【Foreword】
May 2, 2018 is an important and special day. It is also the most important milestone in my four years of entrepreneurship! I was invited as a partner to attend the annual F8 conference of Facebook, the world's largest social networking site, as a panelist and speaker. I was also the only Taiwanese invited to the stage at Facebook's annual conferences.
Facebook has 2.2 billion users worldwide. Speed 3D Inc., with its 3D objects and solid 3D technology, has become its AR Camera Effect partner and is also the only partner in Taiwan.
At 1:00 PM on May 2, 2018, Pacific Time, I sat on the exquisite podium of the San Jose Convention Center. The audience below was a sea of attendees, all of whom paid $600 to attend the annual Facebook F8 conference. They were developers, investors, or corporate clients from all over the world.
There were three large studio-grade cameras in the venue, with powerful lights pointed at me. When the onsite staff installed a small headset on me and buckled it on my clothes, my heart rate went through the roof.
In my 20-plus years of career, I have served as a senior executive in many well-known companies. I think I have seen a lot, but this is the first time I have seen such a scene! Especially for a country bumpkin who has never studied abroad or worked in the United States, it is a big challenge to stand on the podium and be a speaker in this unfamiliar place, speaking an unfamiliar language, looking at people of different skin colors. But it also marked an important milestone in my career and life.
From Entrepreneurship to F8
I officially registered my business on my birthday, January 9, 2014. In the early days, I used my wife's small office as a startup garage to develop an interesting mobile app - 3D Paipai (English name: Insta 3D). 3D Paipai was officially available for download after a press conference held at Taipei Light Spot on June 30, 2014. In the following week, it ranked first in the overall rankings of Taiwan's APP Store, and many people were playing it on the streets. Then in April 2015, it also ranked first in the United States and English-speaking countries, with a cumulative download of over 10 million.
But starting a business is much harder than you think! Although we were ranked first in the APP Store, the company's revenue was always less than the expenses. It was not until we cooperated with Huawei to launch the "Xiao Meng Dou" application, which was pre-installed on nearly 20 million Huawei mobile phones, that it attracted the attention of my friends.
A friend introduced Pu Guannan, the partner manager of Facebook Asia Pacific, to visit our company. We introduced the Qiyun team and 3D doll technology. Two months later, Guannan took the initiative to call me and said, "Marvin, is your company interested in becoming a partner of the Next Generation Digital Marketing Platform?" I didn't understand what this meant at the time, but later I learned that this was Facebook's latest AR Camera Effects platform.
Then, our creativity and technical capabilities caught the attention of Facebook headquarters on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Because of our rich 3D objects and solid 3D technology, we became Facebook's first and only partner in Taiwan for AR Camera Effect (or filter). Since then, the company has taken a big turn, and the story that followed was beyond our expectations.
Instantly recognized by the world
With the hard work of the team, we created nearly 100 filters (Camera Effects) in just half a year. Among them, the Christmas filter (Effects) was played by hundreds of millions of people in November and December 2017. Users used the filter effects to transform into Santa Claus or elk. During Christmas last year, at least tens of millions of users happily shared it, and it quickly spread around the world.
Another popular one is the cute pink hat filter (Effects), which has a big "Insta3D" on it, sticks out its tongue, makes funny sounds and creates rainbows. Not only has this filter been used by nearly 80 million users in just two months, it has also been favored by Facebook headquarters and was selected for the showcase at this year's F8.
These two filters (Effects) are actually very simple, but they are very interesting and explosive. Our creative colleagues are very young, and they just graduated from university last year. They worked together with the team's 3D designers and programmers to complete it. It is really exciting that the first work was very popular.
Since then, we have become the most active and best partner of Facebook AR Camera Effects. We strive to let the world see the creativity, technology and artistic abilities of Taiwanese students.
The first Taiwanese person to appear on Facebook F8 forum
During the Lunar New Year this year, Facebook's California headquarters in Menlo Park officially notified me that I would be a VIP of the 2018 F8 annual conference and a spokesperson for its AR Camera Effects platform. I served as a panelist in a forum, sharing our team's experience in creating nearly 100 AR camera effects in the past six months, making filters and promoting them on social platforms for more than 20 brand clients, as well as practical learning and insights.
With more than 20 years of international marketing experience, I know this is the best advertising and promotion opportunity to increase the company's visibility. What's exciting is that this is not in China or in the Asian Cup, but on the stage of a major league. I feel a lot of psychological pressure when I receive such a "glorious" task, but I know that this is the most important opportunity in my four years of entrepreneurship, and I must seize it.
The moderator of the panelist was Chris Barbour, who is in charge of strategic partnerships at Facebook headquarters and was the person who interviewed us last year to become their AR Camera Effect manager. After exchanging ideas with him several times, he gave me a few general directions and topics, hoping that I would be able to express myself freely. I also carefully drafted some manuscripts and asked people in the United States and Canada to revise and polish them for me. In fact, it is more difficult to do a panel in a non-native language than to give a speech, because there are many variables that cannot be controlled. Although the moderator's questions have a direction, they may be unrestrained or change at any time due to some on-site conditions at the time.
The other panelists on the stage with me included three Americans and one British person. I was the only Taiwanese person and the first in history to be on the F8 podium.
In addition to the jet lag, I also caught a severe cold and kept coughing before leaving for the US. At that time, I really hoped that the event would be held in Beijing or Shanghai so that I could easily express myself in my native language.
The organizers gathered us together two hours before the event to familiarize ourselves with the event. I saw that they were talking and laughing freely and were able to eat a rich lunch. But I was so nervous that I had a stomachache and couldn't eat anything. Fortunately, the vice president of marketing of Nike from New York chatted with me very kindly. I also told him how much my 14-year-old son loves to collect all kinds of new shoes from Nike. We chatted happily and I finally felt a little relaxed. In addition, the conference arranged a Hollywood-level beautician to give me a sedo (design) and apply thick lip gloss. The whole person suddenly came alive.
Finally, I stood on the stage. Under the dazzling glare of powerful magnesium lights, hundreds of spectators, and the attention of professional developers in the first few rows who were broadcasting live on their mobile phones, I decided not to follow the script I had prepared and to speak freely. Next, I told three or four stories and two or three jokes, which made the audience laugh. After the end, the speaker hugged me happily, and the Nike boss also held my hand tightly. I knew that my mission as the first person in Taiwan had been accomplished. I took a deep breath, and before my eyes were scenes after scenes of the four years of entrepreneurship, including both bitterness and happiness.
(July 5, 2018, by Qiu Liquan in Taipei)
Chiu Li-Chuan, Chairman of Chiu Cloud Technology, spoke at the Facebook Developer Conference F8 panel at 7:20 / 37:10 / 42:03, becoming the first Taiwanese to speak on the F8 panel.
https://developers.facebook.com/videos/f8-2018/partner-panel-building-for-facebooks-ar-platform/
F8 Highlights https://youtu.be/KkXyV9AUn7M
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