Colleague A: “I’m attending a conference next week.”

Colleague B: “Oh, yet another big Zoom calls you mean?”

Colleague A: “No, I’m going to be able to actually stand in front of people and talk to them. And there’s going to be real food, hot food, with people eating in the same room.”

Mind. Blown.

Singapore transitioning back to “reality”

More than a year on, countries around the world are still coming to grips with the pandemic.

Singapore, where the Sansan Global office is based, adopts a long-term strategy of letting citizens and business work, play, and live as much as possible while still coping with the virus. As vaccination numbers continue to climb, the nation is gradually transitioning towards treating the virus as an endemic rather than a pandemic. 

The MICE industry is one of Singapore’s key economic pillars, so it’s no surprise that business conferences and events are amongst the first activities to be allowed, with strict safety measures in place.

Masked, distanced, but familiar

Sansan Global was invited to this year’s Chief Digital Officer (CDO) Innovation Forum Singapore as a Supporting Sponsor.

Held in the Grand Ballroom of the One Farrer Hotel on July 22, the day’s proceedings chugged along just like any other conference, though with a catch – every single delegate, sponsor, and organizing staff present had to undergo a Pre-Event COVID-19 Actigen Rapid Test before being allowed into the event premises.

That’s the 2021 twist, but it made for a very safe event.

It wasn’t too long ago when we took for granted familiar conference elements such as registration tables, delegate badges, and goodie bags. They were a refreshing sight, to say the least.

Regional CEO Edward Senju speaks to a select audience

None was more pleased about all this than our Regional CEO of Sansan Edward Senju. Edward took center stage to speak on the topic of The Digitalized Infrastructure – Essential Building Blocks in the New Norm. 

Edward’s presentation highlighted a common and important gap that companies need to address as they embark on their digitalization journeys, with key viable recommendations and solutions to bridge this gap and build more resilient infrastructure.

At the Sansan Global booth, we were heartened by the delegates’ outpouring of hugely positive feedback towards Edward’s presentation. Needless to say, much interest was piqued with physical networking in full swing.

If you’d like to find out more about how Sansan can help your company stay one step ahead, reach out to the team here.   

At the end of the day, the conference was a success, both in achieving its strategic objectives and logistical requirements. One can’t help but feel hopeful for future events with even bigger attendance numbers.

After all, in Tokyo the Olympics unfold as we speak – peak human performance on full display in the sweltering summer heat. Shouldn’t we be inspired to do what we do best, to adapt and overcome, towards the new normal?

Kanpai (cheers) to many more conferences to come!