memoryloot

Not to toot my own horn again but I was featured once again in my affinity group’s newsletter across the company. Here is the article written by Mei-ling Andreen on December 21, 2007

Johnny Lam, NBC Universal, was presented with a distinguished honor in volunteerism by Ron Meyer, President and COO, Universal Studios, during NBCU’s Volunteer Day.

Born in Saigon, Vietnam, Johnny Lam, Project Manager (Publicity & Marketing Systems Group), NBC Universal, immigrated with his family at the age of three to Pomona, California. Raised in the San Gabriel Valley, primarily in Alhambra, Johnny watched his father, the “sole breadwinner” work full days as a mold-maker, while his mother stayed at home to care for Johnny and his younger sister. This upbringing led Johnny to one aspiration while growing up – to be the first in his family to graduate from college.

After graduating from Alhambra High in 1994, Johnny continued on his promise to himself and was accepted at the University of California, Irvine. Originally an Economics major he switched majors as the lure of the Internet fascinated him. Five years later, Johnny proudly earned his Bachelors of Science in Information and Computer Science.

Upon graduation, Johnny landed a job at Plutus Enterprises as a Systems Administrator and managed the entire company’s server systems and supported all consultant laptops – a big job for a new college graduate, but Johnny was up for the task. This was a clear indicator for what this self-proclaimed geek had in his future. After a year, Johnny left and joined a dot.com called Popcast, which led him to a Developer position at 10th Degree, an advertising company in Orange County. There, Johnny was able to work on projects closer to his personal passions, motorcycling – one of the company’s main clients was Mitsubishi and Johnny redeveloped their entire website while there. But it was landing at Universal that really impressed Johnny. “I remember coming to the theme park as a child and wondered how it would be to work here and here I am. It’s a dream come true and it’s awesome! He thanks a former co-worker at Plutus who asked if he was interested in working at Universal – that was October 2003 and Johnny’s been happy ever since.

As a Project Manager for the Publicity and Marketing Systems group, Johnny is the owner of three web applications for various businesses within NBC Universal, primarily extranet applications used by other business and internal groups (TV Distribution, NBC Casting and TV operations group.) His responsibilities include ensuring that the applications are up and running, rolling out improvements to the applications and those new applications are managed properly with the inclusion of all business partners.

In addition to enjoying being on the Universal Lot, Johnny agrees he not only gets to work with great people but he receives the support needed to succeed in his current role. One of those ways is his involvement with APAF and the SoCal Hub. “It’s refreshing to see a group of people who are dedicated to improving the involvement of all GE employees with their communities and with each other.” Johnny also added, “Without APAF, I would not have had opportunities to meet and become friends with individuals in various businesses of GE , as well as meeting members of upper management.” But it’s Johnny’s passion in helping others in need that has really made the biggest impact to the APAF family and community. Johnny’s tireless commitment to the website relaunch and redevelopment for the Asian Pacific Women’s Center (APWC), as featured in SCOOP, October/November 2007), earned him praise not only within the Hub but the company. During NBCU’s Volunteer Day, Ron Meyer, President and COO, Universal Studios presented Johnny with a distinguished honor in volunteerism.

Johnny continues to be a community leader within APAF and looks forward to becoming more active in various non-profits and to continue to bring awareness to APAF within other parts of the company. He also looks forward to bringing more to his team and in helping GE/NBCU and APAF to continue to attract quality people and continue to contribute positively to our communities and society.

Single, with no children yet, Johnny enjoys his spare time motorcycling, Moto GP races and talking bikes. He also works on various website projects for two APA non-profit organizations, APWC and Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA). For fun, he gets together with friends to play Texas Hold’em, eat, drink and laugh. “As a true geek, I’m always tinkering with computers and various gadgets.” When asked what his perfect weekend would be, Johnny answers simply, “To hop on my bike, ride up the coast, and stay overnight and stopping whenever I like.”

This down-to-earth, sincere, plain, old-fashioned nice guy is setting the standards for the SoCal Hub. And for the single ladies, he is definitely the kind of guy you would take home to meet your parents. With a continuous smile on his face, you can always find Johnny ready to help. And with that said, Johnny stands true to his favorite quote by Donald Trump, “If you’re interested in ‘balancing’ work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable.” For this self-proclaimed geek, he’s already achieved it.

Christmas came and went this year. I didn’t feel as festive as I have in previous years. Sure I had the chance to take my friends out to eat on 3 separate occasions. I feel a nice meal is more rewarding than gifts that people may not like or use. It was more of a favor to me since I did not have to look for specific gifts for people or write additional Christmas cards to them. Not that I wanted anything at all, but I got some pretty nifty gifts this year. I got a Tim Duncan jersey, a new motorcycle helmet, a t-shirt, a DVD, and a frame. None of which I wanted people to get me but I got them anyway. I can’t really complain because they are awesome gifts. San had suggested the reason why I don’t feel festive is because I didn’t go through the whole ordeal of figuring out what to get who. That maybe the case, but I do enjoy the fact that I didn’t have that added stress. In fact, I found my parents gift on a spontaneous shopping trip last Wednesday without really looking. I ordered a couple of items on the Internet but for the most part gift giving this year was good.

2008 is quickly approaching after 1 more week. I’m looking forward to the new year but hopefully 2008 will continue to be good to me as 2007 was. I’ve been thinking about what is going to happen in 2008 that may be significant to me. It’s a 90% chance that I will be buying my first home. Whether it being with or without the folks, I have yet decided. I’m also going to have major work done on my teeth. Yes oral hygiene has been a big priority to me recently. After seeing the Dentist for the first time in 13 years, I’ve decided to make the whole next year dedicated to taking care of my teeth. I’ll also be taking a trip to Boston and NYC at the end of April and beginning of May for a friend’s wedding. Who knows, I might even have a new car or bike. Most likely not brand new but it will definitely be an upgrade to what I have now. Of course, this won’t happen until I have my own place. That will always be priority 1 until it’s been taken care of.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

On December 12, was Richie’s birthday. We celebrated by taking him out to King’s Fish House in Long Beach. Had a very nice lobster dinner and awesome cheesecake with chocolate dipped strawberries. The meal was delicious and the company was good. I’m sure he had a great time. He couldn’t stop raving about the cake.

On Saturday, we went over to Sun City for our 5th Annual Holiday Party. We had a huge selection of food! We were entertained by a very thorough and fun trivia game that Sophorn came up with. We also had a couple of intense games of Jenga and our world famous White Elephant gift exchange. This year was probably one of the most funniest exchange. Good times good times.

This past Saturday I spent my entire day at the Long Beach Convention Center gawking at motorcycles from various manufacturers. I also bought some custom molded earphones for my listening pleasure. We probably walked the whole show 3 times waiting for the earphones to be completed. Some highlights of the show included getting autographs from MotoGP’s Colin Edwards and AMA Superbike riders Bostrom Brothers and Josh Herrin. I also got to see both MotoGP bikes of Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner. Not to mention 2007 AMA Superstock Champ, Ben Spies’ Suzuki.

To close out the rest of the evening, I spent some time with friends eating at Seafood Village in Monterey Park. The meal was delicious and the company was good. On Sunday, San and I went to volunteer as facilitators of a silent auction. We basically collected the auction sheets once the bidding ends. Nothing to exciting but got to learn a bit on how auction and silent auctions are executed. All-in-all, a very productive weekend.

I’ve become a huge fan of MotoGP. I even attended my first event this year at Laguna Seca. One of my favorite podcast to listen to is MotoGPod. The host, Bob, talks about motorcycle racing and gets very interesting interviews with various people who are involved in the sport. From announcers to a paddock mechanic he gets the most interesting people in the sport. On one of his recent shows, he had a producer talking about the Nicky Hayden movie that was going to air on MTV at 11/16. Since I finally heard it the podcast recently, I thought I’d share the entire movie here. Don’t worry MTV had the movie broken down in 8 minute segments. I really enjoyed it myself.

Last Saturday, San and I went to volunteer for the Oliver Crest foster home at the CBS lot. It was my second year participating and we had a great time. We helped the kids create decorate popsicle frames so they can use it for their picture with Santa. And hand-full of people from APAF showed up. We grabbed a quick shot with Santa here:

Yesterday I was surprised with an offer to watch the Clippers play the Milwaukee Bucks. I finally got to experience the game in a box seat at a suite. The suite was rented out by NBC Universal. It was weird to see our company logo on the walls and on the furniture.