How to successfully tap and unlock social networks

In 2010, I was the Project Manager tasked to deliver the Asian edition of the Shell Eco-marathon, a sustainable mobility challenge targeting university students.

I. Challenge

I was responsible for the recruitment, delivery and budget for this inaugural event that was held in Kuala Lumpur in July 2010 working closely with both my local team as well as my regional colleagues. This was a unique challenge as it involved working with teams from across different functions, organisations and cultures to start up an event from the ground up.

II. Outcome

The event was a huge success attracting 81 teams from 10 Asian countries and over 1,500 students, Shell volunteers, stakeholders and media.

III. Solution – tapping social networks both offline and online

One of the key challenges we faced was recruiting university teams to take part. Participation in a new event required financial support from university as well as commitment from both faculty and students to build a vehicle from scratch.  The solution was a two step approach that involved tapping into social networks both offline and online.

1. Offline – we worked through our colleague throughout Asia to meet with faculty and students from the top Mechanical Engineering Departments to share what this competition could do for them. This face to face engagement helped us reach key decision makers in the university hierarchy to get their support to fund their student teams.
2. Online – we also reached out through social media. This enabled us to reach the students via their peers for this niche event that targeted a select group (mechanical engineering students) in universities across Asia. Facebook offered us an efficient and effective means to make this happen. Although this was new for Shell in 2010 but we managed to push ahead as we knew this would be the way to go. I must credit my colleague, Colin Chin who didn’t take no for an answer and pushed ahead with this plan. He provided his expert technical support and advice to help the teams get started.

The results were astounding, huge interest was generated among engineering students across Asia using a dedicated SEM Asia Facebook group that attracted over 1,000 members the first year.

The page currently has over 6,000 members and growing…

The event was delivered successfully within budget and with no major safety incidents.

The following year, SEM Asia 2011 saw an increase of 17% of teams (95 teams) and an additional 4 new countries participating. The event has since taken root in the region as the premiere sustainable mobility competition among universities and attracts over a hundred teams yearly.

All this would not be possible without the passion, energy and great team work provided by the the SEM Asia core team made up of my Shell colleagues in Malaysia and throughout Asia as well as our event management team, Evoke Communications. And of course each and every one of those enthusiastic student teams from across Asia who decided to take up the challenge.