My first slide today in Milan reads:
Repatriation!
25 Meters: $1000.
500 Meters: Amex rejected.
I am not a “clothes horse.” In fact I am routinely considered a slob. The only part of my wardrobe I obsess on is sweatpants, sweatshirts, hiking boots, and baseball caps. (And I do “obsess” on those Essential Items.) Nonetheless, I went a little berserk in the Fashion Capital of Europe. Europe? Why not “The World”?
By “repatriation” (on the slide) I mean that the Italians, whose balance-of-trade will take a little hit when they finish paying for today’s speakers—Giuliani, Welch, Porter, and me, got at least some of it back in the shops. I was down $1,000 by the time I got across the narrow street from my hotel. $1,000 … all on ties! Another couple of hundred yards, and couple of stops, and my American Express card was being rejected for serial-purchases. (The one that took me over the top was, at least, for Susan!)
Broke but happy, I needed to work on my Soul. Eureka! Piazza Duomo and Il Duomo! What word/s do I use? “Breathtaking” does not do the central Milan Cathedral justice! It sneaks into view from the narrow streets, and one is drawn to it like a Magnet for the Spirit.
135 glorious spires suck the Heavens down to earth! Construction began in 1386 … just a little before the Pilgrims popped over to Red Sox Nation! While never “finished,” the main construction was done in 1774. Yup, 388 years! (And speaking of Red Sox Nation … that’s even longer than the Big Dig construction project in Boston is taking!)
I spent 90 minutes walking slowly around the church—and could easily have spent hours more. Each door is a magnificent masterpiece, for one thing. The interior, even with a raft of tourists (like me), is … again … Magnificent!
Alas, the only less-than-satisfactory part of this story is my Canyon Ranch diet, which keeps me from the Full Glory of Italian food.
A day in Milano! What a lucky kid am I!
(Fall is here! Off to my Morning Jog/Speed Walk on the streets … pitch dark at 7:05 a.m.)
(Hint: What follows could be Suck-up City. I don’t think it is. My Mega-conference in Milan today—3,000 delegates—is produced by HSM. The Sao Paulo-based Management Services Conglomerate, founded by my tireless pal Jose Salibi Neto, is simply the best management event producer in the world—and has been for 2 decades. They Wowed the likes of me and Peter Drucker and Alvin Toffler in Brazil years and years ago—and were the subject of a glowing one-to-one marketing case study long before there even was “one-to-one marketing”! HSM then expanded through the Latin world—Argentina, Mexico City, Madrid, etc. This past Spring they took the Great Leap … and Made It in Manhattan, with a crowd of almost 5,000 management delegates to hear Da Mayor, Jack Welch, Tommy Franks, Bill Clinton, et al. Now I’m part of their next round of expansion: Frankfurt and Milan. As usual: Marketing brilliant! Execution awe-inspiring! How about: the Cirque du Soleil of Management Experiences? I think such outrageous praise is warranted, even if I am prejudiced. Incidentally, next up are Chicago and L.A.)