My Fellow Orange Team

These are the people that I hang around with 4-6 times in a year, in various places and countries. And we talk on a weekly basis. The experience between them is vast and varied and each time when I meet them, I feel so rejuvenated.

They’ve motivated and have thought me in many ways in my career and I am truly appreciative of the opportunity.

We are colleagues and some I definitely can call friends. The group used to be so much bigger but with changes in the organizational structure and promotions, this is the current group of programmers for the brand I work for. We make decisions together and agree on decisions. One of the requirements for this role is to be able to convince everyone that the decision to take on a program will bring in desired results to the company. Stressful initially but you learn along the way – the spectrum of things to look at is wide!

This shot was taken when we took the London eye. Other than having to work together, whenever we travel to a foreign city, we make time to explore this city. This was one of the evenings when we explored London city – the tallest guy being our head was also the leader in that small tour group. He is the tallest, how could anyone miss him?!

Our meeting venue changes all the time. As long as there is an office in that particular cluster, we can hold our meeting. I am on a mission to get them to Singapore. It’d be a good experience for everyone – to experience the culture and understand what we go through. On a selfish note, it takes me 2 to 3 days to recuperate from long haul trips! I want them to experience that too :)

Treasured Experience

I have to say that I have been very fortunate to be working with one of the best brands in the world. I meet with people of various cultures, nationalities, backgrounds and there are some who I have called friends. I have seen myself grown over the years, on all levels, personally and professionally. My colleagues are very down to earth and real and that’s what I really and truly thankful for. Without such people around me, working life would have been very miserable.

I do reflect on my life once in a while to make sure that I stay focused on my personal goals. For people who work in this media industry, we are lucky to be walking along the Mediterranean for work, we are lucky to be eating and dining in the best restaurants, served by well known Chefs (not that I am a fan of fine dining but hey!... soak in the moment).

We are lucky to soak in luxury as we do our meeting on luxury yacht. We were on the Galaxy Castletown ( Jayzee and Beyonce once booked the same yacht!) for dinner- We had the privileged to do a boat tour – it’s massive! There is a gym and a Jacuzzi, kitchen, an office, a laundry area, a helipad.. when the owner decides to be on board and 16 crews on board! Talk about the life of the rich and famous!


Most importantly, we continue to be inspired by the creative people from around the world. I met with creators of popular kids shows as they come in to pitch their ideas, how thorough they are in terms of research, in terms of association with the professionals in the kids’ space, how connected they are to technology and creating content to feed all the mutiplatforms that continues to grow till this day.
I’m inspired each time I return from my trip or sessions with my colleagues. I hope that inspiration continues and translates in what I do.

The Talkative Dutch man

I've met many Dutch men and they are mostly very tall and straightforward. I don't recall any of them to be a chatterbox.

Tonight, a handful of us were picked to have dinner with our 2 big bosses. Our seating arrangements were pre-arranged. I had colleagues from Europe around the table and I sat across a Dutch man. I've met him often at MIPs but we never spoke. At most it's just a handshake or a smile.
Tonight, he was seated across me and oh boy! he can talk and talk and talk. It was entertaining, he was funny, forthcoming and noble. At the end of dinner, I felt like I've known him for a LONG time!... I've never met a talkative guy like that... or rather I don't like men who are talkative.

Patrick Alders... you've left an impression.