Daniel Lafontaine
Host of The KBC 9.9 with Daniel

(Click here to read about the concept behind the KBC 9.9 with Daniel and to find out how to be a participant on an upcoming show.)

Visit the links on the right to listen, read and participate in previous discussions. No discussion is too old to fire up again so if something looks particularly interesting and you want to add your perspective, simply speak your peace by leaving a comment. This will automatically notify all previous discussion participants by email about your comment, as well as move the discussion up to the top of the discussion list on the Korea Business Central homepage.

March 27, 2011
"How should a foreign business coach adjust his/her approach to be most effective with Korean employees?" February 20, 2011
"Which topic over the past year was most important, influential, or the one you enjoyed the most here on KBC?" February 2, 2011
"What are the best ways to learn Korean?" December 24, 2010
"What are some popular misconceptions about South Korea that are prevalent among the foreign community?" November 28, 2010
"What should foreign companies do to be good business partners to their Korean-company counterparts?" October 15, 2010
"What's the best way to network in Korea and why?" October 10, 2010
"About the 2010 Global Business Networking Event, with KBC Event Organizer William Sisson."September 5, 2010
"What Korea needs to do to get its per capita GDP ranking into the top ten in the world." August 9, 2010
"Korean companies and the issues of dealing with young employees who have studied overseas and returned to Korea." July 18, 2010
"I understand/do not understand recent events in North Korea" July 4, 2010
"Reflections on the Korea 2010 World Cup experience." May 30, 2010
"Is Samsung too big to catch?" May 24, 2010
"Korean companies and their responsibility in the career management of their new and older workers." May 17, 2010
"The Korea Brand: What's next after Dynamic Korea?" May 10, 2010
"How to get Koreans to work with you and for you even though you're different."

What

A fast-paced, spontaneous, informal (even edgy!... dare we say, raw?) conversation about some hot-potato topic related to Korean business which lasts for exactly nine minutes and nine seconds.

Who

Daniel Lafontaine hosts the podcast and is joined by four other KBC members ready to share their thoughts and opinions about the topic in an unscripted format.

When

Generally on a Sunday or Monday; roughly once-per-month, with a different mix of panelists each time

Where

Skype (www.skype.com) or by phone

Why

To create buzz around a particular Korean business theme each week, leading to lively conversation on the KBC discussion board where enjoyable and insightful sharing and learning can take place within the KBC community.

How

Those wishing to be part of a future KBC 9.9 Podcast should contact KBC admin, Steven Bammel

We select the following week's KBC 9.9 Podcast topic 4-5 days in advance and recruit panelists from the KBC membership. Once the four panel seats are filled, no more panelists will be accepted for the respective episode.

At least 24 hours before the podcast, Daniel emails talking points to the panelists and reconfirms the podcast schedule.

Each panelist should make sure their clock is set correctly and be at their phone or Skye connection (whichever was decided in advance with the host) at the designated time; Daniel will call you when the call is about to start. Since the podcast is only nine minutes and nine seconds, being late by just a little means missing a lot. Also, with only five people, losing one panelist due to time factors will adversely affect the quality of the discussion. Therefore, only people able to be available at the right time should commit to participating.

Daniel opens the podcast with a very brief welcome and then gives each panelist the opportunity to introduce themselves. At this point, each panelist gives their full name, the name of their company and company business area and job position there, and the city from which they are calling. In the interest of time, not much other information should be shared during the introduction.

Next, Daniel states the topic, starts the stopwatch and opens the conversation with a brief comment. The conversation then unfolds spontaneously for nine minutes and nine seconds. During this time, panelists share freely about the topic. Politeness is a must, but formality should be thrown out the window... Put another way, no personal shots but other than that, anything goes.

At the end of the time-limit and regardless of who's talking and what they're saying, Daniel stops the conversation, thanks everyone for joining, says a brief "goodbye" and ends the call.

As soon as possible thereafter, we post a new discussion to the Discussion Forum and links to the podcast audio. KBC members may listen to the podcast and then share their comments in the discussion forum for the next week. Controversy and strong opinions are encouraged; this KBC discussion should remain polite, but not boring.