Kwek Leng Beng, executive chairman of Hong Leong Group (right), was the opening speaker for the first WIT in 2005.
This October, we will mark the 10th edition of the WIT conference. Yes, in November 2005, we held our very first event at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront which was to become our home for the next three years.
Much water under the Anderson Bridge, as you might say – did you know that this bridge, which crosses the mouth of the Singapore River, was opened in 1910 by Governor Sir John Anderson, Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements.
Now I am not certainly comparing WIT to the Anderson Bridge which has certainly seen a lot more history than we have – but in Internet years, I guess 10 is pretty old.
Facebook is also 10 this year, Huffington Post turned nine – and they are now considered the oldies of the industry.
And well, oldies need facelifts from time to time – which is why we’ve got a brand new look this week. We hope you like the look and feel of our new site.
As old as we are though, we really feel like newbies on the edge of yet another revolution in travel.
When we started, there were so many things we didn’t know. The only thing we did know was that the Internet would change travel.
The audience at the first WIT in 2005.
Today, there are still many things we don’t know. The only thing we do know is that the Internet and all that’s happening around it – mobile, social, big data, peer-to-peer – will continue to change travel.
And the pace of change will be faster and faster. That’s how it is with technology – slowly, slowly and then suddenly … Think Usain Bolt on steroids.
To mark the 10th WIT, we’ve decided to go with the theme “Little Big 10” because we feel like a Little kid staring with wide-eyed wonder at a Big world. And it is with that sense of wonder that we will celebrate the past and take a stab at the trends we believe are changing travel.
We will pick our top 10 influencers of online travel in Asia Pacific and induct them into our WIT Hall of Fame. We will then cover 10 trends and bring together experts to share insights and suggest ideas that you can apply to your business.
Check out our programme here.
Meanwhile to mark our 10th anniversary, here’s a list of 10 things I wished I had known then.
- That I’d become more social online than offline.
- That we’d stare at screens more than gaze at greens.
- That it matters not where we are, just how wired we are.
- That bedrooms would become boardrooms.
- That left to our own devices, we would still cling to our devices.
- That weapons of mass distraction have become weapons of mass isolation.
- That someone would actually invent a tripod for a selfie.
- That everyone can fly, everyone can be a host, everyone can guide, everyone can write and everyone thinks they can …
- That dogs can drive and even cars can drive themselves and glasses will be able to tell you at a flick of a finger who’s a dog and who’s a cow
- That Luis Suarez gets to keep his teeth.
That’s not to say that I’d have done anything differently if I had known all that – well maybe one or two things …
Here’s to being “Little Big 10”.
