GLOBETROTTERS

This new GLOBETROTTERS column is designed to keep the
international community connected. Not only will it spotlight who is where in the world now, it will also describe the adventures we all experience by living a life of constant worldwide travel. If you’ve ever been hijacked, stuck in a revolution, or committed an unforgettable cultural faux pas, everyone in our community will be curious to hear about it. Please do tell us, and don’t forget the photos!

TO SUBMIT TO GLOBETROTTERS, email: deborah.malone@internationalistmagazine.com

Summer generally brings some leisure travel for most of us, and given the personalities in this international community, it can include the kind of madcap adventures of a Bob Hope-Bing Crosby “On the road” movie. Increasingly, though, it also means a time of business transition before autumn’s frenetic pace. This Globetrotters edition shares anecdotes from both our holiday and business lives this summer. I made a personal commitment this summer to avoid London’s Heathrow airport for the month of August when tourists and terrorist precautions make travel more challenging than usual. As an alternative, I tried Canada’s Zoom Airlines, which has a new route from JFK to Gatwick. Twice a week, their Trans-Atlantic flight stops in Bermuda. Passengers can easily organize to make the island a few-day respite from the stresses of NYLon by catching another Zoom flight to continue the journey. Although tempted, I stayed on course, but I do plan to try out the Bermuda pit stop—probably after hurricane season. www.flyzoom.com

• I was not the only one thinking about hurricanes. Banner’s Hanne Tuomisto-Inch was vacationing with her husband in the Caribbean during late August when they also encountered one of the region’s early storms. They did manage to eventually fly back to London to tell tales of the rainy tropics.contact: hanne.tuomisto-inch@b1.com

• Others had calmer vacations. Gruner+Jahr’s André Freiheit mentioned that spent his three-week holiday on a sail boat and did not bring his Blackberry. He proudly stated that they only reading he did was from books and not small screens. contact: freiheit.andre@guj.de

• Hans Peter Rohner of Publicitas combined some business and pleasure travel this summer. He discovered Beijing’s new world art district, which he predicts will be more famous than Soho, Greenwich Village and Montmartre together. Although he confessed that he did spend much of the summer preparing for the company’s major PPN event in Nice—planned for just as autumn arrives in late September. contact: hprohner@publigroupe.com

• Alex Clement of Harvard Business Review relates his summer adventure, which may be considered holiday and experiential sports marketing.
    “My family and I had a very good (but way out of the ordinary) vacation experience. Since 2000 we have ventured to Gordes, a feudal village in the south of France, with a side trip to either the Riviera and/or Paris, or in this year’s case, both.  
   As we arrived at the Gare Lyon in Paris for the final weekend of our trip, our taxi driver crossed over the Seine to the Left Bank, only to cross back to the Right get to our hotel. I asked the driver what was going on, and he said it's Tony Parker and Eva Longoria's wedding today and I am avoiding the traffic.   
    As we approached our hotel (Parc Hyatt) the streets became more and more congested. Once we arrived we discovered that the celebrity couple was staying at our hotel and the paparazzi were out in full force. We had to be escorted in and out of the hotel by security. As we checked in and were being taken to our rooms, Thierry Henry, the biggest French footballer now that Zidane is retired, gets on the elevator.   He was ‘noncommunicatif.’ I asked the clerk what was his problem and he said he is very angry because he wants a room, but the hotel is sold out. At this point I turned to my wife and said, we have two free rooms (with points) and Thierry Henry can’t get one. The planets and stars had aligned for the Clemente clan...if only for a weekend!” contact: aclemente@hbsp.harvard.com

• Another sports great, Tiger Woods, was apparently in a better mood this summer. Walter Schubert of Schubert International told me the he had a chance to meet the golf legend while attending a Deutsche Bank reception following Tiger’s ringing of the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange. Walter asked Tiger what was the most important element to life, and without any hesitation he answered, “Sharing and caring.” Walter didn’t stop his questions; he then asked what “What was life’s biggest challenge?” Again, without even a pause, Tiger answered, “finding balance.” Somehow Walter was comforted that a devout Buddhist and one of history’s most talented golfers admitted that even he was struggling to lead a balanced life.

• Tiger Woods’ name also came up in a story told by TAG Heuer’s Brand Innovation Manager, Thomas Houlon, at the Connect Alliance meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland in late summer. He related how Tiger refused to wear a watch while playing golf as he felt the weight and shape restricted the full movement of his wrist. TAG Heuer famously engineered a watch he would wear. However, during the development, Houlon showed the sport great some of the materials being used in the watch. Tiger had the ability to gauge an imperceptible weight difference between two similar pieces of rubber to the accuracy of a digital scale. contact: Thomas.houlon@tagheuer.com

• The summer also saw changes at Cathay Pacific Airlines. Charlie Stuart-Cox has moved from his long-time marketing position to head up in-flight services. Many will recall Charlie’s significant role in helping to get Hong Kong back on its feet in the aftermath of the SARS crisis. Always an advocate for a customer-driven, rather than a product-driven, focus, he will no doubt continue to move Cathay to new levels of leadership. James Ginns, who had served as the airlines’ Japan Manager, fills Charlie’s marketing shoes contact: chascox@cathaypacific.com

• Another change at Cathay includes new affiliations for their in-flight media. Sydney’s APC Magazines were appointed by both Cathay Pacific and Dragonair, also a member of the Cathy Pacific Group, to provide all custom publishing services. Contact: JSherborn@acpmagazines.com.sg APC appointed Asian Integrated Media (AIM), headed by Peter Jeffery, for global ad sales across all in-flight entertainment products for both airlines. contact: peterjeffery@asianimedia.com

• Alan Rutherford is also made a major transformation this summer. He moved from his Global Media role at Unilever to become CEO of Digitas. The Publicis-owned agency is making some headlines of its own with a front page story in the New York Times business section last month about the creation of Prodigious Worldwide and new analytical systems. Alan should feel right back at home in the agency world. Don’t forget this is a man who was photographed some years ago throwing a TV out of a window to make a media point. contact: arutherford@digitasinc.com

• Lisbeth Olness of Norway’s Dagen Naeringsliv has told me that she spent the summer anticipating the autumn launch of the newspaper’s new D2 lifestyle magazine. She assures me that the mid-autumn launch will introduce a break-through new product for Norway’s avid upscale readers. contact: lisbeth.olness@dn.nhst.no

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