May 14, 2008 was a pretty busy day for the organizers of the Women’s Forum Asia, since all the work had to be done before the opening on May 15 and the pre-registration started that evening.

As volunteers and official bloggers for the forum, we three, Kevin, Pegasus, and me, who are three curious, warm-hearted and passionate college freshman students, together with our teacher, Susan, arrived at the Shangri La Hotel, which is one of the most prestigious hotels in Shanghai, early. On the way to the hotel, we were eager to find out what the meeting place would be like, how such a grand and influential event was being prepared, and what kind of inspiration it would bring to our lives.

On arriving at the conference place, we had a deeper understanding of both the forum and our tasks from the managing director, Bruno. A lot of things should be taken into consideration and pre-arranged in holding such a big forum. All the details have to be well-organized to make sure all the things run smoothly. Even the preparation for the bags of gifts and booklets took us volunteers a lot of time. Imagine that there will be over 700 delegates and guests, and 90 high level speakers. When we finished stuffing the heavy bags, transported them to the storage room and put them in order, unluckily we were informed that there was another kind of booklet left, so we had to start over. After finishing that we were really exhausted and didn’t move any more. In fact, stuffing the bags was only a very little thing. However, when I saw the workers busily arranging the plenary room, moving fixtures and furniture, other volunteers doing the registration jobs, the leaders assinging jobs to the helpers, and our students going to buy materials, I know so much patience is required to finish the great task. And that is just only the work we can see. What about the work we can’t sees?

Luckily, there is so much support and help; there are so many people who care about our society's growth and sustainability, and there is a will, which is to make a difference to our world by coming together.

It was an honor for me to attend the Inaugural Evening in the Shanghai Urban Planning Center. Some Shanghai municipality and leaders of the Shanghai Women’s Federation, who helped the Women's Forum create this event, also attended. The next three days will be some of my most memorable days. I am looking forward to talking with so many excellent people and listening to the sessions, and I think I will have a wonderful time.