WCIT 2008: A view from within
http://newscentre.msc.com.my/articles/543/1/WCIT-2008-A-view-from-within/Page1.html
By Hanis Sayuti
Published on 12 June 2008
This is the story of a group of Malaysians who gave their all to organise the World Congress on Information Technology 2008, and got the experience of a lifetime.
By: Alexandra Wong
Source: The Star Online
This is the story of a group of Malaysians who gave their all to organise the World Congress on Information Technology 2008, and got the experience of a lifetime.
GROUP
EFFORT: Khoo (seated, right) and some of the dedicated people who
helped make the international event a huge success. Beside Khoo is
Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of Multimedia Development Corp.
GROUP EFFORT: Khoo (seated, right) and some of the dedicated people who helped make the international event a huge success. Beside Khoo is Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of Multimedia Development Corp.
FOR a long time, it seemed that our holy grail of 2,500 delegates from 80 countries might remain a pipe dream. As late as early this year, frantic mission trips to generate publicity and interest overseas for the event seemed to barely evoke the faintest ripple of excitement.
To be honest, if you asked the 40-strong organising committee, some would have confessed to thinking: “Is WCIT 2008 going to be one spectacular flop?” There was so much expectation and hype riding on it, not to mention vested interests.
Fast forward to May 2008. On any given day, a stranger who accidentally wandered into our office at Millennium Tower would think it was the stock market enjoying an unprecedented bull run.
Phones literally rang off the hooks; all the departments had their hands full handling the flood of worldwide enquiries from people who wanted seats at the now most-coveted event; there was even the occasional tense exchange to up the drama ante. All in the name of work, of course.
Over those past few weeks, staff staying till past midnight was a normal occurrence. We were driving ourselves for a far bigger cause than ourselves.
Perhaps the pervasive mood could best be summed up by a statement made by Dan E. Khoo, our team leader, when he interviewed me for the job: “This is not just a job. It’s about serving your nation. It’s the chance of a lifetime to do something for your country.”
D-day — May 18, 2008 — arrived amid much hand-wringing and sleepless nights. But we needn’t have worried. From the initial numbers, we already knew we had a winner on our hands.
At last count: More than 70 institutional partners contributed over US$10mil (RM33mil) sponsorship in cash and kind. More than 90 countries participated — well past the target of 80, we were happy to note.
A record-breaking 106 speakers took the stage. It was a stellar lineup that included Vinton Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the Internet.
More than 2,000 structured business-to-business meetings were set up, yielding US$1bil plus (RM3.3bil plus) in trade and investment deals.
A total of 3,000 delegates registered, out of whom 90% gave WCIT 2008 a thumbs up rating in feedback forms. 50,000 participants thronged 100,000sq ft of exhibition space.
On a lighter note, a total of 19,845 bread rolls, 46,515 cups of coffee and tea were served up by more than 300 waiters to sustain the hive of activities and participants during the five-day event.
And from the euphoric scenes on centrestage and the long hard rounds of applause from the delegates during the closing ceremony, it was evident — even without looking at the numbers — that WCIT 2008 was a roaring success.
Our crew jumped, pumped fists, hugged, and were even moved to tears.
Any personal differences were forgotten in the wake of the realisation that the months — years, for some of the senior staff like sales vice-president Wendy Liew — of toil and sweat had paid off in spades.
George Newstrom, the outgoing chairman of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (Witsa), declared WCIT 2008 “the best ever,” an opinion shared by many industry pundits.
In a fitting nod to outstanding service rendered, Khoo who is WCIT 2008 Sdn Bhd CEO, was named Witsa’s new chairman.
Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that this year’s event has raised a very high bar for the next WCIT. Holland, which will host WCIT 2010 in its capital, will have a tough act to follow, in my book.
In the words of a volunteer who was left deeply moved by the experience: “Forget Iron Man. Forget Indiana Jones. The folks who made WCIT 2008 such a success are the real superheroes.
“We were empowered and enabled to serve and we leave, enriched by the experience.”
Yes, it was truly all that, and much, much more.
·Alexandra Wong is a columnist with StarWeekender.
Source: The Star Online
This is the story of a group of Malaysians who gave their all to organise the World Congress on Information Technology 2008, and got the experience of a lifetime.
GROUP
EFFORT: Khoo (seated, right) and some of the dedicated people who
helped make the international event a huge success. Beside Khoo is
Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of Multimedia Development Corp. GROUP EFFORT: Khoo (seated, right) and some of the dedicated people who helped make the international event a huge success. Beside Khoo is Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of Multimedia Development Corp.
FOR a long time, it seemed that our holy grail of 2,500 delegates from 80 countries might remain a pipe dream. As late as early this year, frantic mission trips to generate publicity and interest overseas for the event seemed to barely evoke the faintest ripple of excitement.
To be honest, if you asked the 40-strong organising committee, some would have confessed to thinking: “Is WCIT 2008 going to be one spectacular flop?” There was so much expectation and hype riding on it, not to mention vested interests.
Fast forward to May 2008. On any given day, a stranger who accidentally wandered into our office at Millennium Tower would think it was the stock market enjoying an unprecedented bull run.
Phones literally rang off the hooks; all the departments had their hands full handling the flood of worldwide enquiries from people who wanted seats at the now most-coveted event; there was even the occasional tense exchange to up the drama ante. All in the name of work, of course.
Over those past few weeks, staff staying till past midnight was a normal occurrence. We were driving ourselves for a far bigger cause than ourselves.
Perhaps the pervasive mood could best be summed up by a statement made by Dan E. Khoo, our team leader, when he interviewed me for the job: “This is not just a job. It’s about serving your nation. It’s the chance of a lifetime to do something for your country.”
D-day — May 18, 2008 — arrived amid much hand-wringing and sleepless nights. But we needn’t have worried. From the initial numbers, we already knew we had a winner on our hands.
At last count: More than 70 institutional partners contributed over US$10mil (RM33mil) sponsorship in cash and kind. More than 90 countries participated — well past the target of 80, we were happy to note.
A record-breaking 106 speakers took the stage. It was a stellar lineup that included Vinton Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the Internet.
More than 2,000 structured business-to-business meetings were set up, yielding US$1bil plus (RM3.3bil plus) in trade and investment deals.
A total of 3,000 delegates registered, out of whom 90% gave WCIT 2008 a thumbs up rating in feedback forms. 50,000 participants thronged 100,000sq ft of exhibition space.
On a lighter note, a total of 19,845 bread rolls, 46,515 cups of coffee and tea were served up by more than 300 waiters to sustain the hive of activities and participants during the five-day event.
And from the euphoric scenes on centrestage and the long hard rounds of applause from the delegates during the closing ceremony, it was evident — even without looking at the numbers — that WCIT 2008 was a roaring success.
Our crew jumped, pumped fists, hugged, and were even moved to tears.
Any personal differences were forgotten in the wake of the realisation that the months — years, for some of the senior staff like sales vice-president Wendy Liew — of toil and sweat had paid off in spades.
George Newstrom, the outgoing chairman of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (Witsa), declared WCIT 2008 “the best ever,” an opinion shared by many industry pundits.
In a fitting nod to outstanding service rendered, Khoo who is WCIT 2008 Sdn Bhd CEO, was named Witsa’s new chairman.
Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that this year’s event has raised a very high bar for the next WCIT. Holland, which will host WCIT 2010 in its capital, will have a tough act to follow, in my book.
In the words of a volunteer who was left deeply moved by the experience: “Forget Iron Man. Forget Indiana Jones. The folks who made WCIT 2008 such a success are the real superheroes.
“We were empowered and enabled to serve and we leave, enriched by the experience.”
Yes, it was truly all that, and much, much more.
·Alexandra Wong is a columnist with StarWeekender.