Approximately 1,500 SMEs turned up at Panpages maiden annual convention – Panpages Digital SME Day 2014 – which was held on the September 10, 2014 at the Sunway Convention Center in Sunway Pyramid. The main objective of the convention is to share with Malaysian SMEs on how to harness the power of internet in online marketing and cloud computing. Interesting presentations and panel discussions were held to help entrepreneurs achieve a big online presence and global reach with solid online strategies and effective solutions. A range of speakers and internet practitioners was presented during the event to share their experiences and knowhow which covers topics ranging from internet marketing, mobility to cloud computing.
“Internet is a powerful yet disruptive force. It is like a storm chaser and in order to stand out in this competitive market, we need to borrow the power of the internet. There are many winner stories that have proven that the internet can be the best tool an SME can have. For the past 25 years, PanPages has been working hard to meet the standard requirement for market need with our in house printed product, SuperPages and since 2008 , we had joined in the internet wave and reach out to ASEAN market with our partners, Google and Alibaba.com. It is estimated to have more than 24 billion things to be connected to the internet by 2020.” said Fong Wai Leong, CEO of PanPages at the opening of the convention.
The convention had brought together the best minds to provide tips on internet marketing tools such as SEO, trading platforms, social media platforms and cloud computing. Size does not matter in the internet world. The winning factor is how an SME can take advantage of the power of the internet. The speakers were representative from various technology backgrounds like Matthew Heller , Google Head of Channel Sales- Southeast Asia ; Timothy Leung, Head of Global Development of Alibaba.com ; Reginald Singh , Vice President for Asia NetSuite ; Aimi Aizal Nasharuddin, Chairman and Co-Founder of Skali ; Tan Sai Hup , COO of Business Media International ; Cheryl Goh, Regional Marketing Head ; Michael Chia, PanPages Chief Content Strategist ; Christopher Ng, PanPages Chief Revenue Officer distinguished speakers.
During the convention, sessions of the panel discussions were added onto the agendas. The first panel discussion on the subject of cloud computing was hosted by Tong Chee Leung, CEO for CBSA. Respective panels, Fong Wai Leong, Aimi Aizal Nasharuddin and Reginald Sigh had shared their valuable knowledge on cloud computing and internet marketing tool by providing solid solutions. While the second panel discussion on real SMEs customer experience sharing and third panel discussion on internet marketing tools were hosted by Song Hock Koon, Regional CEO of PanPages. Customers of various backgrounds ranging from manufacturing to high street retailer were invited to share their success business story during the panel discussion. In the testimonial, they shared their experience on what are the impact of the internet on their business operation. All of them agreed that after implementing internet marketing tools in their business, they received unexpected inquiries from segments that they never thought of. Hence, SMEs should not create a barrier between own business and their customers and they encourage SMEs to start their online presences now.
The other highlights of the convention were the exhibitor booths. Live demonstration on how to implement Google street view concept into businesses by using Pan 360°, one of PanPages in house product was shown at the PanPages booth to provide a better understanding for participants. Participants also enjoyed themselves at the convention as there are many activities such as photo booth shooting and lots of mini lucky draws going on at sponsors booths.
This year, PanPages Digital SME Day 2014 was made possible by all the supportive partners and sponsors. We are looking forward to bring more surprises to all participants in our next year annual convention. For more information on next year PanPages Annual Convention, do follow us on panpages.com or facebook/panpagesMY.
