Phil's Blog

End of an Era (for me at least!)

2011-04-17T12:35:00.001+03:00

After much deliberation - or should I say dithering - I decided to hang up my boots and step down from the board of the BECC after 9 years.

In fact I'd already decided at the beginning of the year ago that after the BECC AGM I would not seek re-election as chairman. This original decision led the BECC board to conclude that some space should be created to allow some new blood and more potential leaders to join.

Let's face it, sometimes people spend far too long at the helm and there are plenty of examples of that! So, when I saw some great candidates coming forward for election to the board I decided to go one step further and join Märt Hammer and Paul Taylor's exodus.

Now that I've done it and despite some mixed feelings, I think it's entirely logical for a long standing chairman, especially a busybody like me, to get off board and let his replacement get on with the job without impediment.

Team Building Seminar at Agile Saturday 19 February

2011-03-09T13:54:00.000+02:00

Team building and communication - (Phillip Marsdale) from devtraining.ee on Vimeo.

Lecture at TTÜ

2011-02-09T15:50:00.000+02:00

Did a lecture on British-Estonian Trade, British Business Culture and the BECC-TTÜ Stipendium today at the Business school at Tallinn Technical University which incorporates much of what used to be Audentes University. I was amazed that perhaps 75% of the people in the room were international students - including a solitary Brit. The new building houses the departments of international relations, business and public administration (among others probably) and has all the bells and whistles .... and the library looks amazing. Thanks to Tatjana Kasima of the student council (TSEBA) and Kaja Lutsoja, head of international relations for their support.

Record sum raised for Charity

2011-01-31T14:59:00.000+02:00

Thanks go to everyone who attended the BECC Burns supper on Friday last week in Glenni Castle. A hearty evening was had by all and credit is due to Egle and her team for organising everything. Of course, many people deserve a thank you - from the MC, Jonathan Poole to the auctioneer, Ardi Roosimaa to the speakers; Annely Lautre, Märt Haamer, James Oates, John Innes. The main sponsor Marsh Kindlustusmaakler and all the companies and individuals who donated food, drink, prizes and auctions items.

It was great to see our charity partners at the event; Janno and Rainer from the Estonian Cystic Fibrosis Association and Kaja Lusoja and Anu Johannes from Tallinn Technical University.

We raised a record sum of 7236€ for our charity fund this year which will go a long way towards fulfilling our objectives for the year.

What's Phil's day job.

2011-01-12T17:36:00.000+02:00

Whilst sometimes it's true to say that sometimes I feel I work in my spare time - especially when something big at the BECC is on, I do have a day job at International Language Services.

Interesting fact: all of the staff at ILS - even the cleaner are qualified teachers and whilst we don't all teach all the time (someone has to write invoices after all) , I for example do get into the classroom once in a while - mostly on teacher training programmes.

Last week I ran a course for Teachers of Business English for a group of 8 teachers from schools and colleges in Tallinn and Narva. The course was an exhausting 30 hours in 5 days and culminated in an examination for the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry First Certificate in Teaching Business English.

Phil's 2010 round up Speech at BECC Christmas Party

2010-12-17T08:44:00.000+02:00

"Peter Carter Sings" available at all good stores

"Good evening everyone. It's become a tradition for the Chairman to round up the year at this event and so I propose to spend the next eight and a half minutes of your time doing so.

BECC 2010 Round Up in Brief

11 board meetings

10 business events inc our 1st exec women’s lunch+ 1st dinner with the Prime Minister.

9 monthly mingles

3 Sporting and Cultural events

2 Signature events: Guy Fawkes, The Burns Supper

3 new management team members

1 Change to the board

Now obviously we do not have enough time to go over every business event in fine detail or to thank every speaker who gave their precious time to speak at a BECC event but I feel I should mention the speakers, some of whom are here today, for sharing this year.

I want to hightlight 2 business events. Firstly The conference "Rise and shine, Estonia" in January and also the follow up London ‘SmartEst’ Conference and Trade mission in September.

These event required a huge effort to organize and so from the board of the BECC, I’d like single out Annely Lautre, Märt Haamer and Ardi Roosimaa as well as Andrus Alber for the huge amount of time and energy expended before the trip and for dealing with the 'bureaucracy'.

The Monthly Mingles are a relatively new but consistently popular opportunity for us to get together with each other and also to invite another chamber of commerce or business club each month.These events would not be possible without a host of hosts and sponsors so I hope you forgive me if I read out a list:

Meriton Grand Conference and Spa Hotel

Tallink Spa and Conference Hotel

Estonian Expo Centre

Von Stackelberg Hotel

3 Sisters Hotel

Nevskij Restaurant

Kaleva Travel and Baltika

The Estonian Mint

Best wines

Altia Eesti

The sporting events this year were both held in May. First of all many of you will remember the BECC Open Golf tournament in May which was held at the Estonian Golf and Country Club incidentally EGCC is one of our 3 Sterling Class members. Special thanks go to the E-Governance Lab for sponsoring the tournament. The second event was the Foreign Chambers Football tournament which unlike the English bid to host the work cup in 2018, we won in style.

Moving on the signature events which run every year: Guy Fawkes night was a great family event with more than hundred people participating and I still get the feedback that it was one of the best fireworks shows people have ever seen! Thanks to RSA Insurance Group, AS Tallinna Vesi together with United Utilities and A le Coq as well as the pupils of Tallinn International School for making the Guy.

The Burns night in January attracted 120 plus people and for the first time, speeches in Estonian as a result most of the people in the room understood what was going on at least some of the time.

Now, these two events are our 2 best chances to raise money for our charitable causes and together these events raised about 80 000 kroons this year .

This year we sponsored a programme to promote the game of cricket in Estonian schools. Cricket is a sport played by men and Australians, not to be confused with Crocket which is mostly played in movies about Edwardian England. I’m glad to announce that next year the BECC will continue to work with Tallinn Technical University in offering stipendiums to outstanding students and we’ll also continue to work with the Estonian Cystic Fibrosis Society and will hopefully be able to double the BECC contribution toward the purchase of a special massage vest which helps clear the lungs.

Now, if you overhead me saying the words Sexy Beast you might be forgiven for assuming I was referring to man in red, Hanno Kross, or man in black, Paul Emmet, in fact the BECC played a small role in supporting a film festival organized by him this year. As Tallinn is European city of culture in 2011, we have decided that we will also sponsor more cultural events in 2011 should funds be available.

That’s about it for 2011 bar my TV interview. Well before I tell you about that I should say that the most common and consequently the most tiresome 3 questions one is asked if one has spent any length of time in Estonia are (1) Why did you come to Estonia? (2) Why are you still here? (3) When are you leaving?

I should also say that I have 2 golden PR rules as Chairman of the BECC (1) never talk to the media (2) if you do talk to the media, never tell a joke.

Well earlier this year I broke rule number (1) and agreed to do a short TV interview. The lights came on and the camera started rolling and the interviewer asked me ‘So, Phil . . . Why did you come to Estonia?’

That’s when I broke rule number (2).

I said . . . ‘well I come from a part of the UK that’s very flat and is full of white people. So when I arrived here, I felt right at home’*

The interview went downhill from there.

My thanks go to Egle Org for breathing new life into the Chamber. Thank you Peter for inviting us into your home, thanks to my colleagues on the board to Diana Varik and Oliver Watts our new team members and thanks to you our members for participating this year and hopefully next year too.

* thanks go to S.D. for this pearl

Conference Season in the UK

2010-09-29T14:27:00.002+03:00

Well conference season is upon us and that means the main political groupings in the UK are setting out their stalls and positioning themselves for the next few years.

Most recently Labour elected a new leader, Ed Milliband whose election came as a surprise to most outsiders due to the fact that his older and higher profile brother, David, was assumed to be a shoe-in. The younger Milliband (that's the one on the left) won the race for the leadership because the trades unions favoured him. Yes, despite the fact that most trade union members don’t even vote Labour anymore, the union movement finances Labour and wields a great deal of influence event today.

Interestingly, over 50% of labour party members regarded David Milliband as more likely to be able to lead the Labour party effectively. This reminds me again of the numbers of rank and file Liberals who are uneasy with their own leadership.

This disconnect between the leadership and party members – it’s all quite telling isn’t it? Regarding the Liberal democrats, we can see that the thirst for power has resulted in polls showing large numbers of voters deserting that party. When I say large, I mean about 4 million voters who went with the Lib Dems in April, would not today. In terms of percentage of the vote this puts them down to 12% from a high of almost 35% earlier in the year.

Next up: the Conservatives and the Scottish Nationalists hold their conferences in October.

A Nordic Meeting of Minds

2010-09-27T18:13:00.003+03:00

COBCOE represents 34 British Chambers of Commerce and 10,000 businesses working in 31 countries and the BECC have been enthusiastic members at executive level for several years now.

The COBCOE (Council of British Chambers of Commerce in Europe) Nordic-Baltic Group meeting took place in Tallinn on 23-24 August 2010 with representatives from British Chambers of Commerce in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

I managed to attend a day of this conference myself and was taken by the fact that whilst there are 'British' chambers of commerce in many countries, there are just as many different ways of doing things.

The meeting focused on improving trade and investment flows between the COBCOE Nordic-Baltic area and the UK and future cooperation plans were discussed – including a common website, Nordic Regional Group sponsors, joint-marketing and joint events in UK. The main aim of the cooperation is of course even better network and business opportunities to our member-companies. We also discussed potential opportunities for organizations like the BECC which were made possible by a change in UK government.

“We know that the private sector, working through chambers of commerce will be a vital component in the recovery of economies in Europe and there are some tremendous business opportunities ahead of us. In this internet age and global market, personal contacts are more important than ever and COBCOE delivers to its constituent members a unique business network across Europe and to other major trading nations in the world” said Howard Rosen, the President of the COBCOE.

The Group were also dinner guests of the UK Ambassador to Estonia, HE Peter Carter and the cooperation plans between British chambers and UK Trade & Investment were also discussed during the dinner.

The Group will meet again at the COBCOE Annual Conference in London in April 2011 and the next annual meeting of the nordic group will take place next August in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The New (well newish) British Government

2010-07-28T15:40:00.003+03:00

As I have been asked constantly for my opinion of the British Government – specificaly the Con-LibDem coalition I thought I might put a few thoughts down here – for what they are worth.

People seem to want to know what happened during those negotiations to form a coalition and what chances of survival the new government has. I don’t know the answer to either question I’m afraid but I have to confess that at the time, I was surprised at how swiftly the conservatives and liberals struck a deal.

Like many people, I assumed the Liberal Democrats (to give them their full name) and Labour were much more natural bedfellows. Perhaps I’m out of touch though. After all, when I last lived in the UK (in the 1980’s), politics and British society were far more polarised than they appear to be today.

On the other hand, I really feel that had the rank and file of the LibDem party been consulted, the vast majority would have come out in favour of a Lib-Lab deal. Only 9% of Liberal Democrats consider themselves ‘centre right’. 90% of Scottish voters (Scotland is a liberal stronghold) voted against the Conservatives. Indeed, it is common knowledge that most liberal grandees – the likes of Steele and Kennedy – favoured a pact with Labour.

I would say the importance of the relationship between two men cannot be overstated. Nick Clegg and David Cameron are both youthfull, relatively new leaders of their resepctive parties and are prepared to compromise in the face of stiff opposition from within theor own ranks. Obviously, being politicians these people are also natutally obsessed with power and after 13 years in the cold, the Conservative leader must have felt he needed to offer an extremely good deal to the Liberals to be certain of getting the top job. Hence the large number of cabinet seats going to Liberals and guarantees of a referendum on electoral reform.

Only time will tell whether the pact will work. And time is another factor. In a coalition with Labour, it is unlikely that a Lib-Lab government would have lasted for long and would not have been at all stable. There would cetainly have been an election within a year or two which in turn would probably have weakened the Liberal’s bargaining power.

The fact that Cameron and Clegg get on extremely well (these two leaders are from the same generation and elite eductional background, they fancy themselves as modernisers) helped enormously but at the end of the day and probably speeded things up. However, on reflection, the end result was inevitable in my view.

About the Executive Women’s Luncheon

2010-04-18T22:31:00.003+03:00

On March we launched a new event series Executive Women’s Luncheons. The first lunch apparently took place at the Nordic Hotel Forum with champagne, delicious food and a great speaker. I resisted the temptation to put on a dress and attempt to gain entry but I'm told that more than thirty women came together and the feedback was very positive. Nearly all the participants mentioned how come we haven’t had these lunches earlier! Good question!

Our keynote speaker was Mrs Marina Kaljurand, who is the Undersecretary of Economic Affairs and Development Cooperation at Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the moment. Of course she is better known as the ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the Russian Federation (since 3 February 2006) who was put under some pressure during the bronze soldier affair. She talked about her personal experience and what, in her views, it takes for a woman to aim high.

I should point out that the mission of these events is not to start a feminist movement but mainly to offer opportunities for business networking and also mutual support and mental stimulation - 4 times a year.

March Monthly Mingle - South-African breeze in snowy Tallinn

2010-04-14T21:14:00.003+03:00

With the forthcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup we decided to dedicate the March monthly mingle to South-Africa and had a healthy turnout of more than 70 participants.

We were exploring South-Africa as a travelling destination and a country to do business with. Accompanied, of course by some very good South-African wines. Our event partners were South-African Embassy in Helsinki and Kaleva Travel who recently moved to beautiful new premises in Baltika Kvartal. It was the fashion stage of the Baltika Kvartal where our sparkling Mingle took place.

After short speeches, including one from the South-African Ambassador Sobizana Mngqikana and Merike Hallik from Kaleva Travel, it was time to socialize and meet all these new faces. The German-Baltic Chamber was our mingling partner this time which I suppose is only natural as Germany is the main trading partner of South-Africa in Europe. It'll be a shame to beat them both on the way to the final this Summer!

After two hours active mingling we had an exclusive opportunity to do late shopping with great discounts in the Baltika’s Fashion Street. Once again, I got lost after the mingle, this time finding myself in a cigar bar with one of the more vocal Southern Africans to reside in this fair city ... but that's another story

Thanks go to Agnes and Petriina, for organizing another great Monthly Mingle!

Monthly Mingle at 3 Sisters Hotel

2010-03-02T11:55:00.003+02:00

February's mingle was held in the library of the 3 sisters and this time we were joined by members of the ACCE. This business of inviting another chamber to join us each month seems to be working well and it was nice to see a few old faces and some new ones from AmCham.

The lovely Triinu Kundla from Bestwine was kind enough to provide some stunning Reds from Lombardy and told us a bit about the differences between superiore, ripasso and amarone.

The evening was topped off by a surprise presentation from Felix Mägus on behalf of one of our charity partners - a very nice surprise indeed.

The award was from the 'The Estonian Union of Persons with Mobility Impairment' and was in recognition of some removable wheelchair ramps which the BECC paid for in 2009. The ramps were needed because many places are not yet set up for disabled person's access.

Rise and Shine and SmartEST

2010-02-05T11:32:00.004+02:00

Not being an economist by trade or inclination, I have to confess I thought the investment conference 'Rise and Shine Estonian. How to Make the Most of the Recovery' might perhaps tend towards to dull side. In the event however, I thought this event was extremely interesting and really did have something for everyone.

Ardi Roosimaa with the BECC Investment Special Interest Group together with Agnes and Petriina did well to invite a range of speakers who took the trouble to speak to their audience on the topic. The keynote speakers, Sir John Stuttard (PWC) and Daniel Franklin (The Economist) both drew on a wealth of experience and spoke with a great deal of authority.

I had no idea the roots of the current crisis lay in the success of the Chinese economy and was amazed and amused in turn by some of Peep Mühils' statistics and Andrus Alber's witticisms. Veiko Sepp and Peeter Saks were both upbeat and rightly proud of their success. If he every gets tired of the family business, Märt Haamer definitely has a future as a motivational speaker. Finally, we liked the slogan 'SmartEST' so much that we decided to apply for trademark protection.

Burns Night

2010-01-25T10:38:00.006+02:00

Well, we had another great Scottish evening this year on Friday 22nd and hosted over 130 people for dinner at the Swissotel. It is one of those events which takes months to plan. So it's always a relief when it goes more or less according to plan. Using a hotel enabled us to significantly lower the price this year and that is something we were anxious to do. A highlight of the evening for me was listening to the 'immortal memory' - a speech about the life and poetry of Robert Burns - delievered by Märt Haamer in Estonian.

So many people to thank but in particular Iain Lawson for making the trip out to perform as Master of Ceremonies, Agnes and Petriina for the pre-event work and the all important event sponsors of course.

Burns night has become our prime fundraising event of the year and I'm glad to say we raised 63 000 EEK this time - which goes a considerable way towards our 100 K target for 2010. So, a final thanks to those who bought raffle tickets or auction items.

Appraisals

2009-12-18T16:06:00.004+02:00

Märt, Kenno and I conducted annual appraisals of Agnes and Petriina this week and used a slightly more structured approach this time. We tried our hand at 360 Degree feedback and used the survey tools available with surveymonkey for this. Board members and key contacts completed the same questionnaire and the results compared with a very similiar self appraisal from Agnes and Petriina. I think it worked quite well because in certain areas, strong consensus opinions became very apparent. My thanks to everyone who participated in the exercise. We'll certainly be using this approach again I think.

Christmas Cocktails

2009-12-08T17:48:00.003+02:00

Either our ambass is severely sartorially challenged, or someone forgot to tell muggins here that it was a dress down event. Either way, we had a good old sing song and wrapped up the year at the residence - thanks to Peter Carter for hosting and to Uniquestay hotels for sponsoring. Our newest member was there too. Paul Emmet currently spends much of his time running a new website called divedivedive.org which aims to promote art and culture out of Estonia - well worth a visit.

It's been a mixed year for business but a good one for the BECC I think and it looks like we'll be finishing 2009 with about 130 members. I was happy to be able to announce our charity partners for 2010 as well as to highlight some milestones for the year -not least the London Trade Mission which took place this Autumn.

That's it as far as events go for 2009. Behind the scenes we are preparing a customer satisfaction survey, doing staff appraisals and prepping for the Burns supper at the Swisshotel which will be in Jan 2010.

BECC Outreach. What do we do? II

2009-11-30T12:04:00.002+02:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that the BECC had put out a call to charities for applications for funding. I'm happy to say that this year the volume an quality of applications rose considerably. After much discussion the BECC has offered suppor to the following good causes in 2010:

Estonian Cystic Fibrosis Society, to support the purchase of a massage vest
Tallinn University of Technology, for 2-3 stipends in the feild of business
Estonian Cricket Association, for a schools training programme
House of Good News Brotherhood, for a new chimney (should funds become available)

All of the names above speak for themselves except for the last one which is a lot less sinister than it might sound. The Brotherhood is in fact a hostel in Pärnumaa for men with addiction problems.

I mentioned before that a few years ago the BECC helped build accommodation in Hope house, Kopli for men seeking to reintergrate themsleves into mainstream society. I was glad to hear that a BECC member company, PerCapita is now working with this charity and is looking for 10 sets of clothes (suit, tie, shirt, shoes) for the men to wear to job interviews. If you have a set of clothes to donate please contact Martin and Erge Dungay at: info@percapita.ee

What we actually do? III The Foreign Investors Council

2009-11-26T16:05:00.005+02:00

The Foreign Investors Council of Estonia – or FICE (pronouced Nietzsche) is, as far as I can tell, an attempt to represent the interests of the community of inward investment by bringing together 8 foreign chambers and lobbying on their behalf. Whilst I have to confess I don’t like the name (why do we have to be ‘Foreign’?) I quite like the idea of the organisation for a couple of reasons. First of all, it seems logical to sing from the same song book where possible and secondly it means that I, myself, can avoid at least to some extent, the whole grubby business of currying favour - and politics in general. FICE’s efforts have met with some success this year with a few high-level formal encounters, which have gone well, and some impressive column inches.

Monthly mingle at Olde Hansa

2009-11-18T18:51:00.003+02:00

I really have to hand it to Agnes and Petriina for organising such a fantastic opportunity to sample the new dinner show at Olde Hansa. 60 Brits and the Swedes came together last night, drank and ate to their hearts content whilst trying, with increasing difficulty, to follow the plot of the 5-act play that was put on between courses.

Guy Fawkes Night

2009-11-17T12:46:00.004+02:00

Like so many dates on the cultural calendar it seems that Guy Fawkes night has somehow lost its meaning for many. What should be a grisly celebration of the foiling of a notorious terrorist attempt at regime has somehow turned into an excuse for cake and fireworks. Oh well. The evening went well with a really good firework display and we burned a suiltably shifty-looking effigy provided by the kids at the International Elemantary School of Estonia. Thanks also go to A le Coq for drinks and the event’s main sponsor, IBE Estonia – especially Vimpka, a friendly green giant who lives in Uuesalu.

London Visit II

2009-10-27T14:13:00.002+02:00

Well the London trade mission seems to have gone well with no casualties reported so far. I’m so glad we finally achieved this long-overdue milestone and am more than a little irked that I couldn’t make it this time. The photo is from the end-of-trip visit to the Red Lion, an Estonian run Pub. Thanks to BECC London contact Andres Klaar for setting this up. Of course there are lots of other people to thank for their part in this trip – not least Agnes!

How to do a chamber?

2009-10-27T13:54:00.003+02:00

Last week Petriina and I gave our first consultation on setting up a Chamber of Commerce. We met with Aleksandr Khachaturyan (wonder if that's a common name ...) who wants to start the Armenain – British Chamber of Commerce in the coming months. Preparing for the meeting was really quite salutary for me in that it served to remind me of just how far the BECC has come in the past 10 years. It was nice to be able to speak from an experienced perspecive and advise on some fundamental issues which are important to get right from the get go. In other words it was a rare opportunity to talk about all those lessons learned !

October Monthly Mingle

2009-10-08T17:58:00.002+03:00

We enjoyed another pleasant evening yesterday - this time with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce at Gallery M. Jennifer Mitchell gave a short presentation of some really decent Cotes du Rhones that she served up - and I believe may now be importing - and also made some exquisite pate and hubby Howard Shernoff told us something about the exhibition of antique French posters at the Gallery. I made a short speech in my execrable Spanish (tha-tha-thaaa!) and met some old friends. All in all, it was everything the monthly mingle should be:)

BECC Outreach. What do we do?

2009-10-07T15:17:00.002+03:00

Outreach, Charity, Corporate responsibility, whatever you want to call it, the BECC donates about 100 000 EEK a year to worthy causes and has done so for the past few years. Our aim is primarily to link our donations to the world of work or business but this is not exclusively the case. In fact we will consider giving to any chaitable cause which demonstrates that it is in need, is well run and can write a half decent application for support.

Each Autumn the BECC puts out a call for registered charities to send their proposals for funding. We tend to favor stand alone projects with clear goals. For example, in 2006 we financed the construction of living accommodation for men who were taking part in the Salvation army ‘back to work’ programme. The goal was to create an environment for people who had, so to say ‘afallen through the safety net’ to get back into the workforce and society after prolonged periods out of action.

This year we have supported 3 causes including stipendiums for TTÜ grad students and donations for projects to the Cystic Fibrosis Association and the Estonian Union of Persons with Mobility Impairment.

This month we’re looking forward to getting some well written project proposals for 2010!

The London Visit 21-24 October

2009-09-16T10:47:00.002+03:00

We’re finally organising a trade delegation visit to London - hurrah!

With so much talk of the need for Estonian firms to sell themselves better abroad, this visit is long overdue and is an ideal opportunity for companies to make their first foray. The schedule that Agnes and her Latvian collegues has put togthter offers just the right balance between organised events (none of which are compulsory!) and free time for people to organise their meetings / run up their expense account. There are all sorts of good reasons for your company to join us on this first trade mission Agnes and I have come up with a short list:

you will get to know what should be taken into consideration in terms of Marketing & PR in London 
you will learn how to set up and succeed in London 
you will get to know in which way London Olympic Games 2012 could be an opportunity for your company 
you will get a special inside view of the centre of British democracy 
you will have an opportunity to make new business contacts in addition to the contacts you set up for yourself prior to the visit
you can share experience with Latvian companies which you might have a lot in common with

For the companies that sign up for the London visit we’ll be organizing a seminar on ‘how to make the most of your visit’ in early October.

Early Autumn Events

2009-09-10T08:22:00.002+03:00

As you may have noticed, there is a strong ‘people skills’ focus to our events early this Autumn. In addition to the monthly mingle this month we’ve organised 2 seminars; one on Coaching on the 24th and another on Networking next week on the 16th and it’s nice to be able to point out that 2 of the 3 events this month are completely free of charge to our members

Why the focus on people skills? Well, we’ve organised these events due to requests from our members – many of whom apparently consider themselves to be poor networkers. It seems to me that this topic is commonly regarded as culture-bound. In other words, some cultures do it ‘better’ than others somehow. However, ‘Networking’ as a topic in need strikes me as strange in a way. After all, Estonia is, without a shadow of doubt, the most thoroughly networked place I have ever encountered!

Is it the ‘working a room full of strangers’ aspect which some people regard with particular anxiety? Is it any less dreadful for a Brit than an Estonian? Is networking a skill that can be taught?

I for one, will be attending next week to find out. Hope to see you there!

What do we actually do? The BECC & the British Embassy.

2009-09-07T16:21:00.002+03:00

I thought it might be of some interest to some if I wrote something about what happens behind the scenes at the BECC, who does what and what relationships we maintain.

An important and logical relationship is the one forged between the BECC and the British Embassy. When the management and seven member board meet once a month, the British Ambassador, Peter Carter, usually comes along. Fortunately, Peter seems to regard the board meetings as a decent way to spend some of his time.

Whilst the BECC is very much its own organisation, close links with the British Embassy are, in our view, essential to maintain. In addition to the Ambassador’s participation at the meetings and as a regular host and supporter of our events, the BECC management team meets once a month with the Embassy’s UKTI team which is headed up by Annely Lautre and Indrek Pällo.

The primary objective of the meetings is to share information on what each organisation is planning to do and thus avoid the kinds of ‘misunderstandings’ which sometimes occurred in the past. This seems to be working well. Long may it be so!

Monthly Mingle

2009-09-04T23:46:00.004+03:00

Yesterday evening we kicked off the new academic year with a wine drenched networking evening at the Nordic Forum Hotel. I thought it went rather well and enjoyed meeting some new members and some people from the Finnish Estonian Chamber of Commerce as well as finding out about the Valencian wines provided by Altia.

After the mingle, I went into the old town to wish the Estonian Cricket team a bon voyage. Estonia is participating in it's first world-ranking tournament in Corfu from 05-10 September and should do well against the likes of Slovakia, The Czechs and Greece.

Then I found myself in a Karaoke bar . . .

Unforunately, I awoke this morning not feeling well, with what could be described as flu-like symptoms; headache, nausea, chills, sore eyes, etc.

From the results of some initial testing, I have unfortunately tested positive for what experts are now calling Wine Flu.

This debilitating condition is very serious - and it appears this is not an isolated case.

Reports are flooding in from all around, of others diagnosed with Wine Flu. To anyone that starts to exhibit the aforementioned tell-tale signs, experts are recommending a cup of tea and a bit of a lie down.

However, should your condition worsen, you should immediately hire a DVD and take some Nurofen. Others are reporting a full English or a McDonald's Happy Meal can also help in some cases. If not, then further application of the original liquid, in similar quantities to the original dose, has been shown to do the trick.

Wine Flu does not need to be life threatening and, if treated early, can be eradicated within a 24-48 hour period.

Welcome to my BECC Blog

2009-09-04T23:27:00.001+03:00

Well, I decided to take the plunge into web2.0 today. I joined facebook today and within minutes discovered I had all sorts of friends! I also decided to start this blog and to add a link to it from the BECC facebook page.

This will be a place for me to write about what's going on in the BECC in a lighthearted way. Please note that views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the board of management of the BECC!