Tag: England

Turning Tragedy into Triumph

It’s on the Post. It’s on Linkedin. It’s in your face.

It’s about tourism to America. Or the decline of.

You would think people love to flock to the big Apple, to Disneyland and to Las Vegas.

But lately, it doesn’t happen (tourists prefer destinations like Turkey over the USA).

To top that, we got bad news like “they closed the White House tour”, ” the Monument is in repair” etc..

Tell that to those who are planning their family vacation to attend this year’s Cherry-Blossom Parade.

In Marketing, we seek to create a conducive atmosphere (to induce spending), like the Experience Economy which Las Vegas has mastered.

Wouldn’t it be counter-intuitive to finish rebuilding the Twin Towers at quicker pace, and use that as a draw.

Look, we were knocked down, but not out.

Come and see the resilience, the sacred history, and the undefeated spirit of a freedom-loving people (Discover American).

It would create high-paying jobs (using future tourist revenue), and not just for NYC.

Tourists would likely end up touring both East and West Coast.

Think like a tourist. What would you be looking to do and see? (the Dakotas?)

What differentiates the US  from the UK and other EU countries?

Teach a short course in English, with terms like Filibuster, Sequester etc…

I would stay away from visiting a house in disarray and disagreement which induces more stress than spending.

Corona did a good job showing pristine beach front, under the shade of umbrella and 2 beers in the foreground.

Now, that’s vacation away from stress and strain.

They can do that with two bottles, how much more can we do with two buildings, rising from the ashes.

Turn Tragedy into Triumph. Build and they will come.

They always will. Just need to be nudged.  Call out Hollywood, line up the stars (our new ambassadors).

I remember that one time, when Quincy Jones called everybody to leave their egos outside the door. Outside, they might be stars in their own rights. Inside the studio, We are the World. And they ate it up. The synergy and energy of first-class vocals, in harmony and collaboration. Build it and they will come. From very afar, to rediscover America and American, people who can turn tragedy into triumph.

Justice we can use

Some people go through life without experiencing love.

But today, we all experience justice. Put the economy, the environment , and the bad debt aside.

It’s the kind of justice we can use. Black and white kind of justice. Not just the American way. It’s universal. It brought closure to the 3000 families and a plundering decade.

Like you, I can still see the inferno in my mind as if it just happened yesterday.  It actually killed Peter Jennings who was anchoring ABC News at the time.

Mr Jennings also co-authored The Century (America 1900-2000). He must have examined in-depth the multitude of stories: the good, bad and ugly. But 9/11 dealt him a knock-out blow. (He took up smoking again, which eventually ended his life).

Since Bin Laden denied thousands of innocent people their rightful and productive lives , his was finally revoked. I wish Mr Jennings were still here to deliver that ABC news brief.

Justice is surpassed only by love, according to St Paul. This weekend, we got a glimpse of both : from the wedding in England to the takedown in Pakistan. I know it’s been painful: the agony, anxiety and anger. Finally we can use some justice. Not a moment too late. To be human among a sea of humanities at this moment is a privilege. I will always remember the night I read this news. My “where were you when they shot JFK moment”. Not every day is the same. Not in this Century. I am sure the next co-author of 21st Century will have to include this night’s (5/1/2011) as very noteworhty.

tale of a survivor

A Canadian lady, back from visiting her family in India, was aboard the flight to Detroit on Christmas day.http://www.thecanadianpress.com/english/online/OnlineFullStory.aspx?filename=p122649A&newsitemid=27268234&languageid=1

She recalled vivid details of near-miss explosion, the terror and the bravery of passengers and crews.

We cannot control some events, but we can control our reaction (10/90 rule).

As far as stats , the chance for us to get hit by a car is much higher (1/80) vs (1/800,000 by a terrorist) in our life time.

But, for those of us on business frequent flying list, bump that up a bit.

These past few years, American stay put more, move less. Many just want to stay in their house, without it being foreclosed.

We are dealing with an atmosphere of insecurity more than fear. Insecurity makes us loose sleep, fear helps us prepared.

The perpetrator was known as son of a banker, sent to first-rate school in England (I had some Nigerian graduate school classmates whose intellectual mind I admired).  In contrast, Prince William, born of royalty, decided to pursue and focus on a S & R military career. One intends to destroy and take people with him, the other, saves lives.

Same age group, different sets of orientation.

What I detest are people who expound a certain view, and urge the restless and radical to go out and “just do it”.

N American kids would take that as a “call of the mall” and go out to buy a pair of Nike.

These days I can’t avoid hearing about the “marketing” damage Tiger’s downfall wrought.

This holiday could have been much gloomier but thank God, it’s behind us.

Four young men: the Prince who slept a homeless night in the street of London, a banker’s son who should have traveled with his underwear inside out (like Madonna), Tiger who no longer acts his name, and the Dutch producer enjoys his well-deserving sunshine in Miami after a brief stop in Detroit.

Come on boys! Let’s act like men. Had it still been “hunter and gatherer society”, we would have marched you deep into the trail

and had you haul wild animals back for supper. Life has been hard, digital or analog, even without fanatics.

The Canadian lady said she threw up when finally safe inside the passenger lounge.  Asked if she would fly again, the answer was , perhaps not American. We need some brand reinvigorating here.

 

Both sides now

ABC News last broadcast of 2009 featured some celebrities we have lost, among them, one of its own: Peter Jennings.

Peter’s most memorable quote:: “when I look at a coin, instinctively, I want to flip it to see the other side”.

He used to take a bunch of books to read on plane rides, according to his biographer.

The inquisitive mind. Intolerance for ambiguity. Searching for a whiter shade of pale.

Toffler recounted a conference he had attended, where a man essentially said that he had done manual labor all his life, and then, just wanted to die an educated man.

Learning to learn.

From the vantage point of “the other side” , we can now afford to look back at the Digital Decade. A the macro level we got Health Care and Homeland Security. At the human level, we rediscovered bravery: rescue on the Hudson, fourth plane over Pennsylvania, and most recently, a Dutch passenger over Detroit.

We continue to underestimate our own capacity for good and evil.

Something is hard-wired in our brain (positive wiring, and negative wiring). That’s nature. Managerial conclusion ranging from aristocracy to meritocracy, from X to Y and Z. Post-industrial society pushes its manufacturing model (plants and machine) to the Far East (China is outsourcing this down to Vietnam, end of the supply chain). This made all the debate over NAFTA a waste i.e. Samsung digital TV made in Asia vs analog TV set made in Mexico, inter-America trucking vs intercontinental shipping.

Apple has its server farm in North Carolina, 19th century home to the textile and furniture industries.

Waltham, Erie and Pittsburgh all get a life extension, thanks to post-industrial reinvention, from factory to fab.

If Peter Jennings were alive today, he would still be flipping the coin to see what’s out there.

(being from Canada, and stationed overseas in Vietnam, the Middle East and England , he apparently saw it all).

Maybe the imminent phasing out of newspaper is not bad (NYT goes global today).

In Network Effect, the Economist concludes that people still need the news, even if they don’t need newspapers.

People once thought telegraph spelled death to newspapers. As it turned out, telegraph helped speed up the news.

One thing is certain: with broadband, more people will get their news and get it fast.

Speed, survival and self management ( a term used by Peter Drucker in this knowledge economy e.g. to learn, to mutate and to adapt.) To die an educated man, let’s flip the coin to see the other side.