Bangkok Street Show 2013

Lumpini park filled up last weekend with people. It’s a quite busy park over the weekends normally, but last weekend a street performance festival called Bangkok Street Show 2013 took place there. I had seen some random street shows previously, but the whole culture behind it was quite new to me.

Bangkok Street Show 2013

Street performance or buskers festival as it is also known, brings to together street performers of music, theater, dance, juggling, clowning, magic etc. There is a level of interaction with the audience and humor plays a key part, after all the purpose is to entertain. The performances usually last about 20-25 minutes. At the end of the show the artists expect to get money tips from the audience, and usually the funnier or better they are, the more they get. Giving money is not compulsory, but highly appreciated. Even a small sum such as 20B (0.70USD) did seem to do the trick here in Bangkok.

The Bangkok Street Show 2013 had a full two-day program of performers in nine stages, which were set all over Lumpini park. There was no admission fee to enter, so as you can imagine the event had attracted quite a number of people, blocking the foot paths and making it very difficult for the Sunday joggers to do their exercise.

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Helping others – the secret behind many success stories

helping-hand

The power of helping others is incredible. If you have ever received a favor, which I’m sure most of us have, even a small one, you know what I’m talking about. Even a simple little favor gives an immediate positive impression of the favor doer, which can last forever in the mind of the receiver. So, how does helping others link to business success?

If you have studied material from the likes of Napoleon Hill, Bob Proctor, Rhonda Byrne, or others in that field, this concept should be obvious to you. If you haven’t, this might change your life for good. Actually, as a concept it is not new. Most religions or old wisdoms have taught similar concepts throughout the history: do good to others and others will do good to you. Sounds familiar?

How does doing favors help us to become successful in business?

Business is all about relationships. We all want to work with people we like. Of course there is the money making aspect as well, but if you can choose from two people to work with, one of crucial factors is whether you like the person or not. Many businessman, especially in Asia, would choose the relationship over money.

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6th EBAC Meeting and 10th annual APBF 2013 in Bangkok

UNESCAP EBAC APBF

The 6th and my first EBAC meeting took place on Monday followed by the one and half day 10th annual Asia Pacific Business Forum. The great event got kickstarted on Sunday at the British Club in Bangkok, where we gathered together with the Connectivity Task Force lead by Barbara Meynert. It was also the first time for the whole team to meet together in person. We had had fractal meetings with parts of the team in Bangkok and Hong Kong, but this was the first time the full team was present. It’s just amazing how important meeting in person is, and how much more effective it is compared to exchanging emails and speaking over phone/Skype. The working team consists of 10 people with all very unique skills, and is set to deliver an online SME platform to connect and support the SMEs in the Asian region.

First of all, it’s a fun project to work with, but it is also a very important for the regions growth, which has been now stressed in many occasions. Over the EBAC welcome dinner, hosted generously by Barbara, the UN ESCAP Executive Secretary Ms. Noeleen Heyzer accented the importance of SMEs and the sustainable connectivity between them.

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3D Printing Industry partners up with Mediabistro to produce Inside 3D Printing trade shows

3D Printing Industry - Inside 3D Printing - Mediabistro copy

It’s official. After months of waiting and waiting the day is finally here. Mediabistro just announced their investment in 3D Printing Industry and that going further the two companies will be producing Inside 3D Printing worldwide trade show series together.

At 3D Printing Industry we obviously were waiting this quite anxiously and unfortunately it took longer than anticipated to get everything in order. Things in Asia can sometimes take time, but there’s no point going into details here. The developments are great and will strengthen our leading online media position in the 3D printing realm. The partnership makes perfect sense for both companies and the same model has worked wonders in the past for many.

In fact, it’s a bit of a funny story. When we first met Alan in April in New York he was explaining how he usually operates the trade shows and media partnerships. I mentioned to him that it sounded very much like the model used by Search Engine Land with SMX shows. Maybe I should have done my research better, as it was Alan’s original model that he had created for Search Engine Watch when it was still owned by Jupitermedia. Live and learn.

The times ahead are very exciting for us.

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One week as a tour guide in Bangkok

Bangkok Skyline from Blocs77

I like having guests. Living in Bangkok doesn’t unfortunately allow that too often, because of the holidays in the west, so everyone tend to time their Thailand holidays towards the dark and cold autumn/winter period. The past week has been quite hectic on the guest storefront. First, my younger sister and her husband came for their honeymoon (Congratulations!) after cleverly avoiding the wedding ceremony and reception back home. Smart move, I have to admit. They stayed for a day and headed down South to Koh Lipe before returning via Bangkok back to Finland. Then an old childhood friend of mine and his girlfriend arrived in Bangkok to start a 3-months Asia tour, which to be quite frank I am jealous of. And finally, my parents landed on Thursday to add to the soup. So, I transformed myself into a Bangkok tour guide for the past week.

This is what we went through:

Monday

I introduced my friends to MBK – one of the busiest shopping centers in Bangkok, since their hotel was nearby and it was their first visit to Bangkok – to start with something easy ;). The usual Phad Thai noodle joint in the food court had sadly pumped up the price, again.

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