Thanks to the kind folks at MSL Asia and the organisers Singapore Exhibition Services, I had a chance to visit CommunicaAsia2011 during lunch. With over 2,000 exhibitors from 59 countries in Asia, the integrated event for broadcasting, digital media and infocomm (ICT) industries is a veritable paradise for techies, auteurs and anybody who needs to work with the latest hardware and software.
Blackberry’s tablet shows they’re no longer just thumbing the competition
This black bear near Whistler Village was a mere 3 metres away from me
One of the things I’ve gone gaga over during my recent trip to the Canadian Rockies was photography. Wielding a new Olympus PEN EPL1 camera, I’ve taken tonnes of amateurish photos and videos of every imaginable living or unliving thing.
Courtesy of Poverty Project Salt Lake City
In its simplest and most basic form, there are four things that we need to take note of when rolling out any marketing strategy. This can be represented by the acronym TART as a yummy mnemonic device.
Target Customers
Contrary to our initial perceptions, Canada (well at least the Vancouver-Banff-Jasper stretch) generally offered a decent dining experience. While the variety and pedigree of their cuisine can’t quite match that of Singapore, I do enjoy the experience of dining out in Canada.
First, almost every place offered a vegetarian, vegan, or healthier dining option. This was great for a semi-veggie like me trying to eat more healthily, ethically and sustainably. Many of the restaurants or cafes were also quite flexible and willing to make changes to their menu to suit your taste.
Enjoying a veggie sandwich and a vegan burger at a pub-diner in Jasper
Moose Lake in Mount Robson Park
After a 16 day trip to Canada’s West Coast, principally Vancouver, Kelowna, Banff, Jasper, Kamloops, and the Whistler Mountain, we’ve been touched in so many fabulous ways. There are many wonderful things about this sprawling – its the second largest nation after Russia in terms of area – and northerly country (average annual temperature is 1.5 deg Celcius across the country) but I’d simply focus on 11. Note that I’m speaking as a traveller of course, so my views could be skewed towards the tourist’s gaze. Let’s hope that things will continue to stay this way for Canada, a land of extraordinary experiences.
Fantastic Mountains
Ethan’s certainly enjoyed his first visit to Universal Studios Singapore
Lights… Cameras… and so much action! That sums up the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore this morning.
After allowing members of the public to visit parts of the park in stages, Universal Studios Singapore finally had its grand opening party. Thanks to the kind folks of Resorts World Sentosa, I was able to bring Ethan along to soak in the hot and festive fun. Participating in the extravaganza were big names like American Idol and pop personality Paula Abdul, Chinese martial arts superstar Jet Li, screen goddess Maggie Cheung, doe-eyed Chinese actress Vicki Zhao (of “Huang Zhu Ge Ge fame”) and Kimberly Caldwell, a finalist from American Idol.
The awesome Moraine Lake at Banff, Canada (source of image)
Today, we’re busy preparing, planning and packing for our upcoming trip to Canada’s British Columbia and Alberta.
Courtesy of CGU Writing Centre
Writing papers is not second nature for most of us. It isn’t easy to slave over the words, facts and figures that form an integral part of white collar work, while putting forth a cogent and convincing argument.
Fortunately, there is an art and a science to writing policies, strategic plans, strategies, and other documents geared towards rallying support, budgets and stakeholder buy-in. Here are some tips that I have learnt from my years of experience in wielding the pen as the sword.
Don’t merely listen to the experts even if they look as good as this (courtesy of Strategy of Wealth)
In today’s social-technology-enabled world, customers and citizens alike wield considerable influence over the decisions of corporate and political captains alike. In such an environment, we can ill afford to adopt a “I know best” attitude in dealing with our stakeholders (unless of course we are Steve Jobs and Apple).
While there is a rise in the cult of the amateur, as claimed by Andrew Keen, there is still a time and place for the professionals. I’m sure nobody in their right minds would want to be operated on by a surgeon who is fresh out of med school, or to be rescued by novice firefighters.
Does Crazy Rich Asian help to promote Singapore? (courtesy of Crazy Rich Asians movie)
Everybody’s talking about Crazy Rich Asians, the blockbuster Hollywood movie based on Singapore-born author Kevin Kwan’s book of the same name.
While the movie was celebrated for giving Asians a major role in a Hollywood movie, it garnered its fair share of brickbats by those who felt that it did not fairly represent Singapore in its portrayal.