I told them no. I am not the organizer, I am just one of the few people that made up the organizing committee. I dare not claim credit as an 'organizer' for this event is Elena and Scott's sweat and blood.
That is it. I am one of the team members. And I only claim credit for that.
I learnt this lesson from my experience in the symposium - no man is an island. I was ready to get my hands dirty and run around amok during the event, covering every single aspect I could, but I was not. Because of the excellent combination of a team, I had help from various angles, from tech support to emceeing to crowd management, to which I am very grateful.
However, this also poses a problem. I felt like I could have done so much more, but what I have really been is just a supportive team member - the one sitting on the bench, ready to pounce whenever a team members needs their support. This was to be expected, because no one has so much time in their hands to slowly nurture and watch over your every move when it is a real-life work setting. You just need to pick up bits and pieces wherever you are heading...
If you were to force me to say my role in the entire event, I would say that my role is being a learner. In comparison with the hard work the organizers committed, I don't think I dare claim any achievements under my own name.
What I did for them is the establishment of the relationships between the Asian communities in Auckland. As an academic symposium is created by scholars, for scholars, my workload was drastically reduced - I was not required to get massive amount of people to show up. The priority, as my supervisor stressed, is the build-up of relationships.
Sometimes it still bothers me, that I did not manage to get a massive crowd (as how typical events should be in my head!) to turn up at the doorstep of Cool New Asia and allow the sheer quantity of people to speak for itself what I have contributed for the event.
But that wasn't so. Blaring an academic event out to the entire Auckland public wasn't so. That was what I itched to do - they don't call me the Promotions and Publicity Coordinator for nothing! But I constantly reminded myself that the formation of a relationship between Unitec and Asian communities would greatly benefit Unitec's reputation as an institution who cares about that part of their stakeholders.
Besides describing myself as a 'learner', I would probably say I am the breath of fresh air in the committee. I'm sure Elena and Scott, being in the academic industry, will have tons of experience in handling academic symposiums, which to me is a totally new concept I need to embrace. Whenever I was working with them, it seemed like I was the outsider, and that they had everything in their head, ready to be executed when necessary.
Yet I was able to provide with several fresh ideas that were put to use in the event, namely:
1. Suggesting that we do a formal greeting of the guests the New Zealand way. Everyone in the team agreed, and we eventually thought a small-scale Maori greeting would suit our event.
2. Suggesting that we had an electronic greeting done up to welcome the guests at the lounge and display area, given how Mun has readily accessible iMac's and Unitec has a projector in Oakridge House. The usage of iMac to display a multicultural welcome slideshow was my idea, and it was well-received by the team. However, due to the ever-changing nature of events, there were 70 guests to handle, and 70 different levels of technology competency to adapt to. As such, I didn't have the chance to let my greeting slideshow run because the guests were anxious to make sure their respective slideshows would work on Unitec's appallingly dated technological infrastructure (thank God for the Macs!)
3. Rather than having the usual academic speeches by the various scholars as expected from an academic symposium, I suggested bringing in entertainment to serenade the guests after a long day of brainstorming and thinktanking. I brought in the Chinese lion dance and the Korean Madang Hannuri. My colleague Jon was actively involved in the Japanese community, and he arranged for a Japanese performance in addition to mine. I was in charge of ushering the performers and attending to their needs, organizing them in preparation of their performance.
4. Entertaining and socializing with the guests. I was present in the event for both days, providing help whenever necessary. I talked to various people from the event and got to know what they like about the event, and whether their needs were met.
5. Because I had a personal contact who has photography as a hobby, I brought him in to help take photos as a pictorial record of Elena and Scott's first initiative. They told me it was to be held annually if well-received, as such I deem it necessary for quality pictures for the record.
6. Attending to the guests' needs wherever needed, such as special dietary requirements.
7. Ensure the overall proceedings of the event - monitoring the overall layout of the event, for example assuring there was adequate room for the performances and made sure the guests were rounded up at the correct locations to view it.
8. Publish Cool New Asia in Asia NZ website and Auckland Council website, and also Auckland City Harbour News and Central Leader.
One thing that I regret not doing is emceeing during the performance. It was supposed to be a chance for me to shine, for my effort to be known. But I hate my voice! Everytime I go to a karaoke back in Malaysia, I cringe listening to my voice. I cringe when I hear videos of me talking and I generally think I squeak like a mouse. Guests wouldn't like hearing a mouse squeak. It could be something in my head, but I know I just missed a great chance in gaining good experience and overcoming something that I do not like. Jon, with the better voice and confidence did it for me, to which I am grateful. But also regretful. Note to self, grab opportunities like this next time, don't ever lose it again.
Overall, the feedback that I received from the guests were they thoroughly enjoyed the event. They felt that they were well taken care of and it was quite successful. Given how I know we have a very tightly constrained budget, I am immensely proud of how the team managed to pull it together, especially the organizers themselves. However, by the end of the second day a lot of the scholars were mostly burnt-out from having so much strong ideas shared among themselves. I particularly enjoyed the impromptu conversations when the scholars shed their academic-ness in exchange for conversation with a personal touch. These people were really interesting themselves, Canadians that spoke Japanese, Australians that spoke Korean, so much of a mixture that it puts Malaysians (who are multicultural ourselves) to shame. Multicultural what? We ain't seen nothing yet! It made me realise just how much cultures transcend borders, and it was also very heart-warming that the "Asians" are not disregarded in favour of "Western" study - there were scholars that were equally interested in us, which is great.
As a concluding word, I learnt not to underestimate small-scale events. They might seem small, but for every drop of blood and sweat shed by each member of the team to make the event possible, it made me realise that each event is truly unique in its own right. I have definitely learnt much, both from the event production side and the publicity side. And not to forget the insightful talks given by the scholars about Asian culture! That is one of the perks that I truly enjoyed, learning what the participants of the events are talking about, and getting a feel of it. I was particularly drawn to one Master's student about her research project, because I happen to be doing the same for my Communication Research project. It almost made me feel like giving a speech myself... I even put up my hand to ask a question, which I surprised myself. I'm just a Degree holder, who am I to question a Master's holder in a room full of Doctors!!!! Hahahahahaha.
Maybe next year, if I happen to be in New Zealand again. I'm going home for now.
Thanks to everyone that made this learning opportunity possible and a fruitful one.
0 comments:
Post a Comment