Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

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With some short-term relief work in Asia/Africa and long stint in Telecom, Thang also earned a B.A. at Pennsylvania State University. M.A. in Communication at Wheaton Graduate School, M.A. in Cross-Cultural Communication at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Boston. In addition, he earned a CELTA – classes taken in Hanoi for cultural re-immersion.

Author: Thang Nguyen 555

  • Prominent display

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: If you want your brand to stick , you got to plaster it on Times Square billboards. Yahoo did. I bet they spent a fortune for that property. Build, and they will come. Not bad for a company started out in a Standford dorm room. Companies are competing for…

  • Two front teeth

    Tom Wolfe in one of his quirky observations mentioned that “New York got knocked out of its two front teeth” (in reference to 9/11). It was a dark day for all. Even today, as we remember it. It jolted us our of our slumber. Neighbor comforted neighbor. Don Dillon mentioned “the jumpers” in his novel.…

  • Media shock

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: When I was working weekends at the School of Journalism at Penn State, journalist-wannabes would check out Advertising Age, Christian Science Monitor, and of course, the New York Times. And everyone read the campus paper. They even showed Deep Throat on campus (organized by the Student Association). Such was…

  • Things we wish we could take with us

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: When at Indian Town Gap in 1975, I was busy helping out at the Bureau of Child Welfare so time passed rather quickly. But not for my fellow countrymen. Many sat there worried: how were they going to make it in America, that winter was coming. Many hurried weddings…

  • Pattern recognition

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: As the saying goes, “those who don’t know history tend to repeat it”. I should have titled this blog, “the art of reinventing the wheel” as I saw familiar patterns reemerge everyday. Avatar for instance. For a moment there, I thought I was watching Jurassic Park and Never-Ending Story…

  • Internet intersects culture

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: In China,, teacher Ma was on trial for using the internet to recruit partner-swapping. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/world/asia/21china.html?scp=1&sq=Teacher%20Ma&st=cse In Pakistan, they banned Facebook and then YouTube. And in Iran, right after the election, they did not like Twitter. Fast-pace technology collides slow-changing tradition. As of this edit, Kenneth Cole (shoes-man) tweeted about…

  • Clarity begins at home

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: April 27th Newshour  featured Viet entrepreneurs coming back to Vietnam : a. to set up shop b. start an NGO and c. work  for the Clinton’s Initiatives. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june10/vietnam_04-27.html We found in it our own Victor Luu (Software), Andrew Lam (writer), a coffee-house artist and an NGO dedicate. The piece…

  • My list of Influencers

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Despite their flaws (who doesn’t have one please cast the first stone), these are the people I look up to: – President Carter with his commitment to build housing for the poor – President Clinton out of that place called Hope – Jim Elliot, the late great missionary who…

  • Think of me, next Memorial Day

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: How much time do you have left? Life expectancy average has been up, but individually, it’s an open question. The question. And this question should stand Maslow scale on its head i.e. if you knew you were going to die tonight, would you be moving methodically up the Need…

  • Third place, third screen, third world

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Known as the third place (away from home and work), Starbucks did not stop after opening up in Forbidden City, China. It has just opened for business in Vietnam (where the I-phone, our third screen – after TV and desktop – recently made a stirring appearance). Vietnam young consumer…