Welcome Home

So we returned to the States direct 11 hr flight via United, but all with smiles, different thoughts and experiences from the adventure we just had. I can honestly say that although as trying at times traveling with a group of 30 may be, the group was what made the trip so worthwhile. The cohort was fantastic and I don't think I don't have at least one unforgettable memory with each and every individual on the trip.

The cultural and educational experience was by far worth the trek, and lucky for us we did not get stuck in an airport during a strike like the cohort before us. From the Embassy visits, to Coke in Finland, to Corruption International in Moscow the lessons were many. But I think as a group the "take aways" we learned from each other and our experiences abroad were just as fruitful. I know I and the group was very thankful to both Jessica and Dr. J for all of the hard work done to put together the trip.

I hope that we put together some great networking opportunities as well as other events to keep the Cohort engaged and interactive with each other! I hope everyone made it home safely in their travels.

Take Aways:

The Russians are nice and do like Americans...even if they never, ever smile : )

If you get paranoid don't go to Russia, people follow you constantly and everywhere.

Bring alot of money.

On a Saturday Night if you wear a suit with 4 other guys and look like the Reservoir Dogs
1) cabs will not stop for you
2) people at the bar assume you are connected
3) if you do finally get a Gypsy Cab, make sure you do not have to remove the
front seat to fit your friend Eric inside

The Last Day

Our final Sunday we had a free day to get out and check out more of the sights and sounds, doing some touring on our own. Afterward we all got to dinner for a farewell to Russia meal. It was very traditional potato and meat broth/soup. Afterward we got a chance to tour the museum that our restaurant was part of. There were some amazingly large sculptures just look at the size! All in All it was a fantastic trip and an interesting journey, but not at all CHEAP to say the least.

McDonaldsky

McDonald's...the largest, most profitable one in the world. Nope still tastes like crap. But when in Russia do as the Russians

Romeo and Juliet

We had the brilliant opportunity to take in the Russian Ballet and and then some of the nightlife. Romeo and Juliet was bar none to any Boston Nutcracker you may have seen. We went from there to the Ritz( Hi Mom!, this is a view of Red Square from the roof) and from there out on the town.

Moscow in a Snapshot

So we ran a tour throughout the massive city of Moscow all day long. This is like trying to take in a Red Sox game, Lakers game and surf the Hawaiin pipeline all in one afternoon (Kids.... St Basil's, Pushkin Square, Kremlin). Alot of great sites, bring your WALLET (Without a Gypsy stealing it) cause everything costs money...even breathing. I wore a camouflage hat so that the red army would not see me and I could blend in the surroundings. Seriously though the city is so large and so bustling it would take ages to really comprehend all the sites and sounds.

Second Round of Meetings

Так второй круг встреч был интересен….показалось, что была развращение темой интереса. Хлынитесь которое показалось бы просто, котор дали тем первое собрание было с International транспаранта, тем ме менее делать дело в Россия настолько не прозрачно. Заметьте к собственной личности….don' t раскрывает дело в Россия если вы не соединены, имеет много деньги или любит водочка.

Oh yeah, forgot you don't know Russian...

So the second round of meetings was interesting....corruption seemed to be the topic of interest. Well that would seem simple given that the first meeting was with Transparency International, however doing business in Russia is not so transparent. Note to self....don't open a business in Russia unless you are connected, have alot of money or ....for the rest see Russian dictionary.

Next we stepped into Luxoft, a distributor of software and financial services. I'm not sure if we knew where their office was --or our bus driver didn't know where their office was....either way a 2 hour bus ride later we made it. Good for a nap...the company was very interesting and they definitely have a hold on the Eastern Block(or whats left of it).

Architecture

Here are a couple great photos from some of the sightseeing around Moscow from Thursday in between and after meetings! A couple pics of St. Basil's Cathedral, a couple churches and The Kremlin. More to come on Saturday!

Moscow first visits

First Round of meetings on Thursday in Moscow brought some interesting insight. Our first meeting was with the Economic, Political and Commercial directors from Dept of Commerce and Dept of State at the US Embassy. Once again due to the heavy security of embassy's, especially in Russia due to the "bug" incident years back, we were not allowed to take cameras or phones in. Bu here is a quick shot from outside. It was interesting to hear the various different takes on the US situation currently with Russia in relation to the WTO, our current war as well as other issues such as North Korea etc... What was most interesting was to hear how many opinions from within the Dept of State differed on the Political and Economic sides--Especially in relation to Putin and Medvedev. They did provide quite a bit of insight into doing business in Russia, doubt I'm bringing a start up here anytime soon.

In between meetings, we did seven loops around Moscow trying to get to lunch. (Not for sightseeing, they just don't have stoplights and you can't make left turns...Kids...BIG BEN, Parliament). The restaurant prepared some traditional beef stroganoff and potatoes that was really good except the portions were small, looks like a panini snack before dinner.

The second meeting was at Aurora Capital with James Cook. This was very interesting as he is a VTech Alum and has been living and doing business in Russia since the early 90's. As a successful private equity firm he had alot of insight into the in's and out's of truly doing business in Russia. I think that he was much more straight forward and honest about the methods of marketing, sales, labor, corruption etc. in comparison to the Embassy. Much of this may have to do with the fact that he is truly on the "front lines" in his own business as they say, as opposed to working for the US govt. James was a very motivational and driven leader easily seen through his tremendous success.

First Impressions

So after the first day and night in Russia, Moscow seems to be everything I thought it would be and more. If you want to really comprehend the speed of business here....just imagine LA, NYC and DC wrapped up in one. And although Russia boasts one of the highest levels of corruption in the world I'm not sure it is as bad as the schemes and whatnot that happen everyday on Capital Hill.

We got to go to a nice, authentic Russian dinner the first evening. And although beat from travels we still rallied to get over to the restaurant. The dinner was actually relatively good except that we had Salmon (again) this makes 5 meals now. But the entertainment was very interesting and really let us know what we were in for. There was folk singing and dancing throughout the entire meal, and even though we had no clue what they were saying it was enjoyable.

Big sign your in Northern Europe....the presence of Nokia everywhere. Ironically 2 minutes after this photo I was offered a very nice Nokia, pick-pocketed I'm sure minutes earlier. No I didn't buy it!!

MOSCWOW!!

Well. The last night in Helsinki was a long one to say the least with such an early flight there would be no other way to do it. So we started off as a group at a nice beer garden ( reminded me of Ocktoberfest in Munich) and worked our way tot he Millionares club....ironically called that because of its cheap prices(unlike the rest of Finland). Needless to say we had a great time in Finland, saw some wonderful sights and would highly recommend the city of Helsinki as a sight to see for anyone headed to the Nordic Region.

So we finally made it to Moscow after a long day of travels. I caught a couple good pics on the 2 hours of traffic on the 8 mle bus ride from the airport to downtown (traffic is ridiculous). Bu tlooking forward to seeing the sights. I'm still trying to figure the whole blog thing out and have been reading all the comments and good stuff from those following along and appreciate it. I have not figured out yet how to respond so if anything I do have answers for all your good questions upon return.

So we made it through the second round of meetings and off to our next meal....Imagine that Salmon(every meal) and for desert Blueberry soup (like a bowl of Smuckers jelly, not a fan although I'm sure my dad would love it). We then did a handful of sightseeing visits which unfortunately my camera died. So we returned to the hotel where I had a quick nap and a camera recharge and off to dinner. We took in dinner a nice traditional Finnish Restaurant. The food was good however from the picture at the left it tasted better than it looked...Meat in a sauce, with a side of green square? (not sure what it was!) So back at the hotel once again for a recharge before a group night on the town before heading to Moscow at 530 am

Meetings Second round...Microsoft and Coke

Our second round of meetings was quite informative on how American Companies (the big guys) are leveraging their strengths to use the massive technology sector in Finland. We met with different factions of Microsoft and Coca Cola today to discuss the market and how business is approached when entering foreign markets. As mentioned before GREEN seemed to be a large topic of discussion. And although the Finnish culture is very self aware (through heavy taxation of everything) it seems the the major US companies are following suit due to many of the new Obama govt. roll out initiatives and the realization that is where the money is.
Of all the folks we have met with so far, the woman who spoke with us today about Coca Cola and there business strategy seemed to offer the most. It was quite interesting to follow the branding strategies and preferential differences they have to take into account as they distribute across even the smallest of areas. Finland seems to be on of the smallest soft drink consuming per person countries over here. I would assume from the numbers much of the cultural influence is not taste preference but the heavy tax posted on soft drinks in comparison to juice and water. Still trying to understand how they few RED BULL as a health drink....

Monday--Embassy and Finnish National Security

Well after our first meetings today I could say they were very informative. Our first session was with the Counselor for Commercial Affairs Brian McCleary at the US Embassy in Helsinki. However due to security we were not allowed to take any electronics in so there were no pictures. But it was very informative on pursuing business within Finland both through joint venture or new companies. They were also kind enough to take us through the ambassador's living quarters which were very nice.

Our second meeting was with the Ambassador for the National Security Authority Officer Ilkka Heiskanen. He was very informative and nice enough to take a portion of his day to answer our questions. However for Security it is quite interesting that they seemed to have little concern for the 900 mile border with Russia which has very minimal security apparently. Here is a picture showing the multiple lakes (of the nearly 200,000) that comprise the interior of Finland. Unfortunately I think it was this afternoon when jetlag started to take its toll on most as everyone retired for naps, before catching back up for late dinners'.

ICE BAR

So after all the walking in the hot sun and getting in our exercise we had to check out the ICE BAR. The name pretty much says it all, the whole room (chairs, tables, walls, bar, shelves you name it) was made out of ice and housed in a large walk in cooler maintained at -5 degrees so they gave us those nice blue jackets you see us wearing. It was definitely and interesting and chilly experience. It is very small and there is a charge to visit it, but I think everyone in the cohort stepped in to chill out before retiring to the hotel to prep for our first day of meetings on Monday.

Amazingly Clean

I was very surprised at how incredibly clean the city of Helsinki is. Everywhere we went there were very manicured parks, unbelievably clean streets and what seems like environmentally friendly everything. We are trying to figure out what these really tall trees are that seem to grow very skinny and straight up. It was a sharp contrast to the states, especially around the capital, where most of our parks have considerable homeless populations. We have yet to come across any homeless, poor or panhandlers. As a socialist country it seems as if they are truly taking care of their people.

Finland, as a country and people, is one of the most forward in the "Green" and environmentally friendly thinking. Everybody walks, bikes or takes the street trams everywhere. The majority of cars seem to all be taxi's.

First Day of Finland

Sunday the 14th was really the first day we got to experience Helsinki, Finland. It started out somewhat dreary, but the sky opened up to create a beautiful day. As we wandered the streets on our own sort of day tour we noticed the incredible architecture of the city. The picture on the bottom is a photo of me in front of a very famous Finnish Cathedral, and there is a statue of Alexander the II directly behind me. Apparently they thought he was such a good ruler, his statue is one of the few people who have ruled that is still standing in Helsinki. On the top is another amazing Cathedral that we toured around. Unfortunately being a Sunday, all of the cathedrals were open for services, but no tourism, so the best we have is outdoor shots.

EYE OF THE TIGER

So I got put up in this ridiculous suite... thats what happens when you are the last person to demand anything. Yes it looks like nothing but you should see the other pads, I have 3 tv's...yes one in the bathroom...! We were introduced to one of the most premier FINNISH NIGHT SPOTS that is us at TIGER a great place...much better if my wife could have been there!

I'm a little behind but his is me and a good friend Rob, we have had a blast so far. The culture is phenominal, the people are superb...(Albert no ?s yet) It is a fantastic country. ore to come