Gordan Chan
VICE PRESIDENT – LEGAL, ASIA PACIFIC
HYATT
HONG KONG
6:00 am
Wake up and check for emails from the US office. I have a home cooking webpage (www.facebook. com/gordonkwc), and I respond to comments about my slow-cooked pork belly recipe.
7:00 am
Prepare breakfast for the kids while I make sure I’m caught up with the latest global news.
8:00 am
Drop the kids off to school and buy myself a Hong Kong-style milk tea to boost my caffeine levels. Listen to the morning radio to stay up to date on the local Hong Kong political scene.
8:30 am
Emails and messages start arriving from South Korea, Japan, and Australia.
9:00 am
Attend a Hyatt Asia Pacific legal team meeting with colleagues from both our Hong Kong and China offices. We go through our monthly priorities.
10:00 am
A new project in South Korea requires another version of the hotel management agreement. I communicate with our South Korean hotel team to confirm certain operational issues and provide an update to external local counsel in Seoul who are helping to sort out a translational matter.
11:00 am
Hyatt’s commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) — called the “Hyatt Thrive” program (thrive.hyatt.com) — provides me with an opportunity to meet with colleagues from other departments to discuss potential CSR activities, as well as assess the charity organizations with whom we may partner. We review the status of the recent donation drive.
11:30 am
Plan my travel schedule for the next several weeks. I mark down my team members’ schedules and reorganize them to ensure consistent legal support for other departments.
12:00 pm
Arrange for execution of various contracts in both English and simplified font Chinese languages.
12:30 pm
Catch up with other legal counsel who work in the hospitality industry over a dim sum lunch. We talk about the latest seminars organized by the Hong Kong Corporate Counsel Association — where I currently serve as a board member.
2:00 pm
Make sure my children are on schedule for their afternoon activities. I chase down updated timetables from their various schools to plan ahead for the next term.
2:30 pm
A problem arises at a Chinese property and I try to resolve it by reading through the relevant government directions on the subject matter and advising the business units accordingly.
3:00 pm
Another telephone conference, this time with opposing counsel, to go through hotel documents for a project in Japan. This drops another outstanding issue from my to-do list.
4:00 pm
Work with our corporate communications team on the latest social media and marketing initiative that will be rolled out in the Asia Pacific region. Add comments to the related vendor contracts.
4:45 pm
Receive a call from our Singapore office about a guest incident in Vietnam.
5:00 pm
Finalize a memo summarizing the legal and financial implications of changing the room inventory in a hotel in Central China.
6:30 pm
Arrive back home and immediately start baking the kids’ favorite Organic Maple Syrup Apple Cake for tomorrow’s afternoon tea. I check out what the kids learned at school today.
7:30 pm
A simple dinner with family. Tonight we enjoy the double-boiled pigeon and dragon-eye fruit soup. Then bedtime reading with the kids.
8:30 pm
Browse the latest interior trends on the internet and check Architectural Digest. I’m planning future home improvements and am trying to work out the budget.
9:00 pm
Telephone conference with the Chicago office.
10:30 pm
Pack for a two-day trip to China, which begins tomorrow morning. Quickly check and clear some emails before going to bed.
