Tuesday, October 14, 2008

This morning we started off having some free time, where diffrent groups chose to go for a morning walk through a near-by park, visit shopping districts or catch up on sleep. After the free time, everyone gathered back at the hotel to hear Mr Bai Chengyu, Secretary General of China Association of MicroFinance talk about how his organization has been investing in private businesses that otherwise would not have access to traditional banking services. The major topic discussed was how microfinancing is helping alleviate poverty in China, and he provided the group several examples of sucess stories that he has seen through microfinancing.

The afternoon session included additional speakers, but this time we were able to go off location from the hotel and visited the American Club, which was about a 10 min bus ride. The club provided a great view of the city, and for the first time I realized how big a city we are in. One could hundreds of skyscrapers lining the surronding area for as far as the horizon.

At the American club we had three speakers, all of which I really enjoyed. The first up was James (Jim)McGregor, who was the previous CEO of Dow Jones & Company in China and the bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal in China and Taiwan. Currently Mr. McGregor is the CEO of his JL McGregor & Company and also writes books, such as One Billion Customers: Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in China. Jim McGregor spoke to us on a range of topics, including his personal experiences in China over the past several decades to how the current financial crisis is impacting the role that China plays on the world economy.

Second up was Joe Tavares, Vice President of Business Development & Customer Hospitality UPS Beijing. Mr. Tavares was a dynamic speaker who outlined UPS's strategy of being a sponsor of the Olpymic Games in Beijing. I had not realized that prior to the games, UPS had a small presence in China. Joe outlined for us how the Olympics has allowed UPS to further develop their presence in this market. If you watched the Olympics this past summer, there is a good chance that you saw many of the items that UPS shipped and stored both during and after the games. All the uniforms that were used in the opening and closing cermonies were shipping in by UPS. In addition, the majority of the logistics was provided by UPS. Joe's personal role in all of this was overseeing the negotiation, development and execution of many of the business development initiatives including service contracts with the Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXiX Olympiad ("BOCOG"), the Intermational Olympic Committee and all other Olympic Family members, Olympic sponsors and suppliers.

Last up was Chris Renner, a ND alum and the President of Helios Partners in China. Mr. Renner also played a big part in the Olympics, where from May 2006 he has overseen his own Beijing-based consulting agency, which specializes in providing strategic sports marketing expertise to major companies like Coca-Cola, Addidas and Johnson & Johnson. Joe is no strager to the Olympics, where he has worked on past games since 1992. The major take-away from Mr. Renner's discussion was the fact that some companies, like Coca-Cola were able to launch a successful marketing platform during the games, where other companies fell short of making much of an impact through their sponsorship attempts. It was interesting hearing how complex it is for companies to make an impact, and the various steps that each company takes to make sure they are providing and capturing the most value possible. Creativity is key within this area, and Chris discussed how companies that were able to connect with the Chinese population were most sucessful in building their brands.

After the speakers at the American Club, we boarded back on the buses and made our way to Xiao Wang Fu Restaurant for a group dinner. The food was excellent and we were provided a variety of dishes including fried rice and Peking Duck.

That sums up most of the day. Yesterday I promised to upload some pictures which I am still working on, so hopefully I can have those up soon to show you more of the city and the various sites we have been able to visit.

2 comments:

ndmba2009 said...

Cool! You guys finally had the Beijing Duck. How did you like it?----Iris Huang

ndmba2009 said...

I really like the depth of the details in your blog. Keep up the good work! And looking forward to the pictures. Especially the Beijing Duck....----Iris Huang