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11:36 pm
– Edinburgh – Day 7 – MPI Opening General
Session
 Today started the official opening of MPI PEC-E (Meeting
Professionals International's Professional Education Conference – Europe). As a registered guest I am allowed to
attend certain general sessions and any classes that aren't completely full,
which I believe will be close to none during this visit.
The Opening General Session was a smash in my
estimation. It is always difficult, I
believe, to keep the attention of a large gathering of people, many of whom
are jet lagged, and who have just recently arrived in what, to many, is a
foreign and strange city. This could
have been especially true in the comfortable setting of the Pentland Suite at the EICC (Edinburgh
International Conference
Center). The seats were movie house plush and a
soothing blue in color. However, the
brief and interesting opening comments by  Chairwoman Terri Briening and
the jolly comments of Edinburgh's
Lord Provost, Leslie Hinds kept our close attention. I'm not sure that a person of the female
sex should generally assume a title of 'Lord' anything, but I believe the
post is the functional equivalent to that of city mayor in the U.S.
 The highlight and focal point of the session was the
keynote speech delivered by Dr. Kjell
Nordstrom. He made some excellent
points regarding globalization making the world more fragmented as opposed to
the prevailing thought that it causes homogenization. The thrust of his argument is that, as born
out by Darwinian Theory, you must either be the fittest or, more importantly,
the most attractive in order to survive.
This latter attribute is demonstrated by the very existence of the
Peacock. If fitness were all in the
survival race, surely such an animal as the peacock would have never
continued to exist. If he is alive and
survived looking as he does then he must have good genetic material and it is
his attractiveness that allows him to survive. As in life, attractiveness in business can
be a key to survival. Business today
succeeds by making itself a "temporary monopoly." See Ikea, BMW even powerhouse
Microsoft. These temporary monopolies have made themselves
attractive. Not all the MBA (Mediocre
But Arrogant) graduates in the world will put you over the top in business
without some sort of attraction in your market. Dr. Nordstrom used the example in the
beginning of his talk of "Bowling Alone." Statistics show that most Americans bowl
alone. It is a fragmented market. All markets are becoming more and more
fragmented.
  It was amusing and a bit shocking that, while speaking of
his background, he referred to the efficiency of Scandinavians by calling
them "mini-Germans." He
pointed out that the top 3 selling prescribed drugs in Scandinavia
are Losic (Nexeum), Prozac and Viagra making the
populace Happy, Horny and Calm.
I'm not sure how well his message of about how America
does business will sit with members of the European conference. He referred to the U.S.
as a nation of ideas as opposed to European countries, which he described as
nation-states. His examples are hard
to refute, however. While, in a short
period of time anyone can become an American, it is much more difficult to
become Swedish, French or Portuguese.
He pointed out that you can be a dirt-poor Austrian from an
indistinguishably poor village and in a very short period of time become an American who is
governor of California. Half-jokingly, he pointed out that takes
300 years to become Swedish; 600 years to become French. Over Seventy percent of the residents of Silicon
Valley were not born in the United
States.
America
sucks up talent from around the globe.
Is this good or bad? As the Dalai Lama says, it is what it is.
 Do you want to succeed?
You have the ability in today's mobile society to go where your
talents are needed and where you will be interested and happy in doing your
job. You are now able to self-select
your life.
It is an attractive message.
Check out Dr. Nordstrom at funkybusiness.com.
With an unusual flair, as the session ended, the walls
actually revolved to the cheering of the thrilled gathering. Bagpipers led us out of the Pentland Suite and into the sunny corridors of the EICC.
Later Friday
 Following the Opening General Session, we all trundled
into tour buses for the Failte Gathering at Hopetoun House. Hopetoun House is really quite beyond my
powers of  description. It
seems to be to the untrained eye the ultimate Scottish country house from the
18th century. Words simply cannot
describe the immensity of the buildings or sheer acreage of the estate. Unfortunately, we arrived after sunset so
we were unable to experience what must be unparalleled vistas of this grand
property on the Firth of Forth.
We were treated to traditional Scottish music and dance
including the Scottish Sword Dance  as well as warm and cold prepared foods. Of course, it didn't take long for me to
find the whisky tasting room where a variety of single malts were
awaiting. By the way, I think it is
only proper to note that Elizabeth Henderson can now be officially counted as
beyond beginner in  her ability to find the nuances in the varieties of
highland malts.
The highlight of the evening came as we all gathered on
the steps facing the east lawn, and a presentation of a full Scottish guard
of drum and bagpipe players proceeded up the Royal
Drive. As
they departed after requesting dismissal form Chairwoman Terri Briening, a veritable panoply of
fireworks erupted in the night sky signaling our departure back to Edinburgh.
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