Have you ever had a bozo moment?
The programme for yesterday Abacus International Conference had to be re-arranged when guest speaker Guy Kawasaki arrived late for his presentation on The Art of Innovation.
Kawasaki is co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web, and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures. He once worked for Steve Jobs at Apple Mac.
Kawasaki, who makes about 75 flights a year – so he should have some experience in these matters – told his audience at the InterContinental Asiana Hotel Saigon, that he had had a “bozo” moment.
No one told him he needed a visa for Vietnam.
He scrambled around Los Angeles and San Francisco to get one, and flew via Hong Kong to arrive in Saigon just before his presentation, delayed by three hours.
Conference moderator Yeoh Siew Hoon told him, to huge applause, that if he had employed a travel agent, he would have been told about Vietnam’s visa requirements.
Kawasaki also revealed that his other big “bozo” moment was a decision to turn down the opportunity to interview for the top job at Yahoo. That decision, he said, probably cost him US$2 billion in salary and share options.
His message to Abacus agents was that they couldn’t expect to succeed by staying on the same comfy curve. They had to jump onto the next curve, using the latest technology and social media to avoid becoming irrelevant.
One agent who is jumping onto the next curve is Akbar Travels, the largest travel agent in India, who was the recipient of the Abacus President’s Award.
Abacus president and CEO Robert Bailey said the award recognised Akbar Travels’ “great foresight in strategies to drive value, innovation, professionalism and service to customers”.
Ian Jarrett
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