Salameander.com

Exit CEO and GM

I cried at their farewell party in the office. It was embarrassing--but it really was heartfelt, because they were the two people in the company with whom I worked the closest with. We shared our ideas, critiques, strange stories and nonsense with each other on a level that noone else seemed to do. They taught me a lot throughout my time with the company and I wish I had made a bigger effort to learn even more from them. I still miss them now. All the best guys.

New Staff

Created a writer's position in my department, something that my ex-boss had been trying to realise for months before he left. Finally found someone through Facebook to fill that space, and so far I can safely say that I'm happy with her performance. I like her enthusiasm to learn and absorb, and she catches on pretty quick. I can finally delegate my writing tasks! It's great having her on board.

Glitz & Glamour 2008 Dinner and Appreciation Night

As part of the organising committee I might be positively biased in my perception of how the night turned out. The bouquets and brickbats received thus far look evenly balanced in terms of validity--some people enjoyed themselves throughout the night, while others complained about their seating arrangements, the food, that the event wasn't as glam as the previous dinner (Pak Lah attended the last one in 2004), etc. The one thing that everyone agreed on was the superbly done table decorations and flower stands, which was all conjured up in-house. Despite the fact that it was elections day we still had a pretty decent turnout of just over 1,000 guests at KLCC Convention Centre. We're currently waiting for the first cut of the video taken that night. More photos on my Flickr album.

Enter New CEO

Mr Wong Mien joined us on March 12th. He is a fast mover and gives us a bit more of a freer rein to execute our little projects. It's a strange and new experience but I think I could get used to this. 🙂 Or maybe it's mostly because he's new and doesn't quite know exactly how things work just yet. We'll see.

Birthdays

Happy birthday, girls! I can't believe I clean forgot about Rachel's, even though it was marked on my online calendar. :-s Still searching for THE gift for her... It's one of those challenges when you're dealing with someone who can get practically anything she wants, whenever she wants it. Like a designer handbag. Or a new car. :p It's really fun working with these people. They don't take themselves too seriously and they're very energetic. It rubs off on you.

Asian Trader and Investors' Conference 2008

Our company finally confirmed its participation in this year's ATIC--8 days before the event itself. And since it falls under my department to mobilise our people to ready themselves for events like this, it has been organized chaos for the past week. Ashamedly, I got mad at a few people and Daniel was undeservedly yelled at over google chat one afternoon (I felt terrible about it and apologised in person the next day) in the process. But all in all I honestly think that everyone did a great job pitching in to make it an all-round success. I was particularly impressed by the [IUTA]("Institutional Unit Trust Advisers") bunch (of which Daniel is the leader), who, on the night before the event, took the initiative to splice up some of our old fund buntings to decorate our otherwise very bare-walled booth at the event. I was already prepared to leave the booth colourless!

We had a market survey to generate leads for our consultants. Our temptation on offer was a lucky draw: 4 × 1GB iPod Shuffles to give away! And we gave away gifts to those who filled in our survey forms as well, so at least they don't walk away empty-handed.

Sooo...

All in all it's been pretty hectic in the past month or so. And that's just at the office! It's reached the point where I can wake up at 4am on some mornings and already my brain's chugging away at some idea or proposal, refusing to let me get back to sleep until they're put down in writing. A nice buzz, but some proper uninterrupted rest would really do me good.