dispatches from the new world of work

José!

I've been working with HSM for almost 20 years, and I was so blown away with their Latin American events in the 80s that I begged their co-founder, José Salibi Neto, to "bring the show to the U.S.A." HSM finally did, last year, with a bang at Radio City.

Years ago, José came to the U.S. from São Paulo on a tennis scholarship to the U. of South Carolina; he became a world-ranked player ... and I'm sure the timing of yesterday's event was influenced by José's determination to see the US Open finals! (NB: José, who was also a long-time TV tennis commentator in Brazil, says Federer is the best he's ever seen.)

More: Manhattan was a real zoo—the Open winding down, the U.N.'s madcap week, a monster Clinton conference, "fashion week," etc. The Thai Prime Minister was one of several heads of state (all with enormous entourages) at my hotel; and of course a ton of Secret Service. Returned from a long Central Park power walk—soaked and literally dripping with sweat—and found myself in the elevator side-by-side with Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and some very large, scary people. (The Deputy PM was very cordial, understanding, and somewhat bemused by a jogging 62-year-old. As to whether or not the "entourage" were as amused by the dripping sweat is perhaps another story ... )

All in all, quite a deal. After all this, I arrived at Keystone at 3:45am EDT this morning ... to speak about five hours later. Summary comment: All in a day's work.

Tom Peters posted this on 09/14/05.

Comments

Tom, I wish I could have been there. There's a definite energy in your post. I'm betting it was one of your best performances.

Posted by Noel Guinane at September 15, 2005 12:14 PM

Opening Lines for your elevator speach:

1. It's a great day for a walk Mr. Prime Minister!!
2. Hello, my name is Tom. What do you do?
3. Are you a blogger or a jogger?

snxs

Posted by Nik at September 15, 2005 3:58 PM

Nik, where were you when I needed you?

Posted by tom peters at September 15, 2005 5:59 PM

You should have seen him - Tom, that is. Radio City Music Hall is a gigantic, cavernous space --- and in his usual fashion, Tom was determined to swell the whole place with his energy. And he did - swear to god. He was blasting to the back rows --- I thought he was going to lose his voice at several points!
Impact? You better believe it. In the middle of the program, the fellow sitting behind me at the conference leans over and says to his buddy, "This guy alone is worth the whole price of the conference!"

Posted by Marti Barletta at September 18, 2005 4:37 PM

Dunno for sure, but I think taking a towel along on the jaunt would have been in order.

Posted by Ford Prefect at September 19, 2005 11:36 AM