Time for Business

After the weekend we had, it was time for us to justify our visit with a few business meetings. The morning centered on the Olympic Games, which you can’t avoid hearing about in Beijing. Aramark and NBC would join us to give us some insight as to how to pull off a worldwide event, and make money doing it.

I’m not feeling too well. Another night of insomnia has taken its toll. But, I’ve got to pull it together to pave the way for the NBC rep.

Aramark walked us through how they won, and now plan to execute a plan to feed the attendees, athletes and media that will be part of the Olympic Games. It’s a massive undertaking. Apart from the sheer number of people who can be expected to come through the doors, there is the challenges imposed by the contract; including staffing locally for certain jobs, food preparation issues, building a temporary infrastructure.

Working with a central government like China mean that the government has to be intimately involved in all of this. This means records have to be provided, menus signed off on, permissions and allowances. Add to this the need to translate it all from English to Chinese. Some menu items don’t translate, so how you get them approved?

I met Derek Ehman from NBC in the hallway. He’s been kind enough to help us. I didn’t realize that this is crunch time for the NBCfplks. He joins the room and walks us through the sales tape that lays the scope of the games out very nicely. After a few quick slides to walk us through his function and the operational layout, he opens the floor to questions. And, in typical fashion, we turn it into a lightning round.

After, as I’m walking Derek out, he offers his help while I’m in Beijing. I tell him we’re leaving for Shanghai tonight, and he brightens.

Before I let him go, knowing that he’s a serial expat, I ask him how deals with it – the acclimation, I mean. “Yeah, it’s tough, it’s very tough…They have a phrase for it, expats call it “riding the wave. You go through peaks and valleys, where you’re really glad to be hear one minute, and looking at your watch to get out of here the next. Just take care of yourself. Stay hydrated. Take your vitamins. If you can, stick to your normal schedule, even thought that means you’ll be living at night.”

I like that description. It does fell like a struggle. I’m having a good time, and learning a lot, but I miss home, I miss variance in food, and I miss my wife. Plus, this air – especially in Beijing, - is brutal. When I clear out at night, the pollution is obvious on the Kleenex. Not good.

I take Derek’s advice immediately and chug three bottles of water. I instantly start to feel better.

Dr. Wang has arranged for us to visit the Olympic village today by bus. The government is very careful to keep the facilities secure, not just for security purposes, but to keep from spoiling the surprise. And these buildings are really quite nice, although they’re really designed to be seen at night. We hop off the bus, bolt past a policeman and force our way into some shots.









Then it’s off to visit Lenovo, the guys you probably know from ThinkPad computers. Apart from being huge in China, Lenovo recently bought IBM out of the ThinkPad business and plans to reestablish the brand.

Lenovo is located inside a “mall” of software companies operating in section of Beijing. It is a nice campus. The company has a customer service and receiving center, which is where we head. Leo Curtis with Lenovo gives us an extensive overview of the company, its new products, its strategic initiatives, and its operating advantages. For instance, R&D is right upstairs from the customer center we’re in. So, if a customer needs a design concession, the R&D people can come right in with solutions.



After, we get a quick walk thru of the plant down the street. But, first, we're asked to gear up in anti-static suits. Imagine a young Chinese woman able to assemble a desktop in 2.5 minutes. That’s what they’re doing here, with Kanban charts in plain sight, and pictures from employee events in plain sight.







We high-tail it out of there to catch our flight to Shanghai. Traffic is insane. The rules of the road are really more like advisories for soft hearted little punks. People here just gun it and pray they make it through. When we realize our bus driver is trying to make a left at a jammed intersection, we can’t believe the fight that breaks out. Smaller cars, bicyclists, pedestrians – nobody is afraid to cut him off, and he just keeps on pushing. This pic doesn’t even begin to do it justice!

We make it with time to spare, as the travel agency took care of checking our bags for us. We sneak in a few quick beers, as dinner looks like an impossibility at this point, and hop on the flight from the tarmac.

I time travel – completely passing out until we’re 10 minutes outside Shanghai. I only wake up because the cabin pressure isn’t enough to keep my ears from stinging. Ouch. I’m practically deaf by the time we get off the flight. And, worse, I have no voice now. I start begging around for pharmaceuticals and find some angels. A couple Ambien so I can finally sleep and a pair of antibiotics for my throat. Jackpot!

And speaking of jackpot, check out my room! In the immortal words of Sean, our Beijing tour guide, “it’s very nice”.



I pop the Ambien and the antibiotic. I hop in the shower, and as soon as I’m toweling off the room goes slo-mo on me. I hop in bed just before the lights go out.