A seasoned Filipino journalist was among a diverse team of in-house media practitioners who constantly informed the world about the events and developments unfolding every day at the just-concluded Expo 2020 Dubai.
“It was an experience of a lifetime, a career milestone, and I’m forever grateful to Expo 2020 for the wonderful opportunity and to a wonderful team at the News Service bureau to which I was the only Filipino member of,” said Jojo Dass, who arrived in the city to become editor of at least three Dubai-based international magazines simultaneously from 2008 to 2015.
Sharing his experience, Dass, born and raised in Manila, Philippines, said: “There never was a dull moment.
“No two days were the same. From being in a room with royalties and heads of states, interviewing New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta or Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema for instance; to rushing backstage for a quick pre-concert Q&A with Pinoy music icons Ely Buendia, PNE’s Chito Miranda, or the wild-hearted sons of Kamikazee, my six-month stint at the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ – – the just-concluded Expo 2020 Dubai – – was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Expo 2020 Dubai brought 192 countries together for over 182 days from Oct. 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 in the midst of a pandemic, to discuss and promote anything from climate change and women’s right to the latest smart technologies, space travel and beyond. A total of 24.1 million visits were recorded.
Each country had a pavilion showcasing their national pride as well as investment opportunities back home.
The theme of the world fair was, “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” which could not have been more appropriate as world leaders gravitate to that 438-hectare piece of desert land converted into a state-of-the-art city that served as a global meeting place from which to chart the course of history.
Among his memorable experiences, Dass said, were a visit by His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parlin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State on the occasion of the Holy See’s “Honour Day,” and that of US Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo, who attended the USA “National Day” at the global fair.
Aside from these, Dass said he also had the opportunity to see “Lucy,” whom he “met” at the Ethiopia Pavilion on assignment. Lucy is the nickname given by archaeologists to skeleton fossils, one of the oldest known human ancestors, which was discovered on Nov. 24, 1974 in Hadar, Ethiopia.
He said he was also fortunate to witness the jaw-dropping Alter 3, a humanoid robot, conduct a human orchestra and sang with the music before a huge crowd at one of the Expo’s concert grounds – the Jubilee Park.
There also was Alejandra Fuentes of Honduras, who was actually scheduled to represent her country in the Miss World beauty pageant, but chose to come to Expo 2020 Dubai instead to be director of their pavilion. Dass said he got a chance to talk to her on another assignment.
Dass said he likewise may not forget his interview with Martin Strel, veteran long-distance swimmer from Slovenia who has bragging rights to a number of Guinness World Records for swimming across major rivers of the world, including the Amazon.
Dass shared that a UK-based human resource company invited him for a stint with Expo 2020 Dubai. He said he went through a remote and timed, written exam on editing, another on essay writing, and two interviews by the heads of what he would later on come to know as the Expo Communications Team (ECT).
“I’ve noticed how diverse we were as a team. There was a Dutch, an Irish, a French, a Cambodian-Russian, an Indian national, lots of British, lots more Arabs – Egyptians, Syrians, and an Algerian, among others – and me, a Filipino,” Dass said.
Dass joined the Filipino diaspora in 1996 and pursued his career as a journalist. He had written for the Manila Chronicle and the Manila Times before going abroad.
Dass currently provides consultancy and content services.
The World Expo is a global event celebrating advances made in various fields. It was supposed to be held in Dubai in 2020 but was a moved a year later due to the Covid pandemic.