It was the start of a magical experience as we embarked on a journey of self-improvement at the MaGIC Symposium 2017. It has been years since I last visited Cyberjaya and sure enough there has been major changes.

Next up, the first Keynote of the day was presented by Tom Kelley, partner at IDEO, who talked about Creative Confidence and Entrepreneurship. He talked about the importance of developing confidence through creativity that is unique to each of us. Often times we may not think too highly of our own creativity, but if we look deep enough, we may as well find that unique creativity in us that will allow us to stand-out.

He also stressed for us to be creative in seeking solutions to problems which appear to be inherently impossible to solve. Trial and error is also an integral part of the creative process, we should always  test out our ideas in order to reduce the cost of failure and gain valuable insights.

Next up, the first Keynote of the day was presented by Tom Kelley, partner at IDEO, who talked about Creative Confidence and Entrepreneurship. He talked about the importance of developing confidence through creativity that is unique to each of us. Often times we may not think too highly of our own creativity, but if we look deep enough, we may as well find that unique creativity in us that will allow us to stand-out.

He also stressed for us to be creative in seeking solutions to problems which appear to be inherently impossible to solve. Trial and error is also an integral part of the creative process, we should always  test out our ideas in order to reduce the cost of failure and gain valuable insights.

The next session was a masterclass by Julia Youngs from Creative Startups who talked about Re-Thinking Innovation. She mentioned that innovation means different things to different people and that we should never understimate our own ideas. There are multiple ways to innovate, and this includes innovating on products and solutions, delivery methods, or in the business model itself.

Ideas are often generated based on our own desires, needs and identity. We need to find ways to turn our ideas into opportunities. Julia mentions that there is an opportunity where there is market demand, and if we are able to execute the necessary actions well to create the willingness of people to pay for the job done, then you have successfully created an opportunity through innovation.

There were two Fireside Chats, the first one titled Rise from the Ashes presented a line-up  speakers:

• Shafiu Hussain, Lead Product Designer, Mindvalley
• Elisha Tan, Founder, TechLadies
• Paul Jambunathan, Senior Lecturer, School of Med & Health, Monash University

The  chat was moderated by Tanuja Rajah.

The second Fireside Chat was titled Opportunity and Challenges for Startups in IOT with the following speakers:

• Amanjyot Johar, Principal, Investment Strategy, IDL Concepts
• Faisal Ariff, CEO at BorderPass
• Yeong Che Fai, Co-Founder, DF Automation & Robotics Sdn. Bhd.
• Syed Ahmad Fuqaha, CEO, Katsana

The chat was moderated by Ainsya Mydiana Ahmad Madzian, Manager, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation.

After the chats, we had a Master Class with Alletza Senn, Co-founder & CEO, Sparkline Pte. Ltd. On 10 Practical Ways to get started with Google Analytics.

She shared that you need not be an analyst in order to gather data on your web presence, and there are tools which allow you to do so without even logging into Google Analytics. A most useful session which will allow Seraph Studios to provide better services and more accurate analytics to our clients.