Oh... work

Posted by shaankhan at 03:16 AM on July 4, 2007 in Work.

Ugh I hate that pressing tab doesn't bring the cursor down to the entry window.

So what I do 8-9 hours a day five days a week is sit at a sort of open cubicle in an apartment cum office with my ten Chinese coworkers working media communication plans for our one and only client, Mercedes-Benz (China) Ltd. Obviously we're a small outfit, as our boss, who is a pretty young guy in his early thirties, only started the company a few years ago.

I've been with them since the end of January, the newest employee besides our secretary, learning the ropes as I go since I started this job without a fucking clue about PR work. It's not hard in terms of creativity since the vocab list is limited to a narrow range of euphemisms to make Mercedes sound like it's more pleasurable to drive than an orgasm (although not better than an orgasm while driving one). It's mostly just tiring because you spend most of your time revising proposals as the client's requirements change over time, and you spend a lot of time dealing with miscommunication.

And you might be wondering about communication with my colleagues? Or maybe not. Two of them speak enough English to communicate with me, but my Chinese isn't that bad anymore, and I've learned a lot of job-related vocabulary just from being surrounded by it every day. Two short presentations I've made in Chinese, albeit very rough Chinese, since grammar has always been low on my list of priorities when learning the language. Enough to make my point, but please don't ever ask me to write anything intelligible. The best I can manage is some kind of mangled Ameri-nese monstrosity. If you read Chinese check my tentatively buried blog (until Net Nanny ODs again and the blockade on blogspot is lifted) shaankhaninchina.blogspot.com to see what I'm talking about.

Of course since the primary language in the office is Chinese, I do tend to miss information regarding details about plans, especially during meetings where I can't keep up with my coworkers Chinese. I forgot to mention that several of the are what are referred to as 东北人 (dong bei ren) meaning Northeasterners, and this means they speak--to my ears--in mumbled grunt and groans of which I can barely make out more than a few words here and there. And somehow, while I can occasionally follow what Jason (our boss) is saying, whenever he directs a comment toward me, I totally lose all comprehension abilities. Needless to say, I'm going to start Chinese classes again as soon as I've finished moving in to my new place.

So what kind of events have we helped MBCL put on this year? The biggest was the auto show in Shanghai this past April, for which we coordinated media invitations (a whole little succulent subject of cultural weirdness I should blog about later), press kits and briefing books for the MBCL executives who attended. My main role there was writing the speeches the execs gave (lotsa fun) and later writing an article for Shanghai Daily I think (not so fun).

Since then it has been pretty quiet, except for a brief flurry of activity to prepare for Cirque du Soleil's premiere performance in China, for which MBCL was the presenting sponsor. They decided to hold a test drive for three of their sports cars, the CLS, CLK and SLK. I didn't get to go that one, though I did write the speeches and press release again.

Now I'm finishing up a proposal for MBCL's plan to promote the R-Class in China, which me and my colleague who's in charge of it will be presenting to our manager in the next hour or so, and we go from there.

Worst thing about the job? Tedium and mindnumbingess.

Best thing about the job? Or things, I should say. The pay, which is quite comfortable by Chinese standards, and though I felt a little guilty for making more than twice my any of my colleagues make, that guilty dissipated pretty quick. The tedium has its virtues as well, as it gives me time to read my favorite sites like digg.com and aldaily.com and avclub.com.

A workday usually looks like this:

<9am: arrive

9-10am: check Yankee scores, read latest popular digg stories

10am-noon: same as previous, except with short breaks to do work

noon: lunchtime! eat 宫爆鸡丁 (Kungpao Chicken) and read more digg or aldaily articles

1pm-6pm: see 10am-noon.

Of course, if it's actually close to event time, things get a little more hectic, overtime gets involved, and I work my ass off for a few hours to get things in under the deadline. Most of the time it's just waiting...

Guess I'll cut it there, if any questions leave me a note. I'll continue using this blog for work related topics, but I'll be starting another one soon for daily life outside of work stuff.

If you like more info about current goings on in China, read www.danwei.org, a site which focuses on Chinese media but inevitably ends up covering all sorts of issues. Very good read, though it does tend to focus on Beijing since its founders are located there.

Currently reading: The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Currently watching: Old Simpsons episodes
Currently feeling: lethargic

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The Culture of Media Invitations

Posted by shaankhan at 04:43 AM on July 10, 2007 in Work.

To be honest I know nothing about how media work in the US. I don't know whether reporters and journalists attend press conferences because they are genuinely interested in the event or the material being covered, or if it's because the companies/administrations holding said press conferences all but bribe them to come. Something tells me it's not the latter--journalistic integrity and all that. But who knows?

Of course, it's not always like that in China. I'm sure many reporters are truly interested in their work, and that anyone working for a major publication would attend an event because it's their job to do so. But consider the following anecdote:

When Ferrari first entered the Chinese market, they saw a very simple situation. China. Rapidly growing economy. Lots of rich people. Hey, we can sell them cars now! And like almost every other foreign company, made the huge mistake of assuming they could sail in on brand name recognition alone. Everyone knows Ferrari. Everyone loves Ferrari. Everyone (with a couple million US$ to burn) will buy Ferrari! And so it goes.

Naturally they sought Chinese expertise when coming to China. They hired a Chinese PR agency, because of course there would be a "Chinese" way to make sure their premiere in China went off with a bang. It was probably an auto show in Shanghai or Beijing some years back, I don't know the details. Preparations were going smoothly.

One day their PR company calls up and says, well, how many media do you want to invite?

"What the ##$^#%$ are you talking about," is what I imagine the response was. Invite the media? We're f--- Ferrari! Who wouldn't want to report on us? But okay, let's invite them, as many as possible.

And we suggest giving XX as a gift.

Ferrari balked. They were, as most Western companies might like to pretend to be, above bribery. Why should we need to give them a gift? If they miss this event, surely their bosses would excoriate them for their laziness. Certainly it would be bad for business not to report on the leading F1 Grand Prix carmaker's launch in the Chinese market?

Turns out the Chinese media just doesn't care. No gift, no report. Ferrari didn't give out gifts and no one came. The next time around they were sure to listen to their PR agent and had a little something prepared for their media.

Another, briefer anecdote from my experience at the Shanghai autoshow: Attending the media reception desk with my colleagues one day, a Chinese reporter shows up and hands us his business card, as is required for registration to receive press materials. He looks a little bedraggled, as if he'd been rushing to get here. A little stressed out. He jabbers on to one of my colleagues in Chinese, visibly agitated. His voice is rising, and I can't understand of word of it. Finally he's almost shouting before trudging off in anger. My colleague explains:

"He's what we call 'convention worm.'"

He goes on to explain, a convention worm is someone who shows up at media events pretending to be media just to get the gift.

My colleague tripped him up, however, when, after taking his business card and realizing something wasn't right, he asked the man his name. The man couldn't remember the name on the card he'd just handed over--oops! Moron. So he went off in a huff, but it shows how much some people really want the gifts sometimes... and what was it anyway? A stupid little model of the first car designed by Karl Benz. Whoopty frickin do.

Where does the gift giving culture come from? It started out not so corrupt, actually. It was a travel reimbursement given to journalists back when journalists earned a pittance for their troubles. But like most things, the reimbursement became a tradition, and of course the journalists started expecting more and more, and then now with their organizations to back them up, they don't need it at all, but that's tradition for you.

 Addendum: This gift giving is an alternative to paying "transportation fees", and isn't considered outright bribery because it doesn't guarantee favorable coverage, or even any coverage at all. But some reporters do, however, take real bribes in return for favorable coverage--but that's a different story.

Currently listening to: Everything in its Right Place (Hyrid Remix) - Radiohead
Currently reading: The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Currently watching: Old Simpsons episodes
Currently feeling: working

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The Minutes that Tick

Posted by shaankhan at 04:03 AM on July 11, 2007 in Work.

Currently listening to: Cymbal Rush - Thom Yorke
Currently reading: The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Currently watching: Old Simpsons Episodes
Currently feeling: listless

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Another day, another brain cell

Posted by shaankhan at 04:25 AM on July 26, 2007 in Work.

Currently listening to: Beethoven Piano Sonatas 29-32
Currently feeling: blank

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Let me get political for a smidge

Posted by shaankhan at 03:21 AM on July 30, 2007 in Work.

Everyone who complains about what Ron Paul is for or against hasn't understood Ron Paul's position clearly, and maybe that's his fault, but I think it's also the media's for not giving a fair explanation: when considered in terms of government responsibility, Ron Paul does seem to be "against" a lot of things Democrats especially are for. His whole ideology is that the government shouldn't be funding these programs to begin with--it's not about the legality, but the fiscality  and Constitutionality of the proposition in question. While he may not support a federal law allowing abortion, he wouldn't try to get a law passed outlawing it either. He's assuming, and perhaps to a large degree rightly so, that the market will rise to meet the demands left vacant by the reduction in government programs, and citizens working in the private corporate sphere will find more creative, innovative and ultimately efficient ways to solve the problems people face today in all aspects of life.

Another point of criticism from both sides is that a completely free market would allow corporations to monopolize the market, carving out their niches and taking measures to prevent competition--but what measures would those be? Getting laws passed that favor themselves? But if the government stops providing these corporations with no-bid contracts, removes funding for medical research--which only goes to the largest companies--and doesn't enact net-neutrality (of course Google wants this, as it gives them a chance to define the way we use the Internet via their lobbyist group in DC), among other examples, then these companies will have at least a reduced if not completely dissolved voice in government policy. Government regulation creates conditions for monopolized markets, it's as simple as that.

These measures RP wants to take would, however, have to be completed in conjunction with campaign finance reform, something he is against. I'm sure RP believes that congress should not pass laws that regulate, but ultimately even as president he wouldn't be able to stop them if they are lobbied hard enough. It makes more sense to me that all candidates should be given equal opportunities to express their platforms without being beholdened to their campaign contributors. People have so little faith in congress today because it has been by and large operating outside the bounds of what the Constitution gave it power to do--legislate, i.e. make laws that reflect both values and principles as written in the Constitution as well as as those expressed by people today. Laws that are meant not to protect the minority from the majority or vice versa, but to prevent one person from infringing upon the rights of another.

A lot of people think his ideas are too extreme, but I still haven't heard or read any responses to the current GOP's dramatic platform change of small to ginormous government, and how this fits traditional Conservative values. I still haven't heard or read anything from anti-RP people that tries to address his ideas and opinions without in some way attacking him. Please, someone explain to me why his ideas would be bad for the economy, not whether he'd be taking this country back into the Stone Age of morality--it's been said and debunked, give it a rest. I want details, I want experts to tell me more about why a regulation-free market would be detrimental to the US in both the short-term and long-term. Why is it bad for us to lose jobs overseas, what would really happen to the environment if all federal regulation was undone (because Vermont seems to be doing pretty well protecting the environment on its own), and whether we'd return to 19th century Oliver Twist working conditions (seems unlikely to me since workers unions wouldn't be illegal under a RP administration). Has Ron Paul ever suggested or voted for any law/resolution/measure that would in some way limit our freedoms and liberty the way Bush has? If so, I'd like to know--so far I haven't seen any.

I don't want to live in a Minority Report Nanny state that sees the need to protect me from myself. I don't want to live in a state of hypocrisy, one that with our now battered reputation continues to press other nations on the issues of human rights and freedoms etc. What do these countries think of the US when Congress passes yet another resolution scolding nations like an alcoholic mother shouting at her kids not to drink so much, because it's bad for their health?

I'm not without my concerns, Mr. Paul. I like that you have a fresh viewpoint and ideas, but you know what the road to Hell is paved with. So I'm wondering:

What role should the federal government play in situations where companies limit freedoms and liberties of the people? For example, companies that engage in discriminating hiring practices, or companies that fire employees for keeping resumes on online resume and job searching databases? Should these activities be regulated by the federal government?

Would you outlaw or regulate any privately controlled organizations that affect the public's liberties and freedoms which operate in an unconstitutional way (lack of transparency, unelected leaders), such as the MPAA and RIAA?

Would you revoke the laws stating that R-rated films can't be seen by unattended minors?

What about the federal law giving funding to states that raise the legal drinking age to 21?

Should unhealthy products be regulated? Cigarettes and pornography, for example?

What's your opinion about "sin taxes", taxes on harmful products such as cigarettes and alcohol? And if you want to do away with income tax, where would our government get its income?

Do you think drugs should be legalized, and if so, why?

And what will you do with all of our troops once they come home from Iraq? What about our troops in other nations, will they stay even if their host country doesn't like having them there?

Since you want to reduce the size of the military, will you allow military defense contractors to operate on the free global market to make up for lost sales?

Will the federal government continue to subsidize oil companies, as costs rise?

Why did de-regulation of California's energy market go so horrendously wrong? Isn't this an instance of free-market reforms failing?

What's your opinion on the state of the Supreme Court? Too conservative? Too liberal? Neither?

Should marriage be defined by the federal government?

Ron Paul, if by some deus ex machina were elected president, there is one final thing people need to realize--there's no way in Hell all of his ideas are going to come to fruition, and that's the point of the Constitution and the American Way, as it should be. His powers will be limited by Congress as they should be, as well as the Supreme Court. People worried that Ron Paul would somehow massively change our system are flat out wrong. He won't have the power to do that. He'll press some reforms through and maybe government will get smaller, but there is no way that he will manage to overthrow everything that our government has become. It's just too big for that, and separation of powers dictates that he is to execute law, not legislate it.  We have nothing more to worry regarding the economy from Ron Paul than we do from any other candidate.

Currently feeling: aggravated

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