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Archive 2008:
Here are some of Rowan’s
speaking engagements for 2008:
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International Top-Management
Conference, Minsk, Belarus
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Visiting countries from the former Soviet Union is always a fascinating experience. My trip this year to Belarus was no exception. I was invited, along with Professor Chan Kim (co-author of “Blue Ocean Strategy”), to speak at the 4th Annual International Business Conference, hosted at the IPM Business School in Minsk. The theme of the top-management event was
“The Power of Innovation”, which gave Prof. Kim and myself the opportunity to explain some of the key innovation strategies we teach companies all around the world. I managed to have all 250 of my Powerpoint slides translated into Russian (!), and spent the entire morning before my keynote speech with the simultaneous translator, Boris, making sure he understood every word of my 90-minute presentation. This seemed to be appreciated by the conference’s mostly Russian-speaking participants, who came not just from Minsk, but also from Moscow and Kiev. My thanks go to Varvara Kuzmenkova, Pavel Golenchenko and Pavel Daneyko of the IPM Business School for inviting me to speak at this very special event. |
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“Innovation War Room” Strategy
Workshop, Andorra
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Andorra is perched high in the eastern Pyrenees mountains, and borders both Spain and France. Best known for its ski-resorts and its status as a tax haven, Andorra also boasts the second-highest human life expectancy in the world (82.67 years), so the Andorrans must be doing something right! I was there in November to conduct one of my “Innovation War Room” strategy workshops – this time for an undisclosed client (!!). After flying into sunny Barcelona, Spain, my picturesque 3-hour road trip up to Andorra la Vella, capital of the tiny, landlocked country, took me from summer straight into winter. Judging by the feedback I received, the strategy workshop went extremely well. Here are some of the comments: “Everyone without exception agreed that your presentation was the highlight of our meeting this year”; “The workshop has generated some great ideas that we are definitely going to follow up on”; “All day Sunday, discussions were being referred back to the Innovation War Room workshop!”; “You had a fantastic impact on the group and we are all very grateful that you could join us and work with us!”. Thanks guys, that makes it all worthwhile |
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LIMRA Latin American Conference,
Florida, USA
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I knew when I flew into Miami airport that this trip was going to be my last opportunity in 2008 to tank up on blue skies, sunshine and sandy beaches. As always, Florida didn’t disappoint me. I was there to deliver a keynote speech at the 2008 Latin American Conference, organized by LIMRA, the worldwide association of insurance and financial services companies. This year’s event theme, “The Value of Innovation – More Than Making Simple Changes”, gave me the perfect forum for sounding off on how to build a deep, sustainable capability for innovation. My speech, at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa on South Ocean Drive, was simultaneously translated into both Spanish and Portuguese for the participants, who came from right across North, Central, and South America. My special thanks to Bolivar Arosemena, LIMRA’s Assistant VP for the Latin-America / Caribbean region, and Santiago Osorio, President and CEO of AIG in Colombia, for inviting me for this engagement. |
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Global Corporate Real Estate Summit, Berlin
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On September 22, the first day of Fall, it was a real delight to be back in Berlin for CoreNet’s Global Corporate Real Summit. Hosted at the fabulous Intercontinental hotel on the Budapester Strasse, the two-day event brought together about 400 CRE professionals from a wide spectrum of the world’s major companies. The program was officially opened by Klaus Wowereit, mayor of Berlin, and I was honored to follow him up on stage as the first keynote speaker of the summit. Another highlight of this trip was an invitation for dinner the previous evening on top of the famous Reichstag building, which houses Germany’s parliament. My thanks to Amanda Brooks, Program Director at CoreNet Global, as well as my old friend Sven Wingerter, Managing Partner of Eurocres, for setting up this unforgettable engagement. |
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“CFO Change Champions” Conference, Vienna, Austria
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It seems that financial controllers the world over are rethinking the way they invest in innovation. I’ve been asked to speak at several high-level forums over the last 12 months that have been focused on how to manage innovation expenditure and maximize ROI. The most recent was the excellent “CFO Change Champions” conference organized by Management Events at the Intercontinental hotel in Vienna, which was attended by around 100 executives from companies like Agip, AstraZeneca, BMW, Europcar, GE, and Schlumberger. As always, the ME team performed wonderfully, making the whole event a real pleasure. It was also great to be back in Vienna, not least for the excellent Wiener schnitzel I enjoyed before returning home! Congratulations to Mia Ollila and her colleagues at Management Events for putting on another superb conference. |
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Evening Lecture and Book Launch, Eindhoven, Holland
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This was my final speaking engagement for the first half-year of 2008, and it turned out to be a very special one indeed. Given that I lived in Eindhoven, Holland, for a few years back in the 1980s, any event hosted in the town usually becomes a kind of reunion with old friends and colleagues. This one trumped them all. Hosted by Rethinking Group at Eindhoven’s Van Abbe museum, the evening lecture, book launch and reception was a unique opportunity to meet up with acquaintances I’ve known for up to 20 years, some of whom I hadn’t seen for over a decade, and to make quite a few new friends, too. A big shout out to Peter Barratt-Jones, Creative Strategy Director of Rethinking Group, as well as to Sabine Swinkels, Jan Van Buul and the rest of the team (as well as my assistant Miriam), for putting on a great show. Here’s wishing Peter’s new strategy venture “What Next?” every success in the future. |
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Innovation Management Conference, Dubai
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In June, I was back in the Middle East for the second time year to speak at the Management Innovation Forum, hosted at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. The conference – one of a series of high-profile events organized each year by IIR Leaders Presents – brought together business leaders, directors and managers across the spectrum, from both the private and the public sector. My keynote speech (on “Demystifying the Innovation Process”) and book signing session concluded the last day of the conference. Fellow speakers at this event included Kjell Nordström, co-author of Funky Business, and Tom Kelley, Managing Director of the popular design firm IDEO. My thanks to Purva Hassomal, Conference Director at IIR, for inviting for this engagement, as well as Vanessa Evans, Event Manager, for her smooth running of this excellent forum. |
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Three-day Innovation Masterclass,
Eastern Cape, South Africa
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I’m always thrilled when I’m asked to work with public service organizations around the world. This event was no exception. Having spent a couple of days with the Office of the Premier in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province earlier this year, it was an honor to be asked back to conduct a three-day innovation masterclass for the province’s Public Works department. Hosted at East London Golf Club, overlooking some of the rugged and beautiful coastline of the Eastern Cape, the event brought together about 50 public service leaders to innovate around the department’s service delivery process. The whole initiative was driven by Ntsiki Mashiya, Chief Director of Strategic Planning at Public Works, whose formidable leadership skills were evident throughout the event. I’m also thankful to James Rautenbach, Director of Information Technology, and Clayton Bhana, Director of Supply Chain Management, for their support in organizing this event. |
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One-day public seminar, Helsinki
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I thoroughly enjoyed my return to Finland this June to conduct a one-day public seminar for Management Events. I’ve worked with the company several times over the last couple of years, but this event surpassed all others in terms of scale and duration. Hosted at the Crowne Plaza in Helsinki, my seminar entitled “Winning in the Innovation Economy” attracted about 130 senior executives from a wide spectrum of Finnish companies. All in all, I had about 6 hours onstage, which gave me a chance to outline what it takes to turn innovation from a buzzword into a core competence. It was also great to meet up with Olli Muurainen, illustrious founder of Management Events, along with Tomi Hilvo the company’s charismatic CEO. Once again, I’m grateful to Susanna Salminen, my agent in Finland and the Nordic region, for orchestrating this engagement, and for doing a great job at the event despite just having had the plaster removed from her broken leg (due to a horse riding accident). What an inspiration! |
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Three-day innovation masterclass, Gaborone
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Botswana has been called “the jewel of Africa” – a fitting description that’s inspired by much more than the country’s abundant diamonds. On my second visit to the country this year, I had the great pleasure of spending three days with the Botswana Housing Corporation in Gaborone to conduct an innovation masterclass for the organization’s senior leadership. Once again, I was struck by the friendliness, fresh thinking and forward-looking attitude that’s so typical of Botswana and its people. BHC was looking for radical new ways to fulfill its corporate mission , which is focused on developing innovative services for property development and estate management. My thanks to Thatayaone Sithole, BHC’s Corporate Planning Manager, for setting up this event, and to Reginald Motswaiso, BHC’S Chief Executive Officer, for his commitment to building a deep innovation capability at the company, which was evident throughout the event. |
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HR Strategic Development Conference, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
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I was honored to deliver a 2-hour keynote address at this year’s HR Strategic Development Conference, held in Dammam in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohammed Bin Fahad Bin Abdulaziz, the event brought together around 400 Human Resources professionals and other senior executives from the Eastern Province and the surrounding region. The theme of my speech was “The role of HR in Managing Innovation”, which is a subject that definitely seemed to resonate with the audience. My fellow speakers included Richard Boyatzis, co-author of Resonant Leadership, and Mark Nyman, a close colleague at RBL of my friend Dave Ulrich, the world’s thought leader on HR. Kudos to the Asharqia Chamber of Commerce in Dammam, along with Saudi Electricity Company and the Arabian Society for HR Management, for hosting an excellent event, and thanks to Peter Novak in the UK for putting my name on the speaker program. |
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Konecranes Leadership Conference, Barcelona
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Once again, it was a joy to be back in beautiful Barcelona, this time to speak to the international top management of Konecranes - a world-leading manufacturer of lifting equipment for manufacturing industries, shipyards and harbors. My 90-minute keynote speech on “Innovation to the Core” was designed to outline exactly what it takes to build and deploy a deep enterprise capability for innovation. Afterward, I was delighted to sign copies of “Innovation to the Core”, and later in the afternoon I even managed to grab an hour at the pool (a rare pleasure). I’d really like to thank Mikael Wegmüller, Director of Marketing and Communications, whom I had the pleasure of meeting back in January in snowy Helsinki, for inviting me to speak at this event, as well as Mauri Ranta, SpeakersForum Helsinki, for setting up the engagement |
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 170
copies
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European Top Management Summit, Noordwijk, Holland
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Imtech is one of the fastest growing companies in The Netherlands. A European technical services provider in the fields of electrical engineering, ICT and mechanical engineering, the company has an annual revenue of over 3.3 billion Euro. I had the honor this year of speaking at Imtech’s first European Top Management Summit, which brought together 120 of the company’s leaders at the Palace Hotel in Noordwijk, a popular seaside resort in the Netherlands. The event gave me a chance to share some insights on innovation with a very entrepreneurial group of top managers who are eager to find new ways to drive even more growth at the top line. My thanks to Pieter Koenders, Director of Corporate Communications, for his invitation to speak to the company, as well as Astrid Marré and Margit Gideonse for putting this engagement together at very short notice. |
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Innovative Banking Forum,Stockholm
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In the wake of the global credit crunch, with the financial services industry in very bad shape and the whole notion of “financial innovation” under question, it was with some caution that I approached my keynote speech at the Innovative Banking Forum in Stockholm. Thankfully, I needn’t have worried. Financial services firms in the Nordic region are still very upbeat on innovation (as the title of the conference suggests!) and the audience embraced my presentation with a lot of enthusiasm. Sponsored by MORS Software and hosted by Swedbank, the event attracted participants from several countries in the region. Following my speech, which concluded the afternoon program, I was delighted to sign 50 copies of my new book “Innovation to the Core”. A word of thanks to Mika Mustakallio, CEO of MORS Software, for inviting me to speak at this event, and to my ever-energetic agent, Susanna Salminen, for recommending me once again. |
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50 copies
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Public Business Seminar, Lisbon
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This March, I was honored to speak at the first of a high-profile series of public business seminars hosted by PRIMAVERA Academy, the executive education arm of PRIMAVERA – Portugal’s leading enterprise software company. The afternoon event, which was advertised on TV for several weeks, was held at Lisbon’s impressive “Centro de Congressos” and attracted over 400 paying participants along with the Portuguese Press. My two sessions on “Making Innovation Happen” ran for a total of almost 3 hours, after which I was happy to sign copies of “Innovation to the Core”. A highlight of this trip was my stay at Pestana Palace, which has to be the most beautiful hotel in Lisbon (see www.hotelpestanapalace.com ). My thanks to José Dionisio, president of PRIMAVERA, for inviting me to speak at this spectacular event, and to Marketing Director Idalina Sousa for managing everything so smoothly – as well as Yvonne Baldaia for setting up the engagement. |
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60
copies
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Bayer Global Conference, Barcelona
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Every now and again,
I get to speak to a group of people that is genuinely improving
quality of life for those who are battling with
serious illness. Such was the case with my speaking appearance
at the Bayer Global Conference for Hematology/Cardiology,
hosted in beautiful Barcelona, Spain.
Bayer Healthcare is of course one of the world’s
leading pharmaceutical companies, most famous perhaps
for Aspirin – arguably
the most commercially successful drug ever. My keynote
speech, entitled “Innovation to the Core”,
kicked off the final day of the three-day conference,
and was followed by a book signing for the 130 delegates
from global strategic marketing, regional marketing and
regional sales. It was an honor to help these
delegates – many of whom were originally from Schering,
the pharma company Bayer acquired in 2006 – to
understand how to innovate across the entire business
model. My sincere thanks to Sreejit Mohan, Director
of Public Policy and Communications, based in Berkeley,
California, for inviting me to speak to this excellent
group. |
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130
copies
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Henkel “Innovation Day”, Düsseldorf
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Living not far from Düsseldorf in
Germany, this event was something of a “home-game” for
me. The folks at Henkel – the international
household products company – invited me to come and
deliver a keynote speech at their global “Innovation
Day 2008” event, which was hosted not far
from the firm’s Düsseldorf headquarters. Best
known for brands like Persil detergent, Schwarzkopf haircare
products, Duckt industrial tape and Sellotape household
tape, Henkel has a presence in 125 countries on five
continents. The Innovation Day event – which
was focused on the company’s cosmetics division – is
a forum to which Henkel invites particpants from its various
geographies. I was honored to speak to the audience on building
a companywide capability for innovation, based on my new
book “Innovation to the core” (co-authored
with Peter Skarzynski). Special thanks to Annette
Gerling of CSA Dusseldorf for recommending me to
Henkel and for managing this engagement. |
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Provincial Learning Conference,
Port Alfred, S. Africa
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Innovating in business is difficult enough. Innovating
in the public sector is fraught with far more
daunting challenges – not least of which is the
quagmire of bureaucracy. This is true in any country
of the world – but in South Africa the
challenges are compounded by the seeming intractability
of the problems the government is trying to solve (read: poverty,
unemployment, AIDS, and so forth). That’s
why I was honoured to speak to public sector leaders
of the Eastern Cape province in a two-day learning
conference held near picturesque Port Alfred.
My speeches and interactive workshops were designed to
teach these leaders how to innovate around the
delivery of public services. Attended by Dr.
Sibongile Muthwa, Director General of the Eastern
Cape, as well as Singa Ngqwala, the Attorney
General, the event unleashed a lot of innovative thinking,
which was extremely refreshing and encouraging to see.
My thanks go to Shirlee Vasi, Senior Manager
of the Innovation & Knowledge Management Unit, for
making my contribution central to the program (and for
making me feel so welcome), as well as Elise Davis,
IKM Secretary, for overcoming all the afore-mentioned bureaucracy
to get this groundbreaking event together. |
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Two-Day Innovation Masterclass, Botswana
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A real highlight of my Spring 08 speaking
tour in Africa was a two-day Innovation Masterclass
for the giant Debswana Diamond company in Botswana.
A joint venture between the Botswana government and the
South African diamond company De Beers,
Debswana accounts for an incredible 50% of the
entire Botswana economy! I was invited to come
and speak for two days to 300 people at the Jwaneng
diamond mine – the richest diamond mine in the world.
Attended by Blackie Marole, Managing Director
of Debswana, Balisi Bonyongo, General
Manager of Jwaneng mine, and company leaders from a wide
diversity of functions, the conference was the largest
of its kind in the history of the company. It was also featured
quite extensively in the media, with several newspapers
carrying the story and a 5-minute slot on BTV (Botswana
TV). I’d like to express my thanks to Mark
Mabhudhu, Business Process Manager of Business
Integration and Transformation, and Thatayaone
Molefhi Senior Business Analyst – Process
and Innovation, for masterminding this unforgettable event
(and special thanks to Thatayaone for the game
drive on Saturday morning!). |
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300
copies
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Exclusive Business Breakfast, Johannesburg
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While in Joburg this Spring, I was honored to speak at
an exclusive business breakfast hosted by the Netherlands
Chamber of Commerce in South Africa. This intimate
event was attended by 10 corporate leaders from companies like
Heineken, ABN-AMRO bank (recently acquired by Royal Bank
of Scotland), and KLM, and as well as Geeskeline Wolters, Holland’s
deputy Ambassador in SA. It gave me the opportunity
to deliver a 90 minute speech on “Winning in
the Innovation Economy”, and to sign some
advance copies of my new book “Innovation to
the Core” (co-authored with Peter Skarzynski).
I was expecting most of the guests to run back to their offices
after the speech (and with their busy agendas I wouldn’t
have blamed them), but everyone stayed for a lively
Q&A discussion which I found extremely stimulating.
Thanks again to Anne Doeser and Mark
Reyneker of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce
in South Africa for hosting this event, and to Rene Beer
of SSI for providing the venue (and breakfast!). |
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10
copies
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One-Day Innovation Masterclass,
Volkswagen, Johannesburg
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It was good to be back with Volkswagen
South Africa, this time to conduct a one-day
Innovation Masterclass for 90 people from the
company’s Marketing and Sales division. Hosted at
the Emperors Palace and Conference Center in
Johannesburg, the event gave participants a rare chance
to create time and space in their agendas for rethinking
and innovation. I’m always gratified to
see what happens when people get teamed up with colleagues
they don’t usually work with, and start stretching
their thinking along new lines. The folks at VWSA
were no disappointment. Our breakout sessions together
produced some remarkably powerful insights and growth opportunities
around which VW is now going to launch a portfolio
of strategy experiments. I’ll be following
these experiments closely to see where they take the company
in future. In the meantime, my thanks to Mike Glendinning,
Director of Marketing and Sales, VWSA, for initiating this
event, as well as Stuart Lee of Famous Faces,
my agent on the ground. |
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90
copies
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Three-Day Innovation Masterclass,
Port Elizabeth, S. Africa
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The first event on my Spring
08 speaking tour of South Africa and Botswana was
a three-day Innovation Masterclass for Sovereign
Food Investments, one of the world’s most
advanced poultry farming companies. Based in Uitenhage,
near Port Elizabeth (SA), Sovereign processes
an incredible 500,000 chickens a week (!) – which
are sold frozen under the popular brand names Country
Range and Rocklands. The company’s
visionary CEO, Mike Davis, is a true believer
in the power of radical new thinking for driving growth
and strategic renewal. His mission with this 50-person
event was to lay the foundation for building a
deep, sustainable innovation capability that involves
every single person across the firm. My masterclass, entitled “Making
Innovation Happen” – which included
practical breakout sessions for generating new insights
and ideas – was designed to help Mike achieve this
goal. A big THANKYOU to Dawn Gouws of
Sovereign (along with Susan Lascelles) for managing the
whole event with grace and finesse, right down to the last
detail. |
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50
copies
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IBM Forum, Mumbai, India
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The IBM Forum is an annual
event hosted in a string of countries around the world. I
was honored to be the keynote speaker at this year’s
two-day Forum in Mumbai, India, which brought
together leaders from some of the subcontinent’s most
successful companies (including Tata, which
has been in the news recently with the launch of Nano,
the world’s most inexpensive car). In total, I delivered
two speeches at the event (one for CEOs, and one for CIOs
and business unit leaders). Both were entitled “Winning
in the Innovation Economy”. In addition, I
had the great pleasure of signing 300 books.
The atmosphere in “Incredible India” is
of course buzzing with optimism, and it’s a
market where IBM now has roughly one fifth of its global
workforce, which says a lot about where the center
of gravity in the computer industry has been rapidly shifting.
The event, which took place at the Hyatt Regency
Mumbai, was organized extremely professionally by
the folks at GPJ Experience Marketing. My
thanks also to Helen Sahib in London for
putting this engagement together. |
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Fortum Leadership Summit, Helsinki
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The
timing could not have been more appropriate. On the day
the EU announced bold new emission targets for the energy
industry, I had the honour of addressing 120 leaders from
Fortum – Finland’s leading power company – on “Rethinking
the Future: Winning in the Innovation Economy”.
Across the Nordic region, Fortum has already been putting
huge effort into “green” energy – from
renewable sources like wind power, wave power etc.– yet
at the 5th annual Fortum Leadership Summit, hosted in
snowy Helsinki, I got a sense from their top management
that we “ain’t seen nothing yet”. After
the event, which was hosted at the Hilton Kalastajatorppa
hotel, I was told it was the best summit ever. In the
evening, I had the great pleasure of joining Fortum
CEO Mikael Lillius for dinner, which was a rare opportunity
to learn from the top. My thanks to Mikael Frisk, Fortum’s
Senior VP of Corporate HR for inviting me to speak at
the summit, as well as to Susanna Salminen for setting
up this engagement. |
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