The Payoneer Forum Dhaka, January 2015: Event Recap
At the first official Payoneer forum back in November 2014, I promised that it was the start of many official Payoneer events in Bangladesh. Happily I was able to keep my promise…even quicker than expected. As Payoneer’s Brand Ambassador in Bangladesh, I had the pleasure of organizing the 2nd official Payoneer Forum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on January 8, 2015. One of the most exciting parts of this forum event, was the surprise appearance of Payoneer CEO, Scott Galit. His presence created a real buzz in Bangladesh and the excitement of event attendees was clear as day.
We received both positive and negative feedback on our last Payoneer forum, and we took the comments to heart in order to produce an even better event this time around. Despite a shaky political situation in the days leading up to the event, we had over 350 freelancers in attendance. It was truly an amazing day for networking. If you missed the event, below is a full event recap. I hope to see you at the next Payoneer Forum in Bangladesh!
Registration
Our scheduled registration and welcome time was 4:00 pm, but people were so excited to hear the lineup of speakers that people arrived as early as 3:20 pm!
We greeted attendees with some surprise gifts- a Payoneer branded Polo T-shirt, Payoneer branded pens, lanyard (which can be used as Payoneer Card Holder as well), A4 paper folder along with event agenda and a few sheets of A4 pads to take notes. Despite all the excitement around the Payoneer goodies, the most treasured part of the gift package was the welcome note from CEO, Scott Galit, in our own language (Bengali).
Opening Remarks
I welcomed everyone to the 2nd official Payoneer event, and introduced Patrick, Head of Asia Pacific at Payoneer as well as CEO Scott Galit to the crowd. Scott greeted everyone with Salam (a welcomed surprise) and gave his sincere thanks to everyone for attending. Below is a short recap of each speaker:
Session 1: Strategies for Online Marketing and Building your Online Presence
Asif Anwar Pathik is a veteran online professional, worldwide renowned Marketing Consultant, Digital Strategist for iVive Labs, Former National Consultant for project A2i and also Co-Founder of Bangladesh Internet Marketing Professionals Association (BIMPA). We were truly honored to have him speak about this online marketing, branding, and blogging as well as various marketing strategies and implementation techniques.
Session 2: Personal Success Story
Creative IT is a leading & reputable IT institute in Bangladesh, and Founder & Managing Director, Mr. Monir Hosen was invited to share his secret for making a name for his company.
Mr. Hosen shared his family’s background, and 3 life-changing messages from his father. The one that stuck with him most was “Do not think about negative feedback, just focus on your business.” By following his father’s words, he started his own company back in 2008. He faced losses at the start but kept the business afloat from his own pocket. After 6 months, the company became profitable and after a complete revamp of his institute back at 2009, he finally started to see his business dreams come true.
At present, he owns 6 companies, and says that his “secret sauce” for success is simply hard work, dedication and ability to keep going, no matter what.
Session 3: The journey of Success and payoneer’s Benefit for Freelancers
As the Payoneer Forum’s 3rd presenter, I shared my journey from the start of my online career, when I began working as a freelancer on oDesk and completed my first job for only $16 – just to gain client trust. I now make a full-time living doing online marketing. I discussed my path to success, the difficulties and challenges I faced and how Payoneer helped me to overcome those challenges to build a successful business. One of my biggest tips for upcoming freelancers is to manage your time effectively. Stay tuned to my Facebook page more tips and tricks.
Session 4: How to Be a Freelance Marketplace Rock Star
Only a true Rock Star can teach others how to be a Rock Star. Mr. Sharif Muhammed Shahjahan, Elance rockstar and owner of Ideal Computers & Digital Studio, which has over 4000 hours logged, 560+ jobs completed, a 5 star rating, 99% recommendation rate, and holds the number 1 graphic design slot on Elance. Mr Shahjahan shared valuable advice for new freelancers- “They should be honest, confident, hardworking and polite. Slow and steady wins the race.”
Session 5: Freelancing with Payoneer – My Experience
We invited one of the top Refer a Friend partners, active Payoneer user, freelancer and founder of Prime IT, Mr. Nuruddin Himel, to share his freelancing experience with Payoneer. He began working online back in 2007 as a freelancer and signed up for Payoneer in 2008. He started to outsource work (using Payoneer as his payment solution) in 2011 and started his own business in 2014. Payoneer helped him to build a business and now via the Refer a Friend program, Mr. Himel is earning handsome rewards by referring fellow freelancers and students to Payoneer.
Session 6: Payoneer Presentation – Global Payment Solutions
Scott Galit, CEO at Payoneer, introduced Payoneer’s current position in the Bangladeshi and global market. He discussed the Payoneer account flow, US/EUR Payment Service and the Withdraw to Local Bank Service. He also spoke about Payoneer’s recent partnership with Bank Asia, offering faster local bank transfers at better rates.
Question & Answer Session
We hosted a Q&A session where Forum attendees could engage with Mr. Scott Galit, Mr. Patrick de Courcy, Mr. Asif Anwar and Mr. Monir Hosen. The audience asked great questions of our guests with truly informative answers provided by our panel of guests.
Raffle and Closing Remarks
One lucky winner received a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8.1 16GB Cellular Gold. Congratulations on the new phone!
Dinner and Networking
After the raffle, Mr. Galit and Mr. de Courcy said goodbye to our audience attendees were left to enjoy the 5 star Buffet Dinner and networking capabilities.
We had few problems due to overcrowding on our first event but the second one was a true blast. I enjoyed myself a lot, and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. If you missed this event – stayed tuned for future events in Bangladesh!
We want to send a special thanks to team of people who worked hard to make this event happen. I would like to personally let my team know, you guys are awesome, and thanks a lot for all your hard work!
