Toledo: a city of three cultures
Operations and finance professor Alber Sabanoglu Segura comes from Turkey, and he is also a Sephardic Jew. Hence we decided that there was no better place to shoot this video than the ancient Jewish quarter in Toledo. When the Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, they headed for many different countries, and his family ended up in Turkey.
What this basically means is that Prof. Sabanoglu Segura is a true world citizen. He was born in Turkey, lived in the States for a while, and now lives in Madrid. He is fluent in many languages, including Ladino, the old Spanish spoken by Sephardic Jews.
Moreover, he is a critic and writer of short stories, not to mention the fact that he also sings in a group. I hope you enjoy his video, if only because he was such good company while we were shooting it!!!
Wings
Professors talk about all kinds of issues. Issues are not, however, remarkable in themselves, no matter how hot the topic might be. What makes them remarkable is the way you talk about them.
Operations professor Luis Solis is one of those people who truly believes not only in what he teaches but in whatever he is saying to you. Finding someone who still genuinely believes in what they are talking about makes you feel good, because you instinctively know when you are at the center of some seriously valuable attention. And isn’t being at the receiving end of attention the ultimate feel good factor?
I love it when he comes round in December with a bottle of tequila to share a shot with you to welcome the new year and bring you a piece of his beloved Mexico.
Don’t miss what he has to say about operations and how he became a pilot.
P.S. The title of the video comes from Wings, a silent film made in 1927 about fighter pilot friends in World War I . It was the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the only truly silent film to do so given that The Artist was not totally silent.
Gliding Vertigo
IT Prof. Ricardo Perez flies in a glider to overcome his fear of heights.
The parents of Cuban writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante used to give him the choice of either having a sardine for dinner or going to the movies. He loved the cinema so much that he always opted for the movies. Later in life he wrote a book with the title “Cinema or Sardine”.
Fortunately IT Prof. Ricardo Perez did not have to make such a choice, but he does share that same passion for movies, and in his case he used it as an effective way to conquer his fears.
He confessed to me that he has had a fear of heights for a number of years now, to the extent that he couldn’t even look out of a window. He finally decided that at this stage of his life it was high time he overcame this fear, and he had a plan to do just that. First, he was going to fly in a glider, which is what you are going to see in this video. Then, if he didn’t wet his pants (I am quoting verbatim) in the glider, he would do a parachute jump. He still has to make that jump, but I won’t be surprised if we see him do it in the near future. Anyway, every time he overcomes his fear of something he gives himself a reward, and yes, the reward is a trip to the movies. In this case, he went to see Django, and so did I. It’s a really good film by the way!
P.S. Prof. Perez also recommended the book “Flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, about what the author calls “optimal experience”. Research shows that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. It’s always a pleasure to work with Prof. Perez because he has the knack of making you feel that life is good, and that’s all that matters.
At the speed of the orange Skualo
This is a personally very touching video for me, because Roberto Puyol, who made the Skualo, is the nephew of a very close friend of mine, Juan Manuel Samper, who recently passed away. The Skualo is a race car. Marketing Prof. Martin Boehm talks about the launching of a new product using the Skualo as an example.
