PMP students' field study of Launch Academy

Visit Launch Academy

The Pre Master Program students visited Launch Academy. A business start-up incubator for aspiring entrepreneurs. The academy focuses on learning and developing entrepreneurship covering product creation, the know-how on start-ups, and understanding market tools of entrepreneurship. We were there for about an hour to learn about the different programs offered at Launch Academy and their success accomplishments. The initial purpose of the visit to Launch Academy was to exposed the PMP students to a re-emerging industry that is thriving in Vancouver. There is actually a growing demand in entrepreneurship, and for the tech related market tools and the need for specialized expertise between the entrepreneur and the market.

Summer 2016 PMP Class

Entrepreneurship may even be as old as human civilization itself but the market tools and specialized skills required to build a successful enterprise has changed significantly. The market tools used in entrepreneurship today have taken a leap forward and have kept pace with the present advancement in technology. So, in order to keep up with these changes, the skills and experience required too has to change. The entrepreneurs today are much younger than the entrepreneurs a generation before. The advancement in technology has created new understanding, new markets, new tools and new studies. Therefore, there is a growing demand for modern and younger entrepreneurs to understand the needs for the right market tools that make enterprises succeed today. Launch Academy is providing space, expertise, and support to modern entrepreneurs to shorten their learning time and take their product to market faster.

Optimizing Career Prospects with An Awesome LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn Seminar

I conducted a one hour seminar on LinkedIn during the mid day hour break period in Discovery 1, SFU today. The title of the seminar was, "How to Optimize Your Career Prospects with An Awesome LinkedIn Profile". This seminar was scheduled sometime back in May but due to my tight schedule during the beginning of the semester, there were no promotions done for the seminar. In spite of that, the seminar managed to attract about twenty students.

Sharing Tips on LinkedIn

In the seminar, I shared some of the key points about LinkedIn and how to optimize on LinkedIn's high traffic by using specific keywords to build an awesome online resume. With over four hundred million account members, LinkedIn is the third most popular social network site in the world today. I have introduced this LinkedIn seminar to Fraser International College's international students about four semesters ago and have been receiving good responds and reviews for the seminar.

Another Section of Participants

This is an opportunity for the international students at FIC to learn and build their profile early. Learning to use the features and categories provided in the LinkedIn profile setup to build a resounding personal resume. Establishing the need for Canadian work experience, volunteer work, leadership skills, extracurricular activities, association with groups, networking, and academic accomplishments.

Celebrating Canada Day 2016

Canada Day Zumba

I celebrated Canada Day with the family and friends over the long weekend. Early in the morning on Canada Day, I went to New Westminster' Riverside Walk for the festivities and watched a group of dancers doing the Zumba dance. There were some great weather over the weekend and was just right for these kind of outdoor activities. Spent about an hour there and then proceeded to Edmund's Community Center to participate in another much bigger Canada Day celebration.

Canada Day

We met with some friends and stayed a little longer at Edmund's Community Center than in New Westminster. Over there, we had some cakes and samosa for lunch. The crowd at the Edmund's Community was also much larger than the crowd over at the Riverside Walk venue. Canada Day is being celebrated everywhere, in as many cities throughout the country. I just want to be part of the celebration.

Canada Day in Edmunds

Then, on Saturday, we organized a cookout with some friends at a nearby park. The event started at about four o'clock in the afternoon and only ended at around nine thirty five in the evening. At about thirty minutes into the event, majority of the invited guests have arrived. We had so much food to eat at the event because the event was not only a cookout get together but has turned into a potluck instead. And as planned, I brought my outdoor stove to the cookout and fried one of the famous Malaysian noodle cuisine for everybody.

Fraser International College's Peer Educator's Networking Event

Student Participants

The Peer Educators at Fraser International College organized their first networking event which involved all of this semester's peer educators. Also, among the invited participants were selected international students at FIC, alumnus, peer educators and past program leaders. I was invited to representative the faculty. The main purpose of this networking event was to promote and to create interest among the international students community to the activities organized through the peer educators' program.

Round table networking sessions

In the networking event that night, I met with some familiar faces among the peer educators and some of the present batch of international students. I also met with many of the alumnus in attendance that have graduated from SFU and settling into their professional careers.

The networking event was well planned and organized. Praise should be given to the present peer educator program leaders. From my conversations with the organizers, apparently this will be the first of a series of networking events planned for the year. I am already looking forward to next semester's networking event.

Appreciated the volunteers that have supported the FIC Universal Case Competition

Appreciation for job well done

Fraser International College through the case competition project team, celebrated with the teaching staff, organizing committee and volunteers of the summer 2016 FIC Universal Case Competition at the Smokehouse Sandwich Co. in Vancouver. Of the thirty invited guest which included the organizing committee and volunteers; twenty people, including instructors and students turned up at the sandwich shop for the special function. This appreciation lunch function was also an appropriate event where we dedicated our thanks to the continuous support the teaching staff have given to make the case competition another successful conclusion. The group of instructors that were present had a really good time and took the opportunity to interact with the students.

FIC Instructors and Students

The function was a nice way of showing appreciation to the people that had made the FIC Universal Case Competition possible. And the Smokehouse Sandwich Co. was a really appropriate venue to hold such private function. And, the owner of the establishment was really accommodating to allow us the use of the diner for this special function. The smoked meat sandwiches and beverages that were served in the special event was just gastronomical. The sandwiches included the smoked beef sandwich, smoked pulled pork sandwich, smoked pulled chicken sandwich and the popular smoked pork belly sandwich. We were also served with their special signature drinks, notably the ginger lemon honey and the strawberry mint. In fact there were more food than we could consume. Therefore, at the end of the function, we had the students take home the leftover sandwiches.

Second of the Ultimate Leadership Workshop Series

Establishing Leadership

Initially this workshop was scheduled for next Friday, July 1, 2016 which is a Canadian holiday. So, in order to avoid conducting the workshop on a holiday, I had to reschedule this second workshop to today. And in spite of the last minute notice to all the participants, the turn out was really encouraging. This shows the commitment and determination of the students who have strong desires to learn. We started the workshop on time and had approximately forty five participants with several late comers.

Entanglement

After a short introduction to the day's activities, we began with the "Bingo Game". In the Bingo Game, the participants were supposed to gather as much information as possible from as many friends within five minutes. And they get to learn the two key elements that makes a successful leader which are effectiveness and efficiency during the debrief segment of the activity. The next activity starts with a challenge. They were introduced to a situation, where the participants were paired up and then tangled together with a pair of twine at the wrist. They tried all kinds of ways for about ten minutes but no pair was able to free themselves from the entanglement until I showed them an easy solution to free themselves. The learning from this activity was experience.

Top Executives in Action

The final experiential learning activity of the day was an opportunity for the participants to learn about challenges in communication across organizational hierarchy. This activity simulates real communication challenges in organizations. I split the class into four groups. Each receiving different sets of instructions but there is one common goal which was not actually revealed. Every group represents a level of the organizational hierarchy. There were so much chaos in communication, the goal wasn't achieved and the organization failed to function and succeed in its endeavour. But the essence of the activity is to learn from the mistakes and know the existence of such challenges in communication in every organization.

FIC Universal Case Competition Final Rounds

Team Stradition

The Summer 2016 FIC Universal Case Competition held the semi-final and final rounds today in SFU's Discovery Park. Registration started on time at approximately eight thirty in the morning. By which time, most of the competing teams were all ready and waiting in the waiting room. But due to some minor unforeseen circumstances the case competition only got going at about twenty minutes after nine in the morning. So, by the time we completed the semifinal rounds, we were about thirty minutes behind schedule.

Team Power Ninjas

In fact, except for being behind on the time, the organizers were very much in control and managing the event really well. While the presentations were going on, the project manager and the logistic director have been busy preparing for the awards ceremony at the end of the event. They were busy preparing the competitors certificates, gift cards, thank you cards, medals, ribbons and so on. The food for today's event was catered with Manis Malaysian Restaurant which was delivered on time at about noon.

Team FIC Action

From the initial twelve teams that made it through to the semifinals, only six teams were to progress to the final rounds. The presentation topic remained the same throughout the day and teams that proceeded were allowed to make minor changes prior to their final presentation. The case competition judges were responsible to pick the teams that were going through to the finals. And in the finals they were to determine the top three presenting teams based on different criteria which have been predetermined prior to the start of the actual case competition.

Top Speakers

This semester's FIC Universal Case Competition top three presentation teams were the FIC Action, Power Ninjas and Stradition. And like in every semester, the judges also got to pick three best speakers among all the presenters. The awards for the summer 2016 FIC Universal Case Competition best speakers went to Takunda, Vince and Linda. The top presenting team was team Stradition followed by team Power Ninjas and then team FIC Action in a close third. As far as I am concern, everyone was a winner in the Case Competition, similar certificates were given to each presenter and the team coaches of the FIC Universal Case Competition.