Thursday, October 2, 2008

Oli Barret's Speednetworking - 1/10















Oli and I walked into the 12th floor of Wisma MCA at 11am. He was eager to meet everyone and I was a little apprehensive. I was not sure how many people to expect on a holiday !

I was thrilled to see my friend Azim, his wife and partner in Alpha Catalyst, Dr Su and their 11 year old son, Idris there ! They were in their full Raya regalia - looking radiant and eager to meet Oli and other Malaysians. Alpha Catalyst is one of the Partner organizations for the Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Boy, was I relieved to see almost 60 people there ! It was great - everyone chipped in to invite their friends.

Even before Oli started, the place was already abuzz with chatter, people greeting each other, laughter, and wow - we know how to have a great time...lah !

I had some difficulty getting the program started - everyone was already networking ! After a few attempts, I finally managed to get everyone's attention. I quickly thanked everyone for being there, wished everyone Selamat Hari Raya and invited Andrew of MIRC, our host and sponsor for the morning to say a few words. Andrew, CEO MIRC Incubator - greeted everyone and spoke briefly about the smartcard they have recently launched. Andrew then welcomed Oli to Malaysia and without much adieu, we handed the mic to Oli !

Oli had everyone engaged and laughing with his entrepreneurial stories. He was charming, engaging and knows exactly how to get people excited about "connecting" ! Oli had everyone standing up and introducing themselves to complete strangers. At the end of 3 minutes, the whistle will go and you have to switch partners.

This went on for 5 rounds. At the end of it, I am sure everyone found new friends.

In all these activities, someone truly captured my attention. It was Azim and Dr Su's boy, Idris. He is only 11 - but boy, he was networking like a true pro. I wish more kids were there ! I wish mine was!

Whilst people were in the midst of their 3 minutes speednetworking, Oli was recording the session and giving a life commentary on his recorder. This was for his blog, which updates the Unleashingideas.org website automatically. He interviewed me too and asked me about all other activities that are being planned for "the Week". In 60 seconds I said as much as i could.

Others who were there were the Wemels - their GoMobile Conference is around the corner. The conference will be a GEW activity as well. I will write more on GOMobile in my next few entries.

The room was filled with high energy - you could hear squeels, high voices introducing themselves and more and more laughter. The place truly captured the Muhibbah and festive spirit !

Catch a glimpse of the energy here :http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEELdv506JSc

I dare say, this was the best Hari Raya open house I've been to. Thank you Andrew and MIRC for hosting the morning. Thanks MYM and Oli for making this possible. Thank you all for coming !

What a fabulous start to the Global Entrepreneurship Week !

Cheers

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