On Wednesday of this week, we had our final presentations and farewell ceremony with IBM and the Department of Science and Technology. DOST Secretary de la Pena was in attendance and also IBM Philippines leadership team. The event took place at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) building in Quezon City. This is the DOST agency that monitors the earthquakes and active volcanos throughout the country. We got to walk through a little museum at the building before the event started…and even learned some fun facts about the Taal Volcano which is the volcano we hiked up (one of the most active volcanos in the Philippines!).
After some networking and lunch, we had the final presentations. This was a shortened version from our detailed presentation with the client, as we each only had about 30 minutes to present our recommendations. But I think it all went well and we also got to hear some nice remarks from the DOST Secretary, the IBM Philippines General Manager and also all of the DOST Directors. It was a nice event with lots of awards, photos and gifts all around!
The formal event ended around 4 and then we were invited upstairs in the building for a reception for a couple of hours. We walked upstairs and entered the room, which was a big room with a screen, karaoke set-up and chairs in a single row all around the walls. We are now not at all surprised by any kind of karaoke activity…it will actually be strange to go back home and NOT see this everywhere 😀 So we sang and danced for awhile and then Director Richard directed us all in some Christmas songs and also had a nativity re-enactment with two of my team members as Mary and Joseph and one of the DOST employees as Jesus. I have never seen anything like this – especially at a work event! But…you just never know what will happen here! We laughed so hard and had a great time. Lots of fun memories and good pictures to show for it! Then we made the long journey back to the hotel and I went out for some ramen noodles with some of the girls. It was a good day and I think all of us felt a sense of accomplishment since the presentations were complete.
The Opposite Side of the World 