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www.travelweekly-asia.com | 3 Siew Hoon is a traveller who loves to write and a writer who loves to travel. She's combined her two loves into a career in travel journalism that has seen her launch several travel industry titles and conferences, including WIT. She loves the change and discovery that comes with travel and the business. Published by NORTHSTAR TRAVEL MEDIA SINGAPORE PTE LTD SINGAPORE 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652 • TEL: +65-6801-0450 FAX: +65-6801-0469 BEIJING Room 024, Building 8, Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound, No.9 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang District 100600, China • TEL: +8610-8532 3611 | FAX: +8610-8532 5293 SHANGHAI Room 2553, The Headquarters Building, No.168 Central XiZhang Road, Shanghai 200001, China • TEL: +8621-5179 8360 | FAX: +8621-5179 8360 Travel Weekly Asia is published on a monthly basis by Northstar Travel Media Singapore Pte Ltd. Located at 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652. All rights reserved. Volume 7 Issue 7 Please address all subscription mail to the above address, Fax +852 3020 5794, or email travelweeklyasia@asia-ad.net. Online Subscription: www.travelweekly-asia.com/subscribe For reprints or copyright permission contact Wright's media at +877 652 5295 ext 102 or niademarco@wrightsmedia.com http://wrightsmedia.com/reprints/contact.cfm?magrid=3500 Printed by TIMES PRINTERS PRIVATE LIMITED (LOO7/08/2015) Travel Weekly Asia is BPA audited, with 11,100 print circulation and 19,815 eNewsletter circulation as of Dec 31 2015. Around the world, BPA is the preferred third-party auditor for advertiser-supported business publications (including print and digital editions). BPA verifies paid, controlled, or any combination of paid and controlled circulation, and reports the data in a single Brand Report. Founded in 1931 BPA Worldwide is an independent, not-for-profit, self-regulating organization governed by a tripartite Board. NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP (ASIA) GROUP PUBLISHER Irene Chua Tel: (65) 6801 0451 | ichua@travelweekly.com EDITORIAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Yeoh Siew Hoon Tel: (65) 6801 0450 | syeoh@ntmllc.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Esther Faith Lew Tel: (65) 6801 0457 | esther.lew@ntmllc.com EDITOR-AT-LARGE Ian Jarrett Tel: (618) 9433 6455 | ian.jarrett@travelweekly.com SUB EDITOR Vera Lye | veralye@gmail.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Lee Xin Hui Tel: (65) 6801 0453 | xinhui.lee@ntmllc.com WRITER Danielle Yong | danielle.yong@ntmllc.com WRITER Corinne Wan Tel: (603) 2201 1979 | corinne.wan@travelweekly.com HONG KONG CORRESPONDENT Catharine Nicol | cn@monsterpix.hk ART DIRECTOR Lim Bee Bee Tel: (65) 9750 8405 | bb.bbcreative@gmail.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Suki Chong | suki.bbcreative@gmail.com SALES & MARKETING REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Ng Whey Whey Tel: (65) 6801 0460 | whey.ng@ntmllc.com REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Kevin Ng Tel: (65) 6801 0459 | kevin.ng@ntmllc.com MARKETING EXECUTIVE Rachelle Lee Tel: (65) 6801 0458 | rachelle.lee@ntmllc.com AD TRAFFIC AND PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Rena Koh Tel: (65) 6801 0455 | rena.koh@ntmllc.com IT & DIGITAL IT & DIGITAL OPERATIONS Ron Wee Tel: (65) 6801 0456 | ron.wee@ntmllc.com CHINA OFFICE GROUP PUBLISHER (China) Rebecca Zhang Tel: (8621) 5179 8363 | rebecca.zhang@ntmllc.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Shawn Li Tel: (8610) 8532 4021 | shawn.li@travelweekly.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Roger Wang Tel: (8621) 5179 8360 | roger.wang@travelweekly.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Susan Li Tel: (8610) 8532 3611 | susan.li@travelweekly.com MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES HONG KONG/MACAU ZAM International - Manna Ma Tel: (852) 9650 0518 | manna.ma@zamintl.com.hk KOREA Young Media Inc - Keon Chang Tel: (822) 2273 4833 | ymedia@chol.com INDIA MHI Communications - Smriti Khanna Tel: (9198) 1040 7483 | skhanna@mhi.com.hk AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR - ASIA Patti Mo | patti.mo@travelweekly.com DATABASE & FULFILLMENT MANAGER Zoe Chu | zoe.chu@travelweekly.com FINANCE ASIA FINANCE MANAGER Julia Tham | julia.tham@ntmllc.com NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Thomas L. Kemp CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Lisa Cohen PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL MEDIA Thomas Cintorino EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GROUP PUBLISHER David Blansfield SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lori Cioffi SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Arnie Weissmann SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Janine L. Bavoso VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING SOLUTIONS Michelle Rosenberg VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION Roberta Muller VICE PRESIDENT, CONTENT LICENSING Sheila Rice VICE PRESIDENT, IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS Rich Mastropietro VICE PRESIDENT, DATABASE PRODUCTS Elizabeth Koesser TRAVEL WEEKLY EVENTS PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS, TRAVEL GROUP Alicia Evanko-Lewis Even though it was just 8am, the canteen at Facebook's Singapore office was packed with employees having breakfast. I was surprised – I had this idea that kids working at these new tech companies were not early risers and preferred working late at night. "Hey, maybe they never left," jested the colleague, my breakfast host. He could be right. After all, the offices of these new tech companies are so impressive, who would ever want to leave to go home especially when you live in cities like Singapore and Hong Kong where your flat is tiny or you still live with your parents? Companies like Facebook, Google, Airbnb, Expedia and Booking.com spend millions of dollars on creating workplaces that blur the lines between work, play and life and they do so clearly to attract and retain talent, but I suspect also to make work so fun you never want to leave. "This thing called work-life balance, you find it within these four walls," laughed my friend as we were taken on a tour of the Facebook office. The breakfast is as big a buffet spread as at any five-star hotel. There are Western, Chinese and Indian choices. They run chef competitions and the supremo running the kitchen is a celebrity chef. Occasionally, they have visiting chefs – just like in a hotel. Throughout the workplace, there are conversation pieces, art works and sayings on the walls. There's a vending machine where you can pick up any gadget you need that day free of charge. There's a corner where you can have an Instagrammable moment with a couple of cutouts. Everything is deliberately kept raw in keeping with Generation Z's "living life in beta" mantra. I understand the ceiling had to be stripped at a huge cost so that the pipes, vents and stuff underneath would be exposed. There's a treadmill room with a view and an LED display wall that shows Facebook interactions around the world. This new generation of workers want to do more than work in an office – they want to belong to a community. It's almost cult-like. Today, numerous co-working spaces, which try to emulate these environments, are popping up all over the world to cater to these new workers – they exude a vibrancy and energy that encourages creativity. At the Travelport Live conference in Macau recently, Andrew Grant, author of "Who Killed Creativity", talked about the factors that suck creativity out of the workplace. One factor is pessimism and negativity in the staff canteen. "Google makes a nice canteen, they create a place where people can meet, connect and bang into each other," said Grant. Another big killer is pressure, he said. He cited a statistic that said addiction to email can lower your IQ twice as much as smoking marijuana. "It takes 25 minutes to get into the creative flow and yet we spend our time multi-tasking. When you do that, all creative ideas shut down." Other factors that kill creativity in the workplace – fear, insulation and narrow-mindedness. "Our newsfeed algorithms send us information we already want to hear. We are getting narrowed down. We are creating a safe place where like- minded folks can hear things they can already agree with, rather than look for diverse opinions." So if you want your talent to be creative, serve good coffee, have a pantry stocked with goodies, and make it so fun they never want to leave. GOOD FOOD GUIDE TO CREATIVITY TALKING POINT

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