MMI 2017 Info Session Recap

(l-r) AriannaJasmine, Cyberdawg Foxclaw, Ava Jhamin

It was an exciting day on December 1, 2016 at Model’s Workshop. We had two incredible information sessions with Ava Jhamin, CEO of L’Amour Productions, Cyberdawg Foxclaw, COO of Mr. & Miss Model International and AriannaJasmine, the reigning Miss Model International. Ava and her team came by to tell us what is in store for MMI in 2017, and to offer advice and provide all of the necessary information to those who want to participate in the Competition.

Mr. & Miss Model International is in its third season, and like previous years, it promises to deliver fun and unique challenges, fair judging, incredible prizes and most importantly a fabulous educational experience for participants. Ava stressed that her organization doesn’t care who you are behind the screen.“We want you to represent who you want to be on SL. You be you!” She added, “We don’t voice verify. We look solely at how well you can style and represent yourself in the Competition, and how well you can represent MMI as the winner.”

Primarily structured as a styling competition, MMI is not a ‘walk in the park’. The weekly challenges stretch the boundaries of each contestant. The team expects excellence, drive and determination from the contestants. A flair for fashion and individual expression will get you far in the Competition, and as Ava explained, “I also want to see how well the contestants work together. Our Couples Challenge, which randomly puts two contestants together, reveals how well the contestants can work as a team. This is very important to me because the winners will be working with many people in our industry, and as ambassadors of MMI, they need to show good discipline, patience, teamwork and interpersonal skills.” She added, “Excellent leadership and communication skills also make you a winner.”

Cyberdawg Foxclaw, a past MMI contestant and now COO, explained, “It is our goal to make this year bigger and better than ever. We have some really challenging weeks ahead with this year’s competition themes, but we think our contestants are going to love it. You will stretch your boundaries, you will be challenged like never before, and you will learn so much about yourself and your abilities that truly, everyone should do this competition.” This, I think, is enough to get us all excited about the 2017 season.

The reigning Miss Model International, AriannaJasmine, told us about her experience in the 2016 season, adding that she did a lot of research and looked at what other competitions offered. She explained, “What stood out about MMI was the fact that the Competition was all about the contestants and our unique style. This was my first Competition and I had no expectations of winning. I learned a lot from the staff at MMI and made a lot of good friends.”

Arianna further added, “I also loved the Feedback Sessions after each Competition round. Feedback helped us know what we were doing right and what we needed to improve on. We were scored for each competition, and we were told what our scores were and what our standing was after each round. I appreciated the transparency of the judging and the judges’ comments. It was great a learning experience for me.”

During the Q&A portion of the Information Session, questions such as “Can someone with curves, or someone who is not your typical tall and lean ’model’ take part in the Competition”? Ava responded, “Absolutely YES! We want you to be who you want to be. If you are not a model, we will help you with things like posing and walking to ensure all participants are on the same level in terms of presentation, but you are responsible for styling yourself based on your own body type.” One of last year’s judges, B Barbie, also chimed in explaining that she judged the contestants based on how well they styled and presented themselves and did not look at their shape or if they were typical models.

Cyberdawg added, “This year we have a very solid pool of judges who are experienced in their field. We are introducing a training session for judges as well to help them better understand our expectations, our rules and our judging process.” No doubt this will benefit the judges and the contestants in the long run.

It was truly an incredible information-packed session that included Press Releases and Sponsorship details, and plenty of good feedback from past contestants, such as Resmay Bloodstorm-Coba (meishagirl) who credited MMI for helping her be the model she is today and announced with excitement that she will again be competing in the MMI Competition in 2017.

A very special thank you to Ava, Cyberdawg and Arianna for giving us a glimpse into MMI 2017. We wish them much success with the Competition, and hope to have them back to introduce the new winners next year. For the official MMI 2017 Press Release, schedule, rules and entry details, visit lamourproductions.org/mmi/mmi-2017/.

Jena Adder
MW COO & Co-Owner