards Annual and Mohawk had two silver medal winners in the Advertising and Design Club of Canada Awards. Of the eight finalists, six were Mohawk students.
Mohawk Advertising is on the rise after winning 13 awards at Canada's two top student award shows
We've received unbelievable news from Applied Arts and the Ad and Design Club of Canada (ADCC). Mohawk Advertising will have seven winners in the upcoming Applied Arts Student awards annual, and six finalists in the upcoming ADCC annual.
"These wins are monumental for our program given that both advertising annuals are incredibly difficult to get into. Last year the ADCC only had 7 finalists in total from across the country in the advertising category. Mohawk was one of them. Clearly having 6 finalists this year is a major accomplishment.
Making it into the Applied Arts annual is also incredibly challenging given that they accept entries from all over North America. This means having to compete with powerhouse private schools like the Miami Ad School." says creative professor Jef Petrossi.
The 13 winning submissions are made up by a total of 16 students. Amazingly, three of the students (Sarah Quinto, Mikhail Ferrara, and Curtis Denomme) were only in their first year of study when they created their work.
Here is a list of the winners, coupled with the client their work was for:
APPLIED ARTS
- Kelly Finnamore and Emma Wathan, Oxfam
- Natalie Mathers, Discovery Channel
- Ryan Speziale, Margaret Cameron, Matt Mantle, BC Worksafe
- Mikhail Ferrara, Ikea
- Mario Gelleny and Shawn O'Connor, Doc Martins
- Sandy Aquino, Sean Simons and Jesse Dougan BC Hydro
- Corey Lepp, Airhogs
ADCC
- Kelly Finnamore and Emma Wathan, Oxfam
- Emma Wathan, Clear Blue
- Ryan Chiasson and Mario Gelleny, Wingfest
- Sara Quinto and Curtis Denomme Bass Pro Mills
- Mikhail Ferrara, Ikea
- Sandy Aquino, Sean Simons and Jesse Dougan BC Hydro
The Ad and Design Club awards will be held on November 3rd, 2011 in Toronto. On that night, a grand prize cheque worth $1,000 will be given to one of the finalists. This year, there are a total of 27 finalists made up from several categories including interactive media, graphic design, animation, and editorial design, in addition to advertising.
The Applied Arts student annual is released in November. All seven of Mohawk's winners will be showcased in the book.
Perspective - Samantha Marion
CARDonline asked Samantha Marion, a recent graduate of Mohawk College's Advertising Program, to share with us her typical working day, her enthusiasm about working with the media and her vision for the future. This is what she had to say... Read the full story
theadbuzz.com – Interview: Student to Copywriter – Advice from the Trenches
Advertising Instructor's Photography Featured in Coupe Magazine's 2010 Design Annual
Photos by Advertising instructor Rafael Ferreira were chosen to be part of Coupe magazine's 2010 design annual. This is a major accomplishment as Rafael was competing against not only professional photographers - but the world's elite photographers. The judges were Creative Directors from some of North America's best design agencies. Congratulations Rafael!
Student Work
Mountain Kidz Klub Toy Drive
During the holiday season, Mountain Kidz Klub, a non-profit organization that helps underprivileged families in the local Hamilton community, was in need of toys for children that would be attending their "Dinner with Santa" event. The MCA team quickly agreed to help out. In only a month, with the help of advertising students and staff in the Business Department at Mohawk College, MCA was able to raise over $440, enough to get 117 new toys for children at Mountain Kidz Klub.
Mohawk Advertising students win gold, silver and bronze in national competition
November 28, 2010
Mohawk Advertising students won gold, silver and bronze at the 2010 Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) Annual Awards in Toronto this weekend. The 40th annual CMAs attraced marketing's best of the best. Read the full story at Mohawk Matters Blog.
Advertising student Shawn O'Connor wins Merit award at Advertising Design Club of Canada awards
November 23, 2010
Congratulations to Mohawk College Advertising student Shawn O'Connor who won a Merit award at the recent Advertising Design Club of Canada Awards Show in Toronto. Read the full story at Mohawk Matters Blog.
AdSociety holds successful food drive for Neighbour 2 Neighbour
November 23, 2010
Mohawk College's AdSociety recently collected 138 food items for Neighbour 2 Neighbour during a weeklong food drive that involved all of the College's Advertising classes. Read the full story at Mohawk Matters Blog.
The Advertising & Design Club of Canada announces the finalists for their ADCC Awards Annual
Mohawk College’s Advertising Program has a student in the Finals of the ADCC Awards Annual! Shawn O’Connor joins 24 others in the finals, and is the Mohawk College Advertising representative. His professor is Jef Petrossi.
Award standings will be announced live at the ADCC annual awards show on November 4th, 2010. The prizes that will be awarded are:
- 1 Grand Prize winner of $1,000.00
- 4 Runner-up prizes of $500.00
In addition to the prize winners, the judges have selected 20 other entries that they feel are worthy of being recognized. All finalists will be profiled in the ADCC Awards Annual and will be shown on the ADCC website.
The ADCC saw a record number of entries from schools from across Canada. The judges were extremely impressed with the overall quality of the submissions so selecting the winners was a challenging task. The fact that a total of 25 pieces were accepted into the show is a testament to the excellent work that is coming out of Canada's Advertising, Design and Interactive programs.
Wayne Aubert, Program Coordinator congratulates Shawn on his achievement, and we can’t wait until November to see what his final standing was.
We Make the Cut on the Applied Arts Student Annual
June 15, 2010
Professor Jef Petrossi received the exciting news that one of our entries to industry publication Applied Arts will be appearing in their Student Annual. “Yves” is an outdoor execution done by Bobby Box and Mark Roberts while in their final year of our program. When asked about the significance of the news, Jef remarked:“Making it into Applied Arts is a very big accomplishment. They receive entries, not only from Canada, but also the United States. In fact, many of their entries come from private schools down south like the Miami Ad School. The magazine is well read throughout the industry.” Congrats to Bobby and Mark.
Learning Digital Photography from a pro
June 11, 2010
Rafael Ferreira is one of our Creative profs. Students study with Raf in all three years of our program, and you'll usually find him in our Mac lab. Raf focuses on Art Direction in traditional print and online. He's our "go-to" guy for anything for the web. Students enjoy his Mandarin challenges...where he has students produce work to be posted on YouTube, and if it gets the most "hits" in the class...a Mandarin lunch is the reward!
Raf is also an accomplished photographer and teaches our Digital Photography course.
Click on the image to have a view of some of his recent work.
Mountain Kidz Klub - Easter Egg Hunt
April 6, 2010
Over twenty Mohawk Advertising students heard the call and came out to help Mountain Kidz Klub with their Annual Easter Egg Hunt on Good Friday.
Program Coordinator Wayne Aubert emailed and spoke in class about the need for volunteers at this local kids charity for their annual Easter Egg Hunt. Mohawk Advertising's own student-run MCA Advertising has done pro bono work for this not-for-profit organization this year, including raising hundreds of toys for their Christmas party. In a visit last month by Aubert, Mountain Kidz Klub President Kathy Archer was thanking Mohawk Advertising students for their hard work. Aubert asked if there was more that they could do, and the need for volunteers was brought up.
"I'm thrilled that my students once again came through. Food drives, toy drives, no matter what I ask of them, they are very generous with their efforts," stated Aubert.
The Mohawk Advertising program is a three year advanced program that permits students to specialize their studies in either Business focused or Creative focused courses. Graduates can be found throughout the Canadian Advertising industry.
CMA awards
December 01, 2009
Mohawk College Advertising Program once again dominates the CMA awards student categories - 2009.
Read more »
Life after the diploma
Life after the diploma (PDF) ... read graduate Adam McClare's story. He's pursuing a degree at Griffith University in Australia through an articulation agreement.
Advertising Educators Association of Canada (AEAC) Competition
Last Spring, teams of (then) second year advertising students competed in Advertising Educators Association of Canada (AEAC) competitions in business and creative case studies.
For the IMC business results:
1st Place: St. Clair
2nd Place: Sheridan
3rd Place: Mohawk
For the creative results:
1st Place: Mohawk - GOLD
2nd Place: Humber - SILVER
3rd Place: St Clair – BRONZE
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| Congratulations to Ashley Dinga and Katey-Sue Masales for their excellent work for Umbra. |
(The GOLD winning AEAC creative team of Ashley Dinga and Katey-Sue Masales also recently won MERIT (the highest award given this year in the category) at the ADCC (Advertising & Design Club of Canada) Awards.)
Canadian Marketing Association Awards
2008
Mohawk College Advertising Program once again dominated the CMA awards student categories. Read more (PDF) »
Food Drive 2008
Our Orientation food drive raised over 1500 items of food for local food banks, including the MSA Student food bank here at Mohawk.
Pictured are faculty Robin Grossi, and third year students Carmi Guinto, Becky Carter and Mark Hyndman.




















