Patie had called us over to her new office at SunTech City the day before and we decided to pop by yesterday afternoon. We’d heard much about this spanking new building but had never stepped inside it so Patie’s invite was as good as any to take a closer look.
Don't you think it's weird to fence up the fake Christmas trees?
Of course, as an MIRC member, I could’ve visited when I attend the MIRC events here but I had been too busy the last couple of times the MIRC events are held.
High tech screen inside the lift
If you’re a start-up and want some cool incubator space to grow your business, SunTech City is not bad a choice as it’s affordable at RM500 per month. The building got its OC in October so everything is still quite new and smells of fresh paint. Call Patie at 012 400 5844 if you’re keen to rent some office space (Patie helps market the incubator space for MIRC, in fact she helps out a lot with MIRC events)
Business Centre at Level 10
However, Emerald Capital (the developer of SunTech City) should go easy on security at the ground floor. We had to surrender our driver’s licences in exchange for visitor tags BEFORE we could go to the 10th Floor. I know the building is hi-tech and all glass and steel but no one wants to feel like they are walking into a Swiss bank each time they visit their friends’ offices in this building!
Lots of space for SunTech Cafe
Admiring the water feature!
Anyway, the upcoming MIRC Tech Nite is on 19 December. It used to be held at Starbucks E-Gate but I always felt that Starbucks (with all the coffee-making by the baristas) was too noisy! The MIRC Tech Nites used to be free in the past and anyone who came along got a free cup of Starbucks coffee. Which of course attracted a lot of freeloaders.
As of this year, they’re charging a membership fee (which includes complementary coffee) so it’s not a bad deal if you want to network with the IT crowd. But I feel that the same old faces attend all the time. Maybe a proper membership drive should inject more new faces (and get those true business owners to come along to these events instead of employees).
I don’t quite relish some of the events (online money making seminars etc) but I can’t blame them. This organisation has to make money in order to survive so if the latest fad is online money making seminar, so be it.
What I want more (as a member) is more opportunities to network systematically, a chance to meet other real entrepreneurs, a chance to benefit from practical talks and seminars. As an entrepreneur, I need to exchange ideas with other entrepreneurs and learn from them too. I want to attend an event because it lets me make friends in an open and honest atmosphere. Short of turning into BNI, I hope MIRC does evolve into something more for entrepreneurs in Penang.
In the meantime, enjoy the photos of my little tour of SunTech City’s 10th Floor.
More photos over at my Facebook page…
[...] Last night, we decided to join Patie and the rest of the MIRC folks at the CNY Dinner at Chef & Brew Restaurant at Krystal Point. After all, we had not joined any of the activities since the MIRC moved to their own premises at SunTech City. [...]