VIP

I met someone from the Australian Government – Phil Ingram, yesterday, at the Hong Kong Australia Business Association (HKABA) WA office. He is from the Australian Trade Commission, and holds the position of the Senior Trade Commissioner (Austrade) & Deputy Consul-General (commercial). Together with him, was his assistant, the State Manager of Austrade, Steve Rank.

This is probably the highlight of my placement, perhaps not the most exciting, challenging or thrilling experience that one could have but, hey, it is not a usual occurrence that we meet, or even, get a drop-in visit by a big persona.

News came of the unexpected visit only one week beforehand, thus we had to hold an urgent meeting to personally nitpick a few from the list of members according to their level of involvement in the association, followed by drafting email invites, and then, sending the invitations to the chosen members and getting them to attend an informal function with Mr. Ingram. As the members are mostly businessman with busy schedules, it was a concern as well as a challenge to uphold the informal meeting session because we had to gather enough attendees at such a short notice. Fortunately, the turnout was decent.

The meeting was a short and informal one, basically doing public relations networking and communicating Austrade’s role in the facilitation of business partnerships between Australia and Hong Kong, not forgetting China as the two countries reunited in 1997, as well as Macau.

It was an eye-opener to be able to experience a meeting of this sort, seating in as an observer, watching the way they introduced themselves, networked, exchanged name cards, presented themselves, communicated and interacted in such an informal yet business-like setting, in the presence of a VIP. Also an interested point I had observed was the way his assistant signaled to the Commissioner when it was time make an exit - put on his glasses and looked at his watch.

In my PR lessons, I was thought how to present ourselves for the right occasion, which includes dress codes, etiquette, tone of speech, gestures, and time-management. How else can we learn from other than by observation and personal involvement? It was definitely the most rewarding part of my placement.