C&W Investors' Conference - Middle East

On November 12, we held C&W's first ever investors' conference in the ME.  We had almost 30 people representing several investment groups in attendance.  The topic was 'Winning in Growth Cities' which focused on the top-25 cities throughout the world for stable and growing investments.

 

The team front l-r: Markus, me, Oliver; back l-r: Andrew and Yahya

Some of the team and several investors.

The venue.

Being interviewed by the Gulf Monthly, a top English language business journal in the region.

Markus being interviewed by the local media.

VIP Dinner - Post Investors' Conference

Following the investors' conference, we had a VIP dinner with some of the area's key investors.

 

 

Majlis

I have described a majlis in the past, it is literally a 'place of sitting'.  In Bahrain, many people have a private majlis in their homes.  A large room for gathering friends, colleagues, family etc.  It is quite an honor to get invited and once you are, you are welcomed for life.  C&W put on an investors' conference and Mohamed invited all of us to his majlis the night before.  He invited many of his closest friends to join us.  A typical majlis consists of coffee/tea and sweets.  Moh'd went all out for us and had a wonderful bar-b-cue.  The food was very tasty and everyone had a great time.  Moh'd knows that I am a vegetarian, and remembers it, so he made sure that plenty of the dishes were made withme in mind.  Bahraini's are some of the most gracious and hospitable people I have ever met.

 

Yahya is our capital markets guy from UK.  He is standing next to a very special guest that night.  In the early 70s, Pele and the Brazil national team played a soccer match in Bahrain.  He issued Pele a red card that match...probably the only one her ever got.

Tala, Yahya,Mohamed, Markus

Tala, me, Moh'd, Markus

Me and Moh'd's son

Art Purchase



My neighbors, David and Mary-Anne are fantastic people from GB via Malta and Australia and other points.  Mary-Anne is an exceptional artist.  She works in oils, acrylics, charcoal etc.  She has had shows in England, the US, Japan, Australia and now in the ME for the first time.  I couldn't resist...her art is incredible.  She doesn't have one style, she paints how she feels that day.  Some is brooding and dark, some is minimalistic, some is colorful and vibrant, and some is incredibly detailed.  All of her work is memorable.  Following are the three pieces that I purchased.

 

"Dark Eyes" is a mesmerizing piece.  It is an intense work...I was fortunate to get the original.

"Majlis" is a stunning work. 

"Beautiful Eyes" is simply my favorite.  I was too late and missed on on purchasing the original.  However, I was lucky enough to get one of the limited edition prints.  I can hardly wait for her show to close so I can get them and have them hung!!

Jarada Island

 

One of our tenants also owns a boat manufacturing facility in Bahrain.  He graciously invited me to join him on his boat for a trip to Jarada Island.  Jarada Island is simply a sand bar in the middle of the gulf that disappears at high tide.  At low tide, it is approximately a mile long and people flock there on weekends for bar-b-cues and watery fun...just like Lake Minnetonka on a Saturday.  It is about 20 miles from nearest land and is created by the current.

 

Mohamed's boat with Moh'd, Erik, a friend from Boston, Markus, my boss from Germany, and me.  The boat will do 60 mph.

Moh'd with his sons.  It was a perfect weather day and the company was exceptional.  Bahrainis are among the friendliest people you will ever meet.

That's me standing literally in the middle of the gulf.

The tide is rising and this is all that remains of the island.

Joelle Launches Fashion Festival at MODA Mall

MODA Mall had our launching event for Fashion Festival.  It is a marketing event to attract customers and to energize our tenants.  To get it started, we invited Joelle, a regional celebrity with a chain of salons in Dubai and Saudi, a weekly TV show, blogs, etc.  She is a great role model in the region...a strong, entrepreneurial female.  Her fans adore her.  We had a VIP launch in the morning and an open to the public event later in the day.  At both events she spent over an hour having photos taken with her fans.  She was exceptional at playing to her audience.  We were able to have dinner with her that evening ( I got to sit next to her), and it turns out her charms are natural.  She is very down to earth and kind.  It was a spectacular event.

 

 

Joelle and me...yup, lots of smirks...its a tough life somedays.

Shereen was our emcee for the events.  Egyptian by heritage, Australian by birth, she was total class.  She was as sincere as she was stunning.  Let's just put ti this way, I have had worse days at the office!

The models for the show.  Yup, they are that tall...yup, they have 3" heels, but are still THAT tall.  One on left, looked so much like Angelina Jolie, she was Serbian from Australia.  On the right, she was from Chicago.  She is travelling the world doing modelling gigs to pay her way.  She is a recent graduate of DePaul.  Both of these ladies were as sweet as their smiles. 

Shereen with our marketing manager, Celine.  Celine and her team did an exceptional job.  Joelle and her PR person commented that they had never seen such a professional and well-coordinated event.

We enjoyed dinner with the ladies at the end of the day.  I was sad it had to end...

 

Jewelry Arabia



Jewelry Arabia is the 3rd largest exhibition for jewels in the world and the largest in the region.  It is an enormous showcase for Bahrain and traders from around the world attend.  It is such a boon to the local economy, the Prime Minister personally, and officially, opens the event.  Since MODA Mall has a booth, I was treated to VIP passes for the day.  It was an interesting view of the world...much of the jewelry is in excess of $100,000.

 

I was this close to the PM.  Remarkably, the event had no security checks for admission while he was there.

A red carpet arrival.  The PMs motorcade arriving.

The crowd trying to catch a glimpse of the PM.

 

Firas, our Sr. Property Manager and one of our tenants.  Mikaela got a string of natural pearls as a gift from them...I paid.

A Fuzzy Night at Trader Vic's

 

It wasn't just the photos that were fuzzy that night...we were meeting our new regional finance manager out of Spain, Ignacio...Nacho for short...

 

Karan with the Tiki pookah pookah....I have no idea if that is spelled correctly...does it matter?

My turn.

Nacho...introduced to the wily ways of Bahrain.

Back in the US

I was back in the US from 12 September to 26 September.  I got to see a lot of folks...missed a lot too.  For those that I saw, it was great to see you...for those I missed, hopefully next time!  I spent five days with Mikaela in Duluth, had the opportunity to visit my mom who is in Hospice...but doing remakably well, was able to see two Gopher football games, both wins, got to see many of you at dinner the night I arrived, played golf with Jo, Jason and Gordie (forgot my camera...oops), 9 of us played Bunker Hills the next day (photo below) and laughed more than ever on a golf course, had a mini-reunion with the Grazzers (photos below), got to MP to see some of the team there, and was able to spend an afternoon with Cindy (who took care of some things for me) and finally a ride back to the airport with Julie (tahnks!).  All-in-all, it was too short...and a bit weird...it was odd being 'home' for a vacation...

 





My ham...love you kid!







Mikaela and Tanner near Enger Tower...color just starting. Being used to 90+ degrees, the drop to freezing at night was challenging...but my quest to not wear socks, other than while golfing, was completed.

 

Got to touch Floyd of Rosedale...what a treat...good thing too, he was gone the next week...with Durda and Mike.

Yup...Tubby Smith in the background...got to chat with him a little...nice man.

Ski-U-Mah

At the game...love that hat, comrade.

The Grazzers at Black Forest: Dave, me, Marcia and Brad, Dave and Beth.  Great to see everyone that could make it.

Dave, Melanie, me, Beth, Dave, and Brad.

Bunker Hills...45degrees and me wearing shorts...I reacclimated quickly.  l-r: Tim, Fridog, G-Rock, Russ (hiding), Mike, me, Jeff (who flew up from Phoenix just for this!), Durda, and Mike.



Sorry...it's been a while...

I have been very busy in the past month...a quick visit back to US, annual plans, transition of the mangement directly to the owner, business development...anyway, more posts today!

Filming at the Mall

The mall was a tepidly exciting place on Saturday evening.  The Ministry of Tourism is creating a video highlighting all of the aspects of Bahrain.  Our location was chosen as one of the top areas for the country.  It was a fun experience, and interesting, but filming is a lot of waiting around.

 

 

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Yes...I realize I haven't posted in a while...sorry...been busy at work.  I will be back in the states for 10 days next week!!  Can't wait.  The weather here has been at least 95 everyday I have been here.  I have been here 95 days.  That makes me 95 for 95!  For those of you that I will get to see when back, I will have lots of stories to tell...I don't plan to blog everything!  Anyway, enjoy the last day of summer...miss most of you!

Dubai

Dubai was not a tourist trip...it was for R&R to get away for a few days.  It was located on Jumeirah Beach.  If any of you watched Rory McIlroy win the PGA tournament recently, his sponsor is one of th resorts on Jumeirah Beach (did you notice his hat and shirt?).  I barely left the hotel.  In fact, I only left the hotel once, to do a little shopping...but everything was closed.  It was a nice time, the weather was hot and humid, just like any beach.  I sat in the shade of a palm tree mostly, but still got burned.  Someone commented that Dubai is like Vegas on steroids...not really.  Yes the buildings are over the top, but there is only one Vegas.  I even had a 90 minute massage while I was there...the real treat... 

The view from my room.  It was club level, having spent so many days in hotels this year, the upgrades that come with reaching 'gold' status are pretty awesome.

More resorts along the beach.

Since it was Ramadan, the hotel had camels for people looking for rides after Iftar.  The hotel had a Ramadan tent with sheesha...of course.

One of my high school classmates works in the travel industry.  She has lots of photos of beaches with her feet up.  It tells the tale of the trip...pure ecstasy...thanks Mary Beth, it is a cool idea and sorry if I am copying it!  But imitation IS the highest form of flattery!

Book Release



The mall was the center of Bahrain news recently when a book related to the history of Bahraini press was released.  It was attended by the Minister of Information.  It was a true honor to have been selected as the site for this event.  A lot of the Bahraini elite showed up, it was a spectacular affair.  The book is entirely in Arabic, I was offered a copy...but declined...I can't read Arabic, we did accept a copy on behalf of the owner.

The Minister of information.

Traditional garb, very festive!