8/8 : 100 Days to GEW Countdown Party : The Planning Behind the Scenes.

A few weeks ago, I asked Vivian (Head of GEW Malaysia Secretariat) what date falls on the day that marks 100 Days to GEW.

After a few minutes of intense calculation, like a Chinese Feng Shui master, she exclaimed "on the eight, eight" !

8/8 ! Wow!! Excellent ! What an auspicious day !

I have a special affinity for the number 8. I have done almost everything important on a date that somehow adds up to 8. Call it superstition. Also according to numerology, my "life path" number is 8 (date of birth + month of birth + year of birth, all reduced to a single digit).

So, with that date, we had 2 reasons to celebrate now - one for the 100 Days to GEW and the other, it falls on an auspicious date !

Now the next challenge is to get the Patron, Dato' Saifuddin's time on that date. I managed to get a brief appointment with the Deputy Minister and his aide a week before the 8th. They kindly agreed "8th is fine, though it looks like a super busy day" ! Time : 2.30pm.

I was exhilarated we had the VIP's date and time out - now to confirm the venue and the menu and to send the "mark your dates" alerts out whilst we plan the program.

As we were working out the details, we (my team and I) realized from various Facebook updates, Money Tree, a GEW partner will be having their YES Challenge on the same day and time too.

I did not like the idea of competing with a partner event and also to divide the entrepreneur community. So I rang Michael Reyes (Regional CEO of Money Tree) to explore the possibility of a joint event. Michael liked the idea. So did I.

Michael and I met to discuss the possibility. But even before I arrived at the venue, I realized this was going to be a tough one. I was confined by the Patron's time and his preference for a venue - in central KL whilst Michael was confined by his sponsor's venue in Taman Tun.

We discussed and agreed we have no choice but to keep the events separate. We also discussed the media and the invitee list and agreed our audience is also different except for a few judges. I have to live with some of these key people not attending the GEW function. That was fine - the judges have to be there to support Michael and Money Tree.

We shook hands and agreed we will proceed with each other's events and support each other in other ways.

The plans for the countdown then proceeded and then the fun began - Dato' Saifuddin can now only make it at 1.30pm and he had to leave by 2.30 pm for another appointment with a another Minister.

We had to move the tea menu to a lunch menu. We did it gladly.

The venue was fixed at Saloma Bistro Cafe - a nice white washed bungalow and cafe a few metres from KLCC.

More on the event in my next entry....

7/9 : NST Interview

I was interviewed by Kye Lee of NST yesterday. The interview took place at the NST office in Jalan Riong.

Obviously the interview was on GEW - how it began, the role of the Host and Partners and how Malaysia did last year and some success stories.

The paper also wanted to know what the plans for this year were.

When it comes to the goals for 2009 - I said "to be the top country in the world, full stop" - a quote by the British High Commissioner, Boyd McCleary last year during the GEW launch.

We also talked about our first sponsors - Microsoft Bizpark, Senedi and the NST. We talked about other media coming forward such as Voize, Malaysian Today and Malaysian SME.

Media Prima Bhd is our Main Media Partner for GEW.

I also mentioned our potential tie-up with YEM.

The paper published the story today -8/8 : the day we are going to celebrate the 100 Day to GEW Countdown. We have a good story today though the entire story did not make it, due to space constraints, I believe.

I look forward to the next 100 days being meaningful - where partner organizations will organize various activities around the country to put Malaysia on the GEW map once again.

Thank you NST for the nice coverage.

Cheers

New GEW09 T-Shirts

The brand new GEW09 t-shirts has arrived - see our own in-house "models" Emily (Head of Enterprise in WG) and Syam (Designer) posing in them.

The t-shirts will be on sale on Saturday : RM25 per piece.

Sorry everyone, we have no t-shirt sponsors yet and have no choice but to charge a small fee for them.

Free t-shirts are only reserved for sponsors. Hope you understand.

Part of the proceeds of the t-shirts will go towards an entrepreneurship program for an orphanage.

Hope to get your support.

Thank you.

100 Days to GEW : Countdown Party : Change of Time

Dear Friends of GEW,

There is a small change to the timing of the 100 Day to GEW event this Saturday : we have to bring the event forward from 2pm originally to 12pm.

This is because the Deputy Minister and Patron of GEW - Dato' Saifuddin Abdullah has another important appointment at 3pm and has to leave by 2.30pm.

Please take note.

We have now made changes to the menu and agenda. We now serve a light lunch and the event begins earlier.

We thank you for your understanding and thank Dato' for still accomodating the GEW event despite his hectic schedule.

Thanks Dato' and friends. Look forward to seeing you all.

100 Days to GEW : Countdown Party

The time has come and I can't procrastinate anymore in updating this blog.

Many people have sent me messages asking me when I will start updating this blog again. They ask me if there is nothing happening and that's why I have not updated the blog !

On the contrary - we have been working at a blistering pace from the background.

Preparations for GEW09 are moving along nicely - we have been having new partners joining and 2008 partners planning exciting activities.

But before I ramble on with more updates, here is the invite for the GEW 100 Day Countdown Party - it will be on Saturday, 8th August 2009 at the Saloma Bistro at Jalan Ampang.

The event will be officiated by non-other then GEW Friend and Patron and now the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Dato' Saifuddin Abdullah.

Be there to hear how our young entrepreneurs are going to rock GEW09.

More on the milestones achieved in the coming entries..

Cheers

"Let A Thousand Flowers Bloom" ! MyGEW09 Is Going to Rock !

"Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom" is a "common misquotation of Chairman Mao Zedong's "let a hundred flowers bloom".

Chairman Mao is not necessarily the apt mascot for entrepreneurship but that quote, every time I hear it, never failed to inspire.

This is what will happen for GEW'09 : we plan to let a thousand flowers bloom. We want to see 1000 new enterprises begin this year - no matter in which area ! One Thousand Flowers Has to Bloom !

Come to the GEW Partners Meet tomorrow : 4 to 6pm, NSTP Office, Jalan Riong.

Share your plans to inspire Enterprise and we will share ours !

Cheers

TEDxKL & GEW

I wish to take this opportunity to apologize to the organizers and attendees of TEDxKL recently for "shamelessly selling" GEW!

The event was on 3rd June, at the Gardens KL.

I was invited by the organizer, Daniel Cerventus when he was in my office for a meeting. As he was leaving he asked me if I will be available to speak at TEDxKL .

I asked him what I should speak about and he said, "GEW".

So, I registered in my mind that this will be a good opportunity to promote the concept of the Global Entrepreneurship Week.

It was a busy period for me as we were was busy with many proposals and tenders.

I then completely forgot about the event and carried on at my usual "feverish pace of working" - as my wife would call it.

One evening a few days before the event, I saw Daniel online and asked him when TeD was and he replied "Wednesday" !

I realized it was already Monday and typed "what do I talk about?" and he said "success stories about GEW".

I did not realize what this meant nor did I know what TEDxKL was about let alone Do's and Don'ts for this event. What I should have done is to do some research on the protocols of TED.

So what did I do ?

I arrived at the event an hour before my talk, finalized the standard slides and simply spoke about GEW, the success last year and our vision this year and happily invited the attendees to come for the 1st partners' meet on the 12th at 4pm at the NSTP office in Jalan Riong

What was I thinking of?

I was under the impression I was talking about the idea of "a global movement of entrepreneurial people" and promoting entrepreneurship. But what it turned out was that we were selling or pitching ! We were "shamelessly promoting" !

Actually I promoted all my partners shamelessly. I think they, those great people need to be acknowledged.

However, this ruffled some feathers and the host was not pleased. I should have known better.

I deeply regret and apologize for the goof up ! Lets move on..

On another note..

We are going to be having the 1st GEW Partner's Meet on the 12 June between 4pm to 6pm.

The Venue is the NSTP office in Jalan Riong. Come early to find parking.

Hope to see you all there.

Together , let have an awesome GEW09 and lets put Malaysia once again on the map.

Cheers