July 2017

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Above photo: Mark Plungy, in one of his more celebratory moods during his days at Hoffman. 20 years? Can it really be 20 years since The Hoffman Agency opened its first office in Singapore? It seems like just yesterday that Lou was announcing to the Agency his vision for how one [...]

October 2016

Reflections on My Time at Hoffman

Walau eh, we have known each other that long ah? Gila! (Translation: Holy Cow, we have known each other that long? Crazy!) Yes, as you may have guessed, I used to live in Singapore. Yes, I have been known to hang out with only Chinese, Malays and Indians, not with Ang [...]

My Nine-year Trek with Hoffman Singapore

What does it say about an employer when an employee spends the bulk of her working years with the company? I’m sure you’d agree with me that it speaks volumes. Volumes of the people, culture and management of that company — The Hoffman Agency. In this day and age of short [...]

A Ticket to Hong Kong with a Side of Waffles

After two plus years with The Hoffman Agency, as a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed AE, I found myself sitting across from Lou at a classic American diner early in the morning. Eating waffles and talking PR. Lou’s surprise proposal? To take part in Hoffman’s Building Bridges program. Leave for Hong Kong [...]

July 2016

The Phrase that Often Wrecked the “Mood” During Press Interviews in Asia

Back in the early days of Hoffman Asia Pacific, U.S. clients asked us to provide tour support for their executives visiting Singapore. They wanted us to set up meetings with media and local leadership, create schedules and provide chauffeur service. Eventually, we responded to those requests this way: “Hold on, you [...]

June 2016

Asia Pacific Reunion in Silicon Valley

Maureen Tseng’s visit to Silicon Valley late last year — Mo was AP employee No. 1 joining the Agency in early 1997 — was cause for an impromptu reunion. Mo’s sister and brother-in-law, who also happen to be the parents of one of our account managers in Hoffman’s Silicon Valley office, Lauren [...]

Putting the “Man” in Hoffman

Congrats to Lou and The Hoffman Agency team in Asia Pacific on your 20th anniversary. It’s a good age to be in, I reckon – old enough to show staying power, but still have the swagger of youth. Being 20 is when you feel invincible and you know that there’s still [...]

May 2016

My Introduction to Asia Pacific PR 101

I had barely unpacked in Singapore in 1996 when I heard from our client HP. The company was hosting a major customer/media conference in a luxury resort on Phuket Island, Thailand, and my presence as media contact was requested. Hoffman Asia Pacific was barely hatched at that point, but that’s why we were there.

April 2016

“You Sir, You Have 30 Days to Prove You’re an Exec of a U.S. Company With a License.”

The first few months of my work in Singapore in 1996 were complicated because I had to leave the country every 60 days to have my passport re-stamped as a visitor. In addition to a few out-of-country business trips, and one trip home, that meant a couple of one-night sojourns on [...]

It’s all about the PEOPLE at Hoffman

My time at The Hoffman Agency was regretfully short-lived, but so full — impactFUL and meaningFUL, that is. It represented a turning point in my career — from meeting the most amazing people and picking up important lessons in leadership, to learning the true art of storytelling. I joined the Singapore [...]