China 2.0 Tour profile: Bart Lapers

I just met Bart Lapers for the first time on this trip.  He is a Dutch photographer who seems to have some familiarity with Beijing, and I had previously seen some of his Beijing photos in his Flickrstream during the Olympics. Here’s his home page:

1.  Please introduce yourself in a few brief sentences.  Who are you, what do you do, and what are you passionate about?

Bart: Thank you for your interest.  Since I don’t match the average profile of the China 2.0 tour participant, it’s indeed a good idea to share some background information about myself.  As Systems Engineer at ExxonMobil, I provide IT support for offices, manufacturing sites and refineries in the Benelux Area (Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg). Next to my daytime job, I’m a freelance photographer (www.bart.la) and marketer for small and medium sized companies.  I’m fascinated by internet marketing and social media, addicted to travel and can often be found in the gym.

Links:

• My Twitter: www.twitter.com/fotograaf
• My Blog: www.bart.la/blog

2.  Why did you decide to join the China 2.0 Tour?

In November 2007 I moved from Brussels to Kuala Lumpur for a six month assignment at ExxonMobil Malaysia.  It was my first introduction to Asia and I had no idea what to expect.  During this period, I traveled extensively in Asia and visited the Tier 1 cities in China.  I was really impressed by the scale and speed of the urban development projects in cities like Shanghai and Beijing.  By reading blogs and books about China, I started to discover a new world of opportunity.  Last October, when Christine Lu was tweeting from HYSTA I asked her about future China Business conferences, she suggested me to join the China 2.0 tour.

3.  What do you hope to learn?  What are the questions you want to ask, or topics you want to discuss?  or in your case, photographic subjects you want to see?

The China 2.0 tour should offer me a first introduction to business in China.  [I want to] learn from young entrepreneurs how they identified opportunities, which challenges and difficulties they encountered building a venture in China.  I see my participation in the tour as a preparation for the economic power shift from the West to the East.  I’m convinced an in-depth knowledge about the Chinese market will be a valuable asset for my future career.

I can’t wait until Bart takes out his camera so I can watch a pro at work, and then I can put my camera away!