The SMU Travel and Hospitality Alumni Group was a proud partner of Tern’s one-day event in Singapore on 27th August, 2016. Tern is a networking and coaching platform for travel talent and startups.
Attracting over a hundred participants, the event included industry insights from travel leaders, covering key trends and issues in talent attraction and retention. It offered skills on how not only to land that dream job but also to ensure one's dream stays alive in this dynamic industry.
SMU Alumni were prominent especially on the panel ‘Life in the New Lane: Learning from the Newbies’. Astha Kalbag (BBM 2015), shared her story about how she found her sweet spot at Skyscanner as a Growth Hacker, and presented her top five learnings from her first year in the industry. The panel was moderated by Shyn Yee Ho-Strangas (BBM, 2004), Director of E-commerce, Expedia China and also featured Cynthia Tan (BSc, 2012) Manager, Strategic Initiatives & Busness Support, President's Office of Starwood Asia Pacific. Indeed, learning is done two-ways. Just as one learns from veterans, lessons were also picked up from newbies. Astha, Cynthia and Shyn Yee showed the audience that there is much to learn from the panel, with experiences ranging from 1 to 12 years!
A very interesting segment of Tern was ‘The Element Pitch, a competition where participants were coached by senior industry leaders during the course of the day. Seven lucky participants were chosen and competed to win mentorship hours, conference tickets, deliveroo vouchers and more. SMU alumnus Astha Kalbag and SMU current student Sean Lai emerged winners!
Tern provided a great opportunity for the SMU community to network as well. After Tern, we had undergraduates, fresh graduates and alumni representation from Starwood, Marriott, Pontiac Land, SAP, Skyscanner and Expedia come together for drinks.
We welcome more of the SMU community to join the SMU Travel and Hospitality Alumni Group on our Facebook and LinkedIn platforms.
By Shyn Yee Ho-Strangas (BBM 2004)