First time attending a convention at Resorts World Sentosa.
First time attending a (tech and innovation) convention representing a brand consultancy that integrates brands into entertainment verticals.
First time, also, at SWITCH.
Sounds remarkably innovative this branding strategy, does it not?
Especially when you consider that its not very well utilized in the commercial space, and which has not had as much traction as would be traditional marketing and branding strategies, which, of course, have been applied in MNCs and companies for a very long time.
Come to think of it, the world of entertainment has also been around for a very long, long time.
But it is innovation, I suppose, when they are combined together?
Perhaps I might have had opportunity to present this entertainment-based branding concept in greater detail had I had a booth there.
But we didn't.
So we visited other people's booths instead.
My original registration was for TechJam- a one day series of talks held at one of the seminar rooms just off, and up, the main entrance.
When I found out that I could register for SWITCH on-site at the venue, I put my name down for the exhibition too.
Good thing we did.
Because the schedule of TechJam (somehow) got rearranged and- due to a clash of timing- certain talks which we intended to go for had already finished by the time we got there.
Perhaps it might be good for future organizers to consider the fact that not all attendees are people who have dedicated time for the event on their hands.
There exist Zoom calls, concalls, Meet calls and emails, all which have their own set of deadlines and which necessitate back to back scheduling.
We didn't miss the entire TechJam though.
There was time for the latter part of META's sharing on the Metaverse and Horizons World.
And I think I sat through some parts of an e-commerce company's sharing (although I can't quite seem to remember which company it was)
I also didn't go off without taking a carton of (sponsored) alkaline water, and a serving of good coffee.
One of the things that struck me about SWITCH was just how wide, and broad, the definition of Innovation is.
You know, we often tend to think of innovation (only) in terms of the technological perspective, and well though that might be, innovation can also be defined as doing something groundbreaking, out of the ordinary, affirmative.
It doesn't necessarily have to be related to tech, and tech only.
That being said, it does have to be a game changer, and no more is anything more futuristic (even now) than the world of robotics.
And I think I saw a couple of booths demonstrating that.
I might have known more had I hung around to look at their panels and ask just what it was that non-humanoid machine was doing, but instead I went round to their neighbors who were showing- on their TV screens- their NFT vending machine.
It was a very interesting mix of exhibitors in the Resorts World Convention Center.
On one side you had the group from Indonesia, whom, amongst other things, were introducing a health app that combined various elements of wellness together with holistic cuisine of Indonesia. They were newly launched- we were told- and so didn't have as high a number of followers as they hoped, but they were getting there.
"Maybe when we manage to find a consultant who speaks not just Bahasa." The staff at the booth told me.
Honestly, I found the app interesting.
Not merely the health part- though that's a great inroad to nutrition and overall wellness for just about anyone- but also the holistic (Indonesian) cuisine, which app users could follow, utilize and prepare. And I thought it a curious, if not roundabout way to introduce Indonesian cuisine to the rest of the world.
Come to think of it, there were quite a number of pharmaceutical, health-related and bio-science showcases at this exhibition.
Besides the company from Indonesia, there was a lab with the technology to speed up diagnostics time.
There was a company which made games for dementia patients.
And there was a company who had a kit that not only detected issues on your pets' skin, through an app it also made diagnosis, and then supplied the necessary intervention.
The latter two were part of the Korean team, and I would've loved to ask more about the games for dementia patients but their English-proficient representative had left to go upstairs for a K-startup presentation and the only ones at the booth showed their best in demonstration more than detailed communication.
Still, it was nice to see how things were evolving in the healthcare sector.
You know, I wouldn't be far off if I told you there really were quite a variety of companies and industries at SWITCH.
It's like, amongst some of the booths there was an aerospace company that had one of their flight (drones?) out by the booth and which attracted a fair bit of attention with students, and engineers.
And then, somewhere next to a Swiss pharmaceutical company and the aerospace booth, there was a company right in the middle- offering attendees and exhibitors corporate service packages including the usage of SAP software.
It were quite a couple of rounds we made at the exhibition hall that particular day.
After a restroom break, I found my colleague speaking to several exhibitors, including, if I'm not wrong, a digital marketplace, a content creator, a data analytics company, a digital marketer and a couple of app developers- all of whom were based in Singapore.
I wish I had a deeper impression of them
But I happened to be looking everywhere and anywhere at that time.
There are some booths which I've retained a glimpse of.
Like the booth by Tourism Korea featuring applications meant to enhance one's travel experience in South Korea, whether through video editing apps or sharing platforms.
And the one by the People's Republic of China who decided SWITCH an excellent platform to showcase the (then-groundbreaking and innovative) Suzhou-Singapore partnership- with a video of late Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
Not everyone at SWITCH was showcasing their developments or their products though.
There were those who looked like they were more into the business development part.
The booth from Finland was one.
So were the booths from Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
I paused a while at the booth from (I think) Phillippines.
And at the booth from Brazil.
I consider it a bit of privilege to have been able to attend SWITCH in the capacity of the brand consultancy.
Especially since I'm someone who will never pass up a good cup of (free) coffee- which I (happily) got- again- from the Amazon booth this time.