André in motion

Gerrit, our tame crow!

It’s true! We have our own tame crow. His name is Gerrit and for the last two months he is a part of the family. Every morning when we open our kitchen door Gerrit flies in, sits on the top of the kitchen door and starts shouting (it’s a sneezing sound) for food (bread). After a few pieces of bread he leaves and sometimes he comes back at the same day, later in the afternoon, but most of the time he waits till the next day. I have put two video’s on my weblog to show you that it is really true.

 

Iceland: A nice experience!

Iceland. Cold and a lot of rain, but a very nice experience. A beautiful country with very nice and friendly people. I have never been to Iceland before, but on the 5^th, 6^th and 7^th of June I had to be there because of three very interesting appointments for GlobalEnglish. GlobalEnglish, the best company in the world, offering a real professional solution for Business Communication Skills in English (disclaimer: I am working as a Global Account Executive for GlobalEnglish).

All my appointments were squeezed in one day, the 6^th of June. I had to arrive the day before to be on time and therefore I had some (little) time to go to the Blue lagoon (A by an old and dead volcano heated and terrible like rotten eggs smelling lake) . Everybody who I know told me to do that. Going to Iceland and not visiting to Blue Lagoon is almost a crime. It was really very relaxing to take a swim and I enjoined it very much. I have made some nice pictures while I was there.

I stayed in the Keflavik hotel in Keflavik. It was a nice hotel with a good Chinese food restaurant. I stayed there for two nights and I really liked the food.

The 6^th of June was the day of my appointments in Reykjavik and the outcome is very promising. There is already one company out of the three that will go for a Pilot with GlobalEnglish, and I am sure that one out of the two remaining will follow this year.

I have also uploaded some photo’s from the hotel, the airport (Keflavik International Airport) and my journey on Iceland.

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Technorati Tags: GlobalEnglish, Iceland, Reykjavik, Keflavik, Keflavik hotel, Blue Lagoon

Conference: "HR in a Difficult Environment" on May, 16 2007 in Moscow

I have been in Moscow on the 15^th and 16^th of May. I was an attendee at a HR conference with the title: “HR in a Difficult Environment”. It was organized by the AEB (Association of European Business). The location of the event was the Baltschug Kempinski Hotel in Moscow. Wow, what an impressive hotel and that in a former “communistic” country. Unbelievable what a luxury I found there.

The conference itself was on the 16^th, but I arrived at the 15^th and had some time to spend in Moscow (I have never been there before). And of course I have been visiting the Red Square and the Kremlin. I have to say that I was impressed by the beauty of this city (from what I was able to see of course) and the friendliness of the people living here. I have taken some pictures to give a little bit of an impression.

One thing is true. Moscow is a very expensive city. More than other cities I have been visiting. I will not mention prices (that’s so frustrating), but what I can say is, don’t go there without a full wallet!

On the 16^th I was at the conference. I have met a lot of interesting contacts. Contacts that can be of interest to GlobalEnglish (disclaimer: I am working as a Global Account Executive for GlobalEnglish). Not only contacts for myself, but also for some of my colleagues. Yes it’s true. Business Communication Skills in English are very important in Moscow (in all of Russia), because more and more Western European and USA based companies open offices in Moscow (and other cities). And in all those companies English is the standard tool for communication. So there is a lot of potential for GlobalEnglish. There were about 240 attendees at the conference and they were all from Western European or USA companies. So a lot of work to do!

I have add some photo’s from the conference as well.

 

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Technorati Tags: GlobalEnglish, Moscow, Baltschug Kempinski Hotel

Francois Bourachoit as GlobalEnglish Rookie of the year 2006.

Francois had to leave the GlobalEnglish Company Wide meeting in Bodega Bay (CA) on Thursday the 2^nd of August. So he could not be present at the Awards Night Diner and missed the opportunity to collect his reward as “Rookie of the year 2006”.

The A team had a very informal meeting on Thursday afternoon, just after the Wine Blending event and Mahesh then told Francois about his “Rookie” award.

Because Francois had to leave but wanted to say some nice words to all of us, I have made a short movie of this.

 

Technorati Tags: GlobalEnglish

GlobalEnglish Company Wide meeting 2007

The GlobalEnglish Company Wide meeting 2007 was held at the Inn at the Tides in Bodega Bay (CA) from 30 July to 3 August. It has been a great and inspirational meeting to me. It was the first time for me, because I just joined this amazing family in January of this year.

GlobalEnglish is not just a company. It’s really a family! A family with mixed cultures and wonderful people. I am very proud to be a part of it and of having met all my colleagues from all over the world.

I have made some photo’s and uploaded them so that everyone can see something of this special meeting. Please feel free to comment on this if you want to.

My special thanks goes to Deepak Desai, our CEO, and to Mahesh Ram, Tom Kahl, Antonio Pastor, Joe Minutoli, and Inga Pedersen as our management team. You have all done a wonderful job. I am impressed!

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Technorati Tags: GlobalEnglish