BLP Chronicles (Day 1)

Our official activities started on Saturday, April 11. We were woken up by a phone call from Ms. Pinky around 5 am. Honestly, I was still very sleepy at that time but we had no choice but to rise up so we could be on time. 

I let Monica be the first one to bathe while I fixed my attire for the day. I discovered that we had the same bathing pace, and that's no good because I normally spend 30mins in the comfort room. We really need to wake up very early everyday, I thought.

We were not late; instead, we were among the first ones to arrive in the lobby.

Sorry for the blurry photo taken by my phone :(

We then walked to AmCham Hall, our venue for the day. 

Pancakes were prepared for breakfast, and the session immediately started at the same time.  (One thing I've easily distinguished from this program compared to others I've attended was that - time is of essence.)

Mr. Ebb Hinchliffe, Executive Director of AmCham, introduced us to The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.

Fast Facts about AmCham of the Philippines:

▪️ Private, Independent & Non-Profit Association;

▪️ First AmCham abroad (1902), formerly known as the Manila Round Coffee Table and later on the Manila Merchants Association;

▪️ Incorporated in July 1920;

▪️ Affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. (COCUSA) and the Asia-Pacific Council of of American Chambers (APCAC);

▪️ It has also established a foundation (AmCham Foundation) and works closely with its members on serving and helping the Philippines;

▪️ It works closely with the American Embassy in Manila; and

▪️ It exists to serve the interests of U.S. businesses through the participation of members in promoting their long-term objectives, while contributing to the civic and economic development of the Philippines.  

(Read more about AmCham here.)

Aside from introducing AmCham to us, Mr. Ebb also presented the 5S system that the organization uses. 5S stands for: Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. They use it to produce a more efficient and effective work.

Mr. Ebb Hinchliffe pointing out how much they value integrity in AmCham

He ended his discussion (while we were still eating our meals) by sharing to us the most important aspect that AmCham provides its members - the Integrity Commitment. When a company/business wants to join the Chamber, it has to sign (through a representative) the Integrity Commitment, which it will promise to be fair and honest (to not commit to fraud) at all times especially when delivering its products/services to the consumers.

After his talk, we were psyched through a team building activity. Ms. Maita Beltran of AmCham facilitated our activity.

We first did the "Massage-the-person-on-your-front-and-back" exercise before having the "Evolution Game" of jack-en-poy, from egg -> chick -> eagle -> superman/woman. (Until now I still don't understand the logic of the evolution. But I got to be superwoman! Haha)

Ms. Maita Beltran heading the team building activity.

The very eager and curious BLP participants. (Hi guys and gals!)

We then had the "Personality Game" (as I'd like to call it), wherein we were divided into four groups based on our answers to the series of questions Ms. Maita asked. 

Group 1: The Loud & Outgoing Ones

Group 4: The Silent Killers

This activity made me realize how people with the same personality has almost the same likes (e.g. being alone in our case) and dislikes (crowded places and noise). More than that, it taught us how to deal with people of different personalities.

The next part of the program for the day was an orientation about the BLP. Ms. Grace Sorongon, Managing Director of John Clements, did the honor of explaining what the program was all about. She also gave us an overview of the activities that would transpire for the week. 

Ms. Grace Sorongon orienting us about BLP

Ms. Grace also assigned us to our respective groups for the Business Plan competition. 

I'm with Group 4 along with Trixie, Jay, Mo, Athena, and Joel. We talked for a while about the focus problem of the business plan, mainly the facts presented, then we shared our expectations and what we contribute for the group.

Then came lunch..

I really like this photo for unknown reasons. Haha

After lunch, we had another teambuilding activity prepared by Ms. Maita.

The task was to cross from Point A to B without doing the same thing that the other person already did. 

For example: I ran across the hall, therefore nobody could run again, instead they could walk, crawl, or dance their way in.

This turned out to be so fun! Every one crossed the points and got to be successful ;)

(A/N: sorry for the blurry photos)

What did we learn from this activity?

There are so many creative ways that each one can use to attain success, we need not imitate others.

Next activity: Finding the Safe Path from point A to B.

*It's okay to coach but no one was allowed to go near the 'maze' because of the 'electric field' around it.

Our maze

I found this activity very exciting; I think we all did. After so many trial-and-errors and a few electrocutions, we successfully found the safe path with a score of 92/100.

I think the safe path was: 4-Yellow-Yellow-4-Ostrich-Yellow-Plane-8-Penguin-Lion-1-2-Yellow-Yellow.

Lesson of the activity: There is no straight path to success, sometimes we need to go back, listen to others, and accept failures along the way.

We ended the day's session with Mr. Pete Troilo, Director of DevEx Philippines, explaining the Business Plan Competition.

Mr. Pete Troilo, DevEx Director

Continue reading my BLP Chronicles!

Next up was how I met the US Ambassador, read it here ;)