So it was quite nice to really bring back the ambassadorship program for students in Taiwan after some time. It took us weeks to scrutinie all the applicants from around Taiwan. And finally we have 26 of them from the screening process that ended up by the 2nd to the last weeek of Nov. So eager to release them to the field. My assistant Gordona and I cooked a Kick Off event for them on the 3rd of December. The agenda is as below:
Time
Activity
Speaker / Facilitator
09:30 – 10:00
Registration
Gordon Chang
10:00 – 10:30
Opening
LJ Chiu
10:30 – 11:00
Introduction to MS & DPE
Peter Hu
11:00 – 11:15
Microsoft’s World of Developer
11:15 – 11:45
MSP Introduction
11:50 – 12:50
Introduction to .NET
MVP
12:50 – 14:00
Lunch Time
14:00 – 14:30
Team Building Activity 1
14:30 – 15:45
Me = Study + Play
15:45 – 16:00
Break
16:00 – 17:00
Team Building Activity 2
17:00 – 17:30
MSP Group Discussion
MSP
17:30 – 18:00
MSP Sharing (Presentation)
18:00
Closing
So we had some boring slides in the early morning to help them catch some sleep. Then had our Marketing Manger, Peter, delivered his inspirational speech that deserves the standing ovation. That was followed by a little introduction to my team, DPE, some words of welcome video-taped by my teammates for the MSPs, and then the game rules for the MSPs. Before lunch we had the pleasure to invite our MVP .NET guru, Jan Yeh, to give a brief conceptual overview of our coolest technology platfrom. In the afternoon, it was just about building the team. We had an get to know each other game and a team building game that helped them gain acquaintances and make friends with one another. Last portion of the event was reserved for them to think about how they are going to move forward and achieve their goals. We broke them up into sub-groups based on location and had time for them to brainstorm and discuss, and then share the ideas with the other regions.
Though this is not an overnight event (because this is not our bootcamp yet!) I would say, it wass all in all a very successful Kick Off. And the impact on them was quite amazing. Just to do a little forecast about my next blog entry -- it'll be about the amazing event my MSP came up 3 days after the Kick Off. So keep tuning in!
Special thanks goes to my teammates (Wang-Tun, Robert, Polo, Moli and Ray) for helping me tape the welcome notes. And the wonderful ex-MSPs (AKA SAs) for recording and sharing their experiences as inspiratin and encouragement to my new batch of MSPs. Thanks to Ian, who used to be our SA Lead during my SA reign, and Vico, Poh Sze, Aiwa and Shengsin (ex-MSPs who are now interns at Microsoft Malaysia)
Some phots from the Kick Off: