The one with the important visitor

Just finished our big workshop. Enough work for one day.

Ten of the most important stakeholders attended, including the Prime Minister of the State Jammu & Kashmir (*). He arrived in two cars.
How does one arrive in two cars?
Well, he was escorted by 6 armed military police officers.

All various parties involved were represented: the government, the collectives, the local farmers' association, forest preservation fund, entrepreneurs currently involved in other agricultural exports, ... All of them were VERY respectful towards the prime minister. As were we of course.
Everyone had tea (what else), biscuits, cake, spring rolls and samosas while Clai and I ran the workshop.
Three major topics we brainstormed about:

• Partner criteria (who do we want, who do we decline - like filling out an online dating form)
• Branding and awareness (trademarks, how to market, domestic vs international, which routes,...)
  
• Building the story (key differentiators, selling proposition, got the story going by showing the kids' drawings)
  

We had rented out a room in our hotel and checked upfront about the do's and don'ts in a 'Ladakhi workshop' so I think I behaved appropriately.
(To make IBM proud, I have to add we got compliments on the way we effectively ran the meeting! A Belgian and a US IBMer running an effective meeting. In India. Surely that's a first.)

Afterwards we were even consulted about marketing techniques for local shops (which was no problem for us in exchange for a discount). Or should I not mention this?
Probably against IBM's Business Conduct Guidelines...





(*) State Jammu&Kashmir is one of India's 28 states.
Population: 10,143,700
Surface: 222.236 km²
Capital: Jammu (winter) and Srinagar (summer)