Beijing Bunker: "Everything Offline Also Has an Online Version"
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If there's one thing that makes quarantine easier, it's the Internet. Staying connected in times such as these is made possible by our friends in the tech world, a field which itself feeds on the interaction between entrepreneurs, inventors, and coding wizards. Once held in bars and tech havens around the city, most of these networking events are going cyber. Nina Rong is a prominent member of the tech networking world, but she is also no stranger to the work-from-home lifestyle. We talked with her about how she and others in the industry are handling the outbreak.Can you first tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
I was born in China and moved to Canada when I was 14. I came back to Beijing two years ago to be closer to my family and also develop a career in the fast-moving China market. I am now a Market Growth Lead at Toasty, software designed to make offline networking fun and engaging. I am also the community manager at Ladies Who Tech-Beijing, an organization that promotes gender diversity in the STEM industry.I have been working remotely for almost half a year now.
Would you consider yourself safe, sane, safe and sane, or other? Why?
I think I am safe because I see the number of infected people drop every day. I rarely leave home because I am a remote worker, so the outbreak hasn't changed too much of my life. I started working out at home rather than going to the gym. Because I am staying with my grandparents, I definitely have better food than when I was living alone.
Has the virus disrupted your travel plans or those of your loved ones?
I was supposed to go on a business trip to Hong Kong right after the Chinese New Year. My mother was supposed to go back to Canada after the Chinese New Year. We are both "stuck" at my grandparents' place due to the outbreak, but at the same time, we enjoyed the prolonged family time.
One of the benefits of being stuck with your grandparents: much better food
Has the situation affected your work or business? If so, how?
The outbreak has greatly affected my company's business because our technology focuses on making networking easier at offline events. Now all the events across China, or even in the entire Asia Pacific, we have to explore other markets.
In times like this, I realize everything offline also has an online version. At Ladies Who Tech, we transferred offline STEM Drink Night to Cloud STEM Drink Night, which is a photo contest that showcases drink and favorite female scientists. At Toasty, we found a way to make our networking tech/game work along with Zoom.
Besides running online events, content became the main force to bring the community together. The outbreak is something everyone talks and cares about nowadays, from how the outbreak affects GDP to where to buy masks. Providing insightful and outbreak-related content became a way for us to provide value to our community members in a time where face-to-face interaction is impractical.
Have there been any unexpected “upsides” to this whole situation?
I have the chance to spend more than a month with my grandparents and my mother. This is a rare opportunity as they live in Sichuan and I live in Beijing. I haven't spent so much time with them for five or six years.
Which resources (online or real-life) have proved the most useful to you during this time?
I use the KEEP fitness app to work out at home. This is the only form of exercise I get these days.
What's one thing that you've done that has saved you a lot of hassle/time/insanity?
Keeping a regulated sleep schedule is important to my sanity. If I were to sleep and wake up whenever I wanted, I would be depressed.
What do you most look forward to doing once all of this has blown over?
As a remote worker, my main source of social interactions is from offline networking events. As a community builder who is using technology to bring people together offline, I miss the face-to-face interactions. Though there is WeChat and Zoom, we still feel more connected in person rather than online.
READ: Beijing Bunker: Pregnant in China at the Time of Coronavirus
Images courtesy of Nina Rong
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