Corporate Love

My last full day in China dawned bright, blue and, well, really cold. After a final staff lunch at a dumpling restaurant, where Guo Xin videoed us reciting a poem for her upcoming wedding celebration (written by Zhao Min where we each took turns reading a line), I spent the rest of the afternoon at the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) forum. It was a big televised event held at a hotel famed for hosting important international VIPs such as our very own former President Bush Sr. It was quite a production with dancers, lights, cameras, media a-plenty, government ministers, a representative from UNDP and a slew of corporate leaders accepting awards for their demonstration of CSR.

I had been unsure whether I really wanted to attend, but having little choice, was glad they provided those little headphones which relay simultaneous translation. Even then, it was hard to follow what was being said. And sometimes you had to wonder at the choice of words. Several corporate representatives talked about the "love" they were giving, feeling, sharing with the community. Okay, perhaps, but...it seems a stretch. Another interesting experience was, being one of maybe three foreigners at the event, it felt rather odd having the camera on the boom sweep down and stare me squarely in the face - and lo' and behold, my face flashed up on the screen behind the speaker. It's really hard to hold an interested face AND not look at the camera while it hangs there like a giant eye watching you. I really feel for celebrities attending awards shows...not really, but it did cross my mind.

I was attending the forum because MC works with corporations to implement their CSR strategies helping them work/volunteer with local NGOs - such as Dandelion School. Our office figured it would be good to have a presence at the event. However, after 2 1/2 hours of speeches, videos and awards, I took off. It was interesting though hearing speaker after speaker say the same things about working towards worker safety, worker's rights, following labor laws, not using child labor, incorporating green production methods etc. Many protections that the west frequently takes for granted but are now becoming the buzz for this country.