UA-49621821-1

February 20, 2013

#BusinessRocks @ #smwsg - Pecha Kua Style...

                     


#BusinessRocks: Mix business with pleasure at this informal networking session where you can relax, have a beer, meet and mingle. "

When I read this, I told myself, THIS session must not be missed! Being a big fan of TED, and a participant speaker at #barcamps back in Mumbai... anything that has to do with the art of concise presentations, that's certainly on my list.

I'm a big fan of it when it comes to presentations and sharing focused insights. Also, it was an opportunity for me to meet, mingle with some interesting folks in Singapore, ones who had the kind of insights that I was really looking for.

It was hosted by Gina Romero,(@gina_romero) who hosts #businessrocks a lot in Singapore. She certainly fits the description of Rock Chick Entrepreneur to the tee. Her energy and passion yesterday truly demonstrated that... :)

The first thing that she got right was to get David Rogers @continualshift as the emcee!!! No wonder they're beer buddies!! They share the same level of energy and enthusiasm for the things they're passionate about.

So what is #BusinessRocks all about??

'It's like TED with Beer!' Well, what more do you want!!! This was something I couldn't resist! Also it was 7 presentations with 7 different topics to highlight an interesting theme...

So I'll also try to do a Pecha Kua Style summary of the presenters giving you an idea of what all the speakers said!

Openness by Carlie Jayne Guy, Research Insights Director, Wearesocial @CarlieJ52

Her presentation was primarily about how Tech geeks have changed the way we live our lives. Her job is to research insights on how these things affect our lives. She made some profound points especailly in this open and connected world and how data means a lot and how we can learn from analyzing that data. Especially with ORM tools of the likes of Radian6, Sysomos, Klout, Pinalytics, SocialBakers and WolframAlpha. Some great platforms to use for insights. To sum up her talk, she gave us her informed opinion on how openness matters and how data can drive your communication...

Inclusivity by Yusef Hamid, Digital Boomerang, @Sir_Rupert_

Next up was Yusef Hamid of Digital Boomerang.. We all are aware of so many cat memes and so many twitter accounts that are created nowadays for our dogs and cats. Yusef Hamid showed us how that is a modern example of people actually getting the best out of the mascots that they have created themselves, especially for their pets. Inclusivity being the main thing... In a funny and humorous way, witty yet trickily performed presentation, Yusef talked about how a Dog can truly be a man's best friend... ;) Now he has some 218 likes... Hopefully he'll get more and be more useful to him, besides the crazy stuff he keeps doing all day...

Transparency by Scott Bales, Moven - @ScottEBales

Scott comes from the banking industry and we all know how banking and secrecy are so closely tied in. He on the other hand is the guy who wants to change the (banking) world with transparency. A key question he asked was 'Is social end of secrecy?? From the banking industry perspective, maybe it should be... no? One thing he got spot on was, this

Transparency removes FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt) True that Scott, True that...

Collaboration by Andrew Chow, IdeasAndrew - @IdeasAndrew

The difference being personal and being personable! Yes that is what kicked off Andrew, the birthday boy's talk! His key thought was about how collaboration can instigate a difference, a difference that Social has actually been meant for! Collaboration certainly adds to a much higher value to you and your brand and that is something which is easier in today's world with being social and being able to collaborate. He certainly enchanted the audience with his thoughts on how collaboration can make a difference to the thoughts and to personalize the way brands / people on social think. And he certainly got everyone's attention when he distributed free copies of his book Social Media 247... :)

Co-creation by Jamshed Wadia, Intel - @JamshedWadia

Along the same lines of Collaboration, co-creation is equally important in today's day and age, especially with brands who are primarily dependent on getting great insights and are on the constant look out to reinnovate, much like Intel! An apt topic for Jamshed Wadia of Intel to speak about... He shared with us various case studies which represented how co-creation transformed the way brands changed the thinking of consumers and empowered them even further. And of course, being an Indian, I felt mighty proud that @hellomehippo case study about (Hippo Chips Not Available? Tweet Us) campaign that he shared insights of. Thoroughly interesting and captivating presentation leading us to the importance of co-creation.

Networked power by Kristine Lauria - @KrissyMo

Kristine Lauria was all about (NETWORKING) But not just about networking to SHOUT your message across, but to actually get to listen and to enhance your brand, converse and most importantly realize how all that transforms into successful relationships. Always be asking, How can I help you, pay it forward and try to make that difference, giving back to the community. She laid stress on How social is all about connecting to other people and not about YOU!!! And that's again highlighting the key of how Social's about WE and not ME!!!

Agility by Christel Quek (Havas Media) - @ladyxtel

The last speaker of the evening was a very popular Chrsitel Quek. Didn't know she was voted amongst the top digital influencers!! Quite a good feeling to have met her after the session and in fact I liked the style of her presentations too... I'm a big fan of the art of story telling and analogies. Which is exactly what she used in her presentation. She talked about 7 tips which would help bring agility to your brand and your personal communication on Social! One interesting analogy was that of the Water snake, being blind and partially deaf, how it relies on its other senses to be able to survive and capture its prey! Some of her case studies were also truly interesting, especially the Applebee's and Superbowl case studies that she shared. Not the ones that were successful, but the ones that didn't quite resonate with their audiences and how we can learn from them.

This was quite a good event packed of sessions with the tempo that made this session interesting... Kudos to Gina and her team and of course to all the speakers who really did a good job of sharing their insights in the best 'Pecha Kua' style they could...

While we got a lot of value add and insight from this session, it had a fitting end with a serious and a very passionate, from the bottom of her heart closing by Gina for her Athena Network! Really interesting and truly her passion showed out when she spoke about it with a lump in her throat if you will...

And last but not least, something I truly wanted to do, catch up with my twitter friend @farah_sidek... To add to that, I also happened to meet @eskimon the Social Media Maestro of Singapore and his entire team of  WeAreSocial Singapore  That team has got some energy!!! WOW!!! :)

A word about Plan Athena:

It's Asia Pacific's leading community for female executives and entrepreneurs. A social enterprise it aims to reach women of all socio-economic profiles through training and skills development.

The overarching aim is to empower women to fulfill their right to have choices, opportunities and access to resources – all of which improve their sense of self-worth and ability to influence society and the economy.

So this week, Diageo have offered a prize of $10,000 to a Singapore project that supports their initiative and The Athena Network is one of the 3 shortlisted companies competing for the $10,000 prize.

P.S If you guys want to help her win $10,000 to help empower those women across Asia Pacific, you can do your bit... Check this out: http://www.theathenanetwork.com.sg

In a gist, here's what you need to do to help out!

1. Tweet #planwAthena as much as possible every day for the next 5 days.
2. Help us to spread the word! Please ask your friends to join in!
3. Be sure to include our HASHTAG: #planwAthena

Srinivas has been a communications professional for over 10 years, and has been blogging since 2005. He has worked with the likes of Social Wavelength, now Mirum India, (A JWT Group Company) for four years and now Heads Learning and Development & Analytics at Social Kinnect: A Digital Marketing Agency in Mumbai. His passion for Advertising, Creativity, Social & Digital Marketing helps make a difference for the brands they work with. 

No comments: