What Is Mike Up To Now – July 26 – Aug 1, 2020
Can you believe we are almost into August. Well, it does feel like summer here in Shenyang – much hotter than I expected.
And yes, I am still here in China. Even with the Chinese embassy in Houston closing and the American embassy in Chengdu, I’m still planning to stick in China.
Why? Well, traveling right now isn’t the most idea. And to where, with who? Take the wife, kids, her parents, her aunts and uncles – to USA? To Thailand? Just doesn’t seem to make sense to move right now, and plan to just stick in China til the end of the year.
The grind – working with the team on content creation, website building – making it more of a system and formal thing we do (A lot of it was my “hobby” now being becoming more internalized in the Shadstone team systems).
GFAVIP membership, small but powerful group of people and our member call is this week which I look forward to.
For those who want to check out what I am working on – this is my weekly email to the Shadstone team
Week Plan Shadstone Limited July 26 – Aug 1, 2020
I am losing track of how many weekly plans we have done, think it is 5 years of this (remember which apartment I was living in at the time these started) I do hope they help you and the team.
We should have a team phone call sometime too – at least one with discussions for different departments. One is on the content strategy and marketing strategy for our investments. Will talk to that department in a slack channel, but if you want to do a department call, or even a 1 on 1 call, let me know. We used to do this more – but many of you are shy and enjoy the way we are working. Yet I do think it is helpful to have some “live” sessions to sync up – especially when new process are being put in place.
Basically, we are in our grind still – build out sites. Global From Asia was under heavy upgrade for a week and a half, and mid last week the final tweaks were made. To be honest, it may not be too much visual upgrades when you are browsing – but it is more about the 2 rows of headers on the site, and a lot of clean up on the site flow. More to come.
* (name removed) has been helping design landing pages for the business, corporate, and lifestyle pages. Also the setup, optimize and grow pages. The idea is these are pages where we can segment users and better serve them.
* (name removed) has been busy doing on-site SEO and tweaks to the various sites we have. I’m burying him in sites to fix, I gotta prioritize them.
* (name removed) has been getting in the flow of the content audits, and it is a part of the team we need for sure.
* Preparing for a GFAVIP member call this week, and members have been more interested lately, think it is due to the lockdowns and people getting bored and wanting to engage more with a community.
I think we are getting a good flow now and a great team. It is about just thinking of “continuous improvement” of the systems and communication. That is how I have to train my brain – when things do not go as planned, look at the process and the communication flow – that is what needs to be continually optimized, and that is a business.
Hope everyone is enjoying their work here, and as always if any problems – talk to me in work diary – or if preferred DM in Slack.
Why I’m Nervous As an American in China
For those curious – I get emails like this from the US Consilate in China
Reminder: Security Alert – Heightened Risk of Arbitrary Detention
Location: People’s Republic of China
Event: Exercise increased caution in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws for purposes other than maintaining law and order. This arbitrary enforcement may include detention and the use of exit bans.
U.S. citizens may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime. U.S. citizens may be subjected to prolonged interrogations and extended detention for reasons related to “state security.” Security personnel may detain and/or deport U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the PRC government.
If you are arrested or detained, ask police or prison officials to notify the U.S. Embassy or the nearest consulate immediately. See the contact information for the Embassy and Consulates below for further information.
You are encouraged to visit travel.state.gov to view individual Travel Advisories for the most urgent threats to safety and security. Please also visit the website of the relevant U.S. embassy or consulate to see information on entry restrictions, foreign quarantine policies, and urgent health information provided by local governments.
Travelers are urged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency. The Department uses these Alerts to convey information about terrorist threats, security incidents, planned demonstrations, natural disasters, etc. For emergency assistance, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate or call the following numbers: 1(888) 407-4747 (toll-free in the United States and Canada) or 1 (202) 501-4444 from other countries or jurisdictions.
Assistance:
U.S. Embassy Beijing, China
Telephone: +(86)(10) 8531-4000
Emergency After-Hours Telephone: +(86)(10) 8531-4000
Email: BeijingACS@state.gov
Website: china.usembassy-china.org.cn/embassy-consulates/beijing/
U.S. Consulate General Chengdu, China
Telephone: +(86)(10) 8531-4000
Emergency After-Hours Telephone: +(86)(10) 8531-4000
Email: BeijingACS@state.gov
Website: china.usembassy-china.org.cn
(gotta remove that one – it is closed now!)
U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou, China
Telephone: +(86)(20) 3814-5775
Emergency After-Hours Telephone: +(86)(10) 8531-4000
Email: GuangzhouACS@state.gov
Website: china.usembassy-china.org.cn/embassy-consulates/guangzhou/
U.S. Consulate General Shanghai, China
Telephone: +(86)(21) 8011-2400
Emergency After-Hours Telephone: +(86)(10) 8531-4000
Email: ShanghaiACS@state.gov
Website: china.usembassy-china.org.cn/embassy-consulates/shanghai/
U.S. Consulate General Shenyang, China
Telephone: +(86)(24) 2322-1198
Emergency After-Hours Telephone: +(86)(24) 2322-1198
Email: ShenyangACS@state.gov
Website: china.usembassy-china.org.cn/embassy-consulates/shenyang/