Being at a mega event like that for an intern is pretty awesome! Here’re some of the learning points I took away:
Media:
I never knew it would require so hard to handle the media. What they taught in school of managing the various stakeholders involved, they always mentioned media. They forgot to mention how tough they can be sometimes. Especially the India media!! They’re good! I guess when it comes to mobile they probably know it better than the rest of the region, considering their penetration rate is increasing at such a rapid rate.
Also, getting the right spokes person is so vital. I’m glad we had David (MD for Yahoo! Asia mobile) to do most of the talking. He’s comfortable in front of the media.
When i missed the media conference, i was like damn… But thanks to IZ, i got to see what it’s like! Hahahaha…
Man, and the press release rush? (Thank god not heavily involved in that) when all press had to hit the wire, that was busy…
Interesting Highlights:
So there were various interesting things which I got to see as well. From the super environmentally friendly solar panels, to I really dun know what that machine is suppose to do… But these 2 caught my attention over the past 4 days…
Social Networking Site for Gamers
So i came across this company called Vion mobile which was started in Singapore. They have 2 services, one which allows you to aggregate all you IM’s onto your cell, and the other which is a social networking site which allows users to play the games provided by the company.
When i asked if the games were opened to developers, they said it’s still in the works. They seemed pretty proud of 2 things:
1) Launching of their Chinese version, aiming to capture the Chinese market. I wonder how that would work out… I hope all goes well!
2) Being top 30 in Alexa.. (Dun know why i kept hearing that, but its a good start i guess…)
Check out their booth below (Didn’t get a good shot)
Sports Marketing at work!!
Here’s an interesting use of sports marketing used by Singtel to promote their mioTV. Rather than emphasizing how many channels there are for viewers to watch, it was totally geared up for F1. By focusing on THE major sporting event gonna happen in Singapore this year, Singtel really stretched their partnership with the F1 for this event.
Check out the cool race car where you can actually sit in it and go through a visual race course…
Got the whole outfit for display too:
Not to forget the spider seats with the com, the wheel and the pedals… Neat stuff…
I guess as the sporting industry is growing in Asia, its a great chance for a brand to utilize a sports sponsorship. Having that strong association by tying the sport and aligning its values to your brand is an impressive way to stand out, especially here in Asia, where not many brands can claim to have a strong foothold by being associated with a sport!
Blogosphere in Asia
Yahoo! invited some of the top bloggers in Singapore to allow them to experience our products and services. So when Cory (Our PR from Sunnyvale) saw the bloggers who came down, he was pretty surprised!
I looked at him and i understood immediately, lol…. I kindda guess he was expecting them to be all dressed up formal (Suits and ties), but our bloggers came dressed smart casual. So i had to explain to him, in Asia, and Singapore specifically, the blogosphere is dominated by casual/diary bloggers who write and share stuff of interest to them in a more casual setting. (Like me trying hard to emulate them here) Then i had to tell him that this is what we (as audiences) like to read, and that these bloggers have a huge following and a large influence on their audience.(Why else would we invite them? Shamelessly practical, I would’ve invited myself if i could… lol…)
Then you could see the “AH-HA!” in his eyes! Thank god i took social media b4 this event, lol… See Michael, you would’ve been proud. Hahahaha… But handling them at an event is another thing… It’s an interesting blogosphere scene we have here, and to mix tech and lifestyle bloggers together needs careful thinking through… See CommunicAsia Part 1: Yahoo! at the event!! to see how I think bloggers can benefit from Yahoo!’s products and services.
I’m glad i finally got to meet Nadnut and Sheylara offically in person although i did remember seeing them at SMB2.I never knew there were such hardcore gamer gals like Sheylara ard, I’ll be checking out your blog when i do my JUST FOR FUN TUESDAY on gaming… Do you play WOW?
So that’s pretty much what an intern can learn at such a huge event. I did my best to be proactive and listen to whatever’s going on or lending a hand wherever it was needed, it was a great experience! But interns being interns, we gotta have fun at the event, so here’re some pics on the 3rd and 4th day which was just basically me and Robin goofing off!! Hahahaha…
Me taking a pic with the modals (LG had the best looking ones this year, hands down!)
So did Robin….
Posing for this midget thingy (What the heck are these things called?)
And of course eating the ice cream at our own booth (I tot the apple was the best)
That’s pretty much it for CommunicAsia 2008 and the perspective of what an intern at Yahoo! can learn out of this. Cool huh? Lucky me. Enjoy the weekend ppl!!!
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