Inspiration for entrepreneurs at WIT*e

The first WIT*e of 2010, to be held on April 29, will serve up inspiration for entrepreneurs, romance for travellers, as well as practical advice on how to find a job using social media.

To be held at the Atrium Ballroom, Fairmont Singapore, from 6-9.30pm, the first WIT*e will feature entrepreneurs who will share lessons from their experiences starting up a business.

Martin Symes, CEO of Wego, Morris Sim, CEO and co-founder of Circos Brand Karma and Loh Lik Peng, owner of Hotel 1929 and New Majestic, will take part in a panel to be moderated by Yeoh Siew Hoon, editor and producer of WIT-Web In Travel.

Each of them will bring a different story. Martin joined Wego as CEO in March 2006, leaving behind a corporate career with brands as such British Airways, American Airlines and most recently, Zuji.

At Wego, he was responsible for fund-raising for the travel search portal which is now owned partly by Australia's News Corp. Outside of the travel industry, Martin has significant experience in the financial services sector having held various positions with HSBC, Merrill Lynch and Fidelity Investments.

Morris, a graduate of Stanford University, co-founded Circos Brand Karma in 2006 with two other partners after a career with Microsoft and Polo Ralph Lauren. Passionate about technology and marketing, he developed communities and social networks from 2002-2005 to improve Microsoft's brand perceptions and market share worldwide. Prior to that, he was chief technology officer of PoloRalphLauren.com, the first ecommerce site from a major design/retail shop.'

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Lik Peng gave up a legal career to become a hotel owner and operator. His first development was Hotel 1929 in 2003 which he developed into a 32 individually designed room-hotel decked in a mix of classic designer and retro vintage furniture. The hotel was awarded the "URA Architectural Heritage Award" in 2003.

Then he developed New Majestic, also in the same area as Hotel 1929, which has also won numerous awards for its design and architecture. Since then, he's expanded to Shanghai where he's developed The Waterhouse At South Bund and to London where he has two properties - 196, Bishopsgate and Town Hall Hotel & Apartments at Bethnal Green Town Hall. His hotels all feature a signature dining restaurant.

All three entrepreneurs are also part of the panel of advisors for the WIT*ovation Entrepreneur Bootcamp which will be held in conjunction with the WIT Conference later this October.

"We wanted to put entrepreneurship on the WIT menu because that was a strong theme that came through last year," said Yeoh Siew Hoon, editor and producer of WIT. "Asia needs more entrepreneurs and innovators to create new products, whether in the digital or physical space, to make our region a more interesting and diverse tourism destination.

"We hope the first WIT*e will inspire budding entrepreneurs who will then enter our WIT*ovation competition. A shortlist will then be selected by our panel and these candidates will get a chance to be personally mentored by our advisors on October 18 during the Bootcamp.

"Three finalists will then be chosen to pitch live at the Grand Final on October 19 during the first day of the WIT Conference."

Also on the first WIT*e menu will be a conversation with Lim Neo Chian, the former chief executive of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). After his retirement from the board, Neo Chian bought a 4 wheel-drive and decided to do "ASEAN On Wheels". With military precision, he planned his trip. And he faithfully kept a blog on his travels at http://aseanonwheels.blogspot.com/.

In this one-on-one interview with Siew Hoon, Neo Chian will share his adventures, and how that experience changed him and his impressions of travel.

Finally, the two words on everybody's lips, "social media", will also be talked about at WIT*e. The "Social Media & Finding A Job" panel will talk about how human resource practices have changed with these new social networks, how they can be used to find the right job and what are the pitfalls to watch out for with these new media.

To attend the first WIT*e, click here.

Note: Programme subject to change