I've had a truly fascinating time since my last newsletter- meeting interesting people and going to amazing places - and talking of amazing places I have spoken at three very different venues recently.

I gave a keynote speech to 650 people from ten international Dubai business groups at the stunning new Armani Hotel situated in the tallest building in the world - the Burj Khalifa. I was speaking in their Armani Prive venue where, quite remarkably, the 'screen' for my slides was an entire wall - measuring round 20 metres x 10 metres!

Two very different experiences, however, were to run a CEO workshop in the Royal Air Force Club in Piccadilly in London last week and to give a speech to a group of business leaders at The Swindon Steam Museum - standing in front of a steam engine that once held the world speed record!

I have also had the privilege address a group of around fifty "thought leaders"- top Pakistan industrialists and business people - in Karachi on the topic of: "The Role of the CEO - revisited" - which was extremely well received.

I have also run two one-day workshops for the top team of a great company API Foils & Holographics - who design and supply the foils that are on banknotes, credit cards and for example, for the packaging of perfumes. I'd like to think that they will be able to look back and say that those workshops were a catalyst for them to achieve even more business success.

Talking of which I must share with you a recent, somewhat humbling, experience. I received an e-mail last Saturday from the CEO of a former Client of mine and he said that he had to share with me that they had just had by far their best month ever - breaking records on many counts - and to thank me for enabling that to happen.
Wow - that's why I enjoy what I do so much!

Last month I attended the 4th Global Speakers Summit which this time was held in the magnificent Grand Hotel, Noordwijk on the coast of Holland. This conference is where every two years International speakers meet. I loved it - not only was it great to be with my international colleagues and share experiences with them but also, as ever, I got a great return on investment for my business. Roll on the next one in Vancouver in two years time!

I find lately I am increasingly referring in my workshops to technology and the way in which particularly what can generally be termed IT technology is moving so quickly. Not only is it moving quickly it is also either free or getting cheaper by the day and this technology, whether it be software , web downloads, smart phone apps or indeed the latest hardware gizmo or gadget is something that every one of us needs to be keeping abreast of and looking to utilise in our business to improve our productivity or to to help differentiate us from the competition.
See my article below expanding on this theme.

My wife and I are just back from another week in the Isles of Scilly and the Hell Bay Hotel on Bryher This is simply our favourite place absolutely anywhere in the world. Arriving by helicopter you would not believe you are in Europe - the sea is aquamarine blue, the beaches of white and you could be forgiven for believing you are in the West Indies!

Let me remind you of the "Helicopter" awards for outstanding service and for lousy service below
Three "Golden Helicopter" Awards to Leica, North Oxford Garage and The Dome and two "Ditched Helicopters" this time! I welcome nominations in either category.
Explanations of why they're being recommended should be put on my blog to back up the listing.

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I hope you enjoy this newsletter and find it valuable and I thank you for your support and smiles.

There is new information technology, becoming available at an incredible rate - technology like smart phone apps, web downloads and all kinds of gizmos.

Who do you have that's keeping you advised of all this?
Who do you have that is utilising this new technology to give you an edge on your competitors?

Unfortunately what I am finding more often than not is that IT Managers and IT people generally simply don't see this as their role. They still see their role as not having changed much from the days of main frames and of system analysts when information technology was something new, something special and something that only they understood and could manage for the entire company. I believe those days are gone - increasingly the management and maintenance of IT business systems for most organisations can be outsourced. Systems are much more reliable than they used to be generally we are all using standard software packages, rather than developing bespoke business management software, to run our organisations. What we are therefore often looking for by way of support is simply an an "insurance" that if, for example, when we have on our screen those dreaded words "you have committed a fatal error" that there is someone we can call 24/7 to solve the problem for us.

I do believe, however, that today every organisation needs people who are actively looking out for the very latest technology and thinking about how you could utilise it in your company to improve productivity or to help give you an edge on the competition.

Your IT people are maybe the prime candidates to take on this responsibility but you need to make them aware that that it is indeed their job to do so.

So what sorts of technology are we talking about here?
Let me give you a couple of examples:

My friend and top media guru Michael Dodd and I have developed something unique called "The Challenge" for companies to help them come to grips with their big issues.

"The Challenge" involves a series of mock TV shows dealing with these issues - and using my business trouble-shooting and leadership experience to help companies work out the best way forward.

Past Clients of "The Challenge" include Sainsbury's, The Electoral Commission, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the National Health Service, Skanska, Headline Training and the National School of Government.

If you are an E-tailer then take a look at this unique facility developed by a Client of mine Gillissa. It's called Social Media Manager and uses your product information to communicate across multi-channels.
It is being adopted at remarkable rate both in the UK and the USA.

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Numberquotes allows you to take a statistic and give it a relative comparison. For example, a dollar amount could be compared to the GDP of a country.

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Have you seen the star of CeBIT exhibition Reginald the RoboThespian

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What a great product from Firebox!
A cardboard bike - totally recyclable of course.

I admit I was taken in - until I realised the date - 1st April!

Brilliant!

I find myself increasingly putting the service I receive from organisations into one of two categories either "outstanding" or " lousy" - there doesn't seem to be just 'average' any more. I've introduced therefore "Golden Helicopter" outstanding service awards and "Ditched Helicopter" lousy service awards

You'll find the story behind each in my Blog

Please add your comments and any recommendations of your own for awards.

What People Say

"Roger, we have seen a sustained increase in revenues and profits as a direct result of attending your workshop. Thankyou ! " Martin Mulligan, CEO, Martin Mulligan Group Limited

"Without question Roger's workshops have been the catalyst in enabling our six operating companies to unlock the door to profitable growth and without exception, everyone has a real desire to be in the renewal room and when there, reside in it permanently!" Trevor Hebdon, CEO, H&H Group plc

"Thank you very much for your astonishing presentation at Credit Suisse" Carlos M. Martins Vice President

"The sessions were really good - Roger is particularly skilled at asking the right questions to make you find the answers to move forward yourselves as opposed to telling you what to do. He is a perceptive man who is clearly skilled in motivating and getting the best out of people. It is refreshing to see the train of thought his influence has provoked company wide." Caroline Singleton, Sales Representative, Thomas Graham & Sons Limited

"It is no coincidence that the Group's dramatic improvement in performance, over the last 18 months, relates directly to Roger's association with us" Ian McKernan, Chairman & CEO Molecular Products Group plc

"I am amazed at the reaction experienced by Roger's audiences.� They are totally engaged from beginning to the end and all seem to be transformed in one way or the other.� He seems to have no country or cultural barrier.� He has laser sharp focus and keeps his audience spellbound" Rakesh Bhargava, Chairman, The Academy for Chief Executives, USA and India