Macau - Do . learn, Do!!!!

Where there is a will there is a way - April 2006 A perk seen by other functions is one of the most painful events for a marketing team i.e organizing a sales conference. The have not’s envy the foreign jaunts and trips on official expense. The priviliged crib about the night out, last minute tension and not getting adequate time to explore the yonder lands on such trips. I guess having been in the profession for some time this is one of the classic coffee- toffee arguments which will sustain. One such event was a conference to be held in Hong Kong in 2006. We had been desperately trying to ensure that we seal up all the dealing well in time to deliver the experience which the sales team remember for some time. Unfortunately that was not what was destined and we had to evaluate to towns Macau or Schenjen. Both between 45- 60 minutes ferry ride from Hong Kong. Macau – The gambling haven of the East it was. 28 odd Sq Km with a population of 500,000 people and infrastructure which left one breathless at the political will and the sheer speed of execution. There were 50,000 5 Star propertie rooms which were coming up and in the next year ( To put things in perspective a country with a population of 1 Billion does not have 5 star rooms which total to this kind of a number). Grand casino’s , flashing neons, plenty of history for a tourist in this potugese colony would keep anyone busy for a few days. Cantonese and portugese were the official languages of the town. The place came alive in the night . It was really on one of the first days that we the advance party( namely the marketing team – the arrangers) ventured out to savour some of these sensorial delights and soak it in before the sales teams started arriving into Macau. We did our dry runs, visited a Casino and then wanted to head back for the Hotel. Here is where one had an amazing experience which I wanted to share. The simple solutions to problems which we think are unwieldy or will take time to address exist all around us. We just need to have the will. We were given address cards of our Hotels which were in English and Cantonese . These were meant for the cab drivers. Close to midnight we landed ourself in a cab where it dawned on us that the driver could not read. We were stuck with our attempts at dumb charade etc The next series of events is what amazed me. The Cab driver fished out his mobile and dialed a number and then gesticulating wildly handed the device to us. Putting it to my ear I was pleasantly surprised to hear “ How may I help you” in English. The next 2- 3 minutes were sheer joy of seeing how my request got translated and the Driver took directions from the English speaking call center help on the other side and delivered us at the doorstep of our Hotel. I experienced it many times post that . I realized the beauty of this solution lay in its simplicity. How many times a tourist coming to our country would get stuck in a unknown place because someone cannot understand him/ her. This toll free line equivalent in Macau was a simple solution which we could learn from and implement. Over the next few days we were able to provide some learning interspersed with some fun for our teams . The land amazed us with the sheer infrastructure which was mushrooming and the political will to make it happen quickly. There was FDI coming in , Hotels were full of tourists and more importantly the land had the will to make a change. We in our country need to learn from this.