It wasn't all that rosy so to speak, only 10 teams were selected to participate out of so many entries (2,500) and they rose to the first challenge of creating a video (as part of the entry requirement) about how they were preparing and sacrificing for the race.
Coming from a tough background with 6 siblings (4 boys and 2 girls), the 2 girls had to tough-up in order to fair with the boys.
It was during that particular moment which they jumped at the opportunity of joining the competition, totally unprepared for mentally and physically.
During the first day of the competition, they felt intimated by other competitors for their apparent bigger size.
They admitted that being physically not that fit (during the time of the competition), they figured out strategies to deal with otherwise. Their first step was to not be eliminated from the first round and it worked.
Working together as a team, utilizing one's strengths and complementing each other weaknesses, they overcome all challenges and road-blocks to emerge the 1st runner up.
Teressa and Pamela had to make decisions based on intuitions because the race didn't permit usage of gadgets and even not having more money to spend for.
It is all about team work, strategies and the will to go on. These are the qualities which makes them the icon for the SAS Forum 2010 - Rise Up To Challenges.
They quoted that by the next morning, you have to get up and race again.
And this is exactly what is happening in today's economy of businesses.
Things are tough, consumers got smarter because they have access to Internet. No longer can you tell them that 'Paul The Octopus' is just a hype because consumers can use Google to search for it and worst still - for free.
In terms of dealing with competitors, they are always keen to follow your success stories and can always come up with better surprises. Never will you have a day to enjoy your slightest achievement because it is much wiser to save for raining days tomorrow.
Damn, so what else can you sell to your consumers if you are not amongst the best in the world ?
At least SAS is the number 1 in the world for business analytics, followed by IBM and Microsoft. But the point is that SAS is a company which provides software tools for businesses to rise up to challenges, 365 days and round the clock.
Using SAS tools, businesses get to have their own 'Paul The Octopus'; where one can actually predict trends, mitigate risks, planning and engineer growth.
SAS Malaysia Managing Director Mr. Jimmy Cheah mentioned that businesses today need to buckle up for extremity as in extreme sports. The three points of focus are:
- Speed (in a matter of hours)
SAS Forum is an annual event and this year it was hosted by The Chong Sisters and the best part is that the house was full. Mr. Jimmy Cheah called it PAU PANG ( full house in Cantonese).
I was lucky and honoured to be given a VIP seat.
The PAU PANG crowd simply loved the show, started off with motorbike stunt by Mr. Jimmy Cheah himself, followed by visions lecture from Professor Thomas Davenport (Guru of Analytics) and then The Chong Sisters who wooed the crowd with their Malaysian elegance, charm, intelligence and down to earth nature.
It was a great event and I would like to end this with a quote from speaker Ms. Betty Lau (HP).
"Using business analytics tools, one do not have to make decisions based on intuition"
That is so contributing because intuition is based on emotions and insights, and as human, we fall in love with that because it is about feelings and cater for meanings. In other words, humans tend to make mistakes because we are so forgiving.
However, with business analytics, you have the choice of not making foolish mistakes in terms of decision making and that is such a blessing if you are talking about loving and caring for your business.
With or without emotions ?
--> I wrote this with emotions. You make your own choices.