This is how we enforce the speed limit in Denmark

Update: YouTube took down the video, but I have updated the link below. Googling "speedbandits" will take you to a whole raft of sites where you can view it.

One reason I like living in Denmark is because the public service announcements are -- how should I put it? -- more interesting than those of other countries.

My friend Bryan Wilder is the lucky bastard who plays journalist Bart Sweeney in the film. He always gets the good gigs.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 04:00pm in Advertising, Bizarre & Amusing, Denmark | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (13)

Such fun! Copenhagen meetup with Eric Schwartzman

Last night, some of the local social media crowd got to chow down with Eric Schwartzman, PR guy, podcaster and blogger. Eric was in town with his client Andre Lawless after a hectic few days working in the Danish countryside. It was a festive, fun, loud evening and -- and this is the cool thing about social media meetups -- we were old friends within minutes, even though none of us had met more than three or four of the others.

Trine-Maria Kristensen has posted some photos. The other faces are Karin Høgh, Jette Harthimmer, Jan Lund Thomsen, Christine Duus and Asya Partan. And me, of course.

Eric interviewed us all, despite the noisy venue, so you may soon be able to experience Copenhagen vicariously on Eric's 'cast.

I've tagged only the people present with discoverable blogs or podcasts, but I can add others. Just let me know.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:41pm in Bloggers, Denmark, Expatriate Life, Podcasting | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2)

Geography lessons... don't we need them?

Here in Denmark, we pretty much shut down for most of July. The Government decamps, the Royals go away (not that they are ever entirely present,  but that's another thing), many factories close entirely and, even if you are an office worker, you can enjoy a glass of wine at a sidewalk café without worrying about being a slacker.

Reporters and editors also leave town. And that is why Danish newspapers are so entertaining during the dog days: the editors and reporters leave journalism students and junior editors in charge of the shop.

Now, don't for a moment think I don't fully approve: young tyros punch a resumé ticket, readers can comfortably assume nothing in their morning paper will disturb them (though the obligatory Heatwave! story accompanied by an interview with a topless girl at the beach may excite a "Hmmm...." here and there... as it has, yearly, since 1968), and the senior journalists and editors get a much needed rest so they can start gunning for the Government and the Royals in September.

If you are in the PR business, of course, you have spotted the opportunity. Journalism students? Junior editors? Hell, they'll print anything -- Katy, bar the door! (I know.  I once was a college newspaper reporter. I did, indeed, print anything).

Yes, July is the Happy Time for small Danish businesses, because the papers will print just about any press release sent to them. Which is why I came to read this little snippet in Berlingske Tidende the other day:

Advertising on homepages and search engines is becoming more widespread. And now the Danish online advertising agency [in fact, they sell SEO advice, nothing more] Addvisors  has decided to open an office in Las Vegas, USA.

When you are done puzzling over how that lead connects, let me direct you to why Addvisors chose Las Vegas:

"It's centrally located in the USA," says owner Kim Frederiksen.

O-kay!

When the Danish Government gets back from Nice and Tuscany and the Maldives, I suppose I should urge them to look at this initiative from the UK. If only so future Danish businessfolks don't grow up thinking Las Vegas is somewhere near Kansas City.

Thousands of people have a real passion for Geography, a subject that has never been more relevant to the six billion people now living on our planet. In schools across the UK and beyond, teachers who are passionate about the role of Geography use the subject to engage young people in debates about issues that are constantly headlining the media - drought, floods, hazards, globalisation, famine, sustainable energy, transport policy, employment, crime, urban deprivation, global warming. The list is almost endless. Who else, if not the Geographers, will deal with these issues in our schools and colleges so that young people can learn, understand and give a reasoned opinion on things which will impact on all their lives in the 21st Century.

Sadly, the media, in spite of pumping these topics into our homes 24/7 seem to have forgotten that much of what they ask people to think about is actually Geography. We are, therefore, asking - where is the label? Art, history, literature, technology all get their recognition in the media but Geography has yet to be recognised in this important way. If you spent a whole year reading or listening carefully to a wide range of media in the UK, you would probably still have fingers to spare as you sat and counted the number of times that the word 'Geography' was actually mentioned....... at long last Geographers are voicing their frustration at this situation.

Amen to that! Katy, bar the door!

Technorati Tags: addvisors, amateur journalism, denmark, summer dog days, las vegas

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:57pm in Business, Cartography, Denmark, Education, Journalism | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1)

Avian Flu Pandemic: Blogging from the Front Lines (Repost)

10 birds have been found dead of avian flu here in Denmark in the last week.  The Avian Flu story has been around so long, that I suspect many of us have started to tune it out. I know I have.

But that's exactly what we mustn't do if we are to make sure our governments are prepared if the flu mutates so that is easily transmitted to humans.

Below is a repost of a blog entry I made May 28, 2005.

May 28, 2005

Avian Flu Pandemic: Blogging From the Front Lines

"President George Bush has just addressed the press in the East Room of the White House. Here's the transcript: "At this hour, the World Health Organization has declared a full-scale pandemic influenza alert, with person-to-person spread lasting more than two weeks in Cambodia and Vietnam. During previous influenza pandemics in the United States, large numbers of people were ill, sought medical care, were hospitalized and died. On my orders, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services have today implemented the nation's draft Pandemic Influenza Response and Preparedness Plan. It will serve as our road map, on how we as a nation, and as a member of the global health community, respond to the pandemic. We are ready. Thank you, and may God bless America."

So begins the first entry of a fictional blog in this week's issue of Nature. This is the first instance I've seen of using blog format to tell a story (though the estimable Samuel Pepys Diary Blog is a variation), but surely not the last. In fact, I suspect it will become a cliché within months.

Other examples, anyone?

Update: A discussion of if it was anti-American to start with the Bush quote over at Lanuage Log.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:09am in Bloggers, Denmark, Fiction, Healthcare | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3)

“Don’t Stop” Business Innovation Conference asks Desirable Roasted Coffee to blog (and I said “yes”)

I love all my clients, of course, but I have particular affection for the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies.

My other clients are typical businesses: the halls are buzzing with folks rushing around to the next meeting, wrapping up from the last meeting, whacking out emails about that meeting, slapping their foreheads as they read the minutes from that other meeting they were too busy to attend.

Now, I don't want for a moment to imply that people at my other clients aren't "gettin' it done" -- they most certainly are -- but over at CIFS, you tend to see people just sitting quietly reading books. Staring dreamily out of the window. Writing books.

Because what they do is peer into the mists of the future and report back what they think they see. And not just for some ivory tower purpose; no, no -- their job is guiding businesses (including some of my other clients) into the future.

Pretty cool job, when you think about it -- being paid to think. As Seth Godin et al note in the Big Moo, most of us run around all day frantically putting out fires and responding to other people. Just having an hour or two a day to think, to imagine, to wonder what if, would be immeasurably valuable for both ourselves and our companies. So imagine having that for a job!

So when CIFS asked me to blog and podcast from their upcoming Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow conference, I didn't need a second invitation.

I'll contributing to the Don't Stop blog leading up to the conference, too. Client Gitte Larsen posted her interview with speaker Adam Morgan, director of eatbigfish. Here's a taste:

"Why is it important continually to think about tomorrow?

Adam Morgan: There are probably obvious answers to that, but my interest is in challengers. I think one of the things that characterizes continuously successful challengers rather than those who fade away after a while, is that they are very restless people, naturally, and they are continually looking and searching for new opportunities to reframe the way they engage consumers on the respective markets. I think that restlessness and hunger are some of the things that certainly characterize continued success..."

Indeed, I believe that restlessness and hunger are two of the very few motivators for innovation -- whether you are a corporation or a home gardener.

Technorati: dontstop01, CIFS, Copenhagen, Denmark, futures studies, Adam Morgan, eatbigfish, Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:18pm in Conferences, Copenhagen, Denmark, Desirable Roasted Coffee, Management, Politics, Society | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2)

My five favorite clicks... what are yours?

Update: the interview and the click list are published, both in Danish.

I was recently interviewed about social media by Karen Grønkær Kjeldsen for eJour, an online-magazine of the Danish School of Journalism. I was afraid I would irritate them, since I have always believed (and said in the interview) that journalism is something you either can do or can't do, and training won't make much difference. But they seemed ok with that, and the interview has been published will be published next month.

They also asked me to contribute to their "Mine bedste klik" (My best clicks) site, where they ask someone, once a month, to talk about his or her favorite sites. Now that was an honor.

Here's the English translation of what I sent them (the article will appear March 1 at the site, but I don't know what the URL will be).

Allan Jenkins

Communication consultant, blogger at the PR blog Desirable Roasted Coffee.

I read 350-450 blogs -- some every day, some once or twice a month. Here are five of my 30-40 "must reads."

• For Immediate Release: the Hobson-Holtz Report. Podcast every Monday and Thursday on PR and communication. I met Hobson & Holtz "online" in 1993; since then we have become friends and colleagues. In their podcast, Hobson & Holtz cover social media's effect on corporate communication.
• Micropersuasion. Steve Rubel's PR blog, with up to 20 posts a day. Steve may now be somewhat of a victim of his own success.
• A PR Guru's Musings. Stuart Bruce is an English PR guru and local politician. His well-written articles on PR, especially as it relates to the public sector, give me a lot to think about.
• Lessig Blog. Lawrence Lessig is an American lawyer specializing in intellectual property. If you are a journalist, writer or programmer -- if what you create every day is the product of your mind -- you should be grateful for Lessig's blog.
• Dynamist Blog. Virginia Postrel was editor of Reason Magazine, and is a writer. In her book The Future and its Enemies, she speculates that the real political divide is not "right vs. left" but "statist vs. dynamist." The blog continues that thought, with much more.

Technorati: Danmarks Journalisthøjskole, social media, eJour, Mine bedste klik, Karen Grønkær Kjeldsen

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 09:37pm in Denmark, Desirable Roasted Coffee, Journalism | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1)

What does the Denmark vs. Islam story teach us?

What started as an example of appallingly poor judgment by a provincial Danish newspaper has become multipolar diplomatic crisis.  Go figure.

The story thus far:

* back in September, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten ran a feature that included satirical cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammad. That was a serious breach of good manners, since the editors of the paper knew that Islam considers it blasphemy to create images of Mohammad.

* Muslims, both in Denmark and abroad, complained. The ambassadors of several Muslim countries called on the Danish Prime Minister to "do something" about the newspaper. Rightly, he replied that they would just have to suck it up -- in democracies, governments don't interfere with newspapers.

* the situation has escalated weekly since then. The latest: boycotts of Danish goods across the Muslim world, fatwas, death threats, more calls to punish the newspaper, burning of Danish flags in the Gaza Strip (that's a new one).

* in response (the high minded call it solidarity, the cynical call it circulation-building) papers across Europe have been reprinting the cartoons this week, resulting in even more fatwas, flag burnings, death threats, etc.

What's to learn from all this?

One obvious lesson, one that most learn by age 6, is that it is rude to mock other people's religious beliefs.  It insults them, and that's just not nice.

Another obvious lesson, usually learned about the same time, is that some people are too easily insulted. Yes, any one of us would feel hurt to see a cherished belief demeaned, but the faith of the faithful is only strengthened by the brickbats hurled by the uncomprehending ( so I am told -- I'm a happy secular humanist). A more appropriate response than flag burning and beatings is "Oooooo K... last laugh's gonna be on you, brother!"

But the other lessons... what are they?

What do communicators need to think about in a world where an article in an obscure newspaper calls down boycotts on your company? When a controversy like this can leave employees pulled in several directions: loyalty to religious faith, a desire to do a good job, a desire not to be beaten at the factory gates.

And make no mistake: the controversy is pulling Danish business leaders in several directions, too. While none have called for out and out curbing of press freedom, there have been some hints. Should managers put profit over principle? Should governments curb freedom of speech so business can go on "gettin' it done"? Do we sack the religious faithful, uncertain of their loyalty? Do we sack the religious faithful because it's safer for them if we do? Do we try to dissemble, saying "Our HQ might be in Denmark (France, USA, Japan) but we are not really Danish (French, American, Japanese), so don't blame us"?

As globalization progresses (a good thing, I believe), these incidents will become commonplace. Professional communicators need to be considering strategies now... before it comes to their town.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:55pm in Bizarre but Expected, Civil Liberty, Current Affairs, Denmark, Is Tedious in the House?, Journalism, Society | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (15)

Copenhagen bloggers gather for brunch; end up shouting

Update: Neville writes about us and publishes photos.
Update: Jacob and Jon publish photos.
Update: Henriette posts.

You get a bunch of opinionated bloggers together, and there's going to be words. Loud words.

Friend Neville Hobson was in town this weekend, & while Copenhagen is reeling under the worst snow/ice storm in a couple of years, missing a chance to trade ideas with Neville is pretty much unthinkable. A big chunk of the serious Danish blogosphere thought the same -- Froda & Bindslev, Jacob Bøtter, Trine-Maria Kristensen, and Henriette Weber were also there  -- so we spent Saturday afternoon at brunch together.

Loud, opinionated, shouted (in enthusiasm) idea-rich conversation plus scrambled eggs and coffee? That's a sweet deal.

Neville pulled out a sinister little recording device and made us each cough out some sort of contribution to For Immediate Release. But we all did our part to boost Shel and Neville's ratings.

Some of the others brought cameras, and Neville had a mike. I'll post the links when they are published.

Good to have seen you all!

Technorati Tags: copenhagen geeks

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 02:19am in Bloggers, Copenhagen, Denmark, Desirable Roasted Coffee | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5)

Arla Foods speaks to Desirable Roasted Coffee, and we speak back

Arla Foods representatives left a couple of comments on my post last week: Arla Foods, Europe's biggest dairy, launches 3 blogs.

(By the way: Arla Foods keeps two websites: www.arla.dk for consumers, and www.arlafoods.dk for the more corporate-minded.)

One was Mikael, one of Arla's farmer bloggers. He reassures me that more will be forthcoming about the robotic milkers. Cows apparently like them:

"One af the main reasons for buying the robot was that the cows will get milked when ever they want to instead of twice a day as we want to. It is better for a cow who wants to delivered 50-60 kg of milk each day."

To the extent a cow can frame an opinion, of course -- I've known several, and only a few have shown even the most fleeting desire to form an opinion. It's my experience that a spaniel has more opinions than a cow, and spaniels are pretty stupid. But I digress.

Mikael also suspects I get too much of my knowledge of Arla Foods from the press:

"It seems to me that your knowledge about Arla is from the press. With the blog you have the chance to get inside."

That view -- that much of my knowledge comes from the press -- is echoed by Arla Food's head of Communication, Astrid Gade Nielsen, who writes:

"Often Arla is referred to as a ruthless giant that bulldozes not only other small dairires but also their own farmers."

Nielsen is being a tad disingenuous -- a turnover of more than US$7 billion (Annual Report) does not make one a "small" dairy -- but she at least acknowledges the widespread perception of Arla Foods in Denmark.

And, yes, Arla is referred to as a bulldozer of small dairies. By none other than Danish prosecutors, who have Arla Foods under indictment for unfair trade practice. Prosecutors are asking a $6 million fine -- a drop in the bucket for Arla Foods, but a record-breaking fine in Denmark, nonetheless.

With that fact in mind, let me reprint all of Astrid Gade Nielsen's comment, and then invite a response.

"You are right that some consumers have strong dislike towards Arla. And as you point out it is not Arla's products that causes these problems it is the dislike of the company itself. Often Arla is referred to as a ruthless giant that bulldozes not only other small dairires but also their own farmers.

In response to this criticism Arla has to put an effort into becoming more open and communicative and clarify what the company is about. Weblogs is just one initiative towards more dialogue. It is an open, direct way of communicating and it presents people within the company and puts more faces on Arla.

I realise it is a new media for us and we have not foreseen all the challenges that lie ahead but it feels like a good decision and having this dialogue with critics such as yourself have to be a step in the right direction

Astrid Gade Nielsen
Kommunikationschef i Arla

As I said before, Arla's move into blogging is brave and imaginative for a company beset on all sides by a largely captive consumer base, aggressive prosecutors, and a skeptical press.

Knowing that Nielsen cannot comment on the actual case, I'm not going to waste our time asking her to.

But I wonder if she would give Desirable Roasted Coffee readers an insight to what it's like to be under siege, so to speak? I'll ask her for an interview & we'll see what we can learn, shall we?

Technorati tags: Arla Foods
Arla

Technorati : arla foods, astrid gade nielsen

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:45pm in Communication, Denmark, Food and Drink, Public Relations | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (7) | TrackBack (0)

Arla Foods, Europe's biggest dairy, launches 3 blogs

UPDATE: 31 October. A couple of comments to this post have led me to make a new post today.

Arla Foods, Europe's largest dairy, has set up three blogs. All in Danish.

I have to come clean: I can't stand Arla [though... I have to admire their efforts to communicate (added 31 October 2005)]. Their tactics towards farmers who don't "go along to get along" are in the Danish press almost weekly. What's worse, Arla isn't a monolithic corporation stepping on small farmers, it's a farmers' cooperative stepping on farmers too  eccentric or who take too much pride in their work.

That said, their products are pretty good and they've got a fine organic line. They've got a virtual monopoly on Danish supermarket shelves, which I dislike, but I can't complain about the quality of the goods when I am forced to buy them.

But, and here's the rub, I've never met anyone who actually "likes" Arla (or MD Foods, the Danish root). Major image problem.

So maybe that's why Arla has launched three blogs.

One is by Inge and Michael Mikael, a couple of farmers who are shareholders in Arla  (note to Arla: did you just get lucky, or did you have to search the country for the most photogenic couple of farmers in the country?). So far, Inge and Michael Mikael have written that farming isn't about manure and cruel animal transport.  They're reported on some dairy robots that got delivered (the bovine point of view, however, was unreported), and Michael  Mikael is going to a course to learn how to use the Internet.

Funny, that, since he's a blogger.

The second blog is by Maja and Louis. They work for Arla; Maja is the head of Arla's Fact and Consumer Center, and Louis is the chief PR guy (they call their blog, by the way, "Natural Thoughts").

The cynical reader will have already realized that this blog toes the Party line, and she wouldn't be wrong. The last article is a long complaint about this week's EU decision that "feta" cheese is... as we all know ... Greek. That sends Arla around the bend, because they've been feeding the world with salty white cheese for years, calling it feta.

Maja's lament? "All white cheese packed in salt water is "feta""

No, honey, it's not.

Arla's blogging attempt is brave, imaginative and... falls to earth on the second glance. That they've tried it bodes well for Arla, but if they fail to get it right.... another PR disaster for a cooperative that, at the end of the day, makes pretty good milk.

They allow comments, but no trackbacks.

Technorati tags: Arla FoodsArla

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 02:56pm in Bloggers, Corporate Communication, Denmark, Food and Drink, Public Relations | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5) | TrackBack (0)

Copenhagen Geek Dinner

Via Hugh "gapingvoid" McLeod comes news of a Copenhagen Geek Dinner on October 28.  Did I say news? I meant excellent news. The only cloud on the horizon? I suspect we won't be trying Stormhoek.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 05:56pm in Bloggers, Copenhagen, Denmark, Desirable Roasted Coffee | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2) | TrackBack (0)

On Your Mark (Part 2): Louise Lego Andersen Whips LEGO in Court

Blogger for Benjamins Jaffe recently vented spleen over LEGO's request that we call their toys and bricks "LEGO bricks" or "LEGO toys", rather than simply "Legos".  It was a silly vent, one that illustrated Jaffe knows little about protecting intangible assets, and Jeremy Pepper was quite right to call him out on it.

(To get you up to speed: LEGO is a Danish maker of toys, especially distinctive building bricks. Jaffe practices PR, I believe, somewhere in New England, I believe).

The real LEGO & Intellectual Property story this week is entirely different.

I am a big fan of LEGO. Years ago, they were a client of mine.  I have -- on behalf of two children -- invested heavily in their wonderful products. And, seeing LEGO up-close & local as I do, have nothing but respect for their corporate governance and care for employees.

But even I have to admit they went off the rails when they sued Louise Lego Andersen, an art dealer and gallery owner,  for trademark infringement.

Here in Denmark, the name Andersen is extraordinarily common. As with Jensen, Hansen, Rasmussen, you can't throw a brick down the street without braining an Andersen. So it's common practice for people with common surnames to be known by their middle name -- a sort of surrogate surname. This isn't about vanity; it's just handy. Ask a Dane about Poul Rasmussen and Anders Rasmussen and you will get a blank look. Ask about Poul Nyrop (Rasmussen) and Anders Fogh (Rasmussen), and  she'll know you are talking about the former and present Prime Ministers.

So it's not surprising that Louise Lego Andersen  -- who goes by Louise Lego --  chose to call her gallery  Galleri Lego.

LEGO sued. Trademark infringement. Dropped on her like a jaguar out of a tree.

But... as Berlingske Tidende reports today, Louise Lego whipped LEGO in court yesterday:

"The Admiralty and Commercial Court handed down an preliminary ruling giving Louise Lego Andersen relief in 95% of her case, which is about whether her gallery can be called 'Galleri Lego'."

The ruling becomes a verdict in the next week or so. Either party can appeal the verdict to the Court of Appeals or, in the meantime, agree to a court-proposed settlement. Both parties are weighing their options.

The "5%" that's still in question?

"'The remaining five percent, where the court ruled against us, is about how Louise's name will appear in search engine queries', said attorney Egil Lego Andersen. 'Obviously, we don't agree with that part of the ruling, but that's small stuff.  I believe the court reached the right conclusion.'"

I think Egil Lego knows more about SEO than he lets on.

Technorati tags: lego louise lego

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 10:39am in Bizarre but Expected, Corporate Governance, Denmark, Intellectual Property, Law | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (1)

Yeah, we got eggs in Denmark. And Ireland's Starting to Look Like America

A couple of years ago, I was with an American tourist in a Danish supermarket. He was gape-jawed for a while, then turned to me: "No wonder you don't miss home. You've got all the same stuff here!"

Since we were standing in the egg & dairy section, and had just passed through the produce section, I have to say I was at a loss for words. I know he wasn't, on a purely objective level, surprised we have eggs, milk, cheese, and celery here in Europe but... somewhere, deep down, he was surprised and disappointed.

So I was delighted with Don Boudreaux's post at Cafe Hayek, where he gently but firmly castigates an American who laments that Ireland is starting to "look like America":

Dear Mr. Ebnet:

You are "saddened" that Ireland is becoming economically prosperous. No, that’s not quite right (or fair of me): You are "saddened" because Ireland is losing its "identity" as its people cooperate ever more closely with more and more peoples from around the world in a process that improves their standards of living.

The sight of "foreign manufacturing plants" in Ireland burdens you with "oppressive melancholy." You regret that Gaelic is fading today everywhere as a spoken language, save in the western coast of Ireland – the part that remains poorest and that hasn’t yet been much affected by globalization.

It's not uncommon: the US tourist comes to "quainte olde Europe" for the first time and expects to see Heidi-in-pigtails tending cows in the Swiss Alps, or meet garrulous and sage farmers in a Yorkshire pub, or experience Danny Kaye singing "Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen!" while all the fishwives clap flounder in unison. You'd think CNN would have taken care of these illusions, but no.

So my fellow American goes home, disillusioned, disenchanted, grumbling, "I thought Europe would be different."

Why the grumbling? Couldn't tell you. Boudreaux seems to think it might spring from the American expecting no let on his own material wealth while hoping others hadn't cottoned on to the good life. I think it's simpler than that: ignorance of other cultures combined with a genuine desire to see a romantic alternative to McMansions and the "Motor Mile" out on the by-pass.

Doesn't work that way. Never has. Fact is, most of the time, so much more boring than fiction.

ADDENDUM: the "most of the time" in the line just above was a throwaway. I didn't realize London was being attacked just before I wrote it. Too often, when fact is more interesting than fiction, it's because common murderers had, on that day, more imagination than writers.

My own family is coming to Denmark next week, passing through London. They aren't naive; they've been here before: they don't go slack-jawed in the supermarket (Shit! Y'all got apples, too!). But, somehow, I would like to be able to show them it is different here. Not so paranoid. Not so angry.

But that will be a damned hard row to hoe... and maybe the wrong row to hoe... after today.

London has endured far worse days than today. And Londoners are as gritty and bitter and as optimistic as New Yorkers, Washingtonians and the people of Madrid. London, like New York and Madrid, will shrug these murders off and go on.

Copenhagen and Rome are, according to Danish media, next on the list. Well, Copenhagen and Rome have endured far worse than terrorists can throw at them, too. Just like New York, Madrid, and London.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:36pm in Denmark, Economics, Expatriate Life, Travel | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (8) | TrackBack (0)

IABC Creates New Scandinavia Chapter

IABC has created a Scandinavian chapter, gathering 35 IABC members from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark under one banner. Provisional Chairman is Anne Bove-Nielsen of Denmark. I've known Anne a few years; her energy and professional rank are good news for this effort.

Those of you with maps might be wondering how a chapter spread over three countries, three languages, and an area the size of the US east of the Mississippi might function. Actually, this is a common problem when companies or organizations try to do business in the region, and the answer is fortitude and the willingness to spend 5 hours on a plane for a 1 hour meeting.

Now I have to eat some crow: David Kistle said he would be able to announce a Danish chapter, and I rolled my eyes. But by expanding the catchment area to include three countries, it got done. And, as I said, we'll join any chapter that gets organized.

Here's the announcement!

I hope you are all well! I'm pleased to inform you all that the IABC International Executive Board has given unanimous approval to the motion to establish IABC Scandinavia as a Developmental Chapter.  So we are now official! 

One of our first tasks is to establish chapter bylaws, so enclosed please find a proposed draft for your approval. Please come back to me ASAP on this.

 

I have just attended a conference call with the European Board - and we are looking at the possibility of having a member event in early July in Copenhagen - I find that very exciting. As soon as I have more information on this I'll come back to you!

 

Best regards

Anne Bove-Nielsen

What's great for folks like me, who like an ultra-convenient life, is that I was able to join a "chapter" without being asked the first question about whether I would or wouldn't.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:41am in Copenhagen, Denmark, IABC, IABC Scandinavia | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (4) | TrackBack (0)

Some Danish Candidates Take To Blogging

Taking a page from the recent US campaign, Danish politicians are turning to blogging Danish Parliamentary elections will be held February 8th, three weeks after the election was called. Yes, my American readers, a three-week, not a two-year campaign.

The quality varies. Venstre (Liberal Party) , party of Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is favored to stay in power. Despite their lead, Venstre is blogging furiously with several posts a day, covering the campaign nationwide. Most of the posts are reports, not commentary.

At the other end of the political spectrum, Socialistisk Folkeparti (Socialist Peoples's Party) chairman Holger K. Nielsen is blogging for the party, but in personal posts. Long posts, and -- delightfully -- not always "on message."

One quirk of Danish politics is that new candidates from marginal parties really have to hustle up their own votes. Tomas Bech Madsen is blogging his candidacy for Parliament in his personal, opinionated blog. What's interesting about his is that his blog precedes his campaign by many months.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:48pm in Bloggers, Denmark, Politics | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)