Lessons in Speed and Planning from my UAESBC Internship Experience

The First Taste of Speed

During my second year at Singapore Polytechnic, I was the video editor for a podcast channel, “Hertalks”. I remember our group leader, Jiaxuan telling me to reduce the turnaround time of our podcast from bi-weekly to weekly.

“Madness” was my first thought.

That 50% reduction in production time means that I needed to work at double my current speed! Though I grumbled a bit back then, I was able to pull it off, albeit with a lot of late nights and resistance.  

Proposal & Planning

Fast forward a year, I find myself in a similar situation during my internship with UAE Singapore Business Council (UAESBC) as a project associate intern. Towards the end of my internship, I was a part of a 3-men team planning and managing our 2025 membership night. It was a highly anticipated event hosted at The Rajah & Tann’s courtyard as it was also the first membership night organised in partnership with a UAESBC EXCO member. Many members signed up for the event and the atmosphere was electric. 

Prior to this event, I was thinking of ways to keep the audience engaged even after the event was over. Eventually, I proposed creating a short video reel that showcased key highlights of the event. I consolidated details from the site recce and planned how I would create this particular video. I then presented the plan to my supervisor, Mr Solyh. He liked the idea but was skeptical if I could pull it off because I had other duties to cover leading to and after that event. I assured him that it could be done.

The Execution

The event went well. During which, my colleague (Atticus) and I gathered the necessary footage. Following my plan, I dedicated 3 hours the next work day for video-editing. I poured through the recorded footage quickly and selected the best ones that fit the storyboard. I then used CapCut to apply some basic colour grading and video editing. I finished it off with a cover design (that was already aligned with the UAESBC brand guidelines) I made via Canva. Within that 3 hours, I completed the task and had 2 pieces of content standing by to be uploaded to our Linkedin page. I had booked Mr Solyh's time prior, so was able to have him review it "fresh from the oven". He approved both pieces of work and I published them before the end of the same work day. 

This meant that the video was filmed the evening before, edited and published within the next working day. This quick turnaround post garnered over a thousand impressions within the next 24 hours. It instantly became our most popular post of the month!

I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that our video was published a day before Rajah & Tann posted about this event. Despite covering the same event, their Linkedin post received half of our engagement score. Not bad for an intern’s work :) 

Data captured as of 8 August 2025.

This experience taught me that a fast turnaround time is advantageous in several ways. First, by delivering the recap video while the event was still fresh in everyone's minds, attendees feel more connected and are more likely to share the content, which causes a positive feedback loop. This kind of efficiency also reflects well on UAESBC, positioning us as a professional and expeditious organisation to both our members and the public.

Looking back, I chuckle at how Jiaxuan was right all along. Speed to market is a huge advantage, be it a product launch or even a recap video like this UAESBC Membership night. However, just turning it around fast but delivering a bad product can backfire, so the real magic is to produce a minimal viable (MVP) of decent quality so that you reap the benefits without any of the drawbacks.

Conclusion

This UAESBC internship yet taught me another valuable lesson. That is, with the right preparation and smart use of tools, even a small team - or a single person - can achieve excellent outcomes. Careful planning through a clear storyboard, securing management support, assigning roles, and maintaining open communication channels with supervisors make the work far more efficient. Modern hardware and the right image/video-editing software can speed up the process tremendously, showing that success comes from planning and execution rather than simply having a large budget.

Chia Howie

08 August 2025

TLDR

A well-prepared team with the right tools and clear communication can turn limited resources into remarkable results. Its vision and good teamwork, not a large budget that drives success.