This summer, Kit Ming Yip, a senior consultant from Hong Kong, took part in a two-month exchange program to Beijing, where she reinforced the team carrying out The Dow Chemical Company’s Human Element campaign. (Click here to read more about the recent Dow campaign in the Client Showcase section).

I am extremely glad to have taken part in the Beijing exchange, which has been fruitful and exciting.

In June and July—two of the most eventful months of the year—I worked with the Beijing team on The Dow Chemical Company’s campaign. As Dow Chemical launched its Human Element corporate-branding initiative, communicating its 2015 sustainability goals in China, I had the opportunity to get exposure to large-scale and high-profile events.

During my secondment, I had the chance to participate in Bond with Dow—The Human Element Media Day, the 2007 Blue Planet Run celebration ceremony and press conference and the Gala Dinner celebrating Dow Chemical-Shenhua’s joint venture on a coal-to-chemicals complex.

At these regional and international events, I learned about client servicing and event management in the capital in addition to widening my perspectives concerning the corporate and media scene in China.

While both Beijing and Hong Kong are major cities in Greater China, there are a number of differences between their PR scenes. During my limited stay in China, I have the impression that the mainland is more engaged with events whereas our Hong Kong office handles a lot more media relations and crisis management. Hong Kong media are mostly independent and sometimes critical, whereas mainland media are more prone to be cooperative with PR agencies. Clients in Hong Kong are very results-oriented; our mainland clients value thorough processes. I came to appreciate the differences and diversities in both cities.

The team spirit and friendliness of our Beijing team members demonstrated once again that our agency has a great tradition of hiring the most capable and personable people in the world. I had a good time working with the helpful, cheerful and energetic team and I truly appreciate my newfound friendships.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank John Morgan, regional managing director, Greater China; Nikki Lin, director, Beijing; and Devi Shobha, regional human resources director, Asia Pacific; for making this exchange possible. I sincerely hope that more “GHers” will have the opportunity to participate in this meaningful exchange program.

Scott Maclean Strengthens Sydney's Corporate Practice

Scott Maclean, vice president, Sydney

The Sydney office of GolinHarris welcomed Scott Maclean as vice president this August.

Maclean offers valuable senior counsel and creative direction across the Sydney business, with a core focus on building the office’s corporate practice group.

With more than 16 years of experience, he has been a driving force behind multiple award-winning public relations and sponsorship campaigns for clients such as Vodafone, Philips and the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services.

In addition to these successes, Maclean has worked with clients including Procter & Gamble, Nokia, Child Cancer Foundation and various commonwealth government departments including the Department of Education, Science and Training and AusAID.

Maclean said being part of the GH network presented a unique opportunity for the entire team to share new ideas and market insights. “I’m particularly looking forward to replicating the success and culture of one the most successful and trusted global PR brands in the Australian market,” he said.

GH Chat Room: The Online Lives of GHers

Our talented colleagues in Asia Pacific are online and on board the Web 2.0 wave. The term has come to stand for everything from social-networking sites and user-generated multimedia, to self-published “blogs” and chat rooms—and is now a part of PR. Brad Burgess, consultant in Beijing, tells all on his Chinese-language blog, Laowai Tanbai, or “Confessions of a Foreigner.” Madison Wai, senior associate in Hong Kong, writes that “life is a novel” on her personal blog, Harvesting Life. Tim Gingrich, marketing services assistant, goes to great lengths to stay in touch on Gotoofareast.com. And Carlo Niederberger, senior account executive in Japan, networks with netizens on Mixi—“mix” and the personal pronoun “I”—a social-networking site. In this issue of GH Chat Room, Breakthrough chats with these four bloggers about their digital life. Click here to visit Laowai Tanbai Click here to visit Harvesting Life Click here to visit Gotoofareast.com Click here to visit mixi Q: What was your purpose for starting your site? Brad writes: I started a blog as an experiment in communication. Many of my entries are commentary or meaningless stories, and I try to keep it light. I thought to myself, “Why not write a blog in Chinese?”  First, it helps me understand Chinese people. Chinese love to blog, and they will often discuss things via this medium that they probably wouldn’t otherwise. I like to share my opinions and see how people respond on virtually any topic. Lastly, as a native English speaker, it helps me keep up on my written Chinese. Many of my regular visitors like to respond and teach me new ways of saying things, correct my grammar or share different opinions.   Madison writes: After reading my buddy's blog, I decided to start my blogging life in April 2006. Like most of the bloggers, I treat it really like my online diary, simply to share tears and laughter with my buddies. I usually post my cooking, dining and traveling experience on my blog, and sometimes some surprises at works (like the new media workshop and Asia Pacific Leadership Award). Now, whenever I'm on the bus, I will develop some stories in my mind and then post on my blog and share. Tim writes: Gotoofareast.com began as a way to stay in touch with friends back west when I moved to the Far East. I thought it would be more convenient to collect all my travel experiences in one place rather than crashing all my friends’ inboxes with long, image-filled e-mails. Now, wherever I travel, I tell the people who I’m photographing, filming or writing about to visit my blog so they can share the story with their friends. Carlo writes: Mixi works in much the same way that Facebook does, allowing the user to maintain a personal network of friends and contacts. Initially, I signed up primarily to keep in touch with acquaintances I don’t often get to see, but I’ve found that Mixi is also a useful tool to connect with professional and personal interest groups and exchange news, information and ideas. Q: Have you learned anything about communication, relationships or life? Brad writes: I have learned people like pictures. I took away my pictures to see if I would still get visitors, and the numbers dropped significantly. I guess that tells me something about the quality of the content!  I have also learned that blogging is somewhat therapeutic as well as fun.   Madison writes: Definitely! Through various discussions and sharing, I’m getting exposed to more dynamic topics and issues. And I learn a lot on the new media applications. It's great! Tim writes: It used to be all about posting my thoughts, but now I’m trying to pose them as questions. When people start commenting with their point of view, the blog really comes to life, and even the author can learn something. Carlo writes: With literally tens of thousands of specialized community forums within Mixi, you’re able to locate audiences that are specifically receptive and responsive to your messages, and of course, the forums are sources for any type of information you might require. Q: What are your future plans for online life? Brad writes: I would like to say that I have a well-developed strategy to become a key thought leader in China, but I don’t.  Again, this is an experiment, and the content is hardly philosophical. I’ve got a few other ideas up my sleeve, but you will have to wait and see… Madison writes: I'm exploring social networking—my latest move is Facebook. Also, trying my best to look at any new trends in the new media industry and share! Tim writes: I’m brainstorming fictional blogging, like a novel in blog format … “novlog.” Imagine a mystery that unfolds through weekly posts and ties into clues—images, video and MP3s—hidden around the Web. Carlo writes: No concrete plans as such, but I may look into digitizing and sharing my (extracurricular) photographic work.