[Becoming Ebay Summit, Fall 2016] Thoughts & Lessons

I've recently entered ebay and there was Becoming Ebay Summit this week for three days.
In order to memorize what I've learnt from the summit,
I'm going to write down some thoughts and lessons I've learnt and felt.

[Closing session : Brian Byun, country manager of eBay Korea]
The closing lesson was from the country manager of South Korea, Brian Byun.
He told us three lessons to remember.
1) We gotta remember the purpose of our company.
Ebay is not a company that sells products, but a company that sells customer experience.

2) We gotta keep on improving ourselves. Constantly bettering ourselves.
-> This is something that really hit me hard. Ever since I've entered the company in May 2016, I've been slacking off in learning new things and improving myself.
My boyfriend is studying really hard to move to a better position, but I was very content with my current position that I slacked off in improving myself. I didn't have a strong motivation to improve myself.

Yet, in order to become a 'dream person' that I want to be, I gotta be different from others!
I gotta keep on trying to be a better person tomorrow than today....
Hmm.. it does sound a bit difficult. But fortunately, my company offers a really good work-and-life balance. I go to work at 8:30am and finish work at 5:30pm. Unless there are crucial errors, I barely overwork. This is great. I gotta really make use of my past time to the fullest! Let's try this. I don't wanna be one of the other ordinary people.... !!

3) Write down your worries in every half year.
He told us that it helped him to look at his worries constantly and it motivated him to actively take efforts to resolve those worries.. !
This is the reason why I'm constantly trying to write things down in my blog. I do not want to pass by a day without any thoughts. I wanna jot down notes for future reference. Let's do this!

*Everyone's life is a treasure.
We all have to value our lives.
What kind of jewel our life is gonna be in the end depends on how well we live our days everyday


[PIC : Product Innovation Center]
A new PIC head just came to Korea recently, and her talk was interesting!
She has an amazing career and I'd like to become a woman leader like her when I am about her age..!
There were a few things she wanted to build now that she's the head of PIC:
1) THINKER-DOER-MAKER
Let people 'think' more and by asking questions - 'Why do we have to do this?'
2) Communication
Better communication among product managers, developers and designers

[Tips for career]
1. Be yourself
2. Priority Setting
-> set your long-term career direction; You gotta have a long-term goal and constantly improve yourself by trying out and learning new things!
-> Set a role model and have a network of mentors around you(leaders/managers)

* Be oriented to consumers, listen to their voice/needs, Think like a consumer! 

[Movie Review] Bridget Jones S Diary & The Edge of Reason

The 3rd movie of Bridget Jones series, 'Bridget Jones and the Baby' was out recently.
I haven't got to watch the latest Bridget Jones movie,
but the new movie reminded me of the last 2 series that are 'Bridget Jones S Diary' & 'Bridget Jones  - The Edge of Reason. '

I watched the first movie when I was in my elementary school! Wow, time flows!
The first movie was out in 2001. When I watched the movie in my elementary school years, I wasn't impressed by the movie at all. Perhaps I was too young to understand the subtle exchange of feelings among the characters in the movie and the movie didn't leave any lessons for me.  Yet, when I watched the movie again yesterday, I became a big fan of Birdget and Mark Darcy.  I could finally understand why there are so many fans of Bridget Jones and why it became such a big hit!

Bridget is a single woman in her 30s who lives in London by herself. She is eager to meet her half. Hugh Grant is a boss Bridget meets in her publishing company and they end up being in a relationship. Hugh is handsome and funny and has a great voice. Bridget falls for him and believes that Hugh is her 'meant-to-be'. However, he turns out to be cheating on Bridget and they break up.

Mark comes along around then, telling Birdget that 'I like you very much, just the way you are.' No woman would not fall for that, right? Mark and Birdget used to play in Mark's pool naked when they were 8 and 4-year old, respectively. Daniel Cleaver(Hugh Grant) were cheating on Mark's wife and they got a divorce due to that. Bridget finally has the happy ending with Mark Darcy in the end.

These two movies made me laugh a lot. How bridget said, acted were all very hilarious and fun!
Now the third movie is out, and it's 15 years after the first movie, Renee Zellweger(Bridget Jones) is a lot older than when she was in her first Bridget Jones movie.

I'm looking forward to watching the new movie!

[MOVIE REVIEW] "500 Days of Summer"

The movie was out in 2009, so the movie's 6-year old now!
I've been wanting to watch the movie for a while now.
Today I had a half day off from work so I FINALLY watched the movie!

'500 Days of Summer' talks about a typical love between a man and a woman for 500 days.
Summer is an ordinary woman who just moved from Michigan to LA, and Summer meets Tom at work, another ordinary guy who happens to fall in love with Summer at first sight.

The movie shows a perspective of Tom throughout the movie. Maybe the the sequel in the perspective of Summer would be really interesting too! You've always gotta hear both sides of the story, right? I'm sure Summer would have things to say in her defense.

Tom seems like a good guy in the movie, while Summer's the bad one.
She suddenly tells Tom to break up with her without any understandable reasons.
Tom has hard time from the separation, believing that Summer is the one and only person for him.

The movie describes the 500 days of Tom being with Summer by going back and forth in time during the short relationship.
Summer doesn't want a "serious" relationship. They have casual sex and behave like a girlfriend and boyfriend to each other but Summer doesn't want to be called as "someone's something". So Tom keeps it that way. But he's confused, because he wants to be "Summer's boyfriend". However he never tells how he feels to Summer. He really should have done that - if he did, the ending of the story could have changed! While not telling Summer honestly about how he feels, he gets in fight with other guy who tries to buy Summer a drink at a pub and loses his temper to Summer sometimes.

I didn't hear what Summer had to say in the movie throughout the relationship, but if Tom was more upfront to Summer about his true feelings, things could have definitely changed. Tom never told Summer how much Summer meant to him, how eager he wanted to be Summer's special someone.

Summer never knew. She could only assume. If you only assume and think by yourself, your imagination can drive you to a whole different story-more likely a negative and inaccurate one. And so after all the imagination, Summer decides to end the relationship and finds another guy and gets married.

Tom finds a new girl at the job interview and Tom is gonna have another first day with another girl.

Two people nurtured from different environments for some 20 or 30 years are meant to have many differences. Maybe nobody is meant to be for each other. You have to constantly communicate to be a better fit for each other. In my opinion, 'communication' is the key. If you never tell and simply assume that another person will know, the other person will never know and you will lose the appropriate moment to talk about your true feelings. Your complaints toward another person would accumulate and you will become to think of ending the relationship. It's sometimes easier that way rather than enduring all the pain.

Every relationship's difficult, right?
'500 days of summer' is another love story that shows the natural phases of relationship.
The beginning of that rosy-colored glasses toward each other slowly turns into quarrels and fights.  All the relationships are gonna be the same if you do not learn or change how you communicate your true feelings in the relationship.

Let your special someone know how you truly feel! If they care, they will try to understand and make the necessary changes to be a better person for you. Then we will be able to see Summer and Tom living their happily ever after!