HeyChristine.com

Thursday,
August 22nd
On this date last year...

"Butt hurts..."

But doing well. =)

I admit that at times I wonder about what the heck I am doing over here, perhaps because I've been doing "this" for so long now that I don't know how to stop even if I wanted to (okay that made no sense), but then I am reminded -- literally on a daily basis -- why ORIENTED is going to be such an important project.

I was just complaining on the phone with Wendy today how god**** difficult it is to source vendors around here for just about everything we need, from personal products to business/professional services, because of LACK of information.

Doesn't matter whether it's in Chinese or English, fact is that Asia is missing two things that people need most to be effective, and that is:

A comprehensive LIST of businesses in the area
INFORMATION about the quality of their services

Simple example -- business cards.

If you want to have business cards made in Taiwan, where do you go for a decent list of business card printers? You call your FRIENDS and RELATIVES to see where they got their cards made. Then, you make appointments with say 2 or 3 vendors based on their recommendations, take the time to meet with them, figure out which one you THINK you want to work with, and then ask for prices. Quotes alone are random at best because what resource do you have to really compare? Very FEW. So you end up choosing 1 vendor and hope that you won't have any problems... but what if you do?

To say, "Man you guys suck *** and I'm taking my business elsewhere!" would entail having to repeat the above process not to mention the consequences that such actions would have to the various relationships that got you there in the first place so 9 times out of 10, you end up staying with that vendor because it is too much trouble to try and switch and even worse --> the quality of that vendor's service remains "AS IS", because the vendor has no real incentive to do better.

This -- I am convinced -- is the reason why GUANXI works so well in Asia.

I call it the "GX" Factor.

The more people you know, the more access you have, the more resources you have to make relatively informed decisions but even WITH a high "GX", there is NO transparency or COMPETITIVE market or system of ACCOUNTABILITY in which to operate!

NADA.

Projects are won not necessarily because one service is better than the other but because the owners of the two firms will know and LIKE each other. Let me say that in a different way --> TRUST in a company is based not on the quality of its services but rather on the quality of the RELATIONSHIP between those involved because we don't have a *choice*. The very act of developing such relationships only serves to manifest the vicious cycle and let me tell you something.

THAT SUCKS.

Yet I do it, too, because I have to.

Perhaps my communication/people skills are better now than ever before -- I now know how to smile and carry on a lovely conversation as if everything was peachy keen while calculating how best to seek REVENGE in such a way that would also save face for all parties involved -- but even still, that does not always help me to get the job done right.

People are always asking me what my "real" intentions are with ORIENTED.

Well... there you have it.

Or one of them at least.

To set the groundwork for something foreign to Asia called "industry standards", at least when it comes to basic personal and professional services, so that the next time I need to make business cards, I have a resource to go to that will help me make an informed decision regardless of how high my "GX" factor may be.

Poor Wendy, she really got me going today and had to listen to me go off about this subject at length. And yet she totally understood where I was coming from.

So how do the Happy Hours, People Directories, Events Calendar, etc. tie into this? That will become evident soon enough once we launch the real thing baby. This website we have planned is SO AWESOME, I am growing more and more impatient to get that up and running but I do realize the complexity of it and so refrain. A set of business listings doesn't cut it. ORIENTED is already providing some terrific services as is, but once we're done with it -- without sounding TOO fluffy -- it *will* have a positive impact on the development of this region.

So that's that.

Wow. I had every intention to write up a light and comical entry since recently I have been so WORK focused but evidently... that didn't happen.

Duh.

"Girl, you seriously need to chill out..."

ANYWAY. Just wanted to pat myself on the back and say this newsletter kicks some serious ass. We're all set to go for next Thursday. I will also say again how proud I am to be associated with the people who are working together with me to make all of this happen.

I'm out.

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