Odyssey returned for its third instalment on 4th & 5th February 2021. This year, we embarked on a monumental theme – Prelude to a New Age – signifying the eye-opening experience and opportunities that may open new doors for our participants, while adapting to a new way of life amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Odyssey 2021 was determined to provide the same enriching experience for our students like we normally could: to allow active participation and learning with our pristine speakers. With that in mind, the event turned into a hybrid of online and physical sessions, where it was held across three separate venues with adherence to safe distancing measures and a capacity limit of 50 people. Odyssey 2021 attracted over 300 attendees online and offline, who were all able to network and enjoy Odyssey just the same.
A total of 23 professionals across eight different industries and 23 SMU alumni joined us on two evenings of generous sharing sessions, fun and laughter, and strong new connections formed.
Odyssey 2021 kicked off with a speech by Dr Bervyn Lee – Director of Office of Alumni Relations (OAR) – and Loh Jie Yao – President of The Mentoring Circle (TMC). In Jie Yao’s speech, he highlighted his transformative view on mentoring due to the massive paradigm shift this year, illustrating mentoring as a simulator, a pizzaiolo, and a social capital. As his closing speech, he introduced the next President of TMC – Teo Heng Kai – we wish him the best of luck in leading TMC to greater heights!
Our Guests of Honour, Mr Conor McNamara – Managing Director of Amazon Web Services ASEAN – and Mr Edmund Lin – Senior Partner at Bain & Company – shared valuable insights on the changing economic landscape, the value of mentoring, and how it has positively impacted their personal and professional lives.
Odyssey’s signature Bean Bag Chats (BBC) continued to facilitate intimate interactions among our participants and speakers, developing lasting friendships with peers and connections with speakers. Some speakers include Anna Green, Head of ISV & DNB APAC from Amazon Web Services, Mark Khoo, Digital Marketing & E-commerce Director from Resorts World Sentosa, Ivan Chang from Disney, and Richard Koh, Chief Technology Officer (Singapore) from Microsoft. Interesting discussions arose throughout the session, one of which was the similarities between business areas in tech companies and non-tech ones. BBC truly encapsulates the value of mentoring and what Odyssey stands for by providing a safe and casual space for students to speak, eliminating their fear of approaching and building relationships with industry leaders.
“I truly enjoyed learning about The Walt Disney Company and could tell the fiery passion Ivan has for what he is doing at Disney. He really inspired me to chase my dreams and do something I love.”
Nika, Participant
Here, we would like to urge students to always chase your dreams!
We ended off the evenings on a high note, with attractive lucky draw and giveaway prizes distributed to our randomly-selected students. We would like to extend our utmost gratitude to our 10 generous sponsors for making Odyssey 2021 remotely possible, particularly in today’s times of uncertainty: Omnidesk, PRISM+, onegoodcard, Spartans Boxing, Sekoni Original, Revolution, Events Partner, Lendor, Valor Audio Visual LLP, and APEX.
“Odyssey was a networking platform that provided us with many opportunities to learn about industrial insights, and connect with people who held key positions at reputable companies. It was definitely an enriching experience having to learn about the challenges, failures and experiences from different groups of people during this event.”
Isaac Fong, Omnidesk giveaway winner
On behalf of the Organising Committee of Odyssey 2021, we extend a huge thank you to our guest speakers and alumni for taking the time to come down and share their nuggets of wisdom, as well as the students for their active participation and making Odyssey 2021 a banging success. We hope to see you next year for a bigger Odyssey and till then, cheers!
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