Too Polite

The 3rd Annual Corporate Communications and Media Relations Summit in Shanghai didn’t attract more than 40 people. The numbers were purposely kept low to encourage discussion and make the participants feel as though they were integral to the event.

The design of the agenda was entirely contradictory. Although there were many more Chinese than foreigners only the foreigners presented. This could have been partially excused if the presentations delivered a lot of value and were well prepared, but in fact they were mediocre at best. Even more concerning was that from the questions they asked it was clear that the members of the audience were just as knowledgeable as the presenters if not more so.

I am sure that such a scenario would have been unacceptable if it took place anywhere else in the world: An audience of natives listening to foreigners doing a poor job of explaining their own market conditions to them.

A much better approach, I thought was that taken by the mobile Monday program where the foreigners presented in English and the Chinese presented in Chinese. The audience it was assumed could make do in either language and if they couldn’t then they shouldn’t be there.

Following one of the presentations a member of the audience noted how amazing it was for a foreigner to have such comprehensive knowledge of Chinese government policies. It seemed like such a ridiculous statement given that the presenter had been living in China for quite a number of years and his job depended on acquiring this kind of knowledge. Thinking about it later though I wondered whether or not this was more an issue of politeness, of making the foreign person feel as though he had accomplished something rather than a serious expression of amazement at the foreigner’s ability.

Seen in this context it is possible that the whole incongruous arrangement of foreign presenters and Chinese audience could be understood as a sign of politeness or respect from the Chinese audience who were trying to make the foreigners feel as if they were experts and possessed great insights. If so, then their efforts were entirely misplaced.