Entry 2: Be a Manager.

The media event that i attended was the Countdown to 2011 Party at the Marina Bay Floating Platform.

The objective of this event is mainly to gather Singaporeans together to celebrate the beginning of the New Year. This event happens every year on the 31st of December and lasts through the night with performances, the countdown and fireworks to welcome the New Year.

The target audience would be the english speaking crowd in Singapore, because this event is organized by channel 5, while Singapore's chinese channel 8 has a separate countdown going on as well. This countdown party is also broadcasted to audiences at home through the television.

The countdown party is publicized using advertisements on television, as posters in public places such as in MRT stations and bus stops.

This event is covered very thoroughly by the media. After all, it is organized and set up by a media company. During the event, there is a live broadcast and the whole event is being broadcasted on television to more viewers at home. Also, there was an encore of the event being shown on television the following day. I think that Singaporeans appreciate the live broadcast of the countdown because they were able to watch it from the comfort of their own homes.

The success of the event is that the flow of the different artistes coming in to perform was very smooth and there were no major problems with the sound system, microphones etc. However, the failure of the event is that the people traffic was not very smooth. Many people were stuck in one place because the traffic was only one way. Also, the live audience were not able to leave the performance area smoothly and quickly. Perhaps the management could have created more exits for people to disperse easily instead of being stuck for a long time. Also, there could have been more security guards to direct the flow of traffic at the countdown party.

Entry #1: The Manager

Name of interviewee: Mr David Ng

Age: 45

Company: Centre for High Performance Development (UK)

Designation: Client Director (Asia)

Interview

1. Briefly describe your job responsibilities as a manager.

"My job is to manage all client accounts and develop new business in Asia. In other words, my responsibility is to bring in revenue for the company in the Asia region as well as look after the staff that are under me."

2. What is your management style?

"Consultative and team collaboration management style. I believe in a consultative approach in working closely with my team."

3. What are some of the difficulties you face as a manager?

"I face difficulties such as Multi-project management and also the demands of maintaining and growing business revenue."

4. How do you overcome these difficulties?

"I delegate and assign project management to team members so that multi-projects can be done effectively and efficiently. To improve the company's revenue, i use strategic partnership to leverage on business opportunities regionally."

5. In your opinion, what makes a good manager?

"Inspiring leadership, effective management competencies and good people skills."

To summarize this interview:

I believe that Mr David Ng takes a Modern approach towards management. Being a client director, most of the time, he plans, organizes projects and finds clients for the company. Hence, he is a Top manager.

He also believes in a consultative approach and seeks to work closely with his team, this shows that he is goal-oriented and seeks both effectiveness and efficiency within the company. His consultative approach in managing his staff also allows him to correct deviations within the company and improve on areas which are not up to standard. Speaking like a true leader, he feels that good people skills are part of what makes a good manager- this includes resolving conflicts, inspiring employees and motivating them to achieve the company's goals.