Even if everything had gone according to plan I knew I was
cutting things tight. My plane was due to land in Abu Dhabi at 730am on Sunday
morning and 90 minutes later I was supposed to be chairing a workshop for a
roomful of important government dignitaries. This was one of the key kick-off
events for the nationwide Innovation Week across the UAE and it had more people
attending who needed to be referred to as ‘Your Excellency’ than I have ever
encountered, but then again I don’t get out much. There were representatives
from many of the UAE’s important Ministry’s, including Energy, Climate Change
and Infrastructure. Ministry of Happiness was, unfortunately, unrepresented.
My plane landed on time and customs was a breeze. It was in
the taxi where things unravelled. The venue was the Sharjah Centre for
Astronomy and Space Sciences. Now don’t get me wrong, Sharjah is a lovely
Emirate with many great features, but one would not immediately expect it to
have a cutting edge, state-of-the art space centre. Bearing this in mind, you
might think that local taxi drivers would know of its existence. You would be
wrong. I tried two different drivers, both of whom swore they knew the venue before
I got into the cab, only to recount this important fact 5 minutes into the
journey. When we eventually located the venue it turned out to be a huge
golden-domed building in its own massive parkland grounds. It was just the sort
of imposing infrastructure that a local might have noticed, especially given
the 3 foot high lettering around the rim of the golden dome which proudly read
'Sharjah Centre for Astronomy and Space Sciences'.
I eventually arrived 15 minutes late, just at the point
where my Isle colleagues who were already on site and had been holding the fort
in my absence were debating kicking off without me. Rest assured that this lack
of faith in my ability to be fashionably late will be fully addressed at their
next performance reviews.
There then followed an intense 3 hour workshop exploring
novel and innovative technologies that could help the UAE address some of their
water related challenges. Slightly unusually for an arid county one of the key
themes we had been asked to explore was Flood Management, which is becoming an
increasing issue in the UAE (‘Yes Mr Trump, you are right. Climate change is
a figment of our overly fervent imaginations…’). One of the technologies we
presented was a world exclusive: we showed a video of a large scale flooding trial
using a fantastic new product from Neptune Solutions Ltd (http://www.neptunesolutions.co.uk).
A less discerning viewer might have regarded the video exclusive as 2 minutes
watching water flow down a muddy field in outer Manchester but this would be
missing the point. It was a demonstration of one of the boldest, most
innovative and cost effective means for flood control/defence. It is worthy of
a blog in its own right. The audience were appropriately impressed and I am
sure are busy booking their flights to Manchester so they too can experience
the delights of standing in a wet field the in the north of England, with
howling gales and horizontal rain while watching murky water cascade down a
hillside into an immovable barrier.
Unusually for a workshop we managed to hold onto our
audience. An unacknowledged rule of all conferences and workshops is that is
that the more senior the attendees the more likely it is that they will
gently slip away during the session. The key is to not take this as a personal
affront, these are busy people with packed diaries.
Perhaps it was a reflection of the quality of the workshop
content, or perhaps they were beguiled with our novel presentational style (we
toyed with doing some of the presentations through the medium of dance then
wisely opted for something slightly more conventional) but we started with 45 people
in the room and 3 hours later we still had 42 engaged and happy. Within hours
the Ministry of Energy (MOENR), our client, had their press machine in full
swing (see attached).
Then again, perhaps it was the free lunch that encouraged
people to stay. Or the special post-lunch VIP tour from the Director of
the Planetarium (I learnt a swathe of new facts I will share with my Scout
Group, whether they want them or not). Whatever it was I don't mind. All that
really matters is that the attendees were happy, and that my client was happy.
The fact that my colleagues and I were also happy was just a bonus.
No wonder the Ministry of Happiness didn't attend. Their
work was complete.
