a seminar on procurement (warning: this is boring)
so today marks the end of a two-day seminar we are co-hosting with the government's procurement policy board. and surprisingly, i am EXHAUSTED. i'm a little taken aback to find myself tired because though my workload is heavy, there are many days when i don't find myself that tired.
the seminar was great. admittedly, on the planning side (that's me and the office team i belong to), we didn't deliver as optimally as we could but there's nothing to be done about that now. our boss pointed out our shortcoming on that score - in the part that was the most important - the invitation of participants.
i understood the correction immediately from the onset but felt the disappointment keenly at the close of the event. the subject matter was super weighty, important and so necessary for government and the country that i felt it wasn't something to be taken carefree-ly. the seminar was something that people who cared deserved to have. and not just people who cared, but people who were actually doing something on the ground.
one of the things that made the seminar great was the resource speakers. from the resource speakers of the seminar alone, you could say it was a gold mine. these were people who were great minds (my boss, for one), highly-educated and expert in their fields (attorneys with track records to boot), and passionate about what they do (why else would anyone be in government?).
i think talking about government procurement would normally put any person to sleep but, the thing is, the laws we're making on procurement are transforming the way we're doing things, especially corruption-wise, and we are, at this very moment, trailblazing meaningful paths and creating these venues and niches that make grassroots participation a more involved thing in procurement. i think others would laugh and call me a nerd but i think it's exciting.
and, from what i've seen, i think somewhere along this line, someone or some people are going to have what i'll call the "Barack Obama moment". i'm talking about that time when B. O. won a second term for the presidency and he took this opportunity to face his campaign staff and volunteers and he thanked them for all the work they'd put in. he said that looking at it all and what they had accomplished had made him feel that what he was doing was important. contextually, what he meant was that all the support he was getting had affirmed for him that the values, reforms and policies in government that he was pursuing and standing for was important.
you only get a moment like that, though, when things go right. when the right outputs lead to the right outcomes. hopefully, maybe, just possibly, the people who are working on this, reforms in procurement, could get that moment.
caveat though - that's a big IF right now. so anyway, back to the REAL TOPIC - honestly, i'm tired. but come to think of it, i'm not so tired now after all. i think it's because i'm sitting here, letting all this sink in, and i realize i am so blessed to be right where i am right now. thank you, Lord. :)
8.12.2015, 9PM
the seminar was great. admittedly, on the planning side (that's me and the office team i belong to), we didn't deliver as optimally as we could but there's nothing to be done about that now. our boss pointed out our shortcoming on that score - in the part that was the most important - the invitation of participants.
i understood the correction immediately from the onset but felt the disappointment keenly at the close of the event. the subject matter was super weighty, important and so necessary for government and the country that i felt it wasn't something to be taken carefree-ly. the seminar was something that people who cared deserved to have. and not just people who cared, but people who were actually doing something on the ground.
one of the things that made the seminar great was the resource speakers. from the resource speakers of the seminar alone, you could say it was a gold mine. these were people who were great minds (my boss, for one), highly-educated and expert in their fields (attorneys with track records to boot), and passionate about what they do (why else would anyone be in government?).
i think talking about government procurement would normally put any person to sleep but, the thing is, the laws we're making on procurement are transforming the way we're doing things, especially corruption-wise, and we are, at this very moment, trailblazing meaningful paths and creating these venues and niches that make grassroots participation a more involved thing in procurement. i think others would laugh and call me a nerd but i think it's exciting.
and, from what i've seen, i think somewhere along this line, someone or some people are going to have what i'll call the "Barack Obama moment". i'm talking about that time when B. O. won a second term for the presidency and he took this opportunity to face his campaign staff and volunteers and he thanked them for all the work they'd put in. he said that looking at it all and what they had accomplished had made him feel that what he was doing was important. contextually, what he meant was that all the support he was getting had affirmed for him that the values, reforms and policies in government that he was pursuing and standing for was important.
you only get a moment like that, though, when things go right. when the right outputs lead to the right outcomes. hopefully, maybe, just possibly, the people who are working on this, reforms in procurement, could get that moment.
caveat though - that's a big IF right now. so anyway, back to the REAL TOPIC - honestly, i'm tired. but come to think of it, i'm not so tired now after all. i think it's because i'm sitting here, letting all this sink in, and i realize i am so blessed to be right where i am right now. thank you, Lord. :)
8.12.2015, 9PM
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