Kauffman Economics Bloggers Forum 2011

The economics bloggers forum was streamed live on Friday April 1 2011 from Kansas City. I unfortunately was not able to capture everything live but I got to hear a few of the speakers. One of my favourite speakers was by Virginia Postrel talking about the psychological of glamour. There are many other speakers that gave really good content as well. Growthology has been kind enough to publish the link to the talks on their own website at: http://www.growthology.org/. Growthology is a blog created by the Kauffman Foundation of Entrepreneurship.

A disussion that was often brought up in class, Interactive Digital Marketplace, is that ever since the Internet started, it has caused journalism to change and affected traditional media: printed newsapers, radio, television, etc. Consumers of journalism that were once consumed through traditional mediums, now a days these consumers are also becoming the producers of content known as prosumers. Blogs have become a medium in which people are delivering what is happening today instantly on the world wide web network and the power behind this is because of the Internet. However, there is huge discussion going on that traditional media ways that delivered content are going to die and be extinct and I disagree with this view. During the time when traditional media was first used to deliver news, or happenings, it was innovation of communication and it followed a S curve. It grew and many people adopted it and people were listening to radios, watching televisions and it reached a point where there was no more growth and they had to find an additional S curve innovative idea which involved digital and the Internet. New ways of accessing information will not kill off traditional methods of delivering content, rather it is just another extension and option in presenting, delivering and communicating content.

Things I have Learnt at Work that is Similar to Entrepreneurship

It’s been week 1 at work and I found certain things that are similar to what I had learnt in Entrepreneurship:

1. Know your audience (clients)
   Know who you are speaking to. What is their objectives?
   Important to communicate with a purpose.
2. Clean up your online world
   Manage online profiles and clean it up to be relevant about you at your workplace. Clients and prospective people will google you.
3. Research
   You will never know as much as your clients’ businesses as they do of themselves. Always learn as much as possible at the inception of a project, the business space, their goals, their competition and their history.
   Ask a lot of questions
   Shut up and listen
4. Read widely
   Read widely – books, magazines, blogs, attend conferences. Understand technology, design and culture related content. Know and study what has already been done and see the trends. Understand it and not duplicate it.
5. Build relationships
   Build personal relationships with everyone you work with and not just clients. Network with people.

Looks like I will be doing a lot of editing and cleaning up for point number 2… I am really hoping that I will adopt some cleaning on this.

Things I Have Learned about Entrepreneurship

Having the opportunity to come to the US for entrepreneurship has really changed my perspective of what entrepreneurship is about. I am very thankful to be given this chance from NTC, NTU Singapore. I found myself really having to sit down and reflecting on myself, on what was it that I wanted to achieve at the end of the day.

Given the opportunity to hear some of the best people to talk to us and share with us on the approach towards entrepreneurship and understanding their viewpoints on entrepreneurship, it has made me more aware that the traditional way approach that we learned in conducting business from the business school is only just showing us the door way. And the huge difference is actually really taking the initiative and acting on it.

I will be however posting up some of my thoughts of what I have learnt at a later date.

Skies are Bluer in Kansas?

We went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art situated in 4525 Oak Street Kansas City MO and we attempted to take a look at more of the art that is being displayed there. The last time we came, I had already had the opportunity to take a peek at the items they were on level 2 and we didn’t get a chance to see everything. So this time round I thought we could spend more time taking a look at the rest of the exhibitions. They have a magnificent collection ranging from European art including roman empire, Egyptian art, Chinese art, American art, etc and it’s amazing how much there is to see! Yesterday we only did a walk through of level 1 only.

I also realised while walking towards the Nelson-Atkins Main Entrance and marking my footprints in the snow as we trudged through, I realised the skies are much bluer compared to in Singapore and it’s a very similar blue in Perth, Australia. I wonder why that is?

There are also 3 huge shuttle cocks situated in front of the museum and our task was to think of why they are there without asking about the story from the people working at the museum. I couldn’t think of why they chose the structures but I just simply thought it symbolised the balance of the shuttle cocks movement but it is way off from the real story behind it.

Definitely a place to go if you are in Kansas City Missouri. I will leave you my favourite place in the museum. I found it so peaceful in the presence of the guan yin.

Snow Globe

Today the storm is picking up in Kansas City. Luckily I ain’t outside but from the inside of the room, I feel like I am looking into a snow globe. It’s so beautiful and I got so excited that I decided to call W and tell her to look outside. Somehow she didn’t feel as ecstatic as D and I was feeling but it feels so unreal. 

Arriving to Kansas City

The Singapore Kauffman Global Scholars of 2011 arrived on Jan 15 2011 to Kansas City in the evenings. It was a long flight that resulted in taking the route from:

Singapore > Hong Kong > Chicago O’Hare > Kansas City

Ended up jet lagging though which was not such a great feeling. At the Chicago airport there was a shoe shining stand where you would sit on a wooden chair and a shoe shiner would shine your shoes for you. I was so amazed that it really existed. I only thought they only existed in the old movies that I had watched.

Kansas City itself is so beautiful. It reminded me a bit of Australia where everything is just so far away from each other. It was even more fascinating for  me since it was my first time seeing snow. Since it wasn’t fresh snow on the first day it wasn’t as fluffy as I had imagined in my head but later on when there was fresh snow, it just floated in the air. I have to admit though N was right in how my ears did feel so cold that it seemed as if it dropped off.

The area that we are staying at which is at the Country Club Plaza reminded me a lot on Claremont, WA but the architecture around the area is amazing. It resembles European culture and according to the history, Jesse Clyde Nichols had adopted a Spanish theme for the plaza whereby there were courtyards and red tiled roofs and towers and art sculptures and fountains. The shopping around the area is mostly all the branded shops which had Burberry, Victoria Secret, Armani Exchange, etc.

After one week being here, I found this place a great place to stay near to. I am still trying to adapt to the cold before really walking around but I am enjoying the change of weather from the tropical humidity found in Singapore.