The ugly face of social media
Yeoh Siew Hoon wonders if we could end up with unsocial media with the way things are going.
 I wonder if social media reached the point of diminishing returns last week with the death of Michael Jackson and the subsequent fall of the mighty Perez Hilton?
I ask that question because I think the celebrity blogger’s fall from grace in just a matter of days could well herald the swinging of the pendulum back to some level of sanity, quality and credibility to the blogging and whole social media space.
Well, at least, I hope so.
Perez Hilton’s original post calling Jackson being rushed to the hospital a publicity stunt raised anger around the world and sparked a “unfollow” Hilton campaign on Twitter – #unfollowperez. Within hours, he went from 1.8 million followers to 800,000.
Granted, he is a celebrity blogger who thrives on rumour and gossip and thus should not be taken seriously but as they say, one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch and he is one of the most high profile bloggers there is.
What his post did was to show up the ugly side of blogging – mean, inaccurate, untrustworthy, an abuse of power. MORE
The making of a hotelier
 As a boy, Giovanni Angelini spent three years with the Franciscan monks. In there, he learnt about a sense of belonging, discipline and humility. He spoke to Yeoh Siew Hoon at WIT*e – Inspiration & Mentoring about the important things in life and what every young person entering the business should know.
Q: So 45 years in hospitality and 3 years as a summer intern – nearly five decades in the business – and up to six weeks ago, CEO & MD of Shangri-La? How does retirement feel?
I miss it, I still dream of hotels at night and their problems and wake up in a cold sweat and then I remember I don’t have to go to the office tomorrow. I am enjoying the time out but I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t miss it. I will take it easy for a while but then maybe start to do something again at least to exercise the brains.
Q: Perhaps this is the best of times to take a time out – when the industry is going through the worst times you’ve ever seen in your career?
No, actually, now is the best time to be on top of things and re-assess the business – what we do, how we do it and how we can do it better. Leaders must be on top of things now and weed out the more inefficient elements of the business – that includes people and processes. You want to be on top of your game when the economy improves. MORE
Dream, love, dare and be an all-rounder
Want to succeed in travel and tourism? Here’s some advice from a panel of industry leaders during the last WIT*e.
Follow your dream. Love what you do, do what you love. Have passion, drive and flexibility. Be creative. Be a generalist, not a specialist.
These were some of the nuggets of advice that were offered by the “Talent Time” panel during WIT*e – Inspiration & Mentoring held on June 25 in Singapore when they were asked what advice they would give young talent aspiring to build a successful career in the industry. The panel was co-moderated by Andrew Chan, CEO of TMS Asia Pacific, and Yeoh Siew Hoon, producer of WIT-Web In Travel. MORE
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