ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2012 “Decision Time for Stakeholders”

Onalenna Kgositau

LUCT Campus

I still feel the effect that ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2012 (DBS) had on my life, confidence that I never could have gained without this International conference. It was a great honor, and a lifetime experience to take part at ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2012 and I thought it was an exhilarating experience.

Over 1000 delegates and visitors from 41 countries took part in the eight Digital Broadcasting Symposium (DBS) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 6 – 9 March. Major broadcasting industry players from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond participated in the symposium, which this year was held under the theme Decision time for stakeholders in recognition of the difficult choices companies face with the proliferation of technologies. DBS was organized by ABU-Technical Department.

DBS was a truly professional and international event I have ever attended and it was perfectly organized. During this event I was assigned to perform several duties of which have been a great way of boosting my PR skills and knowledge. Sunday 4^th March was the busiest day of our final preparation for the event, we moved all the necessary materials to Hotel Instana (where the event was held), we prepared bags for delegates, speakers, exhibitors and visitors and this was our task for the day.

During the event I was assigned to usher delegates and speakers to their respective place of conferences and workshops, placing name tags and gifts 15mins before speakers arrives, and when there was any special gift awarded to one of the speakers i had to be just right next to Mr Sharad Sadhu, Director ABU Technology, with the gift. And i also had to help my colleagues to register delegates and visitors daily, this was a nerve wrecking task for the first two days but as the week went-by i enjoyed doing it.This is the kind of task thats has boosted my confidence and it gave a chance to interact with so many inspirational people.

On Friday,(last day of the event) i had a chance to be a Master of Ceremony for the lucky draw, when i was asked to be an MC,at first i was little bit nervous but then my inner voice told me that i can do this,public speaking is going to be one of  the task i would  have do regularly as a PR practitioner, so i gained back my confidence and i was able to do it very well, in front of multitudes of people.

I would say i have benefited immensely from this event. The event was by far the most eye opening experience I have ever had. It was a unique chance to develop interpersonal skills and my PR practical skills.

Me at work

My colleague in the middle, Bahadir with a grey suit during one of
Lucky draw session 

Me and my colleague during DBS

Thank you for reading,until my next post.