Aftermath: ICORM'08

Me and Kak Zeti with some of the committee members

Finally, after a year in planning, we are done with it! I am so glad. :-)

Here are some lessons learned after organizing the conference.

1. "Thou shall tell the press"
Our guest of honor was the Home Minister, and as such we cater for him. Someone forgot to tell the press that the opening ceremony was shifted to accommodate him. The press was therefore pretty pissed off to arrive at 9am only to be told it has been shifted to 2pm. I watched in horror as a senior reporter from a well known media organization harangue my boss about the change in time. Ooops...

2. "Too many cooks spoil the broth"
I noticed that with so many people wanting to dip into the pie, it became a mess. Next time, it is better to not have so many orchestrator. The end result was that with so many people wanting to control things, chaos ensued.

3. "Manpower has to be adequate"
Right from the start, it became clear that we did not have enough manpower. That made things really hectic for me and another colleague who was helming the fort. Nevertheless, this has been a good experience for us and perhaps next time we are able to capitalize on what we have learned and would be able to organize our own conference without help from outside consultants.

4. "Be prepared for the unexpected!"
So many things did not go according to plan. Presenters did not turn up, some came at the last minute demanding that their schedules be shifted, the lunch hall was half empty (with so many people opting to leave before lunch), some presentation sessions had to be combined, etc: the list was endless! Somehow, you gotta go with the flow and cross your fingers and hope for the best! And oh! make sure you prepare with Plan 'B'.

Anyway, all in all I could say it was a successful conference, despite all the obstacles that was thrown at me. Highlights: I got to meet some really nice people including an Indonesian lecturer and an American born professor who resided in Indonesia for ten years: the three of us spent lunch debating on culture and language in fluent Indonesian! :-). I also got to meet Dr. Galander, a former lecturer who is now based in Qatar. He has always been unfailingly polite and wonderful to talk to so it was a pleasure seeing him. I also learned that our students can totally be relied on when organizing an event like this: I am indeed thankful for their resourcefulness, hard work and professionalism. Kudos to you guys! I am so glad you were around. And finally, it was nice to see bits of my speeches coming out for the key note address. Heh.

On a final note: if this becomes a yearly thing, I hope I am NOT around next year!! Ha ha ha.