I’m back! But I almost didn’t go. The Dubai 8th International Airspace Show was on at the same time. Because of that, every single room seemed to have been booked way in advance so when I wanted to reserve a room last week there was no chance. The only room we found was at the Ritz Carlton and they wanted DH3,300 + 20% per night (that comes to about $1.047) which is excessive to say the least so I canceled the trip. However Pinnacle pulled some white rabbit out of their hat and got me a room and paid for it too! So thank you very much Pinnacle for that. The trip was back on.
Three hectic days of ‘death by PowerPoint’. Thank you Microsoft for creating this gem. If anything is going to guarantee Bill Gates a ticket straight to hell it’s business people all over the world cursing him for creating such a monster. You cannot have a business meeting without hundreds of gawky PowerPoint slides. I’m luckier than most I guess because the companies I represent all are ‘media’ companies, so they do try to spice up the presentations. But the engineering presentations still suck as they are dull. All engineers are the same I guess: facts, tables, charts with no interest whatsoever to spice up their dreary pages, however Jon at Pinnacle did a really good job with some animated product panels opening and closing!
Any way. I survived and managed to get good info about the new Pinnacle Systems products. Very interesting. Now it’s time to convert those three days into sales. Grrrr.
The most important thing about all of these dealer meetings though is not so much the new information on products, it is the re-establishing relationships, associating names with faces, handshakes, pats on the back, show a bigger carrot or a longer stick to ‘make the numbers’ for the next quarter or year.
I didn’t have a chance to visit my sister who now lives in Sharjah, just a short drive from Dubai and didn’t have a chance either to visit some of my friends. But we did have nice dinners and went to a couple of pubs etc to dull the pain of PowerPoints for that day and of course to be in a better frame of mind for the next day! That was fun.
My normal thing when I get to my room is to immediately unpack and put whatever extra cash, passport, excess plastic cards etc in the room safe. Most hotels now have these small safes in the wardrobe, and I did just that. Before checking out this morning, I opened the safe to get the stuff out and I suddenly noticed a very small package stuck in the very corner of the safe, under the front sill.
I never noticed it before. It looked innocent enough and as it was normal paper, I didn’t think it was much. Maybe a scribbled phone number or whatever. Was I surprised when I opened the package I found three Viagra pills! Wohoe. What do we have here? I guess the guy must have had, or planned to have a very wild time in my room… And why didn’t I look closer when I first moved into the bloody room? Just think, I almost never take slippers with me because you just assume that they clean and Hoover the carpets properly, but after seeing those pills, you never know what the hell has happened on those beds and carpets! From now on I’m NOT walking bare-foot on any hotel carpet and that’s a promise.
Now, what the hell do I do with this ‘treasure?’ Any ideas?
Tell you what, we’ll have a little competition… the pills (yes, I took them!) will go to the poster of the best and most original comment on any of the articles on mahmood.tv! and this is NOT a joke, I swear this is true!
hmmm, let me think of a few rules:
by participating into this competition you absolutely do not hold me or my host responsible for all and/or any side effects/death you might experience by using the prize (pills). you must be logged in – so if you don’t have an account yet on mahmood.tv, please go ahead and register. we’ll think of a voting structure for the best comment, but I will personally make the decision on who wins and my decision will be final. you must be over 21 to participate. if you’re not allowed to have these pills in your country for any reason then you can’t get them. you pay for shipping/arrange for collection. if this is deemed illegal, then the competition is off and the pills get flushed down the toilet!
So you want a permanent hard-on courtesy of Pfizer? Get your mind juices flawing first!
Hehe.. have fun! 😉
Comments
PowerPoint is a deathtrap for your information!
Thanks for the links Gregor! I *knew* that I was not unique on thinking how bad these PPT slideshows are and can get. In most instances a few slides would transmit the essence of a presentation, but it does look like that more slides you produce the better your chances of promotion. Never think of the fact that you just send your audience to sleep!
These sales meetings that I go to normally last 3 days, I bet we can better use those days on hands-on sessions with equipment, exchanging “war stories” or even just on the beach or the bar!
Dubai… and three little blue pills
If you were to interview the housekeeping crews of hotels, you would hear of wondrous and interesting things left behind at hotels, even the classiest ones!!
Dubai… and three little blue pills
on the subject of powerpoint:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_pp
http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/000931
cheers
-gregor
Hotel items left behind…
True story I heard from a sales guy. One of his coworkers stayed in a nice hotel in the US and was getting packed up to depart. He dropped something on the floor that rolled under the bed. When he got down on hands and knees to retrieve it his hand bumped something larger under the bed and he pulled it out.).
It was the empty box for a large sex toy with authentic detailing (if you know what I mean
He was worried that the housekeepers might find it and blame it on him since he was a frequent guest who’d grown to know many of the staff by name.
Afraid to put it back under the bed or leave it in the trash, he out it in his carry-on bag to dispose of it later somewhere else.
He drove the rental car to the airport and went through security.
He was mortified when the security screeners had to go through his bag and first thing they pulled out in front of ther passengers was the “toy” box — he’d completely forgotten about it.
Dubai… and three little blue pills
visit a bathhouse, have fun with a mate. 🙂 Do not combine them with Alcohol. You will have a nice time!
Dubai… and three little blue pills
Here in America, all you find in your hotel room is a Bible. I think Viagra is an improvement.
Steve
Re: Dubai… and three little blue pills
uh, what’s the problem with combining the blue pill with some Heaven water? Thought that would have increased the pleasure so to speak… wouldn’t it?
Dubai… and three little blue pills
Is taking Viagra worth it???? YIKES!!!
washingtonpost.com
[b]FDA Looking Into Blindness-Viagra Link[/b]
By Lauran Neergard
The Associated Press
Friday, May 27, 2005; 8:58 AM
Federal health officials are examining rare reports of blindness among some men using the impotence drug Viagra.
The Food and Drug Administration still is investigating, but has no evidence yet that the drug is to blame, said spokeswoman Susan Cruzan.
This type of blindness is called NAION, or non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. It can occur in men who are diabetic or have heart disease, the same conditions that can cause impotence and thus lead to Viagra use.
The FDA has 50 reports of the blindness. Viagra has been taken by more than 23 million men worldwide.
“We take this seriously,” said FDA’s Cruzan.
FDA is working with Viagra manufacturer Pfizer Inc. to determine what, if any, information about the condition should be added to the drug’s label.
© 2005 The Associated Press