ADB Conference

The 40th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of Asian Development Bank (ADB) was held during May 4-7, 2007, here at Kyoto International Conference Center. I wouldn't have any business dealing with this event or ADB if I wasn't posted working as a liaison officer for the event.

About the meeting:
The annual meeting of ADB is considered a fairly large scale international meeting. Aside from providing a chance for Governors of ADB members to discuss about ADB's directions, it's a platform where the government of ADB member countries can interact with ADB staff, NGOs, media, and representatives of observer countries, international organizations, academe and the private sector. Basically, the delegation of each country would include ministers involving with finance and economic planning, representatives from embassy and consulate, investment bankers, etc. They expected more than 3,000 participants for this particular meeting. As a result, they would be needing a large number of staff to assist in the operation of this event.

view from ICC
Applying for Volunteer Post:
I have to thank Sheuo-Hui, my Malaysian friend from AYF who happens to also be my neighbor. She told me about the student volunteer application notice for this event. Both of us applied. I asked around a few friends, but only P'Nha joined.

Our first interview was some time in February. It took approximately an hour for each group interview. Basically, they were testing our English proficiency, a little bit of Japanese, and problem solving skills. Nearly a month later, we were informed by post that we were accepted as the event staff and to be working as a liaison. We had a brief training in mid-March for one time about the right manner and attitude toward working as an international language volunteer. (It wasn't much related to our detailed tasks though. It was more like a training for any staff to the event.) We waited again for a while, until the past few weeks when they announced which national of the delegation we are to be in charge of. Sheuo-Hui got the Malaysians. P'Nha got the Thais. Ayumi, my Japanese friend who lived in Singapore for 7 years, of course, got the Singaporean. Me? I got the Australian!!! I don't know why, but I was VERY happy to be asigned for Australian delegation. We had one last training on Tuesday (May 1), which was more like an orientation before we started off with our post.


What is a liaison?
Well, basically, we do everything to link the international delegates and the local community together. Our main task was to coordinate with our driver for pick-up and drop-off. Kept the delegate on the right schedule and accompany our key persons to their meetings. Nope, we do not attend their meetings, but escorting them to the meeting venues. We were also provided a handphone that we can use during this period of time. (But it blocks us from calling internationally! My delegates had their phone roamed from Australia, so I cannot call them through my provided phone. Guess what they did? They gave me their spare Australian roamed phone, so that I can call them when I need to! So sweet and considerate!)

my paper works for the events
-- making sure things happen at the right place at the right time
My Post:
I met up with Mr.Simon Duggan, a represenative from The Treasurer Department of Australian Government, the evening of May 4 to discuss my detailed responsibilities. (ขอบอกว่าประทับใจคุณไซมอนมาก ใครได้คุยกับเราสองสามวันนี้ไม่มีใครไม่ได้ยินชื่อคุณไซม่อน แบบว่าประทับใจจริงๆ) He was kind enough to provide me with the orange booklet in which includes all the necessary information for Australian Delegates (especially of Mr.&Mrs.Pearce, the head of Australian delegation <-- เป็นประมาณรมต.กระทรวงการคลังของออสเตรเลีย คนนี้ก็น่ารักเหมือนกัน). I started my work on May 5, running across town to get things done back to back. It was kinda fun and interesting. The Australian delegates were very nice, kind and very polite. This made things so much easier to deal with. Mr.Ijuin from Yakasa Group, was also a very kind driver. He was with us during the whole event. May 6 was my longest day and May 7 (today) was my last.

one of the meeting rooms
My Impression:
I'm quite satisfied with what I learned. My initial intention to apply for this was to have a chance to dig out my skills and contribute something to the community. Being here for too long, I sometimes felt that I have kept a lot of my skills unused. A chance had come and a convention like this was a place where I thought I could make use of what I know. At the same time, I hoped to be able to learn first-hand how professionals get things done around here. I did a careful observation from when they first posted for volunteer application. I have to say that I was impressed during a certain stage of these procedures, but overall, I'm quite disappointed of their management, especially how they treat their people (including us Liaison Officers). There were a lot of problems that shouldn't have occured if the central volunteer center had done things better. A lot of things were unuseful, nonsense, redundant, uncoordinated. But among the disappointment, I'm rather satisfied in many aspects. I learned a lot through this professional's unprofessional ways of dealing with things.

On the other hand, if asking about the post itself, I really enjoyed my time with the Australian Delegation. They were very kind and considerated. I love working with them. I'm touched with the way they treat people, and of course, the way they took me. Just only "everyone really enjoys your company and are very happy with your assistance", ".... btw, you are still doing a very great job.", etc., meant more than anything. Heart-felt and very overwhelmed. :)

with Simon (คนนี้แหล่ะที่พูดถึง)
Skills required to be a good liaison: patience, communication, verbal usage, negotiation, problem solving, systematic thinking, punctuality, openness, flexibility, ... (คงมีอีก.. แต่นึกไม่ออกละ)

After we signed off our post today, some of the liaison officers gathered for an after work party! I came home to refresh myself then headed back out to join them. Really had a good time! It's funny how we kept calling each other by the country's name!

打ち上げパーティー　＠　楽家楽家（四条烏丸周辺）