The kick-off day was a long day. In the morning we gathered with the team in the hotel to prepare the afternoon official kick-off event. We ran through the agenda, making sure it would all go smoothly. Jasmine (梁伟娜) in charge of Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs at IBM in China came over from Beijing and joined the preparation session. We all looked forward to it; in particular it will be a first encounter with the local community and local people we will work with. Interesting point that came out of the preparation session is the fact that the CSC program runs a bit differently in China compared to other countries. Most NGO are not represented in China, therefore IBM and DOT have chosen a smart way to help the local communities by addressing the needs of education institutes, local municipalities, and small companies.

During lunchtime I was in desperate need of a large coffee. We saw during the weekend a Starbucks coffee shop in walking distance, it was the right moment to go there and get a caffeine upgrade. Tasting the 16 Oz Americano was great!

At 14:00 we arrived at the High Tech campus of Xiamen for the kick-off event. After the mandatory photo session at the entrance we moved into the boardroom, core team and the host around the table, the interns doing the translations behind us, and the local municipalities and companies at the opposite side. All presentations and introductions go interpreted from English into Chinese and visa versa. I was a bit confused to see my photo projected surrounded by all these Chinese characters. After the meeting we sat together with the local partners to address the logistics for the following days, and with the local education institute we agreed on the high level content of the lectures. The event was concluded with a small team dinner.

#ibmcsc china

The China 22 team Kick-off

Back at the hotel and 20:30 the real work started. We still had to prepare tomorrow’s session. My hotel room was transformed into a war office, Megan, Amit, Christy, Cecily, and myself pushing together the agenda for next day, preparing the presentation, drafting the questions we were going to ask … and get it all translated in Chinese. At 00:30 at could finally jump under the shower before falling asleep. Oh, what a day!

Kick-off meeting in the boardroom

Jasmine (梁伟娜), Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, IBM China

My profile in Mandarin

My profile in Mandarin

Our Host of Xiamen High Tech Institute

David, GM IBM China