WiT Thoughts
Don’t lose the travel spirit, learn from fungi – see you on the road in 2021
23/12/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
THE other day, I watched in horror as my sweet golden retriever pounced on a young monitor lizard, grabbed it by the neck and whipped it about three times. By the time I pulled Bowie off the creature, it was dead with a deep gash at the neck. In many ways, it reminded me of what this year has be [...]
Could I have attended this virtually? Events in the age of new protocols, cool tech and changed expectations
27/11/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
I had my first ART yesterday. I wished I could say this involved me splashing blobs of paint on a blank canvas like Pollock or Picasso; rather it was having cotton buds stuck up my nostrils. Honestly, the Antigen Rapid Test wasn’t as bad as I had feared, it felt more like the tingling you get fro [...]
From global to local hero: The Singapore fight to stay ahead of Covid and revive travel
19/11/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
SAFE bubbles; pilot events; partnerships with Klook, Airbnb, Expedia, Trip.com; domestic vouchers – you name it, Singapore Tourism Board is pulling out all the stops to buy time for local businesses until borders open or a vaccine arrives What happens when the world shuts down and your entire [...]
“Hello, I am Zooming in while cruising” – and best news of all, a vaccine which sends travel stocks soaring
12/11/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
From cruises and conferences, to Tokyo Olympics and Expo2020 Dubai, slow and steady steps are being taken to revive economies. I can’t believe I am saying this in 2020 but I had a Zoom meeting this week in which someone was calling in while she was on a cruise. Okay, albeit that it was to [...]
How much do you miss staying in hotels? I didn’t know the answer till this staycation
04/11/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Hello, Mr Doorman. Here I am. I never thought I’d ever say “I miss staying in a hotel” but when I got out of the car and was greeted by the doorman at Raffles Singapore, I felt almost weak at the knees. A wave of nostalgia overcame me as flashbacks of special hotel stays raced through my m [...]
Climbing Hybrid Mountain: Lessons learnt from staging WiT Experience Week
15/10/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Just before Year 2000 kicked in I had the crazy idea that I wanted to mark the decade’s end on top of South-east Asia’s highest mountain, Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, East Malaysia. I called my best friend, living in Hong Kong at the time, and proposed the idea. Even crazier than I am, she said yes [...]
Travel Zero.O: 10 Key Takeaways from WiT Experience Week
09/10/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
There was as much to learn about organising a hybrid event as there was to learn about travel at this most pivotal of times. Here’s a summary of the key takeaways garnered over the four days of Sept 28-Oct 1. 1. Be prepared to unlearn everything so that you can learn something new In organ [...]
WiT Experience Week, Rewrite: The start of something new as events take on hybrid life and travel faces life-or-death moments
05/10/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
“I didn’t know how much I had missed this.” “I didn’t think I’d be able to sit through seven hours straight.” “I wouldn’t usually have stayed for dinner.” “We didn’t want to leave.” These were some of the comments expressed by those who were physically present at WiT Ex [...]
WiT Experience Week, Rewind: We’re doing everything we can but it’s messy, “governments must act”
29/09/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
If there is one clear message I took away from hosting Day 1 of WiT Experience Week today, September 28, it is that every one of us is doing all we can to survive this Covid-19 storm but our fortunes (or misfortunes) lie in the hands of governments. When asked the question in our audience pollin [...]
How to stitch an events quilt for the hybrid world
24/09/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
I don’t know much about quilting but at times, I have felt like we are stitching together a new kind of events quilt for the coronavirus age. I know, everybody says this is the new thing, that virtual’s the state to be in for now because we have no choice and hybrid’s the way forward even [...]