[Post migrated from LiveJournal]
pleased
the world is getting smaller and smaller!
yesterday afternoon, having heard that I would be the buddy for a new starter in my company, I headed into the city a bit earlier (4:30). I already had the intention of dropping by the office because of a User Group Meeting for the ABAA. ABAA (no don’t think ABBA the music group) stands for the Australian Business Analyst Association. I am becoming a member, courtesy of my company’s sponsorship.
Story 1 – Buddy Program
A new guy, WT, just started yesterday with my company TF. He was asked to start earlier than expected, which was why, my assignment as his buddy was also a little unexpected. Was it a coincidence that I just felt the urge (after a long time) to log into the company online intranet to update my contact list? And that, in scanning the list I just happened to see my name listed against this new guy as his buddy? Somehow, I suspect God’ hand was at work! To clarify – this was BEFORE I was informed that I would be a buddy. But then, later that morning, I got an email explaining my role as a buddy…
Anyway – I met up with WT. Not stereotypically Asian in character. With a Singaporean background, he does represent that group of Asian-Westerner… with the rich Asian heritage but Westerner upbringing. I’m pretty sure I made a good impression. We had a coffee over at Starbucks – which helped me realise that I prefer GJ’s over Starbucks any day! (Starting to digress…) While I didn’t explicitly ask, I suspect WT is a few year’s older than me, this is based on the fact that as a Singaporean, he would have done 2-3 years of National Service, before getting his 5 years of experience. WT kinda reminds me of CP (for the obvious Singaporean/NS background) and AT from TF (ok… besides the same surname, they both have the same mix of Asian-Westerness about them)
Which leads me into Story 2…
Story 2 – ABAA User Group Meeting
The ABAA periodically organises meetings for interested parties. Obviously, anyone working as a BA would be interested. Last night’s session was a presentation/discussion on Business Analysts – what we do, the job market, contracting vs permanent, etc… I found a lot of the content relevant and interesting. The presenter was a recruiter from Michael Page International. He was engaging and made the whole evening quite enjoyable. Great audience participation and a Q&A culture was fostered.
On either side of this presentation was the general ‘networking’ time. y’know, you mingle, talk to people, grab food, etc… I took the opportunity to catch up with 3 of my TF colleagues – AT, CR & DH. But THE story of the night is this other person – SL – I met. See, last night’s ABAA event was organised by a BA working at ANZ. So, there were quite a few ANZ staff present – some members, others just interested parties. This ANZ person – she looked really really familiar… We established before the prsentation that our paths must’ve crossed previously, but neither of us could pinpoint it.
After the presentation, I took the chance: “Did you study at Monash?”
SL: “Yeah… Business Systems!”
Me: “Aaahhhh….. which year did u finish?”
SL: 2002
Me: What? I finished 2002! How come we’ve never met!
[Conversation then goes thru this “Who do you know? Do you know…?”]
To cut the story short – we both know CN (who also works at ANZ) and then there is this other person that also sounds really familiar – CL…
We swapped business cards and given the links – it is highly likely that our paths will cross again.
Story 3 – Me and meeting ex-TF staff
The final story continues a strange habit that I am growing accustom to… See, since I joined TF (now some 9 months ago…) I made a whole lot of new friends. Some of them have since moved on. This “habit” applies specifically to SV, CK and now BB.
SV left in Dec 2005. CK left in Jan 2006. And most recently, BB left in March/April 2006. Now, since I went out to ANL for my current work engagement, I have (including last night) met all three!
With SV, we met on the tram ride – ‘cos he is also working out on St Kilda Rd… I was at lunch with a ANL colleague – at our regular $5 Chinese cafe when CK just walked in off the street.. turns out that he is working in the area…
And now – BB – last night. Having left the ABAA meeting, I was walking and talking with SL. We parted ways and I made my way to the Flinders St Station. I picked the Alamein train that was going direct to Richmond (then change trains for the Pakenham line > destination Malvern). I hopped in the first carriage and when picking a seat, saw BB!
Sooo… now I need to pass a message of “Hi” to my TF colleagues!
End of my stories… at least these events cheered up my otherwise depressing day… stupid Italian penalty goal… =(
