Entrepreneurship Forum cum High-Tea Networking Session

me and my MiE friends had been planning (and struggling with..) this Entrepreneurship Forum cum High-Tea Networking Session for over 2 months.. and this afternoon, the event was (i must say, successfully..) held at Nanyang Auditorium in NTU.. (sorry, guys.. it’s just over..) only after that, we were like.. phewww.. we did it!! we did it!!

(ok.. ok.. here is the storyline.. )

about 2 months ago, one of my MiE friends talked to me about organizing a networking session where the successful entrepreneurs could share their experience with the students and they could mingle with one another.. i was instantly hooked onto the idea.. so, we recruited a few other MiE friends.. and there we were.. planning a big event.. with no experience whatsoever in event management.. (in fact, it was the biggest networking event organized by students in s’pore..)

it was kind of hard and demanding to organize this event, considering that all of us were not really free.. one was doing industrial attachment.. one was doing final year project.. one went to UK for summer exchange programme.. three ppl went back to their home countries for vacation.. i was working part-time at citibank..

and there were a lot of tasks to be done.. we had to short-list the entrepreneurs who might want to come down to our event.. we had to write invitation letter and send out to those entrepreneurs.. (we sent out 300 invitation letters..) we had to set up a website for the students to do online registration.. after some entrepreneurs confirmed their participation, we had to do a write-up about their stories.. we had to print out a booklet.. we had to look for corporate sponsorship.. we had to plan how the place was going to be set up.. what kind of food we were going to serve.. so on and so on.. (we even hired a DJ to play soft music at the event..)

nevertheless, we managed to pull thru and got 25 entrepreneurs to come down to our event.. (yes!! a whopping 25!!) there were big names like Dr Dora Hoan (Best World International), Dr Michael Leong (ShareInvestor.com), Ms Annie Yap (GMP Group, one of this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award nominees), Mr Richard Eu (Eu Yan Sang), Mr Han Keen Juan (Old Chang Kee), Mr Ronnie Lim (The Event Co.), Mr Steve Ting (Frontline Technologies), Mr Jeffery Goh (Light Speed Technologies), etc.. they were really movers and shakers in their respective industries..

and here came the big event with a big bang.. this afternoon at 1pm, we were in panic mode, as the event was only one hour away and the nanyang audi was not even set up.. (we borrowed some sofas from one event company.. and they were late in delivering..) and to make it even worse, we received a call from one particular entrepreneur.. (he is quite popular at social speaking events..) he was making a big fuss, as he was not comfortable with the topic assigned to him.. even after we changed the topic for him, he was still angry.. (he scolded me on the phone.. haha..) he even threatened not to come down at all.. (after all, he did come.. we managed to calm him down with some pacifier.. haha..)

there were 7 ppl, including me, in the organizing committee.. and each of us were assigned to specific guest speakers to “entertain” them before the event officially started.. (we were short-handed.. initially, we requested some helpers from Emcees’ Club and Toastmasters’ Club.. but unfortunately, none of the clubs couldn’t provide any helpers, as they were busy with their own activities.. but we got some help from our fellow MiE course mates and from NTC..)

i was assigned to these 2 particular entrepreneurs to entertain - Mr Steve Ting from Frontline Technologies and Mr Vijay Iyengar from Agrocorp Int’l.. (comment added on Sep 23 : it was quite coincident, considering that Mr Ting and I are in the same line of business.. and we have a lot in common.. the only difference is that his business is an MNC listed on S’pore Stock Exchange, with revenues of over $170 million.. and my business?? haha.. small fish in the big ocean.. later, he would prove to be an extremely valuable contact for me..)

with all the hard work, the event itself was a successful one.. everything went smoothly as planned during the session.. the food was delicious.. the discussion was passionate.. the music was lively.. the mingling was bubbly.. the chattering was everywhere.. the laughter was in the air.. it was indeed a very fruitful event..

so, i would, hereby, like to thank our organizing committee.. James, Joe, Diana, Mabel, SiSi and Liu Tong.. thank you all very much.. for making this event a successful one.. we all have done a great job!! cheers!! =)

(sorry, i don’t have any photos to post here, as the official photos have not been released yet..)

=)