Our Every Effort to Bring the "Welcome Advertisement" to Leader

I've retold the story of my every effort to bring the "Welcome Advertisement" to Leader and SS501 in Pantip Forum already but it was all in Thai.

Now I feel like sharing the story with you.

Of course you all know that Kimhyunjoongthailand has prepared a "Welcome Advertisement" for SS501 in DARA Daily Newspaper from February 10th - February 16th, 2010 during their Bangkok Persona. I and my friends started the project last year after coming back from Taiwan Persona. We've been discussing about what to do for Leader and we've decided to do the Welcome Advertisement in the local newspaper. We've checked the price for all local newspapers in Thailand from only half page, 1 strip add, to a full page advert. We saw the price and we acknowledged the obstacles. We've talked among the admin staffs and we agreed to do it though with a blur vision on how to succeed in collecting the money.

What have we done? First I contacted DSP Entertainment and sent email to DSP asking to use 1 group photo and 1 Leader's photo. We wanted everything to be perfect and LEGAL according to Law so we had to get approval to use the picture. We asked NOT for ANY FINANCIAL support. All we've asked was for them to choose the picture for us and if they could kindly send us all the LOGOES to be advertised. 2 emails were sent.... no response. During that time of contacting DSP Korea, we've already made a contact with the newspaper and agreed upon the budget! The reason we contacted DSP Korea was because DSPThailand would have to actually get a permission from DSPMedia anyway so I just cut it short by contacting the main office.

A couple of weeks before leaving for Hong Kong Persona, I've been in contact with DoConcert about some SgTripleS Bangkok Persona tickets. Thanks to Superstar SiHui and her SgTripleS friends for making all the job easier for me to contact DoConcert. Since I got no reply from DSP, I felt like I'd failed ... this mission was impossible. I've got to find another way but couldn't figure it out where to go. At that period of time, we've been discussing about what we were going to do for Bangkok Persona already and we had a meeting almost every other day. Many things to do ... a lot of money to use...

How do we get the picture? Thanks to DoConcert staff for making this possible for Kimhyunjoongthailand's project. I asked the promoter and told them about our project for SS501 and Leader. They agreed to help us ask DSP to use the picture and I was informed one week before leaving for HK that DSP agreed for us to do the project but the advertisement has to be approved and checked by the Korean Office first before it's published. That was no problem for us at all. Then I got the picture and the logos from the Promoter ... ( I won't be telling you how long it took for me to get the picture...but we got it FINALLY).

It was really frustrating for the admin staffs to collect the money. It was a huge amount of expense but we've found the way to do it. I am so thankful for those who have helped us in making this project possible. No matter how much you've helped us ... I am so grateful for every single baht. Most importantly, without the LOVE for Kim Hyun Joong, this will not be POSSIBLE AT ALL. Thank you ... thank you... thank you soooooo very much ....

Here is the final product... our PRIDE , our LOVE, our DEDICATION and for our KIM HYUN JOONG !

Now.. how do we get this to him? how does he know that we... kimhyunjoongthailand ... have done this to show our love, our support, and our hearts to him? I did ask for something privilege knowing it was hard and impossible. I failed .... I didn't get what I wanted ... I didn't know why it was so hard compare to what we've done. But, lucky enough they helped us to deliver the newspaper to Leader and the boys. Still, I didn't know whether when he would get to see it with all their tight sked.

On Feb 11th, 2010 at around 11 pm, I was inside the airport waiting for the boys to arrive. I knew they would be going to VIP so I was told. I still went... why? I brought with me a newspaper.... To be given to the boys? No... cause I knew I didn't have that chance of getting that close to them. I waited ... waited .... till the plane had landed... till I was confirmed they'd gone with the van to the hotel. I was still inside the airport... I didn't leave ! why?

I was walking kind of... lost .... happy? may be... sad? may be. I should hurry and ran after them but I didn't. I felt surprised myself too for not doing that. I walked until I saw the manager and the rest of SS501 team at the luggage claim. You can read my account on this episode HERE.

Yes.. that was when I first handed in our 1st newspaper to Leader. I gave the paper to the manager but was ignored... I then handed to the camera man ( I knew later that he was a camera man). May be they thought I was showing them the regular advertisement of SS501. They didn't even READ the words. That hurt... really really hurt my feelings. I wanted to cry so bad ... never mind ... it may seem so little for them ... but it's the MOST MEANINGFUL GIFT from US.

SS501 is the FIRST KOREAN IDOL to receive a WELCOME ADVERTISEMENT published in a newspaper in Thailand. None other Korean Idols have had this before.

I wanted this to be heard and to be known. I wanted Leader to know this and to realize how much WE love him and SS501.

The Press Conference day I was very busy... and of course my fan account can be read HERE. What I wanted to add more in this was about how we have tried our best to send the boys our advertisement. I was busy getting in a press section and I was busy trying to get our gifts and advertisement paper to the 5 boys. We've prepared the gifts (5 Northern Thailand cotton shirt styles + pants to go with + 5 newspaper for each) in 5 different bags. I gave these directly to the Promoter not together with the rest of the gifts in front of the fansign session. These will reach them for sure. My job ended? nop.... after the chaos during the fansign ... handshake ... whatever they wanted to call it.... I followed them to Impact Arena.

After the rehearsal I chased them back to the hotel like I have blogged about this HERE. What have we done? My friend was thinking brilliant about this. She walked to the van's driver, the one who drove the boys'van. She gave him 2 newspapers and asked the driver to place these inside the van. We've told him what it was and the driver was so kind to help us.

The concert day... I've brought with us 3 newspaper inside Impact Arena. My friend placed 2 papers on the stage ... just for the boys and Leader to notice. There was Kimhyunjoongthailand's banner that looks exactly like the advertisement.

I knew Leader saw it but I wanted him to see more of it. So I left the concert early to wait for him at the airport. I still had the last paper with me. I wrote my feeling down...

"Please come back to Thailand again."

and I wrote so many things on it... on each of everyone picture. I asked my friend to give this to him and yes mission completed when she went inside the airport to give this to Leader.

I really really wanted to know how Leader feel about this but it's like a mission impossible for us. I wanted him to say something to US... to those fans in Thailand, who have made their dedication for this project. Just only a slight acknowledgement is fine. But... seems like... a dream.

3 days ago when I was talking to the promoter about the Premium gifts for SfTripleS fans which I was responsible to collect them. I asked...

"Did our gifts and newspaper reach him?"

"Yes, though they didn't have time to look over inside but yes they saw."

I then asked "Did they see the paper? did they know we've done this for them?"

She said "What I can tell you is that, I saw your newspaper inside Impact Arena, on the table in the boys' prep. room. I saw them going through the newspaper and it placed on the table for the whole time."

After hearing that, I felt soooo overwhelmed and then stop to think.......

I didn't give away free copies of the paper outside Impact on the concert day. I didn't ask anyone and I didn't give the paper to anybody at all on feb 13th, how did the paper get inside Impact Arena, on the table in the boys' room????

I may have imagined this myself... but I believe the only way the paper could have gotten inside was one of the boys took it from the van !

Young Seang actually did make a remark face during the concert... my friends was calling him to see the paper on the stage. YS looked at it and he smiled. He made a gesture suggesting that he saw it... and he spoke something which my friends couldn't understand.

That was good enough... that was our full effort ....

Leader... are you proud of us? are you happy seeing all we've done?

You are, right? Please let us know that you are ....

Mel@kimhyunjoongthailand.com