Attended the Canton Business Matching Seminar [sponsored by the FCCI the Canton Provincial Gov't and many more business associations]
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Venue: Manila Hotel, Manila
[old old old chandelier]
[very nice chair with an engraving of MANILA HOTEL 1912: sat on this while having a cigarette]
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Old, Nostlagic but not so well maintained. The Matching was set at the 'Fiesta Ballroom' which was big but filled anyway. Manila Hotel isn't a connected hotel [no WiFi and no Internet in the rooms: I asked the Concierge]. They do have a business center which I was not able to check out.
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Security:
Lot's of SWAT and PNP officers there were of course government officials from Canton, China and the Sec. Neri of the DTI [I think]
Oh yeah and Manila Hotel has newly installed X-ray Machines [similar to the ones at airports] I talked to the doorman while having a smoke and expressed gratitude for the extra peace of mind that this provided.
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Registration: Was really a mess. It could've gone smoother. Had to wait 15 mins to get our badges
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Food and Service:
The Coffee sucked tasted like a third brewing of the same batch of beans. The Tea was Lipton Brisk so they couldn't have messed that up. The servers were basically all new and un-trained [our server was shaking while giving rolls of bread], I even had to tell our server to serve 'Ladies First' [there was a nice lady on our table; she was in Leather accessories business]. I ordered a coffee cup for Mr. Chutick [Chairman of Hush Puppies Philippines] and it took around 6 reminders to different waiters and 15 minutes to get him his coffee. Lunch was a 4 course meal: Shrimp Cocktail [did not try this as it was mayo based]. Cream of Mushroom soup [Campbell's??]. Main course: Seared Salmon in Bechamel sauce with a side of veggies and some rice. Ok maybe I've been spoiled on Chups Gastronomical Prowess but hey the food really really was bad. Our drinks took an additional 10 minutes. The food was not served simultaneously and dishes were not 'bussed out' simultaneously as well; this made it difficult for the waiters and unfavorable to the guests.
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Event Proper:
[Human Sleeping Pills: Warning Maximum Dossage may be hazardous to your sanity]
A lot of speeches... Some in English some in Mandarin... over all B-O-R-I-N-G.
We were seated at the footwear industries table. The problem was there was only one footwear industry guy on our table and he was into a different kind of shoes that did not really match our brand or needs. Good thing Mr. Chutick was there learned quite a bit from his 'bragging and story telling' [don't get me wrong all successful business men brag and story tell it is a fact! and it's nice to hear their stories SOMETIMES]. After the Main course people started leaving. Verdict: For our company at lest this event was a total waste of time [and money my dad probably forked out something since he's an active member of most of this business federations].
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Entertainment:
[Chinese Instrumental Troupe]
Aside from my PocketPC which I couldn't play as much... there was a Chinese traditional musical troupe [very very skilled] they played both Chinese and Filipino folk songs.
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Miscellaneous:
Since there were a lot of Chinese speaking delegates they had this nifty wireless [probably RF] devices that translated the speakers' speech. There was booth at the back of the ballroom with translators [KEWL!] took a photo of the device :)[wow ala UN]
[hope nothing was lost in translation]
[Brähler ICS Translation Device]
[rear of the device]
[Brähler ICS logo]
[Device Packaging]
[translation booth seemed really claustrophobic]
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Impressions: It would have been better if they did it per industry not as a whole. More Focus would be better to build business relationships, sobrang kalat na walang kwenta. I guess this may be just an introduction for Guangdong [Canton] Province to do business with the Philippines. Maybe a better organized and more focused business convention would be better.
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final notes: the blurry images come from my imate JAM; the rest are from my IXUS images may be enlarged [just click on 'em] :o)
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