Sunday, October 01, 2006
SIP Journey Part I
Yes, I've been lagging really badly but...ok, I'm gonna cut and paste all that I've pasted into my ole journal into here, coz I *really really really* don't have much time to blog since SIP began....(And isn't dumb that we can't read each other's SIP journals?!?! I've been dying to know what's happening to the rest! And I'm sure they'll all be having a better time than I do except for that poor HTM guy who does delivery of moonies for Raffles The Plaza.........)
It has been around 3 weeks since my first official step onto the carpeted grounds of my working desk at MP Group! My, how time flies!
I remember when everything first started, all the interns were plunged straight into work without an official orientation (other than introducing ourselves to our fellow colleagues whom most don't really care who we are and knowing where the latrines and canteen are.) So I was mostly in a confused state and try to ask questions that make sense. But even if I asked questions that don't make sense, nobody can blame me because as my Projects Director Eileen puts it, "You don't know what you don't know." Which makes sense perfectly.
My first week at work had been incredibly dull and draggy. I volunteered to do typing so was given the heavy task of doing database, or DB for short (serves me right haha). Subsequently, whoever rings a bell that this DB or that DB has to be updated, it automatically gets emailed into my Outlook inbox. No choice -- I have to end what I begin, I told myself.
Yes this DB thing IS a major issue. It delivers long hours (days, weeks, months, I foresee) of typing, staring at name cards from all over the world, half the time trying to understand weird Japanese/Russian/Spanish/German characters and attempting to TYPE all these things into the DB (in excel spreadsheet). Eventually, I had so terrible headaches from staring at the flickering monitor, I bought a roll-on minty oil for headaches AND installed a radiation-protection screen on the monitor using my bfren's money. So far, they have worked wonders. *wink* My efforts paid off when I developed one whole DB with 500 leads from scratch in just 3 days; cleared up an existing 10,000 leads in 3 days; cleared up another existing 600 leads in 2 days. My supervisor Debi had to comment in a unbelievable tone one morning when she saw what I've emailed her, "....it's .....amazing!....Yes yes...it's pretty amazing....." Given the fact that I don't really like what I'm doing, I think it's amazing too. However since leads are really important because they generate attendance at the event, I cannot afford to be slow or inaccurate -- which explains the drive behind my efforts.
Apart from DB, I was involved in doing up a summary or checklist of the conference precedings for the keynote and non-keynote speakers. They are all big-time distinguished characters from international organizations such as United Nations. I did some clean-looking dividers to prepare for the closing report of the event; I did faxing to overseas people like UK and even ordered mooncakes for the clients of the company from Raffles the Plaza and had to contend with Eileen's request for 'reputable' vegetarian mooncakes. (She's my two supervisors' boss, so I have to be diplomatic when entangled in this intricate protocolic web of complications -- I'm always squashed in between them.)
The most memorable things that I actually did were on two occasions -- I asked questions to two important people, my supervisor Jaslyn and my projects director Eileen, and I mean MANY questions. I could not stand the fact that I was doing PBL in school and had to PBL myself at work?!? So I figured, I had to ask some big-time questions no matter what if I really want to learn something. The issue with asking questions in this organization is that, either no one has the time to listen or no one has the time to answer. I compiled one whole list of important questions regarding the event I'm handling and found a chance to approach Jaslyn when she was free for a few minutes. I emphasized strongly that, "Being an intern, I'm responsible for my own learning (as quoted by Ms. Ng Lee Li) but definitely not at the expense of your work." To my surprise, she was nice and sincere throughout that question session.
The questions I pose to her were things like:
- When did the planning first started?
- This event is a partner of World Events Organisation and has 5 co-hosts and supported by TCEB. What are all their roles and where do they come in?
- Would there be a post-event evaluation process?
- In the registration form, there is a form for forum and a response slip. How are they being managed after people submit a response?
- Is the Expo only open to public or only to forum delegates?
- How to set prices for raw space or shell scheme?
- What is a show catalogue?
- Is the exhibitors' manual generic? If not, how is it being done up?
- What are the various sponsorship opportunities available?
Sounds like big-time questions right? But if I don't understand certain basics, there's really no way I can understand anything else. And there are those that she specifically emphasized that she is not at the level to answer as she was only in the company for 6 months and her views may not necessarily represent the company's interests. So, what I did was to compile the leftover questions that were not answered to ask director Eileen.
Eileen's way of doing things was much more interesting. She gathered all of us (my two supervisors -- Jaslyn, Debi -- and me) to sit together in her office and I was supposed to bring the questions out for everyone to answer, which she will then think it through and round up with her own opinion. In that sense, she can answer my questions and also understand how her colleagues think. That whole process was so overwhelming; I was practically at the edge of my toes when posing the questions because I started to have self-doubts whether they were relevant or just plain stupid. I emphasized to her that she might not have to answer if they weren't supposed to be told to outsiders but I just have to ask somehow because I am supposed to be learning and the fact that I cannot attempt my task with conviction when I do not understand the larger picture in the first place.
My questions for her were categorized into 2 parts.
Under General category, they went like:
- How are fees set? (Mark-up? Based on previous event?) Usually what's considered Early Bird?
- How long is a typical planning process before its conceptualization? (Any variances between local and foreign location of event?)
- Has MP ever rejected any invitation to organize an event and on what grounds? What are the considerations before agreeing officially to organize an event?
Under World Toilet Expo & Forum category, the questions were:
- Understand that this event is not the first time. Many delegates and exhibitors gave positive feedback to last event, how to manage expectations from them and yet adhere to established objectives?
- Why hold in Thailand, specifically? (Due to invitation, contacts/experience in handling events in Thailand?)
- What will happen in the event that there will still be political instability in Thailand in November? (Relocation possible? Postponement of dates?) Will there be contingency plans? What is the norm when such things happen? (If any)
- How does the golf event fits in? Why is it a pre-event and not a post one? How do you judge whether people will sign up for it when you mentioned during the last meeting you are trying to increase profits? Or are you taking a risk?
At the end of the session, Eileen expressed her shock as there was never an intern who would go up to her to ask this kind of questions. (Too bad, I'm paying school fees even when interning.) She apologized for not giving the interns an official orientation of the company objectives, our jobscope etc. because she left it to her managers at their discretion to do it. She explained why she was always making me doing administrative work for her because when Debi is busy, I'll be her next personal assistant. (I presume it is because she likes it when I smile at her; she likes my cheerful personality.) And she tried to convince me how PA's usually make it to the top within a shorter period of time as compared to others. (What makes her so sure I'm staying on anyways???) And she emphasized that I should never underestimate my DB task because it stems back to helping the company cut costs as well as bring in potential sales.....
The most significant thing that happened in Week 3 was my successful drafting of the sponsorship letter to the chairperson of Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), CARE International UK. (I thought by sponsoring this poor Iranian from Ecosan-Iran, I can build up good karma.) For the second time, I received a 'really good' compliment for this whole 3 weeks and I took pride in it. I hope it goes up to Eileen with no hiccups and hope sincerely the Iranian guy can attend the event in Bangkok and bring back knowledge and hope to his people of Iran. (Call me idealistic but that's how I keep myself going.)
At the end of 3 weeks, I thought I have gained much helpful insight about SIP and work at MP Group; in fact, I have been observing and absorbing many details every day even though I'm usually quiet and most of my work don't require me to interact with many people in the company as compared to what the rest of the HTM girls are doing. (Sometimes, I volunteer for chances; doing something stupid like helping someone carry coffee or tea from the PICO machine can be a chance to interact as well. *Think Mr Wong, grinZ*) I have achieved my short term goals to a certain extent for sure; I have the technical know-how to DB (haha) and I'm always faxing strange requests overseas. I even called up people in Zambia and Uganda to update my database but luckily the calls didn't get through because the numbers were wrong. (I was afraid they don't speak English then I'll really call Mr. Lee and cry.) The HTM interns are nice too; sometimes we help each other when things crop up. To a large extent, I have a better idea of the workflow of the company and how different colleagues behave. In short, I'm starting to feel comfortable in the company and hope that I'll have more learning opportunities down the road.
(Isn't it all so diplomatically put? Hahahah. Coz it's my SIP journal posting mahhh. Will try to post in more soon......)
Just to add on for some extra info, the following visuals that I came up towards the last few journals may help to explain the structure of my WTEF project and the whole of MP Asia under PICO. (U can click on them to expand into a new window.)
BTW I've just uploaded some of my SIP photos on my flickr. Check it out!
