My office held a business forum/meeting in Cyberview Lodge and Spa on 30 June and 1st July 2007. Again, I was to lead the organising committee in preparing the event. Last year we had the meeting in Malacca and this year we were told to have it within the Klang Valley and Cyberview was finally chosen after surveying other places nearby. Also this year, we were not allowed to get family members to participate in any of the event organised. Nonetheless, to show our commitment to the company, this was a small sacrifice to make and almost all of us accepted this decision with open heart.
Cyberview Lodge is indeed a great place to have a business meeting. The conference room is huge with good ventilation AC, thick carpet and good sound system. The resort chalet is spacious with free computer and Wi-fi. I even had a 42 inch LCD TV in my room. My boss is even luckier. His room was freely upgraded to a luxury room which according to the hotel staff, the room of which Michael Schumacher stayed during his F1 Race in Sepang ! Some guys just have all the luck !
The first day of the meeting went very smoothly and peacefully. I could see almost everyone was enjoying every moment of the meeting no matter how intense the discussion was. Being away from the office formality really created a fine kinship among us. The meeting started with motivational talk by two invited speakers. Having been to so many leadership courses this year, I particularly did not find the talk any refreshing than the so many I have listened before this. But nonetheless, I believe most of my fellow office mates were motivated indeed !
In the evening right after we finished the Day 1 session, we had a mini-treasure hunt game among the office staff. The game though really tiring as we had to run around the resort compound looking for clues, was a major success. I thought everyone liked it because the game kinda brought everyone sense of cooperation and a bit of childhood memory. We totally forgot about our office ranks and we were all equal during the game. My team did not do very well though as we only got third placing out of the five teams competed...too bad maybe next year insha'allah...
Perhaps the highlight of the business meeting was the buffet dinner and prize giving ceremony conducted on the night of Day 1. When we had the preparation meeting, one of the committee member suggested that we had a creative presentation by the office staff to light-up the night. I thought this idea was great and suggested that each group of the 5S Zones present one show. The leader of my group was actually my PA and she wrote two poems to be read by her with the rest of the team during the dinner. I volunteered to play the classical guitar pieces during the poem recital and played Lagrima and Romance de'Amor to accompany the team. Of course, we had to practice the recital at the office 2-3 days before the event and the same goes to other teams for the eagerly waited show.
To award the best show among the four teams, we appointed 3 judges to give the score on the performance of each team. The judges were the dinner invitees and two of them are GMs. Each show was performed after each lucky draw presentations and I could see that everyone was truly enjoying the night.
The best team for the night performed what I would term, creative dikir-barat. The ladies led by Hisham as the tukang karut really gave a truly amazing show. They crafted their own lyrics and the lyrics were actually reflecting the office day to day operation. I was so proud and could not believe at the same time that we have so many creative personalities in the office. Bravo to them ! I was also lucky to win one of the lucky-draw prizes but unlucky enough to lose it later when I checked out from the resort. The 2-person Hi-Tea voucher must have slipped from my luggage during the frantic rush to check out..what a shame..
The closing ceremony held on Sunday was also conducted in a very relax yet serious atmosphere. Everyone was given the opportunity to voice up their grouses or frustration if any. Our VP was also present during the closing ceremony. Truly, he is very committed in his work and willing to sacrifice a lot to see our success.
In short, the business meeting and dinner was a true success. However, the success could not be achieved without the willingness to sacrifice and persevere by the office staff. This just proved that we in OPP, are united in our action and committed in our responsibility. I just hope that the management will see this as a good gesture by all of us.
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