from frosty Beijing

Here I am in Beijing just wrapping up participation in our firm's annual global conference. Will be heading out to the Great Wall in an hour then our final dinner at the fashionable LAN Club with colleagues who haven't yet disbursed back to their homes around the world. One highlight of the meeting was a small private lunch with Dr. Jack Q. Gao, currently VP of News Corp and Chief representative of News Corp Beijing as well as CEO of STAR China TV. He previously was had a regional leadership role in Autodesk Asia and before that was President of Microsoft China. Fascinating man of many ideas, super well-connected around the world and totally tuned in to what's happening with convergence of platform/content/advertising across Internet, mobile devices, broadcast, and other emerging formats.

Our hotel was simultaneously hosting the 2008 ASIA/European Union summit which resulted in a extremely tightened security including going through airport style metal detectors and full body check/scan every time we entered the hotel.

My first time back in Beijing after nearly a 12 year absence - what a totally different and delightful city it has become! Of course the forbidden palace, tianmen, etc. are all the same, but the sparkling new buildings - many with really interesting architectural features and the plethora of new hotels, desingner shops, restaurants and clubs is nothing short of astounding. Weather is clear but very chilly.

More later..................rm