My colleague introduced me to the lady who was wearing a black business suit. “I would like to introduce you to Fatima.” I smiled and held out my hand to shake.
She smiled back and she took it. And we shook hands like men. “I am Fatima Freire.”
My colleague explained further, “She is our contact in Macau. Her company has direct contacts with all the Casinos in Macau. She and her team are the ones to know when it comes to the Gaming industry.”
I reached into my suit pocket, pulled out my business card hold and extracted one. I held it out for her to take in a traditional Chinese pattern – holding it out for her to take – holding the edges.
She took it in the traditional Chinese way and studied it for a second or two although she didn’t look traditional Chinese. She looked more European. “You have a Chinese name?” And she laughed.
“Yeah, I got the name in Taipei while working at a customer site.”
She laughed out loud again. “Dragon? Really? Your last name is Dragon?”
“Yeah,” I beamed back at her. “It was a joke. They named me after Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.”
We stared at each other for a second two – and the boardroom went silent watching us. Finally she broke the silence. “Should we get started?”
I nodded. “Yeah, let’s.”
And my company representatives did the usual and sat in the chairs across from Fatima’s colleagues in a very confrontational manner. I rebelled and took a seat beside Fatima. One of her Chinese colleagues was a little confused when I did this. He moved over and took the seat beside me.
The meeting began dryly. Our company started with Powerpoints about what our company did and basics about its background. Suddenly, Fatima interrupted. “Let’s get to the point, shall we? We don’t have a lot of time. What do you want us to do?”
My local Hong Kong team was taken back. They had never met a woman so forward. They started staring each other. She then began to talk in Cantonese and said the same thing. The local Hong Kong team laughed when they knew she spoke Cantonese. One of her teammates said something in Mandarin and she went serious and responded back in Mandarin.
“I am impressed,” I said without thinking.
“Americans are easily impressed. They can only speak one language.”
The room went quiet afraid there was an upcoming confrontation. She stared at me with a blank look. I looked back at her – but I could read it – and at the same time we both laughed loudly.
The tension in the room relaxed. I spoke out of turn, “We do predict fraud before it happens, we break up fraud rings, and we can also help you doing analytics on your customer loyalty program – especially for your high rollers.”
“But they deal with cash and they usually disappear back into Mainland.”
“But they have loyalty cards.”
She responded back, “But sometimes its fake names or false information they use to register for the loyal cards.”
One of my colleagues started to respond about how our analytical solutions work. He started talking technical. I saw Fatima’s eyes glaze. She was quick to respond, “Talk money not technology. I am here for business and I don’t care about the details.” The room went quiet. “And you still didn’t respond to my question. How do you trace or give benefits to high rollers who want to remain anonymous even with loyalty cards?”
“RFID.” I blurted out.
Everyone turned to me.
Fatima asked first, “What?”
“Your loyalty cards should have RFIDs embedded so you can trace your customer’s movements and see how they interact with the machines on the floor throughout the casino. We can use this RFID and their loyalty number to make them unique. And while they are on the premises, we can predict their needs, give them perks, make predictions about how money they will win, and how much money they will lose.”
“So you provide the RFIDs?” she asked.
I could tell my team was getting nervous.
“No. You have to do that. But once you do it – we can warehouse it and score it – do analytics on it close to real time. Imagine walking to the concierge and the concierge anticipating what you are going to ask before you ask it.”
“You can do that?” she asked.
“We do that in Vegas.”
Fatima looked at me a long time as the conversation broke into Cantonese. I caught her eyes but then looked away.
After an hour, Fatima suggested we wrap up. “And I suggest you all to come to Macau tonight. I want to take you around – give you a taste of our connections – and maybe enjoy the nightlife.”
My team looked at me instantly. “Gary will love that. He lives in Lan Kwai Fong.” One of my team members said trying to make a joke. The only people that laughed was my local team members. But then he followed up with, “Okay. That would be great.”
“Excellent,” Fatima stood up. “I will arrange dinner and then we will go out on the town.”
Her team stood up around her.
Because I was sitting beside her and in her heels she was already taller than me – now standing over me – I felt compelled to stand too.
“I will email the details – please distribute to anyone you see fit.”
We all nodded. She turned to me and held out her hand for me to shake first. “You like to party?”
“Me?” I asked.
“Yes you.”
“Sometimes.”
“Well let’s see if you can keep up with me.” And she let go of my hand and she went around the room shaking everyone else’s hand.
I laughed and even though she was saying goodbye to others I said outloud, “Okay, bring it. It’s on.”
She smiled and as she walked out of the room, she came near to me and said in a half whisper and half voice, “It’s on.”
She smiled back and she took it. And we shook hands like men. “I am Fatima Freire.”
My colleague explained further, “She is our contact in Macau. Her company has direct contacts with all the Casinos in Macau. She and her team are the ones to know when it comes to the Gaming industry.”
I reached into my suit pocket, pulled out my business card hold and extracted one. I held it out for her to take in a traditional Chinese pattern – holding it out for her to take – holding the edges.
She took it in the traditional Chinese way and studied it for a second or two although she didn’t look traditional Chinese. She looked more European. “You have a Chinese name?” And she laughed.
“Yeah, I got the name in Taipei while working at a customer site.”
She laughed out loud again. “Dragon? Really? Your last name is Dragon?”
“Yeah,” I beamed back at her. “It was a joke. They named me after Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.”
We stared at each other for a second two – and the boardroom went silent watching us. Finally she broke the silence. “Should we get started?”
I nodded. “Yeah, let’s.”
And my company representatives did the usual and sat in the chairs across from Fatima’s colleagues in a very confrontational manner. I rebelled and took a seat beside Fatima. One of her Chinese colleagues was a little confused when I did this. He moved over and took the seat beside me.
The meeting began dryly. Our company started with Powerpoints about what our company did and basics about its background. Suddenly, Fatima interrupted. “Let’s get to the point, shall we? We don’t have a lot of time. What do you want us to do?”
My local Hong Kong team was taken back. They had never met a woman so forward. They started staring each other. She then began to talk in Cantonese and said the same thing. The local Hong Kong team laughed when they knew she spoke Cantonese. One of her teammates said something in Mandarin and she went serious and responded back in Mandarin.
“I am impressed,” I said without thinking.
“Americans are easily impressed. They can only speak one language.”
The room went quiet afraid there was an upcoming confrontation. She stared at me with a blank look. I looked back at her – but I could read it – and at the same time we both laughed loudly.
The tension in the room relaxed. I spoke out of turn, “We do predict fraud before it happens, we break up fraud rings, and we can also help you doing analytics on your customer loyalty program – especially for your high rollers.”
“But they deal with cash and they usually disappear back into Mainland.”
“But they have loyalty cards.”
She responded back, “But sometimes its fake names or false information they use to register for the loyal cards.”
One of my colleagues started to respond about how our analytical solutions work. He started talking technical. I saw Fatima’s eyes glaze. She was quick to respond, “Talk money not technology. I am here for business and I don’t care about the details.” The room went quiet. “And you still didn’t respond to my question. How do you trace or give benefits to high rollers who want to remain anonymous even with loyalty cards?”
“RFID.” I blurted out.
Everyone turned to me.
Fatima asked first, “What?”
“Your loyalty cards should have RFIDs embedded so you can trace your customer’s movements and see how they interact with the machines on the floor throughout the casino. We can use this RFID and their loyalty number to make them unique. And while they are on the premises, we can predict their needs, give them perks, make predictions about how money they will win, and how much money they will lose.”
“So you provide the RFIDs?” she asked.
I could tell my team was getting nervous.
“No. You have to do that. But once you do it – we can warehouse it and score it – do analytics on it close to real time. Imagine walking to the concierge and the concierge anticipating what you are going to ask before you ask it.”
“You can do that?” she asked.
“We do that in Vegas.”
Fatima looked at me a long time as the conversation broke into Cantonese. I caught her eyes but then looked away.
After an hour, Fatima suggested we wrap up. “And I suggest you all to come to Macau tonight. I want to take you around – give you a taste of our connections – and maybe enjoy the nightlife.”
My team looked at me instantly. “Gary will love that. He lives in Lan Kwai Fong.” One of my team members said trying to make a joke. The only people that laughed was my local team members. But then he followed up with, “Okay. That would be great.”
“Excellent,” Fatima stood up. “I will arrange dinner and then we will go out on the town.”
Her team stood up around her.
Because I was sitting beside her and in her heels she was already taller than me – now standing over me – I felt compelled to stand too.
“I will email the details – please distribute to anyone you see fit.”
We all nodded. She turned to me and held out her hand for me to shake first. “You like to party?”
“Me?” I asked.
“Yes you.”
“Sometimes.”
“Well let’s see if you can keep up with me.” And she let go of my hand and she went around the room shaking everyone else’s hand.
I laughed and even though she was saying goodbye to others I said outloud, “Okay, bring it. It’s on.”
She smiled and as she walked out of the room, she came near to me and said in a half whisper and half voice, “It’s on.”
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