Medellin, COLOMBIA

In my previous post, I mentioned I have been to Medellin recently. This was my second trip to Colombia in a year; Medellin and Cartagena the first time. I was not yet blogging during my first trip so I will try to summarize all of my reflections

1. The tourist infrastructure in Cartagena is fine. This is a nice Carribean beach city with a long history. The original city is walled as it was a big pirate target for all the gold there waiting to go back to Spain. Its orginal name as Cartagena das Indias because it was discovered while enroute to find a western route to India! The hotels are nice & unique, especially the Sofitel & the Charleston Santa Teresa. The are also many old houses of the very rich from the 17th & 18th century that are small unique B&B's. You can rent the whole place! The food is very good. Contact me if you want to go to Cartagena; POTHOS can provide the perfect experience as I am now well educated in the destination.
2. Medellin is not quite ready for the tourist masses but non the less, dont think of this city as unwelcoming or unsafe. It is in transition.
3. The currency exchange here is the longest most involved process I have ever been thru at the airport currency exchange! They copy your passport and finger print you! I was alittle disturbed by that as who knows who might steal my identity! Now I will worry when I enter the US that my passport will alert that I am a Nigerian business man committing bank fraud by transferring $2M of cash from a recently deceased relatives fortune from International oil that is in a bank in Ghana of which I will give some American that I never met 10% to manage the electronic transaction in secrecy and send the rest back to me. hahaha
4. When I was in Medellin, the entire city (at least the part I was in) had no city gas supply. This made restaurant food choices interesting, but the people were resilent. They cooked in electric stoves, portable gas bottles and the inconvenience was only a slight disruption of some menu items not being available.
5. Four Points by Sheraton is not what you would expect in the US! I am certain this hotels used wood boards with sheets on top for mattresses and hay & sand filled pillows. I have never been on something so "firm" since boyscouts. And, dont be put off that there are no lights on in the hotel foyers, etc. I think that is their way of saving energy.
6. When in Colombia, do your best to eat typical & native food. It was difficult for me to get the hotel to recommend restaurants and they commented on safety. Well, they didnt mean physical safety except for stomach upset. I did not want to be in Colombia and eat Italian and Fondue, so, my journey began. Close to the hotel I found a small stall restaurant that made the perfect hamburger. You added your own "salad", meaning pickles, slaw, onions, etc. The meat was very very good and the bun soft. I had 4 of them over 3 days! Good snack. My friend Nicolas and his friend Carlos took me to the restaurant Triada for the second time (I was there last year too). It had good food and excellent Sangria but Nico did a better job the second night as we went to a more typical food restaurant across the street from the Intercontinetal Hotel. I had a bean "soup" that had many items including pork cracklins. The Sangria & beer was good here too but even better was the seat.... on a patio deck outside. Here I should mention that Colombians do not like spicey food (this is not Mexico) but that doesnt mean they dont have it. Nico went to the bar and brought a small bowl of a hot pepper mixture for my soup which was a delicious compliment.

Lastly I should mention the airport inspection process at departure. Be prepared to be inspected, every inch of you & your belongings. If you are the type of person that is frustrated with US TSA, this will be sure to make you insane. I think every Federal agency is there; police, military, special investigators, etc. Your bags will be disected and every piece of your belongings taken out, touched, put back in and then taken out and inspected again later...... even though you checked your bag into the airline and had no access to it! Your person will be touched several times, Xrayed, re-screened and I am really not exaggerting when I say it is about 8 levels of check and re-check. Just arrive the airport early and relax into the process. I dont know why it is so intense. I have to wonder what is the percentage of drugs smuggled in someone's suitcase? Probably almost zero. Heck, I started to "feel" guilty with all the inspections! Is my aspirin ok? How about my daily vitamins?(which the police did pick up the bottle, shake it and asked me what it was, lol)...

Colombia... the only risk is wanting to stay! (as their government tourism slogan goes). Or maybe the risk is in leaving? :)

Avianca experience

Happy Halloween (or Day of the Dead if your so inclined).
I am traveling and realized it has been way to long since I just wrote some musings and thoughts about my travel experiences. So, over the course of next few days, I will punch out a few small blogs.
I want to start with my Avianca experience from Miami to Medellin.
I took Avianca last year and seem to remember they had old MD80/88's (which I fear those "T" tail airplanes after the AS crash off the CA Coast and is one reason I refuse to fly American). Well, they dont have the MD80's anymore.
This airplane, from & to Medellin was a brand spanking new Airbus A320. I mean I dont think it has been in service or off the assembly line more than 6 months. The seats are so very ergonomically comfortable, coach was almost tolerable.... now if only they widen the seats and realize that less than 30% of the population can not comfortably sit in a 16" wide seat!
Bravo Avianca!

Restraints on airlines’ anarchical behavior

On October 9, 2009 the US Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a guidance letter asking airlines to modify and regulate their policy for reimbursement for lost, damaged and delayed baggage. The objective is to eliminate airlines’ arbitrary limits on reimbursements and basically their attitude to pay “when they feel like it.” The DOT does not give any limits in their notice, they state an airline “shall not limit its liability for provable direct or consequential damages.” In essence, the DOT opinions the airlines should pay for all expenses which are the result of the baggage loss, damage or delay (up to $3,300 per passenger). The airlines have 90 days from the date of the notice to amend their policies.

Source: by eTN staff writer, October 13 (published October 14)

Strategy! Strategy! Strategy!

One of the most valuable lessons the corporate world learned from the military is to think and act in a strategic way. For instance, Captain B. H. Liddell Hart defines strategy as “"the art of distributing and applying military means to fulfill the ends of policy." Carl von Clausewitz is a little more aggressive by explaining strategy as “the employment of battles to gain the end of war."

No matter where strategic thinking comes from, it is THE word nowadays. One important element of strategic entrepreneurship is creating strategic alliances in order to be successful.

Liz Goodgold offers a few insights into “Lessons to Be Learned for Creating Successful Strategic Alliances”:

1. Get the Right Partner - A good fit is a business that has the same target, offers a complementary product or service, or even is in the neighborhood. It should also be a person or partner that you like, trust, and respect.
2. Agree on the Terms - Before inking the deal, take a moment to agree on start dates, deal stoppers, remuneration for each party, etc. Remember: the devil is in the details.
3. Ensure a "Win" for Your Customer - If you are a building contractor, for example, teaming up with a real estate agent is a win for you both and the customer as well! Should repairs or renovations be needed, you are the immediate reliable and recommended resource. And here is one retail promotion I have often seen that I think is a mistake: Making your customer visit 7 different neighborhood stores and get a stamp in order to receive a free gift. Ugh! Too much work without enough benefit.
4. Develop Metrics for Measurement - It is important to determine the best criteria with which to measure your success. It could be the number of click throughs, phone calls, queries, or coupon redemption rates.


Source: "by Liz Goodgold, branding expert, author, and speaker. Sign up for her FREE Brand Finale newsletter with valuable information at www.redfirebranding.com."

“To pee, or not to … pee”

Was that Shakespeare’s real question?

Joking aside, it is the bitter question travelers might have to face in the near future.

The Japanese Airline ANA has come to the conclusion that passengers’ excrements negatively impact the airplane’s weight and therefore increase the fuel costs per flight. Expert minds gathered and came up with the creative idea of asking passengers to pee before they fly. ANA is putting up signs at the airport gates asking passengers to use the bathroom before they board the flight. Since signs are not enough there will even be “loo attendants” making sure that all of the “potential pee-ers” get rid of their load.

There will be a four week trial and if effective, ANA will implement the new bathroom policy. The nice thing about the airline industry is if something works out everybody else follows. So don’t be surprised when airlines will excuse future bathroom fees with the buzzwords par excellence, “Go Green!”

Source: FastCompany.com - “Airline Asks Passengers to Pee Before Flying to Save Energy” by Ariel Schwartz

a report from Kansas City

I was in KC for the 3rd time in my career for meetings Friday and learned alot about the city and surrounding areas. Here are some of my musings. (I thought we had enough days of my news pieces, so, now some observations and fun)

1. LAND! - something we don't have alot of in CA. The freeways are not congested and although I was baffled at the left merge ramps, driving there was a pleasure.
2. Custard - Sheridan's local custard shops are not to be missed. wow.... how good can ice cream get? I had "Pumpkin Concrete" where the mix in a whole slice of pumpkin pie to vanilla custard. I am still on a sugar boost from that and it has been 3 days! :)
3. KCMO (Kansas City Missouri) is not to be confused with KCKS (Kansas City Kansas) - The best parts of downtown are on Missouri side. The Kansas side is mostly the suburbs.
4. Kansas City Airport - the building is old, small and not appealing although its size has advantages of speed. The car rental building is terrific - beautiful and huge! Plan an extra 20 min just to walk from the car return to shuttle buses.
5. The Argosy Casino Hotel is not to be missed for a meal! - this place has the best steak house and casino buffets I have seen outside of Vegas. Really very delicious and reasonable food. The sleeping rooms are comfortable too!

Face it! It has to be Face-to-Face!

How often have we heard that technology is going to replace to a large extent face-to-face meetings? However, tech gurus forgot to add a key variable to the equation, the human factor. Even though a lot of meetings can/could be held via web- and video-conferences, virtual meetings, etc. we should never underestimate one of our most basic needs, the desire to connect personally with other people.

Recently, Forbes Insights published an article proving how essential face-to-face meetings are. They surveyed over 750 business executives about their meeting and travel preferences and their opinion about the effectiveness of different meeting methods.

One of the core outcomes is that executives prefer in-person meetings as it allows them to better understand the client/partner by connecting not just on a business but also social or rather personal level. Hence it is easier to build and strengthen relationships.

Another key finding is that certain topics and issues can’t be dealt with effectively in virtual meetings. Such meetings lack factors like persuasion, leadership, engagement, attention and decision-making. It is very hard to find a consensus as web- or videoconferences don’t help creating trust, recognition and in general “to get a feeling” about something.

The entire report can be looked up under:
Forbes Insight report: Business meetings: The case for face-to-face
Hospitalitynet.org 29 Sep 2009