Just a list part IV

1. China
2. France
3. Ghana
4. India
5. Iraq
6. Ireland
7. Italy
8. Jamaica
9. Lithuania
10. Morocco
11. Mozambique
12. Nigeria
13. USA
14. UK
15. Venezuela
16. Vietnam

Guess what is this list about?

I am looking forward for your comments!

We Help YOU to do it GREAT

I guess that our official brand message is already well known to all of you Knowledge Warriors. As you might imagine, this message is not a simple advertisement (actually is not an advertisement ) made by some creative folks from a marketing company. This in fact is the result of sophisticated analytical review of our company profile which identifies it's personality, it's strengths, but most importantly what has to be done to align our approach to our customers.

Well I don't know if the brand message had the same effect on you, but when I heard it, it really impressed me. I knew I had previously heard it in a context related with our everyday work but I wasn't sure where. Once back to my room I started to think about it again..."Help you to do it great ... that sounds to me like give a good service ... Yes, that it is the word I was looking for :SERVICE! A company with SERVICE CULTURE" I thought. Rapidly I started to search through the books I recently read and I found it! The name of the book is Service Oriented Enterprises (Setrag Khoshafian - Auerbach Publications) and the related paragraph is the following:

"Serving is praised as a virtue, yet it seems much more difficult to realize it in practice. Inspiration and goose bumps well up when stories are told of unselfish sacrifice and service for noble causes:in social service, in politics, in religion and - why not - even in the military. However, there is a flip side. Our culture sometimes places the wrong emphasis when it rewards greed, aggrandized egos, and cut-throat approaches in climbing the corporate ladder. In a flattered world, we cannot afford to reward selfish ambitions. The service culture sees the success of the customer, shareholder, employee, and partner as essential requirement to fulfillment. It is service oriented. In a service oriented enterprise, greed is not good. Success is a side effect, not the focus. Success is not just about finances; it is about how well others are served and elevated. A service oriented culture means our main function and purpose is found in serving others: helping them achieve their potential"

It might seem like a coincidence but honestly I don't think so. This to me is the demostration that we are on the right path; the gratefull feelling that I am working for a company with a vision and that this vision is in line with the vanguard in our field.

Just a List - part III

1. Le Chateau - Lagos, Nigeria
2. Le Palais Royal - Lagos, Nigeria
3. Youth Hostel Earls Court - London, UK
   
4. Holiday Inn Express - Cambridge, USA
5. Marriot - Beverly, USA
6. Pan American - New York, USA
7. Hyatt - Owing Mills, USA
8. Silken Puerta de Madrid - Madrid, Spain
9. Rafael - Madrid, Spain
10. Eurostars International Palace - Rome, Italy
11. Park Inn - Telford, UK
12. Haughton Hall - Shifnal, UK
13. Premier Inn - Nottingham, UK
14. Mon-Repos - Geneve, Switzerland
15. Hotel Central - Geneve, Switzerland
16. Park House Hotel - Shifnal, UK
17. Hyatt - Dulles - Washington DC, USA
    
18. Gaylord National Conference Center - Washington DC, USA
19. Hotel Hilton - Newcastle, UK
20. Hyatt Madeleine - Paris, France
21. Hotel Merrion - Dublin, Ireland
22. Halcyon Cove - Antigua
23. Stone Manor - Worchestershire, UK
24. Days Inn - Telford, UK
25. Grand Hotel Adriatico - Florence, Italy
26. Hotel Boscolo Bellini - Venice, Italy
27. Hotel Hilton Rome Airport - Fiumicino, Italy
    
28. Hotel Cardoso - Maputo, Mozambique
29. QHotel Telford Golf Club&Spa - Telford, UK
    

Just a list of some of the Hotels where I have been in the last year ... :)

Just a List - Part II - USA TV

1. A reality of small people (in a big world)
2. A reality of a tatoo shop
3. A reality of chimps
4. A reality of a psychologist for dogs
5. A reality of a veterinary clinic
6. A reality of a family with 8 kids
7. A reality of a family with 5 kids
8. A reality of the Miami's Animal Police
9. A reality of people in Jail
10. A reality of a Choppers Factory
11. A reality of the Anti-Drugs special police
12. A reality of (normal) Police
13. A reality of a Plastic Surgery Hospital in Miami
14. A reality of extreme make over of people
15. A reality of extreme make overof houses
16. A reality of people that flip houses
17. A reality of people that exchange houses
18. A reality of people that open restaurants
19. A reality of mothers that escape for a week and try to realize their dreams
20. A reality about tunning cars
21. A reality of a Casino in Las Vegas
22. A reality of dirty jobs
23. And one great fiction and entertainment channel called CNN

Just a list - part I

1. The Blues
2. The Jazz and all its derivations
3. Jimmy Hendrix
4. Ben Harper
5. The Samuel Adams
6. The colours of Maine in Autumn
7. Quentin Tarantino
8. Skating in Central Park
9. Malcom X
10. Muhamed Ali
11. Star Wars
12. The view of the Manhattan Island in the night from New Jersey
13. The actual Dollar/Sterling exchange rate ;)
14. Georgetown in D.C.
15. Barack Obama (Yes We Can!)
16. Francis Ford Coppola
17. The Ford Mustang 1973 Convertible
18. Jhon Lee Hooker, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin (See number 1.. this is a list itself)
19. The Batman original TV serie (The one with soft ears)
20. Robert Pirsig
21. Jack Kerouac
22. Michael Moore
23. Charles Bukowski
24. The Dream of Dr. Martin Luther King

This is the (first) non ordered list of things I like about U.S.A.

Myth about the development World

Today I just want suggest you to watch this presentation of Hans Rosling: I thing is great. Enjoy it!:

This is not a Simulation!

I know there is a post below promising a coming soon that never come about London, but the fact is that I'm now in Boston (please don't ask what I'm doing here now .. that is for another entry). Anyway I was ready to write about my first visit to the United State of America, in this week I had fun and I walked all around the city trying to catch it essence, but when I felt inspired to write ...BEE! BEE! BEE! the fire alarm of my hotel room started. I though well this guys are always doing simulations, but then I heard very clearly the fatal sentence "THIS IS NOT A SIMULATION THIS IS NOT A SIMULATION" eh? I'm in the last floor guys! I just have time to take my trousers and obviously my pocket camera! I ran downstairs and the alarm was always playing more loud BEE BEE BEE THIS BUILDING IS UNDER EMERGENCY ... oh my God, oh our God! each floor I was looking if it was warm or if I can see flames. Finally I arrived downstairs, some people where smoking outside and chatting like nothing was happened (but that was not the reason of the alarm), then I went to the lobby and finally I heard what I want to hear: "We are sorry False alarm Sir". False Alarm? I nearly had a heart attach! At that moment all the guests started to arrive and of course our guys the Fire Fighters as well .. man they look like the ones on TV, I though :) So I did the photo!

Who knows me will say: "Raff this things always happen to you" and what can I say? is true, I took seat and start to think:"Raff are you stupid?, why you took the camera in a situation like this?" then I started to look around to all the other guys, they where in pajamas but with their laptops switched on man, their laptops switched on ;)