With the access to the worlds’ elite speakers free of charge online, (my favorite: TED), event organising across the border is no longer business as usual. Expectations are made higher, participants are more informed (with the ability to hook on to google and validate speaker's topic while he or she is still talking), there is every pressure for conference companies to contract the best and the most insightful speakers, adapt to change, in order to remain relevant.
Whether or not we stepped up to the plate today is for you to decide. But I certainly walked away enriched with more environmental awareness, opportunities and a sense of urgency to act as an individual as well as a corporate citizen, than I could ever imagine.
I met two of my heroes whom I did much prior research on, to assist in my sales pitch. One, Dorjee Sun, the other shall be remained nameless.
I did not know what to expect of Dorjee, except that he is passionate with his cause and is a super high achiever at a young age. I gathered from his tone in his Q&A response that he is fun and a down to earth, fellow Aussie.
Dorjee did not disappoint. The first encounter with him was pleasant. I picked up the camera on my right hand, utter afew stupid comments (which I often regret in hindsight) and took a snap shot of him and myself.
I wished I could tell him that I was his first official fan in Brunei, prior to anyone else who see his video and listen to him talk*, I digressed (he might think I am gay). Since I brought up the topic of Hugh Jackman’s involvement in his film, Dorjee happily rode on name dropping momentum. He said he recently got drunk with Harrison Ford, and met Elly McBeal on the same night. I told him, I would tell people that I recently met the person who recently got drunk with Harrison Ford & met Elly McBeal on the same night. Obviously he didn’t get my dry humour, I could only blame it on my Australian accent.
Beyond a documentary on environmental and social issue, the Burning Season to me is a business classic about perseverance, courage and marketing. By now, I have already forgotten 90% of the film and what he spoke about during the keynote session.
All I could recall was a few small talks we had on the walk back to the other conference hall. I observed in the film that despite the unsuccessful appeal for Starbucks to buy his idea, he turned around to convince Starbucks to sign a memo of support in lieu of a contract. I thought it was brilliant thinking, so smart that a plan B sure would have been in place for whatever possible scenario. So I asked Dorjee just that. True to my guesstmation, it was a planned effort (genius prediction)! Dorjee said he has a plan B,C,D,E,F,G & H for every situation. What impresses me more than a perfect reflex, is one who has the discipline in plotting through every possibility of a process. There is a reason why this kid achieves what he does today.
Dorjee’s mum & dad need to be very proud of this young man. Not only because of his accomplishments and trophies, but for the simple fact that they have raised their son well. When Dorjee spoke to me, he made me feel like I was the only person in the room. As you would expect, everyone wanted a piece of this poster boy today! In between interruption Dorjee would always gracefully apologise before being dragged away. I resisted the temptation make more contacts than I should, hence left our conversation at “the walk”.
The measure of man is not so much on how well they behave amongst the rich and famous, but how they treat the least of these. Dorjee, you did your reference on Rudyard Kipling's "IF" poem justice!
"If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch..."
If you are reading, Mr. & Mrs. Sun, good on you mate!
Dorjee, congratulations on being named Hero of the year, Time Magazine 2009. A much deserved one to an honourable man.
The second “hero” I met today remained a hero, only until we met. His credentials, seamless speaking ability and modesty in his manuscript literally took my breath away. It turned out; he was too busy looking through me for my more senior colleagues to engage with the whole time, despite my multiple attempts to sing to him “how great thou art”. Regardless of how brilliant he came across on paper and on the platform, his heroic position in my mind has unfortunately been given a red card.
All I can do is add him to the long list of “what-I-shall-not-do-when-I-am-famous-file”. You will meet such a celebrity along the way in life, and when it happens, do not be disheartened. There are a lot of better role models out there.
Welcome to Dorjee Sun’s fan club!
*True to my prediction, there was a long list of female fans lining up to Dorjee for autograph and pictures after his speech.
End notes:
Dorjee's story reminds me that Good business can be Profitable business, and as individual we all have a responsibility towards our next generation's future.
Dorjee visited over 200 companies to sell his Carbon Trading scheme before one said yes.
Two lessons learned from this:
Dorjee continued to rethink his pitch, until he perfected one that got across.
Dorjee, in his Q&A with Gwen mentioned that he was determined not to fail because every action he did was documented by National Geographic on film for two and a half years. Public humiliation with an unsuccesful story was too much for him to handle. Hence failure was not an option.
What if every bit of our life has been documented, would we have lived any differently?
As a matter of fact, we could actually live as though it is a reality show, and actually make dreams happen!
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