Stroll along Chung Thung Rd, it is an early Friday afternoon, one meeting were canceled due to miss-communication, one coffee break were removed as well. Accidentally, I had an evening with no appointment or meeting, asked Kirk drove me downtown, you know what, when arrived at the office in the suburb of Taipei, you hardly want to go out; this is a rare occation, after " Lunch ", I walk by the Chang Thung cenema, when discovered there's an Italian Film festival opening in weekend, and they offer package tickets for early birds -- it's almost 50% off the normal price, the festival titled " iFilm " consist with 5 films and cover the " trilogy " among it, I bought 2 sets of package without any doubt; I always admired about the film industry in Europe and enjoy the quality European movie provide.
Saturday, late evening, my wife finished her mission teaching our naughty kids how to behavior and response to their homework -- a never ending preaching; we went for the first Italian film, with no idea which show fit our schedule, I decides to had pig foot rice -- local delicacy for dinner before watching movie, so, we can only enjoy one film on Sat. I can't really pronounce the name of the film , so I ignore to remember title, only impression before the show is the poster which shows a naked woman with a few kid covered her nudity in front of her -- so, my and my wife take a wild guess, this is a mother and kids story.. When finding our seat and follow the drama, I found this is a realistic and touching film; it begin with 2 lover preparing their special wedding , finding a small chapel in a country yard; when the priest pray for the marriage, he tell all the guest a long and compelling story about " marriage ", how 2 person commit each other and how they must going through and conquer life struggle together, it deal with kid, family and career, adultery and betray, elder family and friend surround you; I love the way director and screen writer intepretor about marriage, how people must think about all the consequeces follow by the wedding and how each other respect the value they build upon once decided to live together; I love the way they use the character -- priest to tell everyone nothing but the truth, he is not to perform the " I wish you live happily forever " sore of boring routine, but to play the role to make you think what will happen and how you want to face it before wearing the wedding ring; he even asked all the guest leave the church in order for the husband-wife-to-be enjoy the private moment along - as no one in the guest group willing to share the resposibity with them; I love the score and music present in the movie and I had a very itmancy reaction to the story they told -- I am not sure if someone didn't got marry and raise their own kid can really digest the meaning this film carries; both me and my wife are so happy that I get this great chance to see this inspiring film, we think in Taiwan, maybe only a hundred more will showed by this film.
YPO Chairman farewell dinner held on last Friday, this is the first time I witness the tradition these members held their unofficial diner, fun, and well -- luxury, every encounter give me new aspect to this organization, I will be the mutual observer in the years I keep my membership.
passing through the first round of meeting, being informed to see the big shot on next Friday -- the inform to change to following Monday again,I talked a little with my wife, it seems she support my logic and how I wish to develop this conversation.
Eugenia become a mother on the 11th, she took the marital leave beginning this Monday and gave birth on Tuesday, she joined the company when retuning from the States, at that time, she was single but with a close boy friend, her father passed away accidentally and the sudden change make they got married sooner than plan -- according to the Taiwanese tradition, if one's parent passed away, the younger lovers must got married within 100 days counted from the day funnel take place otherwise, they need to elapse the window to 3 years, this is why she got married soon, but to be a mother so quick is beyond her plan ? well, I don't know, within 3 years in the company, she turn herself from a lady to a woman; I hired a temp to help for the next 2 months, since this is a short term employment, I will only treat her as the guest, no overtime, no personal affairs and no yielding ( actually, to be specific, I never yield at my secretary before )
move one meeting and skip one coffee break leave me enough time to compose -- writing the blog, I am afraid if I join a local company, the ability of writing / reading / speaking English will dilute, so, keep writing my blog will at least keep where I am, speaking is another important issue, the foreign friends who I make here are good and free toutor, never forget to contact with them, buy them drinks and having meal once in a while, then this instrument of surviving shall be polished.
Interviewing -- I had so much experience to interview people who seeking an offer from our company, some get the recruitment information from the net, some from newspaper and some were referred by recruiting company; I remember a few years ago, I got chance to chat with an experienced recruiter, I asked her why I didn't received any head hunters' call ? she smiled at me and said, there's 2 kinds of person who we are hardly approached, 2 extreme in the job market, one is those who performed very bad, his or her notorious spread out in the recruiting field, so, no body dare to represent him, the other are those who are very talented and sit in a very stable position who we thought they may never consider leave their current position or career, I think you fit the later qualification; I smiles at her as well.
I met a few recruiter afterward and via their professional service, get change to meet people in varies industry, but non of them place me in my venture to come; some said I am over-qualified ( 80% of they reply this way ), I am not sure whether this is a compliment or excuse, but according to career guild books, 40 % of the job changers serve their purpose by the networking, not going thought the recruiter or posted advertisement; I keep 2 of the foreign recruiters as my pocket consultant and they occasionally feed me some information.
this time, A. serious about my move and wish to complete his " mission " -- placing me in one of the conglomerate, moving me from the type 2 telecom entity to type 1, and expend my responsibility from 300 persons to 800 persons, I am not in a mood of leaving, but willing to process the recruiting , another challenge to check my value through potential employer.
high ranking executive interviewing is totally different from the normal interview, first is to choose the proper location -- neither in their office nor in the recruiter’s office, then the conversation covered topic from leadership / management / to goal / strategy achieving; I am not preparing to answer all the question as an interviewee, cause this will change the balance I want to keep in the pre-negotiation position; something’s the interviewer think they are picking and in a higher ground to look / check / review you, this attitude won't let people feel comfortable ( this is what I trying to avoid whenever there's a chance to interview people who were referred from recruiting firms ), we are equal, even though you are evaluating me, but I have my own judgment to decide whether I want to join this company and become the team player with those we interview me, so, this is so important, if you don't know the answer yet, don’t assume interviewee are hungry for this position, you don't respect in the first place, the worst scenario is you might losing opportunity working with a true talent, the second worst scenario is if this person become your colleague in the future, you are creating an enemy before he on board.... so, be very caution and be very careful, be very humble and be very polite.
I don't believe a few papers from the recruiting firm (synopsis) and one hour conversation are good enough to decide who the leader is in the big company and who will deliver what he said. It’s all about presentation skill (communication ) and chemistry ( the way you convey the message )
recruiter present a talent who don't build any relationship ( history ) with his future employer, which is very risky, if an executive who don't have a history with the company he is going to serve, then everything must be black and white -- you are simply a tool to drive the result you commit during the interviewing, they don't have the obligation to give you time and resource you may enjoy, they want the result, the performance, as soon as possible, as juicy as possible; why they need to train you becoming the leading of the company , if they have this great mind, they can easily pick and choose their relatives / friends / associated , they don't need to spend decent money to recruiting and finding a very expensive you -- everything have a price tag, everyone who were referred by recruiter shall always keep this in mind -- you are the tool to produce profit, they a minor share of the profit belongs to you.
how to secure this situation ? pros and cons analysis is essential , the cost of leaving and gain of join the new company, you need to carefully compare all the tangible and intangible factors and make a very clear table before deliver your answers to them; if double your salary will ultimately cut off your career ( let's say half of the tenure ), then the overall income ( monetary ) is the same, or maybe worst, because the incremental salary will go to government , you will be a great tax payer only; if they don't offer the job tile the same or higher then what you are now, then the people surround you will think why you take this offer might be " no where to go ", if the perk is reduced, then you better think they don't value you as you are now -- remember, you don't have a history with they, the only way to protect yourself is to have everything writing down and make a contract to secure before on board, once they got you, thing will go sore and the oral promised will be meaningless, who you wish to claim ?
The final round is approaching , next week, I think this is fun and interesting, I am not ready to leave, but I am prepared to be " the best " among all the candidate, when you wind the medal of " the best ", this is the starting point to negotiate, if they want you hungry, the terms will be favor with you -- remember, you don't have a history with anyone of them ( even the recruiter, they only want to send out their Champaign and show their client how excellent they are , thus why they keep the talent pool so vivid )
the ISP lunch is a strange one, although there's a good intention to meet and chat how the regulation and industry order can be better communicate among major player, but the host was not perform in a integrity way, the conversation devloped and we found out he is sort of " speaking on behalf of the dominate carrier " -- who's absent from all the meeting and become the target we are foucing on; so, guests at the table speak more reluctent and conservertive, it's a no-conclusion or " open conculsion " lunch, the host seems hesitate to pay the bill as well, strange; we decided not to participate on this alige and figure our way out; the lunch coverstaion gave us a few lession : " set the time before negocitate with the major carrier is important, even everyone ride on the new terms, you will enjoy the trace back period as a fat saving " " we are buying more expensive then our competitor " " content might be free for provider, but the traffic it generated can be deem as asset and to trade with major players "
after this, I ran for the pre " Eagles " meeting, this is the first time I am invited to be the investor in the performance arena and invited by my big brother, they are planning to come on Oct. and they are the only exsiting super group in the histroy of POP, I love them and believe there's a market for them, so we had a fisrt meeting to check investor / sponsor etc.
Fixline meeting is interesting, Daniel is so serious -- well, he perform his role just fine, Jessica is nice, and Lee -- president of this company is so ancious about finding his " saver " or " successor ", I had a good time speaking with them and enjoy the conversation in between.
Alex called this morning, the second meeting have been arrange, I feel comfortable to acheive it, not because I want it, but becaues in their standard, I am qualified -- or maybe overqualified.
this is a new template from blog, since I am away from the blog for some days, so, need a couple of minutes to catch up, today, I would like to document the " Golden Melody Award " Judge record before my memory washed away; the invitation as one of the judge panel come right before Chinese New Year, an old friend from GIO ring me for consultation the potential judge candidate, I didn’t know that I am one of the candidate before although I was privately asked during some activity encountering with staff from GIO; then after Chinese New Year- something during the mid-late Feb. I receive the invitation call and ask to attend the first judge panel meeting, since the schedule conflict with the budget meeting in Tokyo, so, I miss this first gathering to " Know " all the judges, when returning from Tokyo, Miss Liu -- the chief judge elected by all the judges from the kick off meeting call me and check if I need any help from her, I said no, then the following day, 3 boxes of CD samples send to my office - the I realized that I need to " Listen " to almost 2000 songs in 5 weeks and rating for those who apply the awards in varies category. this is a heavy job, as you need to spend decent time to digest all the songs and make judgment accordingly.
I brought back this huge catalog and review the applicant and companies -- since the category of awards are so diversify -- from singer / arranger to lyric and song writer, dialect and aboriginal singer as well; some of the music is very new to me, some of the CD I never saw them in the record shop... the listening journey began and the tune and songs flying all over my brain for almost 4 weeks -- the first judge meeting held in March where we need to pick the top 10 or top what ever among all the applications, we spend 2 full days to come up with the final top 10 list in all the category , the discussion is interesting since the total judge is 19, voting or submitting the paper all take times, and the combination of judges are diversify as well, a few famous DJ -- they listen to all pop music all day , some senior producers -- they have there own value to music, some engineers -- they are picky at what they here ( the quality of sound ), some represent the niche music groups ( such as Hakka and Aboriginals ) new and old, conservative and progressive mixed up the panel, which is good, the dialogue is so vivid, the most interesting part is once the top list is identified, any one have objection and want to " save " those behind top 10, can raise his / her hand, promote his idea of why we should reconsider this result -- we call it " Turn Around Case " if his promotion fashioned with other judged, then we will conduct a new round of voting and see if half of the present judge favor this new decision.
after 2 days of top 10 list, we have a day break for GIO preparing the paper for final nominee, then we come up with the nominee on each award category as the 15th anniversary Golden Melody Awards Nominee, when submit it to GIO, they held a press conference and the next day it turn to be the headline of all the entertainment news, this is one month before the ceremony and before we deliver the winner.
Final judgment take place on the same day of ceremony -- this year, May8th, it's been quite for sometimes, Miss Liu called and asked if everything is alright with me, or do I receive any hassle phone for lobbying ? no one call me indeed and I thinks no one ( in the music industry ) know I am the judge for this campaign, one the final judgment day, everyone is nervous, who ever wins means some will loose, every year, judge panel receive different complain or criticized after deliver the winners' envelope, last year was so terrible, the chief judge act as the spokesperson on behalf of the panel and upset almost all the media, the final result surprise a lot of people as well, as GIO is under great pressure to select judge this year, May 8th is a Saturday, we were told to walk the red carpet as all the artist before the ceremony, so, every judge is dressed up, I arrived at GIO by 10 in the morning and notice a different air, someone told me entertainment newspaper release some comments and opinions from our judges- we are not suppose to reveal our identity before the ceremony, but as we know -- DJ'S they talking and they playing music, their profession is talking music, how can you zip their mouth, especially when it come to a media vs media situation, it cause a little commotion, but the process of judge discussion goes as usual, from the nominees, we pick the top 3 to be discussed in the afternoon, the conversation in this discussion is the most serious one, after long battle of discussion -- 2 turn around case survive one is the best lyric writer, the other the best aboriginal album of the year-- I didn't feel the importance until I sit in the ceremony and saw the winners.....
it was 4:30 pm, we submit the final candidate -- which is the winner, then 2 judge panel ( traditional and POP ) gathering in one conference room to hear the announcement from GIO, 5:00 pm, our dinner box is ready, after the meal, bus drove us to Sun Yin Yang memorial hall, ceremony was late for 20 minutes, due to the rain ? shall be late for the artist, and last for 4 hours , from 7:20 to almost midnight, I didn't sit for the whole show but I do witness the changes we made and how it made someone's day, when best lyric writer were announced, his mother and brother are so exciting, they accept the award on behalf of Sun Yueh Ting who were passed away before the ceremony, his mother said to all the audience ( and the viewer in front of TV ) , She said, I dream of my son the other day, I am the music angle in my world, whenever there's a new person listen to my music, I will grow another feather, now , you can see, how beauty my wings are .... everyone is touched by the mother's tone... the judges make a long discussion in deciding who should win this category; best aboriginal album is a big turn, when discussed in the meeting, KWANG was not even win one third of the total votes, Mr. Kao, the aboriginal judges strongly protest this result and making every effort to convince all the judges we are not deliver a right answers, we all respect his nature and native, so, exclude me, all the judges vote again and having Kwang as the winner ... when on stage, the presenter announce the winner, Kwang, his brother and their father -- a one hundred year old elder man was carried to the stage together, they are wearing traditional tribe custom and singing their song on stage, this scene touched me so deeply, I left after this cause my mission as the judge complete.
next day, I watched the reply of ceremony on TV with my wife, best make singer of the year -- Sky Wu, been nominees 7 times after he won the best new artist of the year 10 more year ago, he share his gratitude on stage, surprise, my name was mentioned, me and my wife are both surprised and touched, I am away from the industry for 3 years and no one knows I am the judge this year... after all these yeas, I found that I do make some friend in the world of entertainment.
the after award meeting is scheduled on the 27th, I will be there and or reiterate my philosophy of " Measurement", how to pick the right winner -- from quality ( the judge specify ), quantity ( voice of media and sales of market ) and the average ( what impact the most now and will carry over ), in some niche category, we may need to design a " weight " for those who really are expert to the genre.
This is a recap of golden melody this year.
