nucmednet Chapter 120 White Paper Launch Event
Chapter 120 White Paper Launch Event
Chapter 120 White Paper Launch (4k)
Geng Zhi's guess was absolutely right; the moment the news of the white paper release conference was announced, it attracted tremendous attention across the internet.
The number of media outlets that actively registered to attend the conference far exceeded expectations, even surprising seasoned academics like Vice Dean Liu Kangping.
What surprised Liu Kangping even more was that, thanks to the media frenzy surrounding the event, the scale of the press conference was elevated to a whole new level.
Based on his past experience, it was already considered a great honor if the Civil Affairs Bureau or the Women's Federation could send a section chief or deputy inspector to show their support.
The results of it?
All the top leaders agreed to attend in person, and their words conveyed a sense of "high importance" to the event. The leaders' speeches were polished again and again.
This afternoon, in the academic lecture hall of Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Xuhui Campus.
With the school's publicity minister, Minister Yin, personally overseeing the entire rehearsal, the previously orderly press conference rehearsal venue began to tense up with excitement, as people bustled about.
What surprised the organizers even more was that the chairperson of the Women's Federation also made a low-key appearance at the event and personally participated in the rehearsal, something that had never happened before in the history of the school's press conferences.
Upgrading standards is beneficial for Geng Zhi.
The advantages are obvious: the press conference is of a higher level, with leaders present to endorse it, making the press conference more significant. Even if the PR staff of the three major marriage and dating companies have a hundred bad ideas in their hearts, they wouldn't dare to act recklessly on the spot.
But the downsides are also obvious.
All speeches at the press conference had to be submitted for approval in advance, and every word was strictly controlled. This made Geng Zhi, who had originally wanted to use some clever improvisation, give up the idea.
Upon returning from the press conference rehearsal, Geng Zhi immediately pulled the entire team into the conference room for a pre-battle mobilization meeting.
"My God, I just counted at the scene, and there are at least seven or eight media outlets from live streaming channels here! This is incredible!" Lu Zhijie's eyes widened like saucers.
"Of course, the whole internet is watching this dating and marriage thing right now. I think we don't even need to push it; the press conference will automatically become a trending topic," Yang Mingxia said proudly.
"I heard from Sister Siyu that leaders never attend these kinds of press conference rehearsals in the past, but this time the Civil Affairs Bureau actually sent its office director to walk the runway, and the Women's Federation chairperson even came in person! This is incredible!" Shu Beibei exclaimed in amazement.
"Just thinking about it makes my legs weak for the boss—Boss, are you nervous?" Yang Mingxia tilted her head to look at Geng Zhi.
"I was nervous!" Geng Zhi honestly admitted, "In both of my lives combined, I've never spoken in front of so many cameras."
Everyone burst into laughter, thinking he was joking.
Only he himself knows that this is the truth.
But what he was really nervous about was not speaking on stage, but two "uncontrollable" factors.
The first uncontrollable event was the Q&A session with the media at the end of the press conference.
According to the organizers, there will be 7 to 8 people asking questions during the media Q&A session.
Because relevant department leaders were present, in order to ensure that the main theme of the press conference was clear and the leaders' speeches were targeted, the first four questioners were all shills arranged in advance by the organizers, and they were all asking questions to Vice President Liu and the leaders.
The next three or four questions are the real opportunities for social media to ask questions.
After much pleading and cajoling, Vice Dean Liu Kangping finally relented and allocated one of the open slots to Shen Zihan, a reporter from the *Shanghai Metropolitan Daily*, with whom Geng Zhi had a good relationship. This was the best possible outcome they could secure.
But I think that's not safe enough.
The three giants, Baihe.com, Century Home Network, and Zhenai.com, all received last-minute invitations to participate from the organizer.
Those three media outlets have deeply entrenched resources. Although they wouldn't dare to cause trouble in front of the leaders, it's entirely possible for them to play tricks during the Q&A session and throw out a few barbed questions.
He was genuinely unsure whether he could handle the situation.
Another uncontrollable factor is the potential online attacks from adversaries after the press conference.
Baihe.com is about to officially announce its investment in "Jiaotong University Matchmaker". Once this news is confirmed, Century Home Network and Zhenai.com will seize on it and make a fuss, and public opinion could reverse at any time.
Could the momentum that was painstakingly built up turn into a fire that backfires overnight?
"Boss, what are you thinking about? Are you that nervous?"
Geng Zhi calmed himself down and said to Yang Mingxia, "Mingxia, have you prepared the exposé posts on platforms like Tianya, Tieba, Douban, and Renren?"
"Yes! I've written different styles of copy for each platform, and I guarantee there won't be any repetitions!" Yang Mingxia assured, patting her chest.
"Very good." Geng Zhi nodded, then turned to Lu Zhijie, "Zhijie, how's the editing of the recording of my interview with Ma Chunmei on CCTV coming along?"
"Boss, I'm already editing it. I'm mainly figuring out how to splice the audio clips together for the best effect," Lu Zhijie said earnestly.
"Okay, once you've finished editing, send it to me so I can listen to it."
After speaking frankly, he gave the group a few more details and then put on his headphones to carefully refine his questions and answers.
As he was pondering, Shu Beibei suddenly patted him on the shoulder: "Boss, reporter Zheng Yuxi is here."
When Geng Zhi looked up, he realized that Zheng Yuxi, the intern arranged by Zhou Haoran, was already standing in front of him.
"Hello, Mr. Geng! Sister Haoran asked me to come and work with you, and to follow your instructions," Zheng Yuxi said with a smile.
Geng Zhi stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Alright, Yu Xi, come with me for a moment. I have a difficult task that I need your cooperation with."
After saying that, Geng Zhi led Zheng Yuxi out of the office.
The following morning, the sky was clear and the breeze was gentle.
In the academic lecture hall of Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Xuhui Campus, a seminar and release meeting for the "White Paper on Trust and Security in my country's Online Dating Industry (2010)" is about to begin.
The audience was packed with leaders, mainstream media from Shanghai and across the country, university scholars, industry observers, public relations personnel from the marriage and dating industry, and student representatives.
There were five guests seated on the dais.
From left to right: Geng Zhi, Chairwoman of the Municipal Women's Federation, Head of the Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, Vice Dean Liu Kangping, and Vice Dean Kong of the School of Media and Communication at Jiaotong University.
At 9:30 a.m. sharp, the press conference began on time.
The host, Vice Dean Kong, began the event with the remarks: "Respected leaders and guests—good morning! Now—"
"This release is based on solid academic research and aims to address public concerns and promote the healthy development of the industry."
Everything proceeded as scheduled before the press conference.
Vice President Kong's opening remarks were calm and experienced, taking ten minutes to introduce the background, agenda, and guests of the press conference in a standard and conventional manner.
The next half hour was dedicated to a presentation by Liu Kangping, the Vice President and the main speaker of the conference.
He presented the white paper in its entirety from four dimensions: research background, core data, typical cases, and framework initiatives, with a rigorous academic attitude.
Previously, the public's understanding of the chaos in the marriage and dating industry was mostly based on sporadic individual cases and fragmented complaints, without a complete understanding of the overall situation of the industry.
But after listening to Vice President Liu meticulously explain the market data, the emotions of the viewers in the live broadcast room reached another peak.
"Holy crap! The percentage of people who got scammed was this high!"
"Shocking! Really, shocking."
"Although Dean Liu didn't name names, everyone knows which platforms he was referring to!"
"I suggest incorporating 'How to Avoid Being Scammed in Marriage Online' into a compulsory course in universities."
Finally, he proposed initiatives such as "real-name authentication," "credit scores," "contract standardization," and "standards for the dating industry," instantly igniting heated discussions both on-site and in the live stream: "Real-name authentication is necessary! Otherwise, nobody knows whether the girl they're chatting with is male or female."
"The problem is how to verify real names? Bad guys can just search for an ID number on Baidu, or buy one for two yuan, and they can probably pass the verification, right? We need to introduce regulations."
"Contract regulations are a must. Last time I was tricked into signing a draconian clause, and getting a refund? No way!"
"A credit system must be established so that scammers can never register!"
In the CEO's office at Baihe.com headquarters in Beijing, the atmosphere was unusually oppressive.
Ma Chunmei and Li Haipeng, who came to the capital specifically to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of Baihe.com's first offline store, are currently watching the live stream in Xinlang along with Mu Yan, Han Yulu, Li Li, and others.
The room was initially filled with joy and harmony, but as Vice Dean Liu Kangping's explanation went deeper, Mu Yan's brows furrowed more and more deeply.
Liu Kangping was giving his concluding remarks when Mu Yan's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
"Chunmei," his voice was low, yet it cut like a dull knife, "what were you telling me again?"
Ma Chunmei felt a tightness in her back.
"You said the press conference was just to promote 'Jiaotong University Matchmaker,' and incidentally ride the wave of popularity to promote the new website." Mu Yan turned his head, his gaze like a scorched nail. "Is this what you mean by 'incidentally'?"
Before coming to the capital, Ma Chunmei did tell him that Geng Zhi was going to attend the white paper release conference and would not be able to come to the capital, but Mu Yan did not pay much attention to it at the time.
Because Li Li had also reported to him that Baihe.com had received an invitation from the organizer of the press conference and had even sent a marketing manager to attend, to show that they valued it.
But to his utter surprise, the press conference turned out to be a second declaration of war against the online dating industry.
This is a very serious problem.
He was very displeased by the recent public opinion storm that severely impacted Baihe.com.
However, Geng Zhi later explained that his initial intention was to dampen Gong Haiyan's momentum. Ma Chunmei and Li Haipeng also came to the capital to explain themselves, and Mu Yan reluctantly accepted the explanation that the "Jiaotong University matchmaker" had been mistakenly injured.
He did not blame the "Jiaotong University matchmaker" party too much, but simply said that he would accelerate the integration of bilateral business.
However, if the policies proposed in the white paper are adopted by relevant departments, they will inevitably trigger a new round of major industry restructuring.
This will further exacerbate the already slow growth of Baihe.com's business.
"Chunmei, this white paper might cut off Baihe.com's biggest source of revenue, understand?!" Mu Yan slammed his hand on the table.
"President Mu, I—" Ma Chunmei's throat went dry, and she immediately tried to explain, "I only just watched the live broadcast and found out that the white paper's contents were like this—"
"What?!" Mu Yan interrupted her. "So ruthless? So accurate? Or so damn deadly?"
"Chunmei, do you think I'm stupid?" Mu Yan questioned directly. "You're doing this to step on us three giants and boost the reputation of 'Jiaotong University Matchmaker'!"
"But your little schemes are incredibly stupid! Any one of the three of us could crush you Jiaotong University's matchmaking agency with a flick of our fingers!" Mu Yan's voice grew louder and louder.
Ma Chunmei clenched her fingers, trying to steady her voice: "President Mu, this project started before I took over the company, and Geng Zhi was pushing it from beginning to end. I was truly kept in the dark—"
As she spoke, she gave Li Haipeng a meaningful look.
Mu Yan turned his head, his gaze pressing down on Li Haipeng: "President Li, is that so?"
Li Haipeng's Adam's apple bobbed: "President Mu, President Ma is right. This project was indeed initially spearheaded by President Geng, and the liaison with Vice Dean Liu was actually me. But I thought it was just about providing some case materials, and I never expected it to cause such a stir."
"Didn't expect that?" Mu Yan's lips twitched, more like a spasm than a smile. "You didn't expect it, and neither did I. We, Baihe.com, spent millions to invest in you, and the surprises we've received are truly one after another."
"I'm so angry at you pig-brains! Can't you eat more pig brains to improve your brains?!" Mu Yan retorted angrily.
He slammed his hand on the table, causing the teacup to jump and spill tea onto the surface.
Han Yulu lowered her eyelids, Li Li stared at the tips of her shoes, Ma Chunmei's face turned pale, and Li Haipeng's back was already soaked with sweat.
The room fell silent again.
Mu Yan took a deep breath. He wasn't sure if Ma Chunmei was truly unaware, but he was eighty percent certain that Li Haipeng was lying. At the very least, he was covering for Geng Zhi.
"President Mu," Han Yulu reminded him at the right moment, her voice so soft it was as if she were afraid of stepping on a landmine, "it's time for Geng Zhi to speak up, so perhaps—we should continue to observe?"
Mu Yan didn't speak again, but his gaze returned to the screen.
At this moment, the host is introducing: "Next, please welcome Mr. Geng Zhi, a representative of the key practical cases presented in this white paper, to share his exploration and reflections on the 'Jiaotong University Matchmaker' model."
In the live stream's comment section, the phrase "industry alumnus" began to flood the screen.
It wasn't just a few scattered comments; it was screen-wide streams of comments rising up, like a tide, like a collective tribute in the form of bullet comments.
"Industry alum!"
"The alum is here!"
"A salute to integrity!"
"These are the people who truly get things done!"
The atmosphere at the press conference became lively, with the constant clicking of camera flashes.
Hundreds of eyes in the audience, countless eyes behind the screen, five pairs of eyes in that office in Beijing, many pairs of eyes from the CCTV program team, and Xu Xiaoping, partner of New Oriental and founder of ZhenFund—at this moment, all eyes were on him alone.
In the eyes of online netizens and on-site reporters, Geng Zhi was the true protagonist of this press conference.
PS: 10,000 words tomorrow.
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