Life in Venice
Dean Javier Quintana draws a comparison between the Metropolitan Tower in New York and the Campanile in Piazza San Marco, Venice.
Back in October when I first spoke about shooting this video of the Dean of IE University’s School of Architecture, Javier Quintana, he said he would like to compare the architecture of Venice with the architecture of New York, more specifically the Campanile in Piazza San Marco and the Metropolitan Tower. Coincidentally enough I had to travel to New York at the end of that month and had the opportunity to film some of the places he wanted to talk about. Then, in November, I joined him on a business trip to Venice. I had a great time, partly because there aren’t many cities that can beat Venice on a sunny day, or any other day for that matter, and partly because he spoke with such passion and knowledge about the two cities that I gained a new perspective of every corner, every square, and every tower.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit all the interesting things he said into this video, and he didn’t only talk about architecture, but also about music, cinema, and life in general. So there I had no room left to say anything about either the amazing Schubert or the fabulous Death in Venice (both the film and the book). I decided to focus more on the life side of things. You’ll be interested to know that Dean Quintana is really good company when it comes to looking round shops.
As you might have imagined already, there was only one way this could end and that is with some excellent Bellini cocktails at Harry’s Bar.
P.S.: Don´t miss Martin Rico´s (1833-1908) Venice paintings at Prado Museum. Only till February 2013.
Lucinda´s River
Entrepreneurship Prof.Daniel Soriano swims and talks about entrepreneurship.
Life can be so strange that sometimes, when I wake up, it feels like everyone had too much to drink last night, just like in the opening lines of The Swimmer, a short story by John Cheever.
In the story, later turned into a film with the same title by Frank Perry, Neddy Merryl (Burt Lancaster) decides one summer afternoon that he is going to “swim” his way home through the swimming pools at various friends’ houses dotted across the county. He names the chain of pools the “Lucinda River” after his wife. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Neddy’s journey may represent more than meets the eye.
Entrepreneurship Prof. Daniel Soriano brings a different take to Neddy’s surreal journey, comparing the journey from pool to pool with the search for entrepreneurial dreams.
Prof. Soriano and I have shared an office for a good number of years, and have drunk an even larger number of margaritas together. We have, in a way, grown up together at IE. I don’t want to sound too biased so the only thing I will say is that he is fantastic company and a truly excellent professor. Sorry, but sometimes a person’s biased and unbiased judgment just happens to coincide…
Don’t miss him in action. What he does, he always does pretty well.
P.S. After the shoot, we broke with tradition and had gin and tonics instead of margaritas. Is that a sign that something is changing…? I highly recommend both the short story and the film “The Swimmer”. Prof. Soriano is also Director of the IE Business School Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center.
Another Season
Cross-Cultural leadership Prof. John Clendenin talks about wolrd hunger, world peace…and recites Haiku in Saint-Croix, Virgin Islands.
As you probably know, Martini Shot is a Hollywood term that describes the final shot set-up of the day. According to Dave Knox, author of the film industry slang guide Strike the Baby and Kill the Blonde, the Martini Shot was so named because “the next shot is out of a glass”, referring to a post-wrap drink. But we didn’t have a Martini. Instead we had a local specialty, a cocktail named Painkiller with a capital P. I think the name says it all. As if this weren’t enough, Cross-Cultural Leadership Prof. John Clendenin dedicated this Haiku to a friend of mine who is passionate about plants and seeds:
Seeds
Plant seed within you
to nourish your heart
provide roots…for your dreams
John is pretty impressive in terms of both heart and mind. He was rescued from a life of street gangs when he was a kid, made a start as a yellow taxi driver in New York, and then served in the US marines as a telecommunications officer for years. He represented the US Marines in international competitions in track and field events, wrestling and basketball, and was a sport psychologist with the 1984 US Olympic pentathlon team. He went on to become a professor at Harvard, where he wrote one of the best selling business cases ever. He’s a member of Mensa, and is still a senior sniper instructor, as well as teaching at IE Business School and writing a haiku every day… You get the idea.
P.S. Saint-Croix in the Virgin Islands is a hub for the global crossing fiber optic network, which in plain English basically means that the internet connection there is “just awesome”, to quote Prof.Clendenin.
You Gotta Jump!!!
Professor Kiron Ravindran talks about Information Systems while swing jumping.
Some time ago, a friend of mine said to me “you know, Felix, what I want around me are not incredible people, colleagues, friends whom I can brag about… but just pleasant people. You know, people who make your life easy, plain and simple.” Well, not that you cannot brag about how knowledgeable Information Systems Professor Kiron Ravindran is, no, it’s just that when you interact with him, you realize that things just go smoothly – the way my friend told me they should go.
I am sure you would like some evidence.
When I suggested we shoot a video, he proposed at the end of his email: “[Cut to me jumping off a bridge…on a bungee]”. I must confess that I have thought of bungee jumping as one option, but it is also true that I never thought of finding a professor who would actually make that idea a reality.
Moreover, the amazing thing is after jumping he said to me:
Felix, I gotta jump again.
Fine, Kiron, we’ll come another day.
No,I mean now.
And that is what he did. Jumped again. This time head first, which is what you are going to see in this video.
After the shooting we went to the favorite place of bikers around Madrid, “La Cruz Verde”, and had some amazing black pudding, sausage, and chorizo sandwiches. No vegetarian was seen within a 100 miles”.
Photo Professor Kiron Ravindran in theotherphoto.blogs.ie.edu
4 Visions: CMYK
Four visions, Four professors address two issues – what could be considered the most important management subject, and whether the world is seeing a shift in its center of gravity.
As you probably know, CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, namely the four base ink colors.
In offset and digital printing the CMYK ink colors are applied to the paper in successive layers. By overlapping the four colors in varying concentrations a huge number of other colors can be created. As a result, the combined visual effects of the four CMYK colors produce what we commonly call full color printing.
I believe that the visions of the four professors featured in this video serve in much the same way as “base colors” for developing thought in the field of management. They basically address two issues – what could be considered the most important management subject, and whether the world is seeing a shift in its center of gravity. Prof. de l´Etraz disagrees with Dean Iniguez, and Prof. D´Souza disagrees with Dean Boehm. It seems that agreement is just not their thing… Check out what they have to say!!!
All four Professor along with Ioschka fischer, Malcom Gladwell… were present at The Korean World Knowledge Forum 2012
